Well, that was a quick four years…
With opening a memorabilia store, tending to family issues and Billy getting sick, we are all back and ready to move forward to finish the B.A.D. Bike Build. The concept is still the same, build a bike and auction it off with the proceeds going to the American Diabetes Association.
See how we got were we did with this link: BADBikeBuild.com
We have a new partner on the project. Please welcome Cambra Speed Shop. Ron Cambra really digs what we have been doing at Blacktop Magazine and has signed on to help with the fabrication of the B.A.D. Bike. What we want to do next on the bike is just a bit over our capabilities, so Ron is enlisting his crew to help us finish the bike to be a great rider. He took a look at where we were at with the bike and told us we had a good thing going, so let’s get it done!
We have the bike mostly mocked up when we got the itch to make it a hardtail. So we called Mike at Voodoo Vintage about their hard-tail kit for early 80’s shovel’s. We picked up one of their MK50 hard-tail kits all spot welded for us to fit on the 1980 FXWG frame.
First things first. Let’s tear the bike down to the bare frame again and get it over to OC Sandblasting around the corner from the shop then we can start cutting and welding. The plan is to get the frame all cleaned up with any un-necessary tabs, bungs and so forth. We plan to keep the parts we cut off just in case there is someone out there who want’s to return their hard tailed shovel to a swingarm set up.
When we get the frame back we will fit the VooDoo Vintage kit to determine the rear wheel stance. From there we level off the frame and most likely have to cut the springer front end to keep a level (and lower) frame. While we are there, we will strengthen the front end with added gussets and internal structure.
Stay tuned as we plan to give updates along the way. Now it’s off to the sandblaster!
Thank You: