Serious amount of rake
I thought I’d share some pictures of an unfinished project bike I recently obtained in a trade. I had purchased a Buell on Ebay and had it shipped to me. I could tell before it even came off the trailer it was not even close to what was represented in the ad. The bike was a mess. I was getting ready to start buying a bunch of parts to get the Buell back in shape when I checked Craigslist to see if anything I needed was available locally. As fate would have it the guy who I got the XS from had his bike listed for sale and it happened to be on the top of the column the moment I looked.
click pic to enlarge
I called the number listed in the ad on a whim and went to see the bike that night. I’d pretty much talked myself out of getting the XS until I saw the bike. The XS looked to me like a cross between a chopper and something you see on the salt at Bonneville. Even though my Buell was ugly it did run and that interested the guy who owned the XS. A trade was made and the XS is with me and awaiting some finishing touches.
The bike is based on a ’72 XS,(Yes,it does have the compression release!). The guy I got if from said the bike was put together by Dutch Trash Choppers in Portland OR. I’ve found some contact info for the builder on Myspace but have been unable to contact him to confirm this.
The highlights of the build are a custom single down tube hardtail frame with a serious amount of rake, drilled HD Fatboy wheels with Avon Speedmaster tires, a tail section that appears to be made out of a couple halves of a fuel tank, a headlight that started life as a desk lamp, and a cool center stand that has skateboard wheels so you can roll the bike around when its on the stand.
The big things to finish are the hand & foot controls, plumbing the brakes, wiring, and waking the motor up from it’s long slumber. I’m torn between doing a full wiring harness or keeping it simple. I like keeping both my hands on the bars so I’d at least need turn signals.
I think I’m going to reuse the stock risers and add some narrowed drag bars instead of the clip-on’s. There is some nice work on the bike along with some funky stuff. The fuel shut-off valve on the R side of the tank is a water valve from a toilet!
My current plan is to get the bike up and running in the state it’s in and then fix some of the little thing I don’t like later. I haven’t measured the rake/trail on this thing yet but am hoping,(Praying!), that the bike is at least road worthy w/o too many bad habits.
I’m looking forward to riding the bike but am dreading a verdict that it handles like a nightmare and that I’ve ended up with a cool garage sculpture.
This one will just be a short distance commuter for me. Please feel free to give me some suggestions or opinions, good, bad, or otherwise.
Thanks for looking!
Blake
I agree with Ron, the wheels do look better on yours.
pt on some baby ape’s
Looks unreal!
It’s more art then a bike, very cool.
2 under dna springer. id find a local shop that could make the rake stock. thatwould be a sick bike. it is sick but make it yours. im just down the road if you decide it is just art
Cool XS! I saw it before on the Dutch Trash Choppers site.Nol did it again!
Thanks for feedback!
I’m hoping to be posting a full update with pics soon. The bike is running & now has a single flat-slide carb, fabbed flat-track style bars, and late model triumph calipers. We’re waiting for a break in the weather to give it an initial shake-down ride. I’m still thinking it will need the head angle tightened up a bit to be ridable but time will tell. Will advise when I know more. Hopfully the update won’t come from me in the hospital in traction!
this bike has generated so much talk and speculation, I know that I’m not alone in waiting anxiously for the update. Video would be cool, too !!! : )>
Well it stopped raining here after 3 days so it must have stopped there so hurry up and taker out and lets see!
Yes mother!
I hear you. I’m anxious to see if the bike’s worth all the attention its recieved. Unfortunately the bike has to conform to my schedule not the other way around. Still, at this point I’d like to get something back for the $ I’m out on this so far. A ride around the block would be nice.The motor’s fired up & running good. The brakes are getting close. The HD rear master cylinder that came on the bike wasn’t up to the challenge so that’s getting changed out. The front rotor wasn’t fitting anywhere close to right so we’re working on a substitute that will fit the wheel but still line up with the new caliper. With the wider bars and a new steering stabilizer I’m hoping to gain the upper hand on the steering. I spotted another pic of the bike online that shows it with some cast, spoked wheels (Sportster?) that I think look even better the the Fatboy wheels.
be verrrry careful, brother. maybe some training wheels til you get the hang of it. no posts since may. you still alive?
Hey John,
I’m not dead yet,(I’m trying!), and the bike can now be officially be counted among the living. I’m just waiting for a clear day to clean it up a bit then snap some new pic’s for a full update. The highlights are:
New custom bars (An attempt to control steering)
Brakes off a late model Triumph
Single flat-slide Mikuni carb
Baffle in the pipe
Rudimentary wiring
Electric starter added back in
I found a photo of the bike online from a previous owner (?) where it had a set of cast spoked 19/16 wheels off a sporty (?) mounted on the bike. I think it looks better with these wheels then the Fatboy wheels. I found a set of these on CL cheap and they’re standing by. The bike seem to run well but I’ve yet to have a leg over it. I’m not sure where I’m headed from here on this thing at this point. Stay tuned.
Thanks Blake for the update. This is one of my “top10″ bikes of all times.
You are corect that bike was built by us at Dutch Trash Choppers in Portland Ore. The bike was sold as none running.Need help call DTC at 360 281 3660