Justin’s road to chopper glory-1979 xs650
- 58
Time to start chopping
A mulligan-machine update:
Justin’s road to chopper glory all started out within the package of a bone stock 1979 xs650. For about a year or so, he rode the beast in stock configuration whilst planning its demise/rebirth. With a pile of parts and a good idea of what he wanted to build, it was time to start chopping.
The bike was completely disassembled, to begin trimming the fat. Extra tabs and bracketry fell victim to a variety of cutting tools. A hardtail from G&L choppers had been welded on, along with the newly fabbed neck gussets, battery box, and assorted mounts. A multitude of parts began to find their place within his vision. Aaron at Vanguard Cycle whipped up a set of 2” under forks, some nicely shaved legs, and his signature 21” mini drum.
Any ordinary bars just wouldn’t do the front end justice, so a set was commissioned from Craig at Front Street Cycle. Rounding out the parts rodeo was a shallow tunneled Wassell, cheapo seat snatched from E-bay, stock front fender repurposed to the rear, and a mag wheel for some extra class.
With the fab work done, it was time to move on to some color. Justin’s father played a huge role in this bike’s completion. Armed with some rattle cans, and a crap ton of talent, he sprayed every part on this build including the far out lace job you see on the frisco tank. How rad is that?
Just like most builds, the bike is never truly finished. Plans are already in the works for some new pipes and a possible jockey shift setup. With that said, THANKS go out to all that have helped in the process, especially Justin’s Dad.
- Captain awesome >
maaaaaan!! that laceay paintjob on th etank really hits the spot!! insanely cool!
lurve the colorscheme as well! low, narrow and brutal bike!!!!!!
damn fine work!!
/Kalle
What’s not to hate?
lol
Saw that paint job on The Underground… killer.
fruckin sweeet… hard to believe thats a rattle job. looks good.
Give your Dad a “HELL YES” from all of us chopper freaks ,that paint kicks ass FANRATTLECANTASTIC !!
this bike is incredible man! great job to everyone involved. The tank is HOT FIRE man, awesome work.
Oh my Gaad! This bike is sick! The front end, bars, TANK, clean clean clean. Great lines, love those G&L tail sections. Nice one. Love the satin finish on the tank!
sweet rig. nice rattle can. i love how easy lace is and good it turns out.
sweet bike!!!!
cool bike man. thats some tallent right there that paint job with rattle cans.
I agree with EVERY posting above….
GREAT BIKE!
KILLER PAINT!
Nice build very cool !!!
Wow! Rattle can! amazing! this is how i want my bike…love the handle bars!
This bike is RAD!!! What G&L tail did you use? And that paint is way epic.
This bike rocks !
Awesome job. cant beleive thats a rattle can paint job, I had to double take on that statement haha.
yep as been stated, sweet!!!
Hey I remember seeing an article on how to paint a tank with cans on chopcult. is that where your dad learned this?
pure class
Thanks guys, Yeah my dad nailed the paint, he used to paint some bikes and vans back in the 70s so he knows how to do it right. I’m happy with the way it turned out
First off, great looking bike. One question I have is that I too have a G&L weld-on rigid, but how did you use the stock rear wheel axle adjusters? I’d love to see any close up photos you have of that.
Thanks,
E.J.
ejnogaski@yahoo.com
Justin’s Dad shouldn’t be contributing to his delinquency.
Sweet scoot! I love it, even down to the rear mag wheel. Hope my build turns out as clean as yours.
EJ, I just used some washers to space out the adjusters on the axle plates and mounted them like the stock ones. Had to do modifiy the caliper a little to get it to fit right but it worked
Ej what’s wrong with the adjusters that are built in to the tail?
Yeah theres nothing wrong with G&L adjusters, I just flipped my caliper to the inside edge of the axle plate so the adjuster bolts were in the way, If your brake setup is in the stock position those adjuster will work fine
Man, you don’t often see a shot of a custom from the rear, but there is something really appealing to me about the look of this bike from behind. Maybe because the weight looks like it is all waaaay down low or something. I don’t know what it is, but I like it.
The word “Whilst” isn’t used enough anymore……
Still a great build!
Love the paint. One hell of a bike!
Do we have a tut on how to do a tank like that?
i’ll get some pics together for a tutorial, theres also a good one on The Chopcult forum
live the bike. nice and clean. was wondering what type of tires your running. stock size? and what is the rear fender off of?
sorry meant love the bike
Reeb… The axle adjusters that are built into the tail are probably just fine. It’s hard for me to explain, but basically I’m running the caliper inside the frame if that makes sense.
I agree with Justin. There is nothing wrong with G&L adjusters. They did an excellent job. But with the rear caliper inside the frame the adjuster bolt is really tight. This way there would be more space to use the axle adjuster.
EJ… I sent you a couple pics, not sure if its what your looking for?
I’m diggin that tank
I keep looking at this bike its up there in my top five of my taste! Every bit of its style…GReat job and the paint is classic chopper style! LOve it!DEAD ED in TExas!!!
It’s amazing that this paint job was done with spray paint… What a Rad BIKE…
The fact that this paint job was done with spray paint is TITS! Awesome man. Anyplace you have a build thread posted up?
excellent work, is that a 4 or 5 inch stretch from G&L? I need to oreder one of those looks great!
Brian its a 4 inch stretch with a slight drop seat.
For anybody interested Im putting together a build thread and tutuorial for the paint, I’ll post a link when its up
so fuckin excited about your ride!!!!!!!!
Man I wish they had a built in build sheet for you builders. You people never answer all the good questions, LOL.
SO many good ideas and this bike inspires me to get out in the garage!!! Thanks for the new wallpaper. HAhahhaha.
~Bro
nice bike!! Is that a BC licence plate I see to. Im in Vancouver i’ll be keeping a eye out for your machine.
Hey, im from Vancouver BC and would love to see this bike in person, im thinking about doing a xs…
That looks like Burnaby
Sure does…I would love to have a chat with you justin I just bought a xs and am planning on building a bike just like yours, I’m a stainless steel fabricator so maybe I can help you out a bit a well.
Sknittle@telus.net
Haha yeah its Burnaby, good eye!!
Burn aby burn !
Nice machine for sure. You & your dad did a great job!
My favorite bike on here. Not overdone yet not all gross and ratty.
Hey thanks guys for all the comments I appreciate it! So I stripped the bike back down to the frame over the last couple months and I’m fixing up all the little things that were bugging me and making a few little changes, sissy bar/new pipes and maybe a new seat?
I’ll be posting the progress on my blog http://namenblood.blogspot.com/ if anybodys inerested, I’m putting the how-to for the lace job on there too
very nice stance. I love the ride height. I’ve been shopping for a very low stance. I’d appreciate it if you can give me details on the ride height and/or the specs on the frame/rear-end. thanks. and very nice bike!!!
I LOVE the lace, man! I know that skulls and skeletons have been popular themes for chops and customs for decades….. so much so that I’m just absolutely want to hurl everytime I see yet another bike with a skull on it. Can’t anyone do something original these days? Why are there SO MANY copy cats? Many KUDOS to you for breaking THAT mold. The lace is cool, it has not been overdone like skulls have and it looks totally “OLD SCHOOL!”
I was really happy with the way the bike turned out last year and I got alot of positive feedback, so I did the obvious and took it all apart and changed everything, hahaha. Im digging the new version but its a completely different bike, I’ll post pics when its up and running. I still have the lace tank hanging on the wall, maybe my kid can use it on there first chop in twenty five years?
Sick bike.
What time is on the rear wheel?
TIRE*
Are you still running these bars?! Ps where you from?!