Bring your bike to Leadfist.
No… this bike is not a bologna sandwich. it is a bike. and you cannot eat it… but bologna sandwiches are yummy, yes? this bike is a ’73 TX650 that i built with a friend. he was inspired by the Japanese brat-style bike builders, so he brought it to Leadfist for that bratty look. I never like to stick to one style, so i really enjoy the opportunity to work on projects that allow me to explore other influences. we shaved and lowered the front fork for that nice sleeeeek look, modified the frame for a drop-seat…
and added a set of Honda Rebel shocks. we also fitted it with a Triumph rear fender. nothing too extreme… just a basic, simple, rideable motorcycle. Thank you Kevin for bringing your bike to Leadfist. -Kyle Edgar, Leadfist Cycles.
Kevin- I took a few quick pix of the bike tonight in the garage. I was waiting to finish up a few things (black pipes, neaten up the wiring, psychadelic paint) and clean it up before taking some pix outside and submitting them. I kind of like the dirtiness of the bike/ pix though so I guess it’s cool. And some lady knocked the bike over and bent the forks a bit- don’t know if you can tell in the pix.
I’d love to tell you more about the build- it took a year because of my school schedule, and it was my first full custom. Kyle really helped me out- I had a vision (Visiting Bratstyle a few months before helped with that) but without him it would be a very different bike.
Talk to you soon,
Kevin
PS- there’s a bunch more pix of the bike in it’s various stages on my flickr site here:
And I forgot to mention that the seat was drawn by me and tooled by my friend Jay at Pirate Upholstery in Kingston NY.
that right there is a bad ass lil scoot! Just screaming to be ridden hard and put away wet.
cool love the seat and bars
Very Cool. Too many awesome points to comment on. How does it ride with the Rebel shocks?
One of the best proportional/styled brats I’ve seen….I am not usually a bratstyle fan, but this one looks great!
I dig the seat work too…
I don’t usually comment, but the lines on that thing are perfect. who needs a hardtail anyways!! Thanks for the inspiration.
that bike is sweet. What are you using to run the bike without a battery? I need to have that for my bobber im building
It doesn´t always have to be hardtail to look good – this is a real nice one!
this bike is very purdy…i’m interested in hearing more about the battery set up too…
Nice. It’s a pitty that we can’t build these kind of bikes in Holland. There are a lot of rules here about things like the mounting of the license plate, lights, exhausts, frame modifocations, clignoteurs and more useless stuff. A friend of mine build a radical hardtail Ducati chopper and convinceed the cops that it was en american import. He was lucky..so far Enjoy your ride
Nice bike good looking !!!
Thanks everyone. The Rebel shocks are a pretty sweet ride, not too hard and not too soft.The battery is mounted underneath the swing arm and is really small. Just enough juice to get her going.
Kevin, the bike turned out great!! Nice work fellas.
Nice looking bike may I ask what kind of tank that is ?
Dig it I’m a brat dude ( bobber dude) cool guys!!
I hate bologna sandwiches , they even fry their bologna around these parts. sick…
Bike looks great, it seems the curved seat rails really create a nice flow.
You did well to shake the twisted bars
and I’d really like to get a closer look at those upper motor mounts
GREAT bike. I would also like to know what kinda of gas tank that is and where you got it.
thanks,
chuck
I like those exhaust pipes
I believe the tank is a single cap Alien Egg
the flicker link shows more detail on the build
Thats one sick bike with perfect proportions.
@Willem: You can make the same bikes in Holland. There’s tons of them.
THIS is a brat bike for sure! You have pulled off the styling ques and the stance perfectly. One thing that kills me is when people state that they built a bratty bike and all it has are shocks and lowered forks. There is more to it than meets the eye and you have captured that. I bet that trip to their shop DID help a lot. I am loving this bike! Kudos to you!
Josh
G&L Choppers
Hey.The gas tank is a single cap mustang 2.2 gallon.
Hey Guy’s thanks for all the kind words. Hard/ fast rules so I wanted a bike that could handle the job (front brake/ rear shocks) while still looking good. I did rub the fender once after hitting a series of big bumps but that’s about it. I live in a small college town and it’s fun to rip up Main St and scare all the kiddies! Surprisingly I haven’t gotten into too much trouble with it yet- knock on wood.
The pipes came on the bike- they’re 2″ open pipes welded to the stock headpipe stumps. It was a horrible 70′s “chopper” with 6″ over forks and 11″ twisted Z bars (pix on my flickr). The bars on it now are short Z’s from the 70′s. Actually Bodhi is right-the tank is a repop copy of an old GMA called an Axed/ Alien Egg.
And my friend used to eat fried bologna sandwiches. He said they tasted just like hot dogs but I wasn’t buying it.
Nice scoot dude. Well F*ing done. Canyou tell me what the front end is and what the front wheel is? Cheers
antiquatedmule.blogspot.com
The front end is off a later XS650 with 35mm forks- dropped 2″, and the wheel is from a Yamaha enduro.
What Yamaha Enduro has a 21″ wheel and a 17mm axle. Did you have to fab spacers? Please let me know I’ve been searching for this answer all over the net.
antiquatedmule.blogspot.com
I just made the 15 mil axle fit with some shims- the spacers fit the XS forks. I think it’s an XT550 wheel.
I want to say whats already been said. killer ride, way up top on the list.
did you try to run it without the top motor mounts before you fabbed up yours?
No, I knew I wanted to keep the vibrations down. I’ve seen plenty of people run without them but it deffinately vibrates more and I heard it can actually crack the base of the cylinders.
why didnt the tooled seat make the final version? its way cooler than that blank black one.
That is the final version- pix were taken after the ones with the black seat. I meant that I still want to finish painting the bike before it’s totally done.
did you have to move your rear shock mounts?
Hey sir,
I used a photo of your bike on my blog.
Speedindoug.blogspot.com
If you don’t want it up there, let me know and it will be gone.
Thanks,
Speedin’ Doug
Hey Kevin….nice talkin and ridin with you the other day.
Can you send me the phone # and address for Leadfist Cycles?
cosmicsunartstudio@yahoo.com
Thanks,
Robert
Yes, we moved the mounts.
Doug, sweet blog. are you heading up the ride/ meet at the FDR skate park? For a while I thought it was the west side skatepark in Manhattan. Stupid me. I might try to get down anyway if I can get people to ride.
Robert, alway’s a pleasure, check your email.
great job on a very cool bike….specially love the seat, but then again i got a soft spot for skulls….RIDE ON !!!
What kind of tank did you use?
I’m never disappointed with any of your posts. Great job once again!