Paulwhite

im making my own fenders for it out of fiberglass, im not sure you CAN, buy parts like the ones id need that will fit. but my reason for making it out of fiberglass is cause its light and easy to work with plus im making my own LED rear light setup, you wont be able to see any bulbs or lights till you turn the lights on cause they will be inside the fender.........iv still got to do some tests to see if i can make it work. failing that il go for the clasic bobber rear light lol.

im guessing u dont like the bobber stile. and as to the "horrible and tacky job" i cant see where ur coming from? the pictures dont do it any justice but i think the finish is quite good even if they are red!. I dont think you appreciate the work involved in painting chrome unless you have a lab to do your own electrolysis. but each to there own, if you want to ride round on a mass produced bike that everyone can own then im not going to boo you for it, cause i know il be riding on something that iv made my own, in every sense custom, in every sense original and unique.

hi all just postin the latest pics of me project and what iv done so far! just want to know what do you think? any ideas on how to improve it? and yeah i know it could do with an engine! lol what it looked like when striped: tank preped and primed ready for paint: tank with 1st set of paint on it (i cant decide what to do! leave it as it is or put racing stripes on it?): front wheel all finished: rear end setup: side view: right so yeah...tell me what u think.

well im doing it on as little money as posible so far iv spent £20 on paint then probs another £10 on brushes and sand paper, the most expensive thing will be the engine at about £700 but its a brand new racing tuned engine so well worth it! then probs say another £100 to make the fenders and wiering loom then its about £60 to get it registerd for road use all in all iv budgeted about £1000 to build it, mod it and get it on the road but its cheeper than buying a new bike which is efectivley what this will be (brand spanking new) when its finished il post some pics up sometime this week, might do a brain storming post to get some ideas, just keep looking and ul see it. i dont get alot of cash cause im out of work at the mo so just saving a fiva a week plus im floggin all the extra bits that i dont need like the old broken engine, fenders, seat ect.but im hoping to get it all sorted for next year then i can take it to some shows and meets most likely M.F.N. and matlock bath. as for experiance i havent got any qualifications or anything and this is the 1st bike iv ever rebuilt so its a bit of a learning curve at the mo but just read up on how to do things on the internet and give them a go!

highway hawk

yup nice clear writing shame about the lack of pics lol

ok 1. the xvs 125 is exactly the same as the xvs 250 (only the engine is bigger!) so the answer is yes but you need to consider safety (e.g trying to stop at 130mph with drum breaks = not good) but im going to use a 125 ooracing engine (www.ooracing.com) which can take a 140cc head so il get about 19bhp 2. yes i am painting it mostly black the only chrome i want is the mirrors, centre clock casing , top of forks and the petrol cap everything else is, or will be black . 3. im going for the old school bobber stile just type in bobber in google images and ul see what im on about.

yeah its an 04 xvs 125 but the engine blew so thaught id turn my hand to a complete re-model to turn it into a bobber iv painted the wheels, de-rusted the whole frame and re- painted it, just about half way with the tank ( cant decide to leve it matt black or to put a red and white stripe on it) and i need to make some fenders oh and nearly forgot ......buy an engine.

nice one lol i dont like chrome anymore, too much cleaning for my liking! then if you polish it and happen to touch it you need to buff it and being the perfectionist i am, it just took too long to go to get ready to go out to a meet. so im re-painting mine and getting rid of as much chrome as i dare il b putting up me own post when iv rebuilt the bike with loads of pics so keep ur eyes pealed.

right if you want to paint over chrome then ur in for a big job! try chrome polish (i use autosol its about £3 a tube ) put the polish o,n rub it in then let dry for 5 min then buff it off. should give it a good shine and cover up light scratches.

depends where the rust is (frame or chrome) if its on somewhere that you dont mind painting then best bet is to get a wire brush attachment on a power drill to get it off then put a couple of layers of hammerite smooth black to paint the metal. if its chrome then use a washing up sponge (the green rough side) and scrub autosol on it till the rust has faded or gone. just a question was the bike droped on the right hand side and did you get some parts for it a couple of month back? i.e exhaust, air filter and rear pegs?

if your looking for a good cheep fix for the chrome cover you wont be able to weld a jubilee clip on there as it is way too thin (and will just melt) iv had to do this on mine and i used a metal clip i cant think what its called but its horse-shoe shaped with a bolt that goes through both ends at the top its quite thick and dus the job lovely!. i welded it where the original clip was (closest to the engine) and you had to bend it open to put it on then bend it closed so you could put the bolt in but it held it in place lovely! saves you buying a new guard which would cost you 10 times as much!

i know the feeling im working on my own xvs 125 bobber at the mo. well hope you have fun and post some pics when its all done!

i would do the opposite and paint the fender and seat the same colour as the tank! lol but guess everyone is different will you be covering the seat? its normally black leather with studs round the edge on the ones iv seen if it was mine then i would shop around for smaller chrome clocks instead of the bulky ones you have on at the mo.

i dont know much about the fazer 600 apart from there allot of fun, but how long tiers last for depends on a number of variables i.e what conditions you ride in, what the roads are like where you ride, what type/brand you get, how many burnouts you do, even your riding stile can even affect how long your tiers last. but iv always said try and buy the best tiers you can afford. ask the bloke before you buy them what the average life expectancy is and they should give you a figure. as for sprockets as long as you keep your chain in good condition and at the correct tightness it should last quite a long while. i had an xvs 125 and the sprocket lasted me 3 years of wheel spins, trying to pull wheelies, burnouts and general thrashing about.

right then here we go. this is how i did it. tools and paint (all from wilkos) :- wire brush attachment for power drill (3 different ones) 3 good paint brushes (spend a bit of money on some decent ones cause the bristles fall out)hammerite special metal primer red oxide primer spray can plastikote insignia red spray paint (or whatever you want) wilkoes brand indoor/outdoor matt black paint (in a tin, could use a spray) small pack of finishing paper (might need it might not depends if you want to sand down the paint) plastikote clear coat (spray can) hair dryer car wax (i used turtle wax) cloth 1. take ur wheel off 2. take ur tire off the rim (i used a crow bar but best to get someone to do it properly) 3. get a wire brush attachment for ur power drill and clean the whole rim. you want to get every bit of dirt off including spokes!! (it also scores the top layer of the chrome for the primer!) 4. give the whole thing a dust with a clean dry cloth 5. you want to be able to spin the wheel so what i did was get one of those work benches (you know the ones that have 2 turn knobs to move the back panel similar to a vice) and clamped the bolt (that holds ur wheel to the swing arm) in the bench at an upward angle 6. put the wheel uv just cleaned on the bolt and get some hammerite special metal primer on your brush and start applying a layer to the hub that you can reach on that side. 7. as the primer on the hub dries put primer on the spokes (i found putting as little primer on the brush as you can helps!) 8. right now uv put a layer of primer on the hub and spokes time to give the wheel a gentle spin! put gloops of hammerite on ur brush and apply to the rim making sure you get a nice even layer! 9. now repeat steps 6 to 8! by this time the hub should be nice and dry ready for the second cote of hammerite primer! 10. now you have done 1 side time to do the other side! do exactly the same steps (6 to 9) you want to get 2 layers of hammerite primer on there and make sure every bit of metal is covered! (apart from where your tire would cover the rim!! ) have a brew and wait 20 min for the primer to dry. 11. give the red oxide primer a good shake then spin the wheel (i used the round wire brush on the drill, pressed on the bit i didnt prime to spin the wheel) spray the whole thing with a couple of coats of red oxide primer allowing each coat to dry. 12. paint the hub in the color you want (for me its black) it dont matter if you get the spokes cause ul b painting them in a bit. you want about 2 to 3 coats 13. once you have done the hub do both sides of the spokes (because of the way iv done mine i didnt paint them all the way to the rim) 14. once the hub and spokes have dried fully! spin the wheel and apply 2 light coats of insignia red spray paint (or any color you want) to just the rim making sure you get everywhere apart from where the tire will cover it. 15. once its all dry spin the wheel gently, get the hair dryer ready and apply liberal amounts of insignia red to the rim till it has a thick shiny coating. now comes the important bit keep the wheel spinning slowly (about the same speed as a record) put the hair dryer on full and spend 10 min drying the rim whilst its spinning. once 10 min is up the paint should be tacky (should see a finger mark if you touch it but shouldnt come off) 16. flip the rim over and do the other side (dont touch the bit uv just painted!) do it exactly like the 1st side 17. now you need to let the whole thing dry for at least 24 hours! 18. once dry put it on its side put minimum amounts of black paint on your brush and start doing the spokes. i find brushing it side to side covers half the spoke so when you flip it over you can do the same on the other side. Put about 2 layers on the spokes and leave overnight to dry. 19. once all is dry put it back on the bench to spin it. (get the drill and hair dryer out) spin it up with the drill and put a light layer of clear coat on, whist its still spinning use the hair dryer to dry it a little faster (about 5 min) you might need to keep using the drill to keep it spinning. you want about 3 to 4 light layers of clear coat on to seal the whole thing but use the hair dryer between coats. 20. let it all dry over night then get a dry cloth and some car wax, wax the rim according to the guidelines on the bottle then hay presto step back and take a look at your nicely painted rims!! god thats long winded! but hay it works for me! and gives a good result! hope someone finds it useful!

anybody want a how too on D.I.Y painting chrome wheels? iv just done my front wheel and it looks mint (just look at the photo) so was gonna do a step by step for the back wheel if anyone is interested?

just fix the exhaust and give it fresh oil then see what its like but warm it up for 10 min b4 you go out to make sure all is ok. you might get away with not having to "remap" or change the carb settings.

soz to burst ur bubble drewpy but it worked a treat! got me crowbar on it and took 30min to take both tiers off! no damage what so eva to both rim and tire! so im going to start prepping them to paint.

wonder how ur meant to clean it? air in a can? either that or you would need to dismantle it just to give it a wash. but apart from that its not too bad dont look too out of place either.

il try and remember not too lol but yeah thanks for the replies i cant get youtube cause i use a usb modem (its stupidly slow!!!)and i cant get any tire irons cause im skint, would a crowbar work? im assuming its similar to a pushbike tire. (deflate tire, jam somethin under the tire then run another pipe round the rim till the tire pops. then lever the tire off the rim ) im not too fussed about taking paint/chrome off cause im re-painting them, just dont want to take chunks out of the rim. lol.

hi all just wanted to know how to go about taking the tiers off the rims without damaging owt. iv got an xvs dragstar 125 and want to re-paint the rims, plus im skint so cant get the nice bloke with the machine to do it. il be able to get them put back on no probs but i want to get cracking on this project iv never had to do it on a motorbike wheel b4 so any help/advice would be welcome. cheers .Paul.

think i managed 14000 miles in 4 years when i got mine.

right just a suggestion have you tried to move the front sprocket on its own by hand? or taken the chain off, started the engine and see if the engine turns the front sprocket? this would narrow your search down to either engine or drive train then you would know if it is ur engine or something to do with the back wheel. oh just thought you know that pin that goes through the center of the wheel to hold it to the swing arm? have you put it on too tight? try slackening it off and see what happens. get back to me

well iv got an xvs 125 and every now and then i find it dus it good to take the back wheel off, take the drum brake off and give it a good clean. ul probably find that there is loads of brake dust in there then you can put it back on and re-set it. if you take it off then you can see how it works and if its ceased. good luck . and get back to us i still think its cause the drum brake is stuck on and justs needs adjusting.