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Rawge
and Levi's |
Below are some
start-to-finish pictures
of the mini chopper project. Don't be too critical, we are amateurs!
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| Here we are trying to get the basic frame to accept an axle and a fat 10" tire. There was just enough room for rim, bearings, and the brake disc. We will weld in some better support later. Levi has a broken arm, so he is acting as photographer, tool chaser and idea man. | With some of the rear-end worked out and disc brake installed, we are now adding a bracket to accept a modified small motorcycle seat and ultimately a chrome sissy bar. The seat is set as far back as possible, to put the weight on the rear tire and lighten the front end. | We found a cool looking old gas tank with raised 3-D fins. I have no idea what was the original application, but I have never seen another like it. Raised fins ahead of the seat will ensure that the drivers holds tight and stays in the seat. | My welding skills leave a lot to be desired, so on the most critical areas, such as the steering neck, I tack-welded the parts in place and took it to a certified welder for finishing. | Seat, tank brackets
& rear fender are
welded in. We installed a cut-down sissy bar from an old school Harley.
The engine is a 5 hp Briggs and Stratton flathead. The engine and fender were from Northern Hydraulics |
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| The old tank required a ton of sanding and body work. After a solid coat of primer and black gloss, we added some wavy red flames and then top-coated with 6-7 coats of clear enamel. |
The rear tire is so fat, we had a hard time locating a fender. We finally bought a large trailer fender and cut it down to fit. We also painted it black and red to match the tank. |
We built new front forks and triple-tree. The new neck is now straight and stronger. The forks are 48" long and the whole bike is 7-1/2' long! It may end up being shortened, but we're going to try this first. | We took the hard road and in true monster garage fashion, made a front fender out of a discarded CO2 bottle. We cut it with a jig-saw, heated it, bent to shape and polished. | The process of reassembling the bike is slower than expected. There are a million small bolts that require a trip to the hardware store. We added a kill switch, kickstand, and chrome foot pegs. |
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| Here you can see the Stainless Steel exhaust, polished aluminum fender brackets and chrome axle bolt covers. We used bolt covers on both sides, as well as on the bolt that holds the triple-tree to the frame. | Here is a view of the engine and mounting areas. To covers some of the large areas, as in front of the engine, we used polished aluminum made from old advertising signs. We got the aluminum material from a metal recycler for cheap. | View of front tire and aluminum fender. Front tire is 20" aluminum bike rim, painted red. To attach the rim, we cut the forks from a bicycle and inserted the fork tubes into the pieces and welded them in place. | Here is a view of the front forks, chrome risers, and handle bars. |
Test ride day #2 After a few failures, we got a few of the bugs worked out. But we still have plenty to work on. Check back here soon and I am going to list the problems we encountered so that if you are building one, you might bypass our mistakes . |
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Back to Rawge's Mini Chopper Page | |
| Here is a view of the complete bike | And here is the other side | ...and look - it almost fits this fat boy! |
Briggs 5.5 hp $209.00 Clutch/brake lever $8.99Centrifugal Comet Torque Converter $149.00 Clutch $22.99
