Ollie666

So its been a while, we haven't actually touched the bike since we got back from motorcycle social. garage repairs and life in general have been priority, the show went really well and the bike got a very good response! Here's a couple of pictures of the bikes in the limelight Got a very good response a lot of people loved it! Really enjoyed chatting to everyone we had a real good time! A lot of amazing machines! Here's another picture of my good friend who welded the bike getting a feel for it! Baring in mind hes a lot shorter than me and can only just reach the footpegs! Thanks for looking!

Right we have spent 2 evenings this week working the pipes out and getting them all tacked together, and the carb manifold is all tacked, now sent off to my mate at work too buzz them up, been building our own cables too and other little crappy bits cleaning and polishing fitting lights and number plate etc., little humorous bit of tank writing (if you've seen the videos you'll get it) Really chuffed with this thing and how its turned out! Show is next weekend, she wont be running and riding but she will still be there in all of her glory Cant wait too get her out on the road now and rack up some miles! Lets hope the engines good as we've not had it running yet lol. cheers for looking guys

Basically as it is now at the back is how its staying and that's at its lowest, once you sit on it the seat does touch the fender so were going to solid mount the seat but with a bar of sorts within the spring, well that's our plan anyway, and then ill be bringing the front down a smidge too to match it! We made a bar to replace the sgock temporarily at stock ride height and the bike just didn't look right, so went back to the original plan

Honestly dude I don't even have a leg to stand on, as ive never ridden with apes, I just want to be riding and people to think what the f#ck is that, or how the hell is he riding that! I know ill probably get aches and pain doing long journeys etc but sitting on it now stationary if feels like a lovely position (ask me again after its on the road lol) but its the same with the legs, foot extensions have been kicked forward 6 inches, arms and legs are literally both stretched out straight!

Cheers Black hat means a lot! So this weekend has been quite a turning point for the bike in my eyes, and its going to be very marmite for some people, I love it and that's all that matters I guess! This is what happens when you run out of parts and have nothing else to do! Here she is in her current condition Let me know your thoughts guys, love getting feedback! Not a lot left to do, finish the exhaust, finish single carb manifold, wiring loom,and then that's pretty much it! Cant wait!

Physically I wouldn't say so, but the swing arm against the seat and frame (although the seat has no springs yet) its still very close and its lost the straight line where the swingarm follows down from the frame which is also bothering me, we were wondering if it would be possible to extend the shock somehow?

So here's where were at now, tyres finally arrived! We were first to purchase the new 15'' TT classic so I was told, waited long enough for the container!! Managed to get them fitted to the wheels and fitted to the bike, super chuffed with the outcome! Next issue we run into is the fact that I did the j-slam mod when the bike was first purchased and now it sits way too low, and obviously its been powder coated so we need to find another way around that without hacking at the frame! Its come out a million times better than I thought it would if im honest, everything else we need is in the post, got to build an exhaust from scratch and the carb manifold needs finishing, got to build all of our cables and fit all the lights etc, rear fender and wiring! Not to far away now! Let me know what you think, its come a long way from a standard dragstar

2 steps forward 3 steps back We really weren't happy with the finish on the engine, so we tore it all down again and repainted it in the pj1 wrinkle paint, which seems to have gone on a hell of a lot nicer, so the engines now fitted back in the frame! Also done a test panel taking the paint off on the engine fins, nice little touch pretty sure we will be doing the whole engine at some point Next up was the single Harley carb manifold, not finished yet but its ready to be welded once the plates come back from the laser cutters! Also got a cone to go onto the carb receiving end to bring it up to the correct diameter. Cheers for looking, holidays this week for both of us, the 30th of july deadline is fast approaching! Fingers crossed we can pull something out of our @rse

If it happens it happens, worst case its a 50p piece of pipe and at best 10-12quids worth of fuel, I can live with that, well providing the fuel doesn't go all over the engine and ruin the paint then ill be p*ssed lol

Appreciate your feedback dude, Had thought about that with the pipe being cut, im hoping that no one is sad enough to do that for 10-15quids worth of fuel but having said that theres a lot of pond life out there I guess! Im prepared to take a chance though! I will definitely be taking your advice and carrying round some spare pipe

Not as much of a reaction as id hoped from people Anyways sent my tank off to my fab friend who welded in the fuel guage bits in the side!

And were back too it! Had a lot of hassle with blasting bits, held us up a lot! But were back in the game now and boy has it been worth the wait! Managed to get everything thrown together Monday night and im over the moon!! To say im happy is an understatement, its blown my mind, the tyre container is docking on the 10th of may, brand new tyres just been produced, watch this space, for regular updates were on facebook and instagram as blackdirtcycles! thanks for looking

It's at work dude, it's metal back boxes that you knock in the wall for switches and sockets etc I work in a wholesalers

So on Friday the frame swing arm and brackets came back powdercoated, well chuffed! Chuffed with them, Ended up finding another blaster who has said he will do his best with the wheels and engine so they went over there Friday so fingers crossed! Now its a cash of painting all the other bits and bobs that I didn't want grit too get into! Spent yesterday evening painting this Came out alright! Cant wait too get everything done and start piecing it together

Cheers guys! Going to pick all the bits up today! Then got too work out what to do with the wheels and engine, everything else is powdercoated and ready, so there going to hold me up, any recommendations for painting over the chrome wheels and engine casings?

Next step was finding somewhere to mount the coils, could have just thrown them in the cubby box under the seat but thought that would be half ass, so we opted for under the tank after realising we had plenty of room, fab'd up some mounts, nice little touch I think! Next up was prepping everything for powdercoating, with some threaded bar and plates we blocked up all the cracks and crevices on everything! Tucked it all in the corner of the works delivery van and got my van driver to drop it off at the powdercoaters for me! About a week and a half later I got some pictures back! Blasted and awaiting some colour, Went for satin black, nice and subtle! Zinc primed so Ive been told! Bare in mind the paints wet, so it looks glossy but its not, Having issues with the company saying they now cant blast and powdercoat the chrome which is a big pain in the arse! Surely they would have known that before sending it all there! Doesn't help as were booked into a show in a few month so need to press on and get the bike finished! Im sure itll come right in the end! Thanks for looking!

Cheers buddy

Managed to get my welder friend over last night to finish up the frame! Now were all welded up! And it looks unreal, off to blasting and powdercoating within the next few weeks then the nice bits get too happen!

Cheers guys! Not me that welded it, me and a mate have been tacking her together and another good friend welding it up completely! Big learning curve for us all!

Couple of pics of exactly how it currently looks, pics of the gusset at the front, we decided to plate over the frame under the seat too (will all be tig'd up) and pictures with the biltwell seat and 16'' apes! So excited! This should really turn into something special, with colour choices, carb, tyres etc, should be extremely cool! Can follow the build closer on facebook and instagram @blackdirtcycles, cheers guys

So as above that the tank we decided to fit, offered it up on top of the dual backbone and it didn't look right, so out came the angle grinders!! Mocked up the tank, mocked the back bone up with tape first! just to make sure we liked where it was going to sit! Got it all tacked in with a mig, then decided to invite a good friend over to tig the frame up for us! That's where were upto now, engines rebuilt, frames 90% done, just got to weld the gussets in tomorrow night and a few other little bits then itll be off for blasting and powdercoating very soon! Then the rebuild commences! Let me know your thoughts!!!

just dragging and dropping off of the desktop mate

id like to keep this going, but its not letting me upload more pics, any idea why guys?

Right here goes, Had a sudden want for a bike last year, and a good friend had just finished his xvs650 build, after seeing that I knew that was what I wanted! So the search started and I was struggling to find anything for under 2k! And I didn't want to chop up that much money, but then on an app called shpock a bike turned up, been sat for a while, bottom end knock, spare engine and then a spare bottom end with a brand new crank (fitted by Yamaha specialists), basically we filled the back of a transit connect all for £450! Needless to say we drove off like we stole the bike Started the strip down completely pulled it to bits to see what I was dealing with, ie rust and damage etc! Turned out It was a really good solid frame, im used to working on old cars, this is the first bike project and so far im pleasantly surprised! Not dealing with 50 years of old underseal is a dream! Weve basically had both engine sat there and all the parts, and built upwards from the refurbed bottom end, with the best of all the parts, cleaning everything as we went along! Fitted new rings for piece of mind, Also got new clutchplates to go in once the times right! She will be blasted and powdercoated along with everything else!