DYNA 2 Finally Completed!!!

DYNA-2 PROJECT COMPLETED

I want to give a big THANK YOU!!! and a huge acknowledgement to all the people that helped to make this project an overwhelming success in my eyes. I have owned this bike since it was brand spankin’ new in 1998 and when the time came to give the ole-girl a makeover the folks mentioned below came through and provided the help and things needed to make it all happen:

Thank You All for your patience in working with me and my ideas!

LOCAL FOLKS
Mid-Cal Cycle Supply of West Sacramento
Specialized Exhaust of Elk Grove
Mike Wilson Auto Body & Paint of Wilton
M-Pac Upholstery of Elk Grove
SJM Manufacturing of Portland
Davis Motorsports of Reno
AAA Plating of Sacramento
American Cycle of Orangevale
FinishMaster of Sacramento
Tri-C Machine Corp. of West Sacramento
Hose & Supply of West Sacramento

INTERNET SUPPLIERS
Demons Cycle Supply
KC International
2 Orange Harleys
American Classic Motors
Autodynamic / Motodynamic
Cyclehead
Robs Cycle Supply
Xtreme Cycle
Funk Motorsports
House of Harley Davidson
Woodstock Harley Davidson
Eastern Performance Cycles
MC Advantages
Total Performance (Formerly Daniel Boone)

CV Performance

NEW BIKE SPECIFICATIONS:

Billet Front End w/ 6 degree additional rake and 4” overstock length
Billet Headlamp assembly with HID bulb
Carllini Pullback bars
Arlen Ness Rad III Hand Controls
Billet Forward Controls
Billet Mirrors

Pro-Force Billet Air Intake w/ K&N Filter
21” x 2.15” 60 Spoke Front Wheel w/ Avon M90 Tire
18” x 4.25” 60 Spoke Rear Wheel w/ Avon 150mm Tire
Wilwood 4 Piston Brake Calipers – Front & Rear
Russell Stainless Braided Brake Lines, Oil Lines, Fuel Lines, Cables
Polished Mesh style Rotors
Billet Spoke style Pulley -1.125” x 70 Tooth
Secondary Drive Belt - 1.125”
Reworked Rear Swingarm – Shock mounts, Brake stop, Lower support
Reworked Frame – Removed struts & Passenger peg mounting points
200mm Rear Fender installed into frame, hidden struts, custom extension
Custom Rear Tail light Fixture LED with internal turn signals
Paul Yaffe Style Front Fender
Custom 3” Stretched flat top Gas Tank – Flush type cap
Custom Seat and Mounting
Custom Luggage Rack
Custom Chevrons on rack mount
Custom GPS Gauge Console with Garmin Nuvi 550

Modified CV Carburator
Rocker Mounted Speedo & Oil psi Gauge
House of Kolor Paint – Wild Candy Apple Red

THE DETAILS:

Dyna Makeover FINAL

FIRST RIDE

OK well Dyna "2" was completed this past weekend and I am very happy with the results. Took it out on a short road trip up to Plymouth to shake things down a bit and thats exactly what happened. All was good until about 10 miles from home when the brand new billet shifter pedal fell off the bike as I was turning into a parking lot. Oh well S-hit happens!

Then after that I come to find out that the rear caliper is leaking fluid. I tried tightening it over and over again but to no avail. It was obviously a product issue and Wilwood and their suppliers were happy to help me out.

The bike doesn't handle much different with the additional 6 degree rake and 4" overstock extension on the front. But it sure feels different looking over the front end, the whole bike just feels a bit bigger.

So a few more parts need some work and I need to get the gauges and windvest installed, but otherwise all seems ok at this point.

Heres some pics: (Click below, then click on Slideshow)

HARLEY DYNA 2 by PAUL

Dyna Makeover 7

FINAL ASSEMBLY

OK... So all the new parts that have had UPS and FED-EX delivering night and day to my little 'shop of horrors' is finally coming to fruition. It wasn't enough that my bike parts barely had time enough to dry in the paint booth and the painter never had a chance to see his final work product before I wisked them away to my shop. It was complete fervor working every night and getting everything together so that I could get back on the road and see my new ride twisting heads from every direction. This Dyna is going to be all that... and just when Harley Davidson decided to stop production on this model... Hmm what were they thinking???

Oh well they'd probably just steal all my ideas and make it into some new 'corporate chopper' for the metro-sexual crowd to try and take credit for in some shape or manner. Ok so I am rambling but nothing urks me more than some Wall Street college boy with a manicure, a pedicure and a "Harley"....

Back to the bike, I've decide to just leave the solid color (great decision) on the entire bike because what ever happened with this paint recipe and the application of it made it come out with so much personality that it would be a crime to cover up any inch of it with logos, pinstriping or any graphics. It is absolutley phenominal how it turned out.

So I made myself up a checklist of the installation steps and started going at it. Step 1-Wiring harness, 2)engine and 3)trans in first and connected up all the stuff.... and so on and so forth.

I got most everything put back together in about 1 week with only a couple hours here and there in the evenings. I wasn't in any hurry because the parts at the chromer would be the final holdup to this whole project due to being so busy. They weren't in any hurry to get my parts back to me. Not really a big deal to them, seen one chromed Harley part I guess you've seen them all. So I had time to burn.

Once the parts started going on and I could see the bike taking shape it was exciting to see. Alot of time was spent taping things up so that it wouldnt get scratched during the process. I used painters 'blue' tape and it works really well. It doesnt leave any adhesives or anything behind when you pull it back off.

Got all the "GO" parts on but came up a bit short on the "STOP" parts. Brakes lines were the wrong length and the fittings to make them fit right were wrong too. Had to re-order some more new parts. Had a shopping list of new chrome bolts and stuff to replace in the end and got it all figured out with my local guys Bruce and Robert at Mid-Cal Cycle.

The front end went on with all new bearings, forks went on without a hitch or a scratch... (Thank you God!) got to the rear end and got all the rear bolted up and WTF!!!! The rear pulley had zero clearance to the belt guard. It's always something right at the end, so I had to come up with different ideas on how to mount it without having to do any cutting or re-welding. I shoulda checked this on mockup but I DIDNT thinking it was no big deal. I got it figured out and actually like it better now with the bolt heads on the back side and chrome acorn nuts on the front. Added a larger wheel spacer and a new chrome axel nut and washer and No more clearance issues.

Wheels on, fenders and tank on, and all looking so damn good mmmm mmmm!

Did I mention that it looks good?????

The rear tailight is just freakin awesome, a company named MOTODYNAMIC makes LED lights for many metric bikes but none for the Harleys... (yet). I love this little bit of attention to detail and it is going to be the talk of the town. The turn blinkers are part of the light and blink with Yellow LED's. That is why you see no turn signals at the back end.

Only problem was with Harley Davidson (of course) designing their turn signal switching differently then everyone else. Can't make it simple and easy, they gotta do things the difficult way. I had to basically remove the turn signal 'smart-module' from the circuit and install a flasher relay instead because the smart module wouldnt "blink" the blinker! HD has some newfangled way to turn the lights OFF when idiot riders forget that they turned them on and it screws with the whole system. I got it figured out though... afterall I am an "E"-lectrician.

The LED lights look so nice and I think they are going to be much safer for bikers in the future. These lights are so BRIGHT!!! Night time aint no time to be messin with the likes of this here LED lighted bike.... White LED's light up the license plate frame too.

The light fixture itself was originally made for (dare I say it) a HONDA!... but I made some creative changes and made it fit my bike. The distributor thought I was nuts when I kept telling him "dont worry about what bike its for, I dont care, I just need one close dimensionally" and I found it. Then with some help from Tap Plastics I made it fit my bike the way I wanted it. Looks sic!!!!

More coming

Dyna Makeover 6

PAINTING

Here are some photos from the paint booth of Dyna with her new paint-job provided by Mike Wilson Auto Body. It doesnt look like much here in the stripped down version but in person the paint looks like it is so wet you could take a bath in it.

The House of Kolor recipe is:

Basecoat: Black
1st Coat: Candy Apple Red Basecoat
2nd Coat: Transparent Candy Cherry Red
3rd Coat: Urethane Clear



This is the frame with the integrated rear fender from a 2009 Softail 200mm rear end.

Close up of the rear fender with the fender struts hidden inside the fender itself. The fender extension has also been customized as part of the fender and now extends to swingarm.

This is the front fender, it is a Paul Yaffe look alike. This came out real nice too.

This is the custom tank that was originally made for a Softail also. The tunnel had to be cut out in the rear and replaced with a square channel to fit the Dyna frame assembly. The rear mount was also added. All the mounting points will be hidden. No gauges on this tank either, just a flat top with a pop-up gas cap.

The other parts that were color-matched were the swingarm, the top motor mount bracket, the horn mount bracket and the custom rear luggage rack brackets that I hand made. The rack part is actually from the new Harley Davidson Rocker FXCWC model.

So this "New" Dyna is going to have multiple personalities from many different Models.

Coming soon.... The New Dyna.

Dyna Makover 5

BODY WORK AND PAINT

Well the bike has been at Mike Wilson Autobody and Paint shop for the past 3 weeks and has undergone the unbelievable.... the idea that you can simply think up a paint color and have it come out as perfectly as your mind contrives it is... TOTALLY POSSIBLE!!!!

The color that my bike came out when it was finally finished was exactly like I had imagined it. I was almost to the point of losing sleep over this paint job because I was really worried that it wasn't going to turn out like I had planned. Let's just say that I'm sleeping very soundly now.


Before the paint got put on though we had some serious body work to complete. We had to fabricate and weld on a fender extension that typically on a Softail is just a cheap plastic piece bolted onto the swingarm. I didnt want a cheap ass plastic part on this bike, it's better than a Harley at this point! I found a donor fender from a Dyna Superglide and chopped it up. I did some pounding out and some welding here and there and it looked like a Frankenstein stitch job for a bit.

Then Mike got creative and did the beautiful body work that brought it all together. What a Craftsmen!. The fender extension now flows right into the vertical frame rails and looks just perfect. He added the continuation of the fender lip from the factory fender onto the extension also. You really cant tell where one stops and the other begins.



The guys at the shop worked some wonders on the other tins and then it was all sprayed out with House of Kolor paint provided by FinishMaster who helped me get the right colors together in a short amount of time.

The Painting Recipe: first we used a HOK Shimrin Black basecoat on everything, then a Candy Apple urethane basecoat, then on top of that we put a transparent Candy Cherry and then to top it off we coated it with many layers of clear urethane.

It came out so sweet I wanted to EAT IT!. I was playing with the idea of doing some graphics over the tops of the fenders and tank with some marbelizing and flames and then pinstriping it all. But... the color just came alive on its own and I didn't want to cover any of it up. So we left it just color only and it has an insane personality all its own with nothing else to distract your eyes away from it.

Pics of painted bike to come.... Final Assembly next

Dyna Rebuild 4

FINAL MOCKUP:

New rear wheel 60 spoke 18" x 4.25" chrome Billet hub, new mesh style rotor and spoke chrome Billet pulley on the other side. The shock shown are stock but I am awaiting my new Ultima Billet shocks to replace them.

After getting the fender rails completed by boxing them in with 16 Gauge sheetmetal and welding everything up nice and tight, it was time to get the rear wheel assembly on along with the shocks on the relocated mounts. Just to see how it all fit.

The seat pan was being done by Steve at M-PAC Upholstery. The guy is a genius when it comes to putting anything together with fabric! We decided to use the Badlander seat bottom as a base and customize it to fit this new tank and fender setup. Should be sic!

Next was the front end. I have taken off the OEM triple tree stop that was part of the neck and used a hidden stop assembly instead. This required welding on a small piece of steel that had to be shaped to fit just perfectly to the bottom side of the neck. It also could not interfere with the bearing race installation. Quite a task, but it worked out perfectly.

These new trees are so nice. They are smooth on top and all sides. There is almost no hardware anywhere to be seen.

New front wheel -60 Spoke 21" x 2.15" Chrome Billet hub with AVON rubber on it 90/90 x 21e. The new caliper and mesh brake rotor will be added on final assembly. Still waiting for the front fender....

Here is the mocked up rolling chassis. Nice tank shape!!!!! Cant wait to hear that pipe by Specialized Exhaust.

Next we get ready for paint.... at Mike Wilson Auto Body

And I have some other very unique ideas for a back rest and luggage rack while not messing up that beautiful smooth rear fender.

Dyna Rebuild 3

FABRICATION TIME

OK... the last couple weeks have been very busy with all kinds of things happening and bike shows and car shows to go and get ideas from. Went to the Easyrider Bikeshow in Sacramento and also the Sacramento Autorama that was just here. Lots of nice equipment out at both the shows. I talked with a few people in the business about painting, colors, pinstriping, graphics etc. I also met Paul Yaffe at the show and talked with him about bike building overall. They guy is really original! That's the way I want to keep my bike, "original" which in my book means not a bunch of HD bolt-on-chrome-crap. It means designing something different then all the rest and making your own. Now thats ORIGINAL.

Basically Im still on track with my "original idea" with some minor changes. Nothing life changing.

BRAKES:

I installed the rear brake bracket and caliper from Wilwood and made sure it was all going to work out OK with the new wheel and tire. This type of setup is a below the swingarm mount. Nice stuff!

SWINGARM:

Since the above picture was taken I have removed and relocated the brake stop and the shock mounting points. I purchased some steel stock and crafted my own shock mounts and brake stop brackets. Everything has been re-welded back into position where I wanted it to be located instead of the Harley factory. Makes for a much cleaner installation and the welds are all smooth, not a bead. I decided to keep the OEM belt guard as I couldn't find anything else that was 'custom' and would fit a Dyna... imagine that?

REAR FENDER:

After getting the swingarm back into working order, it was time to start the rear fender makeover. I purchased a Softail 9" wide fender that is used on the 2007 and newer models with the 200mm rear tires. I really like the style and the fatness... of it.

It obviously wasnt made for a Dyna so some serious fabrication had to be done to make it fit onto my bike. I also wanted to hide the struts so that the fender was all smooth and clean with nothing protruding from it. No Blinkers, No Brackets, No Bolts, No nothing.

Here are some shots of the rear; the Dyna struts had to be almost completely removed just after the upper shock mounting points. The new fender was tack welded into place and the struts that I fabricated were fitted. I used 3/16"x 1" strapping for the new struts and welded them from the inside. They protude from the fender at the shock mounting point and then fit in behind the existing Dyna strut ends that remain.

Then I took and welded up the sheetmetal cut-outs around the struts and continued with the fitment to the frame. This fender will be hard mounted and not remove-able. With a Bob-tail style fender and a swingarm it really doesnt have to be. Next will be fabricating a boxed in cover to complete the 'frenched' in look of the entire rear fender to the Dyna Frame rails. More on this to come also.

GAS TANK:

The tank was located and tacked into place. I fabricated hidden mounts for the front and rear of the tank so no hardware will show on the finished bike. This tank was actually for a Softail also. It took some coaxing but I got it to fit into place after some 'rework'. Basically had to cut out the entire back bone channel and replace it with a square one to get it to sit down low enough on the motor.

Next step will be finalizing the sheetmetals and getting the bike mocked up for final checkout.

In case you're wondering why I still have the engine and trans in the frame.... I didn't know this about Dyna Bikes but the rear swingarm actually mounts to the transmission case. It does not mount to the frame. So the engine, trans and rear swingarm are all one piece that moves together in the rubber mounted installations.

More to come...

Dyna Rebuild 2

This past week I have completed the tear down of the bike to the point of just the engine and transmission. The front end and rear wheel was removed after taking it down to the shop for some pipe work...

I am doing some changes to the rear swing arm which are mostly just visual more than functional, but they lend to how the eye meets the bikes design and blends the swing arm into the frame. With a Dyna Model, this is difficult. I hope it works with the under-swingarm rear brake system I have chosen from Wilwood.

I purchased a new pipe for the bike but I wasnt happy with it's fitment. The design is almost exactly what I wanted so I brought in a local exhaust shop guy that has done a few exhausts on some bikes. The Hooker Fourbidden header is a great looking design but it is made for a SOFTAIL... as usual.

He was interested in working on the project and I gave it to him to go forward. The bike came back with a totally custom exhaust system with heat shields and baffle. I think that I may do a black ceramic coating on the basic pipe and then have the shields chromed instead of chroming the entire pipe. This will match the black and chrome motor design to a "T". Thank You goes out to Specialized Exhaust in Elk Grove, CA.

Next I received some of the parts from the suppliers that I chose to deal with. I didnt received some from others... more on internet parts later. I got the new 18" 60 spoke rear wheel and the new 150 tire and had that mounted. I got the new front end and put that together and got it onto the bike and got a look at the new stretch and rake.

Next will be the braking system and the drive system to make sure everything fits before the final tear down.

Wilwood has always been connected with auto racing brake products and I have used their products on my race cars with great satisfaction in the past. I was extremely grateful to find out that they now offer motorcycle brake components. In fact I connected up with a good ole friend from my racing past to connect up with Wilwood again at Davis Motorsports. Rich Davis Sr. has been in the industry since it started many many decades ago. He got me all setup with new Wilwood products for the Dyna.

Next will be the fitment of the tins... the new gas tank, the new rear fender and front fender. I will have to find a way to blend the tank into the new solo seat and then into the fender. It shouldnt be too difficult.

Stay Tuned

DYNA WIDE GLIDE MAKEOVER

Well it has been a long time coming in the decision making process for me to take on a new project. I have wanted to build a ground up bike for about the past 7-8 years, but the 'design' has never really come to me. I have recently really been enthralled with the idea of doing a pro-street makeover on a Dyna series bike. The Dyna models have kinda taken a back seat to the Softail models over the past decade because... well I dont know why actually. The Softail model is certainly not 'soft' for those long road trips but they look good. Thats probably why you see so many of them on trailers going to bike runs. Silly Biker, Trailers are for Boats!!!

Anyway, I scoped out the use of a brand new Softail rolling chassis from a few different places and the costs involved with doing it that way. It came out just a bit more than I wanted to spend right now. So I have decided to take my perfectly good 1998 Dyna Wide Glide (FXDWG) and strip her down and give her a whole new look. She is after all more than 10 years old and still running strong. I love this bike! Here are some "Before-the-Makeover" pictures of Dyna just taken recently for a record of where we started.

THE IDEA: Take a Wide Glide and stretch the neck about 6 degrees and rake out the front about 4" over stock to give it that low slung pro-street look. Install a bigger rear tire and wheel set which involves totally re-doing the final drive. Update the wheels to 60 spoke all chrome hubs, spokes, rims. New tins with a stretched flat top gas tank and wide rear fender and of course new custom paint... Im hoping to do the fender over the struts for that hidden euro frenched in look. Hiding all the blinkers too. (I hate Blinkers) Im doing a bit of work to the rear swingarm, new billet brakes front and rear, billet forward controls, billet open primary belt drive, Carlini Bars (already on the bike), new headlight and LED turn and brake lights just to top it all off. The engine is going to get a freshen up by pumping it out to 96 inches with an S&S kit, S&S carb, and a radically custom designed ground pounding exhaust pipe. It has to be custom made because no one makes parts for the Dynas!... More Softail parts buyers out there I guess.

Finally a totally new dimension in electronics for a bike, with Navigation and a GPS speedo, tach and trip meters all together in a bar mount billet setup. Custom again of course...

So the stage is set, the bike is apart and in a few different boxes all over my garage at the moment and new parts are arriving daily. I will keep up with some updates here and there so you can see whats going on.

Getting Dyna undressed...

More to come....

Update to Blog

Finally finished the SOCAL 2008 California Ride post, please have a look. Sorry it took so long.

We also did another ride in Northern California which included backroads of the Northern High Sierra, up into Mt. Lassen State Park, Lake Shasta and up into Crater Lake once again. We also made our way across Southern Oregon to the coast too and then home through California wine country. I will add that post and more pictures very soon.

Happy New Year