Has anyone ridden a rigid rear end?

[edo]

Thanks blokes...all interesting stuff.

I like the look of an early BSA bantam tank, I just need to measure one up. Believe it or not they a made repro in china!

The rigid rear is on its way to me, with a few other bits. I got myself some wire wheels, which I'll get stripped possibly this weekend. I'll get 2 new 18 inch rims & spokes, then get the hubs polished or powdercoated.

This bloke is apparently the man for rephasing...I'll get him to do the other one but the one for the bobber will stay stock...but he will probably get the gig to sort out cleaning the head & replacing valve guides etc.

[Gammaboy]

The Bantam tank is about the size of a grapefruit....

[edo]

oh...well that will look fucking hilarious...lol.

I'll be doing a search at the old shitbike wreckers...or, I'll use a stock one which actually looks fine

[Gammaboy]

I may be exaggerating, but Bantams are rediculously small bikes

[80DGY]

I have a sporty tank here if you're keen? it's some sort of repro tank, if you're interested I'll dig it out for a few pics?

[turbo510]

I have a brand new one of these sitting on the shelf waiting to go on my cafe racer project. You are welcome to check it out if you want.

[edo]

Cheers Tom...not keen on a sporty tank, it seems thats what everyone uses.

I have no idea what a 360 is but Im guessing its something old & italian...& perhaps racey?
That actually looks like something I might use on the 2nd XS...but not this one.

[Gammaboy]

Benelli.

[edo]

Anyone know what tank that is?

[itsnotagsr]

Looks a bit like an SR tank.

[edo]

Nah, it has bolts up near the head tube...forward of the tank if you like.

I had thought of an SR tank because they are easy to fit due to the wide tunnel (oil in frame)...plus you can hid crap in there.

I think the pic above might be a honda rebel 250 tank, but Im not sure.

[80DGY]

Couple of reasonably priced (? no idea on shipping though) tanks here

http://www.lowbrowcustoms.com/index....duct_list&c=36

[edo]

Yeah, cool...I'll just have to measure up the space Ive got to fill with a tank, I hate big gaps...

[edo]

My hardtail arrived...& I hacked the back off the frame. I took some pics on my camera, will load them tonight. In the meantime, here are some rock solid edo spec pics for you to laugh at from my phone.

[The Pupat]

Where's Mikey?

[edo]

I reckon I was him yesterday...hair all over the joint wearing shorts, t shirt & thongs holding a motorbike frame in one hand & a grinder with cutting wheel in the other...OH&S...GTFO

[turbo510]

Hardtail looks good, are you happy with the quality?

[edo]

Yeah, it looks great, nice welds & looks super strong.

[cheapracer]

So Ive got this XS 650 frame thats fairly fucked about with. Its had a few chops & changes & has been modified with lower seat rails etc...and its going to be hard to make it look even borderline acceptable.
Im building a low, fat wheeled bobber thing out of this one. It will be kick only & really minimalist. Really wont get ridden much at all either.
So I can buy a prefabbed weld on rear section to turn it into a proper rigid rear end which would clean up the lines & work better...but just how harsh will it be?

Not only have I ridden lots of hardtails I have ridden an XS 650 hardtail semi chopper and fuck that.The only reasonable hardtail I have ridden are WLA's and only because they have a beaut suspension pole seat but overall they are fucked too. Have you ridden any XS 650's? Vibes from hell they are.

And that tank above looks like an original XS 650 Special tank which would figure. Actually looking harder at it, it is a modded 650 Special.

[cheapracer]

just watching a chopper program, where the ran a spring based shock cantilevered under the seat. seems betterer than a normal spring seat.

Besides the WLA suspension pole, the best hardtail seat I sat on was one where the guy used a cut down and modded horizontal leaf spring, much better than the shitty aftermarket coil spring ones.

[Giggle gas]

never ridden a rigid XS650 (never ridden an XS650 for that matter) rode a sporty with a rigid conversion, and a truimph with a bolt on rear, the triumph had good springs (chopper shox maybe) on the seat and it wasn't bad, not too rough, the sporty had nothing, was uncomfortable but stupidly cool, wouldn't ride either around australia, but for a bar hopper, it's not a problem. Less air in the rear tire helps the comfort, but not really the handling...............

[edo]

Not only have I ridden lots of hardtails I have ridden an XS 650 hardtail semi chopper and fuck that.The only reasonable hardtail I have ridden are WLA's and only because they have a beaut suspension pole seat but overall they are fucked too. Have you ridden any XS 650's? Vibes from hell they are.

And that tank above looks like an original XS 650 Special tank which would figure. Actually looking harder at it, it is a modded 650 Special.

Yeah, ridden a couple of stock worn out XS's...they vibe like mad, but for this one I dont care...if it went more than 30km at a time I'll be surprised!

Tank is off a special, the one I have sitting in the shed. Thats also how I know its not a modded special frame, the bit where the swingarm, pedals etc bolts on is very different & appears to be an early one...nevertheless this doesnt actually matter because whatever it is, its FUCKED.

Started cleaning it all up to join the 2 bits together & the bottom rails have bog on the rust holes...the bog seems to be holding in compacted dirt. Now either this thing has spent time at the bottom of a dam, or someone decided to dampen the vibes by filling the frame with dirt (I have heard of sand, but FFS not dirt) & its rusted from the inside out. It also appears that the engine mounts are held on mostly with bog and they are crooked....there would be a lot of work saving this mess.
So, that frame is going in the bin & I'll find another special frame to start this with...

While Im hunting for that I'll get started on the other one I reckon...