Amazing bike related thread for you guys to scroll through

[tt_four]

This isn't really about a GS, but I figured a couple of you guys might still be interested. I scrolled through all 24 pages last night in amazement, getting to bed way too late, and this kids abilities. He's rebuilding a beat up superhawk, and half the parts he needed he just made. The end product isn't quite what I expected, but I'm just not super crazy about the tank and tail shape, but still super impressed by the whole thing together. I'd be less impressed if it was some rich 40 year old guy with more tools than he knows what to do with, but from some of the comments he made, and some of the pictures he posted, it appears that he's just some 20ish year old kid who can make up anything he can think of. Anyway, if you have an hour to kill, check this thing out.....  http://www.customfighters.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15986&highlight=superhawk

And yes, you could just check out the first page, and skip to the last page, but like I said, I wasn't all that crazy about how the finished product looked, more about the fact that he made everything, which you have to go through page by page to see.

[lopee]

A metal lathe, huh. Id say that kid has more tools than my house is worth. Anyone can make custom parts with the right tools. End result looks like poo, but we know its put together nicely.

[tt_four]

Yeah, lathe, pipe benders, I don't even know what else. As I was reading it, semi interested, I assumed it was some older guy who worked in a machine shop and just knew what was going on. Then randomly a third of the way through he said something about breaking his dad's truck and hoping he doesn't get kicked out of the house, which is when I realized it was some kid and became pretty fascinated. He made the rearsets, including the rear brake lever and shift lever, made the exhaust, the braces on the swingarm, the subframe, the gas tank, a ton of random parts for the engine, I don't even remember what else. I wish I had the skills to make anything my mind can dream up. My goal for this next winter is to learn to weld, so that'll atleast be a start.

[brickerenator]

That bike is awesome

[bassmechanicsz]

Not really a big fan of the end result.  It is cool that he did make so many custom parts but it is also a whole hell of alot easier to make that many custom parts when you have all the tools that he has.  If only i had that many tools then i would begin to have that much fun.

[DoD#i]

... half the parts he needed he just made. .... I'd be less impressed if it was some rich 40 year old guy with more tools than he knows what to do with, but from some of the comments he made, and some of the pictures he posted, it appears that he's just some 20ish year old kid who can make up anything he can think of.

A metal lathe, huh. Id say that kid has more tools than my house is worth. Anyone can make custom parts with the right tools.

You don't have to be rich to have tools - rare for the "rich" to do so, really. My metal lathe set me back $650 - $400 to buy it, $250 for the riggers to get it out of the basement it was in - of course, it's 120-130 years old, but works OK despite that, for non-production use. Must make me a rich guy, I suppose. Feel free not to respect me - haven't made much with it lately, been building a shop instead.

As for "anyone can make..." ...not so much. Some folks can make crap and scrap with the finest of modern machining centers, others can make lovely stuff with the crummiest of barely adequate tools. Skill counts. So does Mr. Ford's maxim - "Whether you think you can or whether you think you can't, you're probably right." That's more about your mindset than about what you already know how to do, by the way.

As far as I can tell from my aged perspective, it's less common for young folks to have any experience making things these days - shop classes have been axed at schools, and cruising the internet or playing video/computer games seems to have replaced a lot of the messing about with mechanical stuff that we 40-90 year old folks did when we were kids. Changing a bicycle tube is apparently beyond many kids and quite a few of their parents these days, it seems - so they take it to the bike shop. How the heck you learn anything by taking it to the bike shop is beyond me.

[08GSSteve]

+1

I am a boilermaker by trade and not just anyone can grab a welder or a length of machine steel and turn it into a part or weld with no porosity.

The end result does not matter it is the fact this guy gave it a go and put his skills to use.  If this is attempt 1 then good on him I say

[tt_four]

Yeah, I have hopes for the future. I remember being in 8th grade and tearing a bicycle apart for the first time, and for the last couple years in college I spent my time as a bike mechanic in a couple different shops, and now random guys in the office always come to me asking how to fix random bike parts that seem like common knowledge to me. I hope to eventaully get to that point with motorcycles. I feel comfortable messing with random stuff, but have absolutely no clue how the inside of an engine works, and probably won't know for a while. My plan is to spend this summer through winter working on this GS, and when spring comes around, hope I know enough to pick up a crashed cbr900rr, tlr/s, something a long those lines, strip it down, weld a new subframe, some riser bars, and make a giant overpowered version of the GS out of it.

I'm pretty good at figuring out how random things work, which I picked up from my dad. The past 2 years worth of learning and money have all gone to the new house and figuring out how all that works, but I'm really looking forward to messing with motorcycles again. I've gotta buy a welder first and see what I can figure out. To be fair, I do like video games on occasion, but 95% of my time is spend doing wheelies on MV Brutales and Buell xb9s up and down the straight aways on tourist trophy, so I'm still focused.

[DoD#i]

Let you in on a little secret - other than certain minor maintenance items (valve adjustments, mostly) that are not that hard to learn, you don't need to know in detail how the inside of the engine works - as has been documented here more than a few times by people who try it anyway, rebuilding the internals usually costs more than a used, working engine.

...particularly if looking at "crashed sportbikes." There are rarely even broken in yet. Just make sure that the crash was not aided by throwing a rod from over-revving the thing. If the engine cranks over and has compression, you can probably ignore the internals, as it's unlikely to have even 5000 miles on it. Finding a set of forks that's not pretzeled may be a more difficult hunt.

[average]

wow, is all I can say

[O.C.D.]

Ok, the OP was right, that was a good hour read.

Damn that is some nice work.  That "kid" is lucky as his "dad" has a shop that he can work in. 

I actually like the tank and intake idea the best out of the entire build!  I have no dislikes other than two brake lights.  The second one makes it look like an afterthought.

To have those tools and aluminum welding abilities is very damn impressive though.  He is very lucky to have that shop.

[tt_four]

Yeah, the tank isn't bad, but it doesn't look as good as I pictured when I saw the shape he carved out of the foam. The only thing I don't really like is the tail, it's too flat for my tastes, but I'm not criticizing it.

Yeah, I can handle finding new forks for a crashed bike if I have to, but I'd love to find one that is still functional to ride, save for the subframe, any plastics, lights(I don't want to mess with electrical systems and wiring, but I don't mind finding some new lights and just hooking those up and making mounting brackets), bars, and then anything stupid like broken footpegs or clutch/brake levers. The only thing I worry about, is the 90% chance that if a bike has been crashed, it was probably mistreated as well. Honest good riders make mistakes too, so not to say all crashed bikes are bad news, but being realistic, with how popular stunting is at the moment, I'm most worried that buying a used bike might have a worn out clutch or have been run dry of oil from riding at 12k rpm while being vertical for miles at a time on the highway. Those are the kinds of things I'd prefer to avoid. I used to do wheelies when I had my triumph, but I NEVER toyed with the clutch, and I never held them for more than a couple seconds, kids are pretty crazy now a days though.

Guarunteed if I showed up to check out a gsxr, and the kid selling it is wearing a wife beater and a sideways ball cap with a flat brim, I'm just walking away, but I've probably got a much better chance if I'm searching for bikes like a TL1000s, which doesn't really have the same appeal to most people, but clearly has just as much potential as a streetfighter. Now that I'm not 18 any more, I think the low end torque would make for a better bike than all the top end I used to enjoy on back roads. I think I've calmed down enough that I could actually enjoy putzing around on a bike under 5k rpm.

[ohgood]

+1

I am a boilermaker by trade and not just anyone can grab a welder or a length of machine steel and turn it into a part or weld with no porosity.

The end result does not matter it is the fact this guy gave it a go and put his skills to use.  If this is attempt 1 then good on him I say

+1

you, friend are a maker. makers can appreciate the making. talkers like to critique, and not much else.

ain't it fun ?

this is pretty cool. thanks for posting the thread.

[jrains89]

this guy is my hero, amazing fabrication skills. he should use this as a resume.

[werase643]

A friend of mine has a TL-R in Wilmington NC for sale.....
project bike with a custom tail frame in AL(tig welded)

PM me for contact info if interested

[tt_four]

I'm not gonna be able to afford another bike until spring at the earliest, and even at that point it's gonna be a pretty cheap one. My bank account is already empty, and just as soon as I get to a 3-pay (birthday)month, the governor of PA has managed to NOT PASS THE BUDGET FOR THE 6TH YEAR IN A ROW!! Instead of furloughing a bunch of non-essential state employees like usual, of which I'm not effected, his plan this year is to have all state employees just keep working without pay, and he'll just wait until it gets passed to pay us. It feels great to be a miniature chess piece is some politicians scam to get his budget passed. Anyway, when he's done screwing up our state, and you see Ed Rendell running for a federal spot, make sure you vote the other way!   

[The Buddha]

The tank on that superhawk looks like a GS one ... 
Cool.
Buddha.