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Anyone ever built a bike? from scratch


Matthew Duncan
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anyone ever built a motorcycle? ether putting another engine into a frame not built for that engine, or built a custom frame?

me and my old man are toying with the idea but cant make heads or tales of the govs' Motorcycle Single Vehicle Approval (MSVA) notes.

Anyone got any advice?

if we were going for a custom frame it would be done by an engineering company, probs someone specialising in custom frames - not really the kind of thing you want shabby welds on so on so on.

Thanks,

Matt

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Aye matt , thers a lot of measuring , line up the Sprockets etc, lots of Swing arm choice . Front end - upside down forks, or bandit / cbr/ zzr

, its all down to money, Witch " you"l never get back, . i"v watched lots of triple specials being built, on other forums, they spend a lot of money, and in the end , when selling , its a limited market,

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You dont need single type approval if you use a frame with a log book.

Or get a suitable donor bike with the engine you want and build a 'replacement' frame.

Make your mods then get an engineers report for the insurance.

Its how Streetfighters have done it for years, unless you want to construct your bike to 2014 noise/emmision/safety waffle.

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Just look at all the custom builds out there for sale| spent XXX selling for half of investment,if you decide to do it dont ever expect to get any money back,but it fun and a great way to learn more,might even hurt your brain a times.

If you have the space cash,tools and time to build a jig to set it up all on then go for it,but as said by cynic it`s easier to just start with a bike and mod the crap out of it.

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well plan is to spend as little money as possible. this is what we are drawing our inspiration from....

1gje55.jpg

dirty, grubby,old and made of a bit of everyhing. we have a few frames, but nothing we would chop. would be looking at getting a frame and front end from the breakers, then working from there.

also check this out...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T9XvqmwPAA and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P28TfrxYezU

nice..... opinions?

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You dont need single type approval if you use a frame with a log book.

Or get a suitable donor bike with the engine you want and build a 'replacement' frame.

Make your mods then get an engineers report for the insurance.

Its how Streetfighters have done it for years, unless you want to construct your bike to 2014 noise/emmision/safety waffle.

so i could get a frame, change it (or get a engineering company, such as http://www.chopperz.co.uk/ in perthshire, scotland to do it) and as long as it retains the frame number and is structurally sound it would be fine?

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Matt the thing is the ruels are totaly different here,thoes bikes would not probably pass a test your side.And most of them never get ridden.Just trailer queens.Here you regster a bike in your name fit and then ride it the rest of your life, no annal yearly inspection.

I like the look and easy of build,but look at what Noise did with his bike it's kinda along the idea your shooting for and rideable.

Take a whatever bike like that and go nuts,then you have a regestry # and all the stuff the gov will hassel you about

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Would need an engineers report for the insurance but pretty much.

Someone like chopperz would know the fine print anyhow. :

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Matt the thing is the ruels are totaly different here,thoes bikes would not probably pass a test your side.And most of them never get ridden.Just trailer queens.Here you regster a bike in your name fit and then ride it the rest of your life, no annal yearly inspection.

I like the look and easy of build,but look at what Noise did with his bike it's kinda along the idea your shooting for and rideable.

Take a whatever bike like that and go nuts,then you have a regestry # and all the stuff the gov will hassel you about

Rideable would be a must. By that i mean something that is not 14ft long and that you have to have 2 meter long arms to get a hold of the bars. I think it would deffo be worth getting an old bike to start with, that would be the easy way forward.

Would need an engineers report for the insurance but pretty much.

Someone like chopperz would know the fine print anyhow. :

Yeah, that would make life a bit easier for me!

i'll see whats kicking about and do some draughting...

Cheers!

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SDC10097.jpg

that is my old cb550/4 chopper

depends what engine you want to use, something like a bandit then you can get a frame off hard up choppers. he does frames for other things also.

but then your bike would not be a one off, as the frame is produced by them and there are a few out there.

if you want some thing one off then get some one to make it to your design.

haggis is up in kilwinning and then there is maz of maz chops down south. and then there are more in beteween. it does not say your location in your profile. so they are examples

but if you want to get an idea of the things possible then go and have a look on britchopper.co.uk that is a forum mainly focusing on the chop and custom side of things. and has some seriously talented and well established builders on there.

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I did have an e-mail address for a bloke called Baz who built one off frames for chops and bobs, all he needed was the engine front and rear wheel and the forks. With regards to the V5 etc he said get a donor bike with a V5 and all he will do is stamp the serial number into the new frame and then you just scrap the original. No VOSA tests etc needed.

That XS650 bob has been my works PC desk top for months and is such a great looking machine! i just can never find the build thread on it. Love how he has use V8 rocker covers for the fuel tank, con rods and valve springs for the foot pegs and im pretty sure he has a whiskey bottle for a filler cap.

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SDC10097.jpg

that is my old cb550/4 chopper

depends what engine you want to use, something like a bandit then you can get a frame off hard up choppers. he does frames for other things also.

but then your bike would not be a one off, as the frame is produced by them and there are a few out there.

if you want some thing one off then get some one to make it to your design.

haggis is up in kilwinning and then there is maz of maz chops down south. and then there are more in beteween. it does not say your location in your profile. so they are examples

but if you want to get an idea of the things possible then go and have a look on britchopper.co.uk that is a forum mainly focusing on the chop and custom side of things. and has some seriously talented and well established builders on there.

Aberdeen :) but woulnt be fussed traveling!

I did have an e-mail address for a bloke called Baz who built one off frames for chops and bobs, all he needed was the engine front and rear wheel and the forks. With regards to the V5 etc he said get a donor bike with a V5 and all he will do is stamp the serial number into the new frame and then you just scrap the original. No VOSA tests etc needed.

That XS650 bob has been my works PC desk top for months and is such a great looking machine! i just can never find the build thread on it. Love how he has use V8 rocker covers for the fuel tank, con rods and valve springs for the foot pegs and im pretty sure he has a whiskey bottle for a filler cap.

been discussing it with the old man last night and i think he was actually wanting to build a different one from me! have a build of kinda thing.

so i'll pass no the info to him and see what he says.

As for the one in the pic, i only recently found it but i fell in love! just the way it looks so old, yet tastefull and as you said the litte details like the con rods for the foot pegs so on so on.

As for my build, will need to see how dad feels about my using one of his old frames to make more of a board track styled bike..

Thinking along the lines of one of our 52 james comet frames, bsa c15 or b40 engine, and take it from there. fab up a tank and see how i get on. kinda toying with the "Steampunk" kinda design, incorporating copper pipe for the fuel lines, oil returns, using brass fittings where i can, will get some plans on the go!

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Thinking along the lines of one of our 52 james comet frames, bsa c15 or b40 engine, and take it from there. fab up a tank and see how i get on. kinda toying with the "Steampunk" kinda design, incorporating copper pipe for the fuel lines, oil returns, using brass fittings where i can, will get some plans on the go!

Yer thats all the easy stuff, (he says) the hard part comes when you need to keep the "theme" and the flow of the bike in line and then doing all the little details without going too mad.

You ever seen the Detroit Brothers style bikes? they are simply awsome! so basic and industrial looking. Also if you haven't seen them already watch "the great biker build off Billy lane Vs Indian Larry" two of the best bike builders ever (bar Indian larry died in 2004) the way they both build is stunning!

Good luck with it tho and i'll def be looking out for it.

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using the vin number from another frame is a ringer and if the police stop you and figure it out its "good bye to your bike" they will take it and probably crush it.

keep all receipts and when you get your new frame get the receipt for it as well, then get the sva done and you will get a Q plate reg. job done all legal and above board.

even with the weld on hard tail I had it inspected but because I had used so much of the donor bike I was allowed to keep the reg, they used to use a points system for it, don't know if they still do.

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