Finally some Chopping on this Chopper!

Fab-Jerry happened to come by while we were getting the workshop organized.  He had some suggestions on re-configuring the space and setting it up to be more efficient.  I am always up for trying something new to see what works best.  While I was cleaning up he mounted the xs650 motor onto the engine stand I picked up from TC Bros.  We then moved some things around and re-positioned the lift table and wouldn't you know it... I have more space!

 a few turns of the wrench and it dropped off

With the shop put half back together I took another look at the bike to see where I was at.  I decided it was time to remove the front end.  Other then being a bit stubborn, due to the age of the bike, a few turns of the wrench and it dropped off.  Having the forks removed made the frame much more easy to handle.  The next step was to finish the job I started and get the rest of this frame sandblasted.  This time I was a bit more prepared.  I ran out and picked up a blasting hood, set up a few sawhorses in the driveway and through on my coveralls. 

Sandblasting started off much better this time around.  Powder coat was flying off of the frame and I was moving along quickly.  Unfortunately, this success didn't last very long.  I started getting a lot of condensation in my airline.  I have a dryer installed on the air hose but it didn't seem to make a difference at all.  Eventually, I was shooting more water than anything else.  The crushed glass started clumping in the hose and clogging the gun.  Every few seconds I had to stop, detach the siphon line, blow out the gun, re-attach the siphon line and then work the line with my other hand to keep the glass moving.  Needles to say, this turned a quick task into a much longer job.  By the time I finished and took the hood off, I was melting from the humidity.  I called it a day and cleaned up.

 I fired up the tig torch and stomped on the pedal

The next night after work I was out in the shop the moment I got home.  I wanted to make some progress towards getting that hardtail kit welded onto the frame.  My plan was to weld some supports onto the xs so that when I chopped off the sub-frame the rest wouldn't twist.  Some steel angle cutoffs came in handy for this.  I fired up the tig torch, stomped on the pedal and with a few quick tacks it was done.  It doesn't have to be pretty, it just needs to stop the frame from springing.

 I busted out the reciprocating saw

Once I was confident enough that the angle would hold everything in place, I busted out the reciprocating saw.  I eyeballed where to cut and went to town.  The fun stuff!  I made sure to leave some extra material on each cut so that I wasn't chancing cutting into the frame.  I will go back over it later to trim out what I can and grind away the rest for a clean finish.  I'd rather not rush it and make the mistake of hacking into the frame.  When the sub-frame dropped off the back I was pretty happy.  I have been wanting to get that done for a while.  I think once I see the frame welded up I will feel like the first chapter of this build will be done.  I will have finished stripping the bike down and be back to starting with a raw and ready frame.  Then my mind can change to thinking about the "build" part of this project.  I am eager to get to the next phase of this project but I want to take my time to do it right.  I'll get there, one step at a time!

Author: Perth County Moto - Jeff O'Neill @perthmotojeff