After "finishing" the sporty I had nothing to tinker with. I thought about starting from scratch, buying a perfectly good sporty and cutting it in half but doing the sums the price was crazy for something that would sell for shit all when I'm done, So I started looking at some half done projects and the fact of not knowing the quality of previous work or the matter of getting it registered as an ICV was a pain in the ass. So I was a bit dejected when this bike falls in my lap. Owner was motivated to sell, I was after something I could make my own with all the hard parts done, has NSW rego to boot. It was a bit rough around the edges but made a good base for a 70's inspired chopper. You might recognize this bike from Ozbike magazine some time ago.

Paughco Hardtail frame
Roadmax 2" over springer
1993 evo motor
Roadmax 5 speed with kick conversion
3 inch open primary
Ramflo filter
Bates style seat/headlight
Spool front hub, 21/16 combo
speedmaster front, coker rear
Paughco risers , shithouse bars with horrid controls
Kawi ZX rear brake master cylinder
GSXR 750 Rear brake caliper, custom bracket
plus other stuff.

Here are some pics from the build up and final studio shoot. (some NSFW tank paint)

I picked up the bike in as is condition, lot of oil leaks, dodgy wiring and other stuff that literally bewildered me (every bolt head stripped wtf)

I got to work fixing it, started with the brakes, both ends rooted. Rebuilt and bled. Front is not the best but rear is banana's.

Rode it around for a couple of months, was a sweet ride. Then the fuel tank split at the mounts.



ordered a narrowed frisco mounted sporty tank off throttleaddiction.



Tank arrived, mocked it up to see what worked, clearances etc.

You might notice the tank is mounted way back on the frame, I've specifically done this for a certain look. I like the Japanese inspired chops with the tank hard against the seatpan.

step 1. Drill a hole in a perfectly good frame




step 2. Ream it out with a hole saw to 1 inch





Step 3. Drop some 3/8 threaded bungs in




Step 4. Weld it up




step 5. Marvel in your creation.

Got jiggy with the Autosol and cleaned off 3 years of muck and abuse.









Got the Tank back from paint - by Smith Concepts in Sydney.

Fantasic

Mounted it up, because the bike was off the road for so long it wet sumped something severe and I thought I killed it haha.

Topped it up and took it for it's first ride in months, looks great in the sunlight.









Got a brass kicker coming, 90 degree petcock and an Aris triangle light to fit up next.





Still need to decide on bars, I have some 16 inch apes sitting around but thinking along the lines of some Lanesplitters or rabbitsears to be somewhat period correct (yeah I know it has an evo)

That really is spectacular!

Lots of love gone into that, looks cool

I am in awe of your skills (seriously... if I get near a welder people duck for cover).

Having some fuel supply issues I think, My belief was that a carb could "suck" uphill if you will, with this frisco mount with the petcock at the rear I had a straight outlet.



Today on it's first real ride was going well, stopped off to visit my dad and on the way home the thing stopped on me 3 times

Checked fuel filter, not good. Painter warned me inside could be filled with crud, I did swish it with fuel before installing but obviously not enough looking at the filter. May have been the culprit to the cut-outs. Replaced the filter with a new one.



Luckily today I got my Pro Motion 90 degree petcock in the mail, shortened up the line substantially and isn't so uphill in flow. I might need a lesson in carburetors. It sucked gas when choke was out, which seems correct, but not as much when it was pushed back in and idled. Still idled fine and gave it a few cracks of the throttle with good response. Will give it a test ride tomorrow. Hopefully the filter and shorter more direct path fixes my issues.





Also getting a bunch of blowby, I think the bag is too full. Whats about right for a stock 80 cube? 3 quarts off top of my head....

That. Is. Fucking. Awesome.

Great job , and great thread ...

Wow that rules!

Very nice work, how many k's do you get with the sporty tank?

Drop your back tyre down to 16 - 18 psi that help Chris

outstanding brash,great looking old school bike and great story as well.how did your fuel system issues go?could accomodate that carby lesson if needed.cheers.

Well it was embarrassingly simple solution, combined with the blocked fuel filter my new fuel cap wasn't venting properly, put the old one on and it sucks fuel like a pro

The weight of the fuel combined with the venturi effect of the carb pushes/sucks the fuel into the carb.

good job brash ,fuel cap was where i was thinking.cheers

Gees Brash, I feel like I'm on Jockey Journal.
Well done with the build mate.

Thanks. But sadly this new tank is leaking too.... got no idea whats happening this time, no obvious cracks. Fucking spewing.

Fresh paint work, literally done 100km at the most.