All of the bikes which you put a picture of are very inspiring to me too. I recently found this one that I really like for the seat and peanut tank and overall look:

http://www.chopcult.com/news/article...sportster.html

Couple of pics:

 

Oh ya man, very kewl.

 

I am considering brushing all of my chromes to give the bike a more rough look. What do you think of that?

 

Oh ya, sure. That could look great. I have wide ranging tastes and have seen plenty of bikes with brushed chrome that look killer.

 

Subscribing. Not too many opportunities out there to follow a talented builder through his project!
Sorry Mike (MReed), looks like you have some competition!

 

Thanks man, but seriously, let's not get carried away. I'm not in Mike's league. We're not playing in the same ball park. We're not even playing the same f#%king sport. Mike is a master; a craftsman. I'm...a wannabee, at best. There's no competition or comparison between what I'm doing and the creative fabrication Mike does.

Just a quick update - the Powder Tech guy called me on Wednesday. They are working on my parts (finally) and had some questions about what to mask off. So I have my fingers crossed that maybe they will call today and I can go pick the stuff up. But unless they call me this morning I probably won't get time in the shop to work on it until Sunday.

 

Wow!! Awesome work man. Just read thru all 12 pages. Can't wait to see the finished product but really loving the progress pics along the way. Keep up the great work and thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks doobs!

Needless to say, the powder coater did not come through on Friday so I am still without the front end. Spent most of the day in the shop reassembling. This is a rough reassemble. First, this is a mock up so I have a better perspective on things like chopping the rear fender, fitting whatever solo seat I decide to install, running new oil lines, the wiring harness and various wire runs, etc, etc. This is also allowing me to learn how to reassemble everything when scratching stuff up doesn't matter. When everything is painted and powder coated I'll have a better idea of how things go together and in what order so I keep the scratches and scuffs to a minimum. And since this is the first time I've reassembled a Harley from scratch, it is a huge learning experience. Even with the official no **** Harley Davidson 2007 Sportster assembly/disassembly manual it can get...confusing. It's very time consuming, and I'm also doing some clean up/sand blasting of the various parts as I go along, such as the various motor mounts, rear master cylinder bracket, bits and pieces that had varying amounts of rust and corrosion. I'm not tightening things down, just getting them in place and snugged up finger tight.

So, here are today's pics. I sand blasted the voltage regulator. Being mounted on the lower front of the engine it took the brunt of whatever corrosive elements this bike got into before I bought it and the paint was bubbling with all kinds of oxidation. The back side is rubber sealed and I'll probably have to use some silicone sealer on it before painting it and then final reassembly but it cleaned up pretty good with the blaster.



Then I just started putting things back on. I installed the newly cut down Street Glide airshocks (10.75"). Bolted on the rear fender, minus all the OEM plastic crap that I stripped off. Installed the battery box and the oil tank. This took awhile to figure out what went where and in what order. I'm going to buy some new oil lines so I'll worry about exactly how they snake between the frame, engine and battery compartment later. Attached the rear master cylinder, again, time consuming tying to remember what bolted where with what hardware. Then I installed my new Chinese made forward controls. I know, I know wurm, the quality isn't 100% but they do appear functional and at least in my case everything seemed to work and fit. I got these because they were $100 cheaper than the HD version, and I have to try and save some bucks someplace. I think they'll workout fine with some tweaking here and there to tighten things up a bit. What I really don't like is that while these are the black version, they came with some chrome pieces and two different shades of black - the brake and shifter arms along with the mounts that bolt to the frame are a stain black and the shifter peg and the pegs themselves are gloss black. The linkages are chrome. Oh well. I'll refinish them gloss black before final reassembly. Here's what everything looked like when I was done this evening.





I have new DK Customs BulletProof pegs for both front and passenger pegs, but there's no need to put them on now. I'll wait and install them at final reassembly and use these standard pegs on for the mock up.

Progress is slow. The holidays are killing me with all the non-bike stuff going on. Makes time in the shop rather limited. The biggest items holding me up are the wheels, forks and triple clamps still at the powder coater. Hopefully they will be done this week and when they call I'm planning to take the day off and spend it in the shop getting the front end on. I will keep you posted on any progress.

 

Hell yea man. I took my rear fender off tonight to tape off for chopping and sending out for powder. Can't wait to see how yours turns out.

 

Hell, you'll be done before me. I can't wait to see how YOUR'S turns out.