In April I scored a nice low mileage TW at a good fair price. This is my 3rd, but it’s been about 5 years since I had one. You always regret selling your TW
I like to tinker and I like to customize. I know that’s not everyone’s cup of tea, and I can respect that. I like function of course, AND also form, and am willing to make some compromises to find the right balance of both. Unfortunately I have grand aspirations but little talent and even less patience.
Last year through a series of events, I met a young man who likes to tinker and customize, and actually has the talent and the patience to pull it off. He was willing to work on my TW project and teach me along the way. PERFECT Scenario for me.
I only got one good ride in stock trim, but enough to know she’s in good shape. Here’s where she started:
Heres the vision: as slim and lean as possible without ruining the rideability.
My requirements were: enough seat to endure 300 mile days on occasion, and at least 175 mile range. I travel often in my personal vehicle for work, and often find myself in new places with great riding opportunities. It’s easy for me to add an extra day or two on a business trip for exploration on a bike. So I do a lot of backroad exploring in areas where fuel can be hard to find. I also needed enough light and fenders to handle dark, rain, etc. I’m a fair weather rider mostly, but inadvertently seem to find myself in precarious situations regularly.
After stripping and removing all plastics and basically everything possible, we began to work on the stance.
I had an old Suzuki tank I had been saving for a project that required lots of coaxing but fit the look and the range I needed. Point of no return – subframe chop.
Had had a friend bend a tail hoop to finish the backside:
Reassembly after powdercoating – satin gunmetal flake for the frame, forks and swingarm, and satin Black for the rest (as seen in the final detail shots). And a quick preliminary look at colors back together:
I’ve put just over 500 miles since the rebuild, including one 300+ mile day. There’s some minor tweaking to do, but all in all I absolutely love it. It was 6 months of waiting, and some very long days (and nights) working, and probably most importantly I learned a ton. I can’t comment enough on my young 27 year old friend who led the way in this, and let me get my hands dirty on the build too. He was patient and kind all along, so if you happen to read this, thanks buddy, I’ll never forget it. And a big thanks to all who contribute to this forum, it was our go to source for intel and how to.
Sorry I didn’t take the time to document the whole process, but thought you guys might want to see the glimpses along the way that I did capture. Hope this thread and the pictures are of interest to some, don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty.
Just a few of your words indicate your joy, awesome job. Adding the bit about Mrs. Xaman, funny but true, better hide the keys.
I really like how you made the simple look appear elegant. Speedo area is clean and good looking.
I like how you got rid of all the tabs on the frame tubes to clean it all up. Lots of options on which way to do something and you chose a good one. Nice job.
Very tasteful, I most like your balance of form and function. I’m not a huge fan of the bobber look but you’ve IMHO pulled it off beautifully.
Very nice job.
Thanks for for the Compliments! Not sure why some of the pics are links, and some embedded? Maybe something to do with file size? I haven’t rethought my hosting situation since the photobucket debacle...
Haha, I’ve been a member long enough to know better than to forget to mention the death wing. I purchased a TKC80 to wear up front but now I’m considering the Shinko instead. I’ll likely spoon on the TKC for a try since it’s already in hand. I waited because my buddy wasn’t aware of the notorious reputation of the deathwing and didn’t want mismatched tires for the pics
Joeband beat me to the punch with his comments. And jbfla, it could be better if it were in my garage. lol I love the style you have achieved here. Reminds me of the Yamaha DT series, style wise. Premium work there. Also a big plus for a young man willing to help/teach/watch over your work.:blob9::blob8::hatsoff:
Couldn’t imagine a more gorgeous way to frame the upcoming scenery than over top of this super clean dash.
View attachment 135530
Wow, must be quite a pleasure to ride .
F*cking GORGEOUS Man!!! I have a ton of pictures saved for inspiration for my eventual tracker/scrambler style build and your bike is now at the top of the list! I Love what you can do with these bikes and the way you turned it into a scrambler/tracker/hollow mod came out incredible!
We kind of splurged on the speedometer, it’s the Motogadget Mini, and it’s got a digital odometer and trip meter built in (along with a clock, and top speed function). Very pricey, but a nice well made unit.
The battery tray is thin and under the seat pan, with an Antigravity brand lithium battery. Very pleased so far with the little battery. I do want to add a kickstarter eventually, but the bank account needs a moment to recover first
Very nice! Really like the way it looks and the fact that you did not sacrifice any off road ability makes it a winner -- thumbs up!
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