Britchopper.co.uk

Hi,

I've been tinkering about with bikes for many years now but they've all been sports bikes (RSV's, 996's, GSXR1000's and the like). But since the fickle finger of redundancy pointed my way, these toys are out of the question now
So since I have all this time to myself and there is only so much Jeremy Kyle a man can suffer, I decided to have a go at building a bike from the ground up. I've never built one before, and my line of work doesn't help as it was as a site manager.
As for throwing 20K at an engine builder / custom chrome dealer/ airbrush artist / etc, etc. Even if I had the money to waist, personally, A) I think they look like a Christmas tree with all the trimmings and glitter. B) Doesn't that miss the point of 'building' a bike ?????

So for me, it had to be a bobber ! no frills, thumping engine, with an enphasis on engineering.
As I said, my experience is sports bikes, so the parts I picked I've not really nown too much about. I've just picked what was available / could afford / looked right.
I'll try to remember to keep updating the progress, but in the meantime please feel free to tell me what you think (good and bad)

Cheers

Mick

bloody hell mate, you sure its your first time I really like that mate, nice lines and everything

doesn't look too bad so far. I take it you will be adding a heat shield to the pipe. Looks like the rear mudguard is too close to the tyre, but that may be just the camera angles.
You are also going to need indicators and idiot lights etc for an MSVA

Very nice indeed.... Do like it.

The only neg I'd have is the front forks...look a touch too wide for me...but that may be the camera angle plus it not being finished (not a critisism BTW so please don't take it that way).

Otherwise really nice. Some nice detail in there...

WBT

I reckon the same too, real neat, tidy, minimal build, narrow thumper motor, but the wide forks look a bit out of place.

Wow !,Thats lookin the mutts nuts
As for the forks hmm dunno. But then i dont own it so if it's good for you then thats right.
Nice one .

Hiya Mick, wow cool as funk!!
really like the style of that, whats the motor, 650 honda?
and your first build

Looks good bud, really like the hand change brackety thing u machine that urself ?
the strip on top of tank may cause grief wiv mvsa but i may be wrong hope it dont as it goes nice wiv the lines of ur bike.

Is it me or did you jump from 'I'm gonna build a bike' to 'here it is!' - bloody hell mate, superb

I like.

I'd lose the front mudguard lugs though.

And be careful not to hit owt head on at speed.

It's not a bobber baby, it's a chopper.


S'nice.

Yep first build, as I said only race reps before with was only bolt-on or performance mods and paintwork. Apart from the obvious ( motor, forks, wheels ) I've made everything else in my garage. I've not got much in the way of tools mostly hand tools and a small hobby lathe with mill attachment, a mig welder and a compressor. The tank started of as a standard VN1500, I chopped a big wedge out of the middle to narrow it and added a new base and tunnel. Rear mudguard came from a trailer spares shop, same again, chopped and narrowed to fit really close to tyre. It's got around 20-25mm clearance with the wheel near the front of the adjusters. The exhaust was just some 2" bends I bought, they were cut and twisted to wrap around the frame and motor. The foot controls, seat pan, jockey shift, handle bars, yokes, internal throttle, engine mounts & battery box were all made from raw materials. The 'oil tank' (for electrics) was one of those stainless steel sphear's you see in garden centres, I halved it, wrapped some 16g sheet around them and tacked them together. The hardest part was fixing the brackets inside to mount the various black boxes too. The frame was an old triumph oif frame that had been butchered to fit in a big jap inline 4. There was no down tube or engine cradle left and all the bracketry and mounts needed to be made along with the rear fender mounts and chain adjusters The forks look a little wide at the moment but the fork brace and rubber boots arn't fitted and when painted they will blend in more. I hate the look of narrow skinny front ends hence the wide front tyre and yokes. The engine is out of a CCM 644 super moto (tuned & rebadged DR650 supplied to CCM) lots of power single thumper.
Thers still a few bits and pieces to make up but I'm in the middle of the paintwork at the moment.

Not a bobber Err ok, if you say so.
Here's a few more pics.

I was trying to work out what the engine was. I was guessing DR650, but was confused by the twin inlet ports. Now you've said it's a CCM branded motor it makes sense. Good stuff.

It's a great looking bike and you should be very proud of your efforts so far.

However, it's not a Bobber by any means. I know that BSH calls nearly every bike it features a "bobber" these days, but they are incorrect. Basically, if it doesn't look like this, or very close to this ...



... then it isn't a bobber.

Bobber seems to be the latest buzz word that's applied to almost anthing on 2 wheels. Recently I saw a standard 1976 Triumph, with the exception of 4 inch over forks, described as a "bobber".

you call it what you want , bloody nice bike i always said the dr 650 would be a good base for a chop , i would have used my late friends one for my latets project but it wasnt salvageable so ended up only using the forks . but for a first go excellent

right get the next one started

wow looks great mate. its obvious that you have talent them yokes are stunning you want to make me some ? and as for it not been a bobber its what you want it to be and fuck the padantic fuckers out there regards scott.

Cheers lads
I didn't realise I would offend the Antipodean style police
Start the next one ! Let me get this one finished.
The paint is taking me longer than I hoped. As you can see space is a little tight which doesn't help. Here's some pics.

Enjoy

More progress.

it's pEdantic, not pAdantic.



Nice work mick.r

it was deliberate I wondered how long it would be lol

Yeah, yeah. That's what they all say!!

how are you registering it?

thats a serious back bone ( on the bike that is )

Do we?


Zzzzzzzz.


A bike is whatever the owner wants to call it.

Yes, you do. And I've been reading Back Street Heroes since issue 1.

Anyone wanna see my awesome Panhead Chopper? It's really a Raleigh Chopper with a playing card in the spokes, but hey, I'm allowed to call it whatever I want, regardless of historical precedence.