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...
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