This is a bit long but I'm fired up about getting this far... hope you enjoy and have suggestions...

I'm having my tins and oil tank painted with a custom paint job and took some teardown pics to capture the process. I did all the diassembly and almost all of the cutting and welding myself on the fenders. This is my first attempt at this much work on the bike. I've done almost all the mods to it so far except the pipes install, oil pressure guage, and oil cooler install which was done by the stealer to ensure the warranty is good. Other than that it's all me... I just hope it all goes back together as easy as it all came off...

Completed by me:

- Cut rear fender to current design (chain drilled it to make it easier)
- Fab'ed and Welded additional tab onto point of rear fender to stiffen it up
- Cut rear of the front fender to match rear fender design (it's the little things that set it off you know...)
- Welded Front fender mount (barely any warping cuz I applied wet towel after every weld)
- Shaved front fender rivets and plug welded them (skim coat will take care of the little perosity)
- Fab'ed a 2" riser for the tank and welded it on but these pics only show the tack welds during fab process (didn't like the looks of the piece that could be bolted on and since I had the welder I figured why not go for the complete custom look)
- Pulled the harley emblem off the tank to have the recess welded over (painter is going to do this welding)
- These pics don't show it but after raising the tank it created a tunnel that was just too noticable so I cut a piece of metal and bent it to cover the tunnel on the front of the tank (painter is going to weld this on also)
- Made a tire balancer that will do it all... (sent wheels and belt sprocket out to Browns Chrome in Paducah, Ky for chroming)


Done by Someone else:

- Filled Plate holder holes on rear fender (fender skin is stainless so had it done at local shop- Thanks Barry. I told him not to grind it down at all...the painter can take it down to where he wants it to get the best look with the filler and skim coat- )
- Riveted point of rear fender to tab to ensure the adhesive never pulls free (local aircraft maintenance shop - Thanks Ernie)

Waiting to install:

- I've got Boogey Lights that I have to replace but I'll use the same ones since I repaired them and just need some double sided tape
- Chrome sleeve to clean up the wires on the front end
- Chrome flush mount front axle and spacers
- Chrome rear spacers
- Chrome lower belt guard (considering having it chromed by Browns also rather than buying a new one at stealer rates)
- RotoPlate tag mount on rear axle (was lookin' forever and finally just gave up the money on this one cuz I'm from Florida where they require horizontal mounts and I'm in Army, so vertical is ok in most states but it don't matter anymore with this mount)
- Goiing to polish brake and sprocket bolt heads to high shine on a grinder polisher
- Dunlop Elite 3 250 rear tire
- Dunlop Elite 3 MM90-19 front tire (it's the same size as the 100-90... don't know why they use the 'Alpha' system for this size/model of tire but it'll fit... barely. Will slot fender mounts if needed to make it fit)

- CONSIDERING... just a little bit... Arnott Air Ride system but don't like their prices. I called them to get the prices of the items in the kit one at a time and it's cheaper than the whole kit together... that shows the price gouging the manufacturers do. They are redesigning the shock now and don't have a current price for it yet.


Well, that's it for now. When it's all done I think I'll have exactly what I want... a custom bike that is all me, done mostly by me. I want people to look at this thing and ask me what model it is... when Rocker owners can look long enough and figure it out... maybe.

If anyone has any ideas out there let me know. I'm game to almost anything. I'm posting pics in a few posts to get them all on here since I'm limited to 5 for each post.

Hispeed

 

Adding more pics of the process...

First pic is of the tab I fab'ed to reinforce the point I cut into the rear fender. It was way too flimsy and when I welded the tab on, the adhesive for the steel liner came loose causing the metal to spring up farther than I wanted. I put adhesive on it but the spring of the metal was pulling it away so badly decided on rivets. I'm an aviation maintenance guy in the army and I knew they were perfect for this application. I came out perfect and with the filler and skim coat put on by the painter you'll only know there are rivets there when you look underneath... but it works perfect!!!

I shaved the front fender rivets and welded it to the mounts underneath... hardly warped at all... and you can see the rear of the front fender is cut to match the rear fender.

I wanted to lift the tank but I didn't like the look of the piece that's offered online because it was bolted on. I think the extra bolts take away from the look and since I was already welding and cutting on the fenders... why not just do a custom lift on the tank as well.. I cut the tank mount out of some metal had in the garage and it came out perfect. These pics don't show the final welds but for those of you who know... a welders best friend is a grinder...

 

More pics...

You can see the tank lift I welded and how it looks on the bike. I came out perfect!!!!

This is a shot of the tins after I wrapped them up for shipping. I did it like this so the painter can just retape the cloths over them to keep the paint from getting rubbed in shipping... I'm a bit **** about stuff like this so bear with me guys and gals... after the money I'm spending on the paint job this is worth it...


The balancer is in this one. I got the idea from a website that was reviewing them and decided it would be simple to make. Spent about $50 all together and my time. The long screw at the bottom of the tire is if anyone needs to true up a spoked wheel. I made it this big so I can check my truck tires when I take them off too... The black feet are too flimsy and I have to add a piec of angle iron to them but they work perfect. I made the feet design a little different than the original cuz I didn't like the fact they had to be unbolted. These just rotate flush with the base bar for storage outta the way.

 

Nice work. That thing is going to be off the hook when it's done.

 

Good call on smoothing out those rivets on front fender...20k outta buy a little more detail. Rockers look so much better with a tank raise! That wheel balancer is pretty crafty, it could save you some cash for more mods.

 

- Dunlop Elite 3 MM90-19 front tire (it's the same size as the 100-90... don't know why they use the 'Alpha' system for this size/model of tire but it'll fit... barely. Will slot fender mounts if needed to make it fit)

Crud. How much wider or taller is the MM90? That is the tire I have sitting in wait, but used the stock tire while mocking up the front fender I made. The new fender only has about a 1/4" of play on each side of the stock. Didn't think about the width of the new tire being wider...

 

wow! excellent job

 

Phantom,

I'm looking at a website right now www.webbikeworld.com that says a 100/90 is 3.25"/3.50" and a 90/90 is 2.75"/3.00"
Based off of that and looking at Robo01's pic of the 100/90 on his stock rocker fender it looks like it'll be fine.

If it does rub though you can just take a rat tail file and slot your mounting hole a bit to allow for some extra room and use some toughup paint on the inside of the hole. No one will ever know. You may be OK though. From the looks of your fender you've got plenty of room for height and you can add some shims if it needs to move one way a little to allow clearance... don't worry though. That's the heartland fender right? I wanted one but elected to just customize mine to save few pennies...
Good luck bud
Hispeed

 

Awesome work man! Can wait to see the finished ride! BTW what's the color shceme gonna look like or is it a surprise?

 

I'm keeping the base color of blue cuz the frame is already done. Below is the scheme I'm having painted on the bike. This site shows it in the original gray color but he's going to do it so it's all in blue but looks the same as you see it here with the only exception being that I don't want the tank covered in flames... told him to do about 2/3rd the flames on the tank so the base color is more noticeable.

I told him I don't want the Harley emblem on the rear fender at all... nothing that says Harley will be on this bike except the VIN tag, brake calipers and the end caps for the grips...


http://www.kustompaintshop.com/popup.php?id=299