81 xj550 bobber build

Well i picked this bike up in pieces from the previous owner taking it apart. I paid $180 for it and have been forever working on it since. When i got it the motor eas spray painted black and in awful condition, carbs (luckily its the mikuni carbs) came in a bag all taken apart, it had no seat the rear fender was all sliced up, and to say the least the bike was hacked and in very poor condition, so i stripped it down n started to clean,everything up, painted the frame black with vht gloss black chassis and roll bar paint, and cleaned the motor down and painted it gloss black with aome VHT gloss black engine enamel, made some hard tail links n lowered the rear end quite drastically, made an exhaust for it as it had none when i got it, i made a custom rear fender from a beat up 1960 harley duo glide rear fender that i got from a bike that was in an accident, i made a custom springer seat set up and custom seat pan for it from some sheet metal and valve springs from a Volkswagen i had laying around the shop, took all the wiring down to bare minimum, aftermarket speedo & tach. I still have alot to do but its come a far way from when i got it.

Plans are
Tc bro's foorward controls
3.3 gallon axed mustang style dual cap gas tank
Steel braided fuel line
New fuel filter
Port N polishing intake exhaust ports
Carbs being rebuilt & rejetted
Pod air filters
Ngk plugs
All new fluids & filters
Exhaust wrapping header n exhaust
Aftermarket head light lens with HID bulb and amber LED running lights built in
Side mount plate bracket with iron cross tail/brake light
(Not running any turn signals) i know the hand motions
Road 6 customs holey roller black 7/8 8" rise z bars
New Black throttle lever & longer throttle cable
New Black clutch lever
New Black front brake master/lever
7/8 mirror brackets
After market black mirrors mounted to the underside of the bars
New bar mount head light switch
Black spike handle grips
Custom made kick stand
White wall tires
All custom painted tank n rear fender (black with tribal n skulls om sides of tank)
(Eventually will have a custom leather cover made for the custom seat pan)
New red chain
Upgraded sprockets (to get a higher top speed)
Steel braided front caliper hose
Rebuild rear drum brake
Rebuilding the forks
And a few other odds n ends hopefully have it about done in the next few months.

I made hard tail links in case i ever wanted to ride longer distance i can throw a set of shocks back on & take it back to stock height for comfortability reasons. But this was the day i brought it home after making the hard tail links and installing the gauges since it had none

you can see the mess of wiring that it was and the red loom the previous owner put on everything


The custom exhaust i made


Another pic of the exhaust painted with some gloss black grille paint













Custom springer seat set up and 1960 harley fenders i picked up




Playing around test fitting fenders on the rear which i endeduo cutting down later

Side pic of the fender after being cut down n decided not to run a front fender

 

Another shot of the rear fender after being cut down

Painted the rear fender black just to keep it from rusting for the time being. Will be completely stripped down to bare metal again when i get a chance to n fix a few spots n finish smoothing the edges where it was cut and being prepped for paint

Stripped it down to repaint the motor n frame n go through the wiring n eliminate all the unnecessary stuff
after repainting the motor n frame and going through the wiring and putting it back together for now and i covered the seat pan
picture of the seat after being covered

Pic of my bike n my boss's 1960 harley duo glide we have to start rebuilding soon

 

This is the tank im planning on using

The bars im planning on using

The forward controls im planning on using

 

Paint design im planning on doing on my tank (or at least close)

 

You're going to have to do a thread on the panhead as well. That's a pretty sweet ride!

Not sure if you are going with painted bars, but I believe that there is a ground in the controls that goes through the bars. You'll need to remove some paint in order for it to work.

 

Take the pods off of your list, and you'll have a sound plan.

 

When i start helping my boss start rebuilding his harley i defintely make a thread on it. Was redone about 20 years ago, has an 8 degree rake on the front end n lots of chrome n custom paint but it lost compression on the rear cylinder and he parked it n its been in storage for the last 5 years til a week or so ago he decided tl get it out n all thw chrome needs redone, its got a pretty bad oil leak coming from the check valve by the oil filter, and the paints pretty rough so its gunne need alot of work. As far as my bike goes the carbs are being done professionally to be set up for the pod filters also has the 4 to 1 exhaust with no baffling just an open pipe so its going to need rejetted regardless n also porting & polishing the intake n exhaust ports, so think im probably going to go with a stage 4 jet kit

 

So, it's a vintage Harley!

 

i might have to invite myself over to see this one

 

Gayges on my bike, still gotta wire them in n gotta get some tubing to change the back bone of the frame for the new tank set
got it just about torn down to start doing the back bone as soon as i get some tubing to start on it. Gotta find some 1 5/8" x.134 mild steel tubing. Ordered a mustang style dual cap tank, a new battery, blue LED's, black spike grips, new mirror brackets, mirrors, exhaust wrap, adhesive spray and bands for the exhaust wrap, TC Bro's forward controls and a few other odds n ends.

I did pull the rear wheel n rebuild tbe rear drum brake today and got it all,back together and working properly.

 

Going with a set of black road 6 customs 7/8" holey roller 8" rise z bars so i have to find where i can get longer clutch n throttle cable, along with longer front brake hose which id like to change the front brake hoses to steel braided. Also need to get new front brake master cylinder, new clutch lever, new throttle lever, and a switch for the head light/ tail light.

Other thing i need to get figured out is a brake switch for the rear brake since my bike doesnt have a brake light switch for the rear brake on it.

Have alot of wiring to do on it as im going with all aftermarket lighting. Using a 7" head light with amber LED running lights built in n street fighter style head light brackets with HID head light kit, and im going with a side mount plate bracket with iron cross tail/brake light with LED bulb (bike is a bobber, it will not have turn signals or horn) also eliminating the kickstand switch and a few other odds n ends.

Tires im going with shinko 777 wide white walls 130/90r17 rear 100/90r19 front and painting the wheels red

Motor is getting the intake n exhaust ports all polished, ngk plugs, i havd tbe mikuni carbs getting rebuilt with stage 4 jets pod filters, i have the 4 to 1 exhaust with 2 1/2" piping from header back to a 3" chrome tip all being wrapped in black exhaust wrap, back to the chrome tip. Motor is all blacked out. Valve cover will be painted red. Red breather filter on the crank case vent. And want yo find chromed engine side covers for it

Tank and rear fender will be all custom painted, chrome fuel caps, seat will be getting re covered with s custom made leather cover

Have alot of plans n alot of work ahead of me but will be worth it when its all done.

 

Got the exhaust wrapped and put back on

New grips came in, new mirror brackets n mirrors



Forwadd controls had to be custom fit, had to redrill the bottom hole cause they were for an xj750, still need to get linkage kit but slowly its comin together.

Tomorrow im painting the front caliper, and the valve cover red, and putting a red breather filter on the crank case. And soon ill be painting the wheels red.

 

I would change your hard tail setup on shaft side. I broke the stud on mine. There is now a bracket welded to the axle.

 

The 550 is chain driven.

 

Yeah that’s true. I’m just saying that a lot of people that hard tail these bikes should beef them up more.

 

Is your swing arm welded in place or can it still pivot on the bearings?

 

It can still pivot in case i ever wanna put shocks back on it

 

All i got s chance to do so far today. Hopefully get time to work on it more later

 

got a little bit done tonight, having mixed feelingson what to do in white. Vakbe cover, generator cover amd crank side covers will be painted white. So this is wherei need everyones help.

Motor: white n black with red breather filter
Frame n main part of motor: gloss black
Front caliper: red
Rear fender n tank will be satin black with matte finish clear n jack daniels logo on sides of tank
Using white wall tires

Now my question, paint wheels white?? Or red??

 

Or should i paint the wheels white n paint the tank n rear fender white as well.