Brett's 78 CB400T Update!!

So after getting my bikes done for Born Free, it was time to buckle down and get Brett's 78 done. Everything started coming together and piece by piece it started resembling a Motorcycle.

 Brett toke off to Alaska to weld on a pipeline, so I started husslin every spare minute to get to this point. Terry Teets out of Addy, WA did the awesome lambskin seat for us, and for a reasonable price! Thanks Terry! I got the tank all brazed up and ready to go, and I threw a coat of Kreem tank liner in it just in case. I also made a custom mount for the chrome headlight via Lowbrow customs.

 The motor bolted right in and I had the cases and valve cover sandblasted and then took rubbing compound and polish to them to give them that factory fresh raw look. I did the same with the rearsets, and filled them full of speedholes. The drag bars fit the look Brett is after, and were still deciding on paint. I love the look of the skinny 3.50 firestones, this thing should turn in real quick!!

All in all, since these pics, I got the taillight mounted, chain hooked up, front wheel mocked up (although I got some brake issues to figure out..) My pop got the tank all smoothed out and primered up. The next post you see she should be a roller! I plan on road testing this girl late September. hopefully.

A couple Orange Krush pics

Sorry I haven't posted in sometime. Life's been busy, shitsa happenin and my 2 days a week at home just seems to get shorter and shorter. On the upside, between Brett and Kevin's builds and helping my Pop on his XS project, I was able to get the Orange Krush finished up for now.

 She will get torn down here very shortly, powder coated, painted, and I'm gonna hot rod the fuck out of the motor. I haven't yet decided if I'm going the 277 Rephase route, or the 750 Big bore... I dunno, either way its a win win.

I will be doing a full photo shoot here shortly, see keep your eyes peeled, until then Enjoy!

BORN FREE 4 report and lots of pics!

BORN FREE 4!! dropbox link to all the pics below.
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/vkuc93311etagyi/qu6lLAnFWH?m

So where the fuck do I start? Born Free 4.. epic. To make this journey happened I spent a lot of time and money to get the bikes done to roll down to the show. My boy Dan from NY. aka NY DAN, was coming in hot to Spokane on a last minute flight and I was pressed to get Orange Krush done for him to roll around LA. Working on the road and being gone from home 5 days a week doesn't help...

 Many a late damn night/morning was spent working on the Orange beast prior to the show. One Friday I got home and there was 15 boxes of parts sitting in the living room!! Lets Roll!!! Shits flying parts are everywhere. I take a break to pick up Dan from the airport only to bring him back to the garage and put him to work. We got everything done except for electrical and a bunch of other little crap.. Rootbeer was running great and needed just a bit of TLC, should be able to bang the electrical out in a day right???

 So we load the bikes up and head to Cali. Dan just got in from a 6 hour flight and I had worked on the bike until almost 4 in the morning so we were a bit fatigued. Despite our mental awareness, we cracked a couple road sodas and left little ol' North Idaho. We got into San Berdoo at 5 pm the next day and had to make the necessary stop at Oscars for a brew..(or two..who's counting??) Headed off to Corey's and then the work began. Worked on the Orange beast pretty late, got drunk and crashed. Woke up the next day and went right back at it, banging out everything on the list except for bleeding the front brake (thanks ebay for the bunk master..)

Later that afternoon and tired as hell I popped the headlight into the bucket, hooked everything up and flipped the switch. Light yes!!! short..bzz... ohh.. I forgot to tape the terminals up on the headlight causing a direct short to the ignition switch in the headlight. Bummer. Guess what? Now no spark!! Test the coil, its cool. Fuck, probably fried the Pamco (I did)..  Now Dans got no bike to run. I'm Bummed. All that work shot. Oh well, we drank and moved on.. . 
"It is what it is, no more, no less"

 So its Saturday. SHOWTIME!! Oscar crashed at Corey's the night before so we all left from Temple City, CA and headed out to Rancho Cucamonga to meet up with Jason and Mike Spazbo. All is well, we're flying along the freeway and oil is straight puking out of Corey's bike! I flag him down and we pull off the 210 fwy. Clutch oil seal is shot, so we limp it to our buddy Paul's down the road. 2 bikes down. Dan is driving the chase truck with Paul and now has another passenger..Corey. We make it to Oscars, I lose a battery, yada yada yada..(insert drama here) Finally, we make it to the show, with an awesome ride with some nice twisties along the way.

The only way to describe this show is AMAZING!!! If you have the means, you have to go. Being surround by the coolest bikes, along with some of the coolest people I have ever met is a win win in my book. Lots of beers were had. Lots of goodtimes in general. The lack of a Police presence was very, very nice, and the location is killer. I seriously hope these boys announce Born Free 5 soon. Our plans are already made.. 

All in all what a killer experience. 2600+ miles of driving to make this show, and I cant wait to do it again. Special thanks Corey, Dan, Oscar, Jen, Jason, Mike, Pauly Wog and everyone else who made it happen!

Wow, I Haven't updated in a minute!! I've been mad busy getting this 81 XS650 finished and also completely building the 83 XS in hopes of getting it all done in time for the Born Free show! Add to this being out of town 5 days a week, its been hectic in the Daly garage..

 I got everything back from the boys at TNL Multiservices in Post Falls, ID. The powder looks amazing! Believe me when I say these pics do not do this bike justice!!

 Shooting pics in Flat light conditions sucks.. Next sunny day (might be in Cali..) I will take a ton more pics.

 Man, she runs like a top! The XS performance carbs once dialed perform very well. The NOS gasket set is keeping shit tight and dry. With 8000 original miles, new rings, timing chain, Pamco ignition and more, she's ready to rip around Cali!!

 All in all, I'm really stoked on this bike and I'd hate to sell it. But the ol' lady says it has to go so, I will have it for sale at the Born Free show in California for $5000.00 obo. If your interested in the bike, please email or call me at 208-818-9231



Sneeky peeky of my newest whip. 1979 XS650. My first points bike, and my first runner!! (thank god..) She runs good, is super clean and already has a sporty tank on her. Finally a bike too clean to chop. Just might end up being my first Street tracker.. I get bored...We'll see... Thanks Kevin!!!

So here's a couple sneak peeks of my 1983 XS650. Not quite a classic, but only a year off..lol.. I bought it from my bud in Sandpoint ID for $200 and I plan on making a gem out of her..

 I had it torn down within an hour and the choppin soon begin. I Bratt'd her out matching the stock backbone, just like a hardtail. A bit different than my last frame, but I think the lines flow a lot more and the only challenge is keeping the same low stance which will be handled with a set of Burley 10.5" sporty shocks.

 All in all, the frisco'd sporty tank and the Biltwell tuck and roll seat outta make this bike stand out from the crowd of duds. The motor has 8000 original miles and will be treated to a Mikes XS carb kit, a PMA kit and of course Pamco Ignition to make it a super reliable freeway flyer. stay tuned for more tips and tricks for the home builder!

1981 XS650 Update kinda..

Got my 650 all prettied up, resealed and ready to roll. New carbs/spacers from Mikes XS outta make her run like a top. Raw polished the cases out, stripped the block and repainted with a high temp paint. I had some leaks from a shitty seal kit, so I got a hold of a NOS Yamaha kit and so far seems to be a MUCH better quality than the prior kit. Pamco ignition is in place and I deleted the starter via Mikes $16.00 kit.

do it yerself.

Sammy P's XJ Chop

So got an email form Sammy P outta Upstate NY. He is boys with Reez, May and the rest of the Outlaw crew, so I know he is good peeps! He sent me some pics of his sweet 1981 Yamaha XJ650 chop hes got goin on. $300.00 initial buy in will make this shaft driven beast a cheap build.

  Hardtailing the rear end looks to be a little different than doing a standard chain bike, but Sam's got the stance just right. All in all, looks like she's going to be a sweet looking smooth running ride.. Keep us posted Sammy!

Slugging!! bout damn time..

First off, sorry for the d-lay!! I've been working on the road non-stop the last month so I haven't had a ton of time to work on my toys. But... I've had a couple semi drunken, productive weekends so here's a little diddy on slugging. you can use this for frames, bars and pretty much anything that needs to be joined..

So first off, I have one half of the puzzle shown. The frame's upright tube is on the left, and the slug is on the right. The slug is a piece of stock that will slip tightly in the piece being joined. It allows a nice tight fit and extra weld points resulting in a much stronger joint.

Here is the Slug inserted into the upright. Notice the drilled hole. I drilled completely through the upright before inserting the Slug.

 

TACK IT UP!!!

 Here's the upright and slug in place ready to tack weld. Notice the hole in the frame. Just like before, drilled all the way through. I have already welded and grinded/sanded down the upright prior to install.

 And here it is all in place. A little finish grinding on the weld hole will make it disappear.

Here's 50 cents!.. I like to cut my pieces around the seam with a grinder at about 45-50 degrees as you can see in the pics. This allows for a much deeper, wider weld that you can keep low on the surface for finishing, but achieve maximum penetration for a strong joint..

All in all, grab an old handle bar, cut it in half and rejoin it for fun before attempting to do a frame or swing arm.. GOOD LUCK!!

How to shave your XS650 forks.

So, I'm sure we can all agree that nothing looks better than a sweet ass shaved.....set of FORKS! Shaving your forks is cheap, easy and really cleans the lines of your bike up by removing unused fender and brake caliper mounts. While your forks are apart its also a good time to replace those 30 year old fork seals and lower your forks as well!

So if you have never had your forks apart before, or are a bit timid to go hacking into the "unknown" there is a great tutorial on fork disassembly and proper lowering provided by Mulligan Machine and the boys at xs650chopper.com. The pic above shows what you should have after complete fork disassembly.

Here's a pic of the fork lower tube prior to cutting. I use my favorite tool, a Porta-band saw to cut off the useless brake caliper and fender mounts. A bench vise also comes in real handy. Be sure when cutting off the mounts to leave plenty of excess material. The last thing you want to do is cut into your fork tubes.

This is what remains of the left fork lower after cutting. Being that your lower tubes are made out of aluminum they will grind down very, very quickly, so don't be afraid to leave more material behind for safety's sake. My brake caliper mounts on the right tube, so this left tube gets shaved clean.

Here I am grinding down the remaining material. For this task I use a 4 1/2" grinder with a 80 grit flap wheel. This method will remove aluminum material fast, but slower and safer than a standard grinding wheel. The key here is keeping your grinder as close to 90 degrees as possible to prevent "dishing" the fork which is very easy to do. I prefer to leave about 1/16" of material remaining which will be removed in the next step.

Here I use a orbital palm sander to do the fine sanding and smooth/level out the remaining material. I start with 60 grit and finish off with 150 grit. You will go through quite a bit of sandpaper as the aluminum clogs it up quickly. Keep the sander moving across the workpiece to prevent flat spots. This method is pretty painless. I noticed in the past that disc sanders make it very easy to dish the piece, which looks like shit. No one likes shit except for fecalphiliacs..

Now for the fine cleanup. I use a piece of 220 grit emery cloth (available at your local hardware store) to get ride of all the fine lines left behind from the palm sander. This takes a bit of time, but the results are priceless! This method will give your forks a nice fine round finish that you can later polish or powder coat.

Here's the finished product! Super smooth and looking so minimal, just how I like it!

And as you can see, no dishing or "speed bumps" as I like to call them. This tube is now ready for powder coating. After I get them back from my powder coater, I will install new fork seals, re-assemble, add fork oil and be lookin' damn fine!

I urge you to do this yourself, but if this looks like too much for you to tackle, hit me up! A basic XS fork shave with new seals, fork oil and powder coated will set ya back $150.00 for the pair plus shipping. For another $25.00, I will lower your forks 2 inches. Other "racey" options such as progressive springs are available, feel free to ask! 

Custom Battery Boxes. Built to your specs.

 A lot of guys these days are running mini batteries on their choppers and cafe bikes. I run them on my bikes as well. With a kick start only bike, mini batteries are the only way to fly. Easy to hide under your brats swing arm, or down low on your hard tail, we can build steel boxes in any configuration you might need.

 We're currently taking orders for custom built, one off, battery boxes starting at $60.00!! Built to your specs. Solid steel or speed holes, steel battery hold down or bungee style as shown, we can build them all. Available raw or powder coated in any color you can imagine. Turnaround time is approx 2 weeks for a powder coated box, quicker for a raw box. Email me at dirtygursmetric@gmail.com or shoot me a call at 208-818-9231 to place your order.

raw finished, speed holed, bungee style, under swing arm mount box for XS650's shown.

CB400T bench run

After ripping into Brett's 1978 CB400T and finding a broken piston along with a handful of other issues. It looked to be a $200-$300 investment to get the old girl going.. Scouring craigslist one evening I came across a complete, supposedly running 1979 CB400T engine for $200.00!! We went and scooped it up, and after minimizing the wiring, checking plugs and fluids, and checking head torque, she fired right up! Rad!

CB400 Wheels

Just got back to my shitty hotel after a long day on the tower. I open up the computer and there's a message from Jason at WheelSpinmx with this pretty pic attached to the message. These are for Brett's cafe racer and with the help of these wheels, the CB400 is gonna look killer!! I'm afraid to have anyone put tires on them! Thanks Jason, they look amazing!!

How to chop your XS650 into a sweet Brat.

 Hi to you! So step one on your stripped XS650. Cut the horizontal tubes as close to the frame as you can without cutting into the frame. I scored a Portaband off craigslist for $75.00. I use them everyday at work, and they are like $400 plus new. This saw lets you get close and will leave me a clean cut and very little to grind. if you don't have one, you can use a torch, grinder, shit, a hacksaw would even do the deed..

 Now its time to cut the verticals. I cut my frame to leave just enough material to "slug" to. "slugging" lets you splice pieces together while keeping the joint sturdy and super strong. I'll take some pics and show you how soon..

 finished cutting.

 this is what you should have left, minus my beer.

and if you have a XS, you already know how much bullshit that you have to grind of the frame.!! I grind everything including the center stand mount. tune in next time for some other whack ass XS tips and tricks... and if you have some cool shit to share, send your pics to  dirtygursmetric@gmail.com

laters!

best bbq ever!!

I've been all over this country and other countries, and Ive eaten a lot of different food. I love BBQ, and I love to smoke, charcoal BBQ, propane... this honey badger don't give a shit.

Well, we are staying at this ghetto-ass hotel in Junction City, OR. Across the parking lot is a joint called Boss Hawgs BBQ . HOLY FUCK!!! We went there Tuesday night for dinner, then Wednesday night, then Thursday. So tonight's special was PRIME RIB!! By far, the best prime rib that I have ever had....ever.. I'm not shitting you, Phillip gets this shit done right!! Thanks for the good times, see ya next time were slanging antennas in Eugene!!

Corey's XS650

My brother Corey sent some pics over of his sweet ass 1981 Yamaha XS650. Enjoy!

 The Kawasaki KZ in the background is Jason Abbott's. Jason owns WheelSpinMX. He did the wheels for Corey's bike, and he is currently doing the wheels for Brett's build. If you ever need a custom set of wheels, he is your man.

 And yes, that is a real Wassel peanut tank. Corey said his welder had hell trying to get this nostalgic tank to hold fuel, but with some elbow grease and patience, the outcome is extraordinary!