Meet Bob...

[SimonTuffGuy]

Tail lights that were posted above are available from ledbikelights.net - If you order, let him know that SimonTuffGuy sent you.

[SimonTuffGuy]

My Ultima solo seat installed




It sits a little high up front... So, I took out the spacers between the seat and the mount which moves it down 1/2", and I may take the spacers off between the front mount and the gas tank to lower it just a little bit more. That, or I'll need to modify the actual mount itself.



I have some 3" springs for it... But, I'm not sure if (or when) I'll add them.


13" wide, so it's similar to the stocker seat




While I was messing around with the tank bolts, I ended up taking off the top chrome covers of the engine too. It gives it a little more stripped down look. I think I like it, but I'm not 100% sold on that.

[IdealSociety]

lookin good man. i wish the bike i started with this summer was as simple as your is to begin with.

So far after the work i did on my Yamaha XS850 i ended up with this:



i think sometime this winter ill fully remove the solid struts and make a weld in hardtail that takes the frame under the tank straight back to the swingarm.

PS: i made the seat myself with a chunk of old skateboard ;D

[ejp2fast]

very very nice bike.. someday (wife permitting) i'd like to dive into something like this...

[25Horseplay]

Simon I like the look, are you doing something for a rear fender? And are you keeping the front fender?

[SimonTuffGuy]

Thanks Brian. I've got a trailer fender to mount... I just didn't get that far yet. It'll go about 1/2 way over the rear tire and then cut off. Not 100% sure about the front yet. I know it's classic bobber to remove it, but then if I ever got caught in the rain, I'd really be getting wet. We'll see. I might try it and see how it goes and then work from there.

Also - not 100% sure how inspections will go. So I've got to take that into consideration.

[qroger]

LOL the last I was aware of bikes they had drive chains. When I was young and bold enough to enjoy a bike, I drank too much and figured I'd be too soon dead. By the time some judgment had grown in and I put the booze away, I was too old and married. I used to fantasize about BSA Goldstars..500cc thumpers if I remember right. Have fun, bring yourself back alive.
qroger

[SimonTuffGuy]

Bump...

So - I didn't ride last year because the bike was waiting for cables to work with the mini apes I bought:


Unfortunately I didn't find replacements, thus I didn't ride. I wasn't going to let it go any longer, so I picked up a set of stock bars again so that I can ride until I source replacement stuff.

Too bad that everything under the seat was a total mess. So this spring I did some cleanup to make everything a little better.

I cut off the frame rails that were used to hold the rear fender and passenger seat in place (and there is no going back now):


Removing the rails allows the seat to sit down lower, which makes it looks nicer:


And for the mess under the seat, I picked up a fake oil tank/battery box... A guy on the Savage/S40 forum that I'm on fabricated this up. It's big enough to hold a stock size battery, but it doesn't give enough room for the electronics with the stocker in there. So I went with a mini battery and was able to tuck EVERYTHING in there.

And now we're left with this:


I changed out the light with this model a version... But I'll probably change it out once I get the rest of the parts in later this summer:


I pulled the front fender, but after riding around with it a few days like this, it went back on today. It looks really nice without it, but the amount of crap that has flung up doesn't make it worthwhile.

Finishing touches for this season will be:
1. exhaust wrap - black... it showed up on Saturday, just need to pull off the exhaust to wrap it sometime
2. rear fender - I'm going to pickup the rear fender from Blue Collar Bobbers and have someone local fabricate up some brackets to hold it in place. I'm going this route because it looks better than the trailer fender I was going to use and it's the easiest instead of trying to find something to work.
3. rear signals - I think once I have the fender in place, I'm going to go with one of those LED strips instead of that model A light. It would go at the very back of the fender and they have them that they'll integrate turn signals with it. It would be low profile, but still keep me legal and safe (safer than no signals like now)...
4. LEDs - I grabbed a few strips off ebay for cheap. It's legal for bikes to run with LEDs turned on, it makes them more visible, so they don't have a problem with it.
5. Mini Apes/Cables - I'm going to find longer cables so that I can run those mini apes eventually. I'm just happy to be out riding now.

Clocked 100 miles today around the valley. It was beautiful! Couple rides coming up in the next few weeks that will get the bike out and about. I'm eager to hear what people think of it. It always seems to draw attention, even being a "tiny" bike.