Rice recipes for old school chopper/bobber

How do you put a kickass, reliable, sixties-style britbike chopper together for less than $2000? I've been pondering the question for a while, and have concluded the answer lies in the exotic orient; namely, use a 70's era Yamaha XS 650 as a donor bike --

<img src=http://ebay2.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_ffca863d47dae726f7f44bb6d602406a/i-1.JPG></img>

Go ahead and shoot me, but the XS650 engine does a decent visual imitation of a Triumph or BSA twin without the expense (easy to find good runners under $500) and reliability issues.

My end goal is something along the lines of Steve Wertheimer's 'Trumpster'-- hardtail, peanut tank, z-bars, plenty of bassboat 'flake, low rake. Got any recommendations/sources for frame/front end suppliers, or have pics of your own rice chopper projects? Post 'em, domo arigato.

 

If you can't find a chopper that you like here then you need to sell me that bike!

 

JK - That's not my bike, that's just an example from eBay (I think that one sold for $450). This is the style of end product I have in mind...

<img src=http://www.zoo.co.uk/~z0006413/images/DSCN2497A_jpg.jpg></img>

 

check this out -


http://www.650central.com/

 

Kutty Noteboom's '69 Honda 750 chopper (more of a 70s-style chopper, but with all the right lines):

 

I'm dying here... keep those pics coming.

 

I'd take either of those over anything I've seen on Discovery Channel lately. Those bikes have soul, even without Harley power. Now if they were just Pan-Heads, I'd be in HOG heaven. Oh, and I liked my XS YAMAHA 650 Special enough to turn over the odometer.

 

Damn straight, Joe... I suppose after they get finished with the firetuck theme chopper, the helicopter theme chopper, the space shuttle theme chopper, the elevator theme chopper, the kon-tiki viking boat theme chopper, and the cuisinart theme chopper, maybe those guys will get around to building a CHOPPER theme chopper.

Thanks all for the 650 links!

 

Honda scoots enjoy a cult-like underground Chopper following...

<img src=http://ebay0.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_4644265164f9045334037b1892da6715/i-1_B.JPG>

And some dig Kawasakis...

<img src=http://ebay2.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_9f42aab93292d6a8d541d34400a5aafa/i-1_B.JPG>

An unfinished Kawaka chop on e-bay...

<img src=http://ebay3.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_34a349544efdf0aa5512f57a36139371/i-1_B.JPG>

Then there's the Yamaha guys...

<img src=http://ebay0.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_ad922a08bbebbd85d60d2688fcc57703/i-1_B.JPG>

<img src=http://ebay3.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_0df900473d6e9b07e5721d587ce2d92a/i-3.JPG>

Hey man, a cool scoot is a cool scoot...go for it!

 

www.hackasaw.com

 

Here's my chopper as it sits right now. From what I've found out so far, the engine is an '82 Yamaha 650. It's believed to be an '80 frame at birth. I have a rework planned for this winter, new paint, tank, seat, and whatever else comes along.



CJ

 

some great info on parts and building those bikes at

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ricechoppers/

 

Harring . . . . is that a current picture ? that thing is still a clean ass nice bike !

 

I think,that is me(I).......I think jap choppers look like crap!! I have been building bikes for 45 years, maybe thats the problem, but if ya hafta use a Jap bike, the 650 Yamaha is the BEST motor ever built by a Jap .I built a few for dirt track racing and even some for tractor pulling..... I like brit bikes,but the yamaha 650 is just the best vertical twin there is, can be made a 750cc big carbs, cam etc. but again, it's a last resort.......sorry

ya...i ride a Harley
CT

 

here's mine

 

[ QUOTE ]
And some dig Kawasakis...

<img src=http://ebay2.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_9f42aab93292d6a8d541d34400a5aafa/i-1_B.JPG>

Then there's the Yamaha guys...

<img src=http://ebay0.ipixmedia.com/abc/M28/_EBAY_ad922a08bbebbd85d60d2688fcc57703/i-1_B.JPG>



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whoah, those pics don't go with the text. Kaw chopper guys like Z1s and KZ1000s, Yamaha guys like XS650s, but those pics are of CRUISERS. Those are generic rip off jap cruiser guys, not real japanese bike fans.

 

Hansen - what kind of frame are you using?

 

i wouldn't do it. it would be akin to taking your car and turning it into a fad T. cool sixties styling? what do you think?
just like the vintage tin on four wheels we search for, bikes can still be had. i have less than $500 in a pre-unit triumph. had a 45 basket case that i paid 2 grand for, came with a spare motor. a really gem, a 45 magnum motor. my main ride is a panhead bobber.
it would be ok to own one for getting in the wind, but why chop it then? sounds to me you're after style, might as well start with something that people will drool over instead of thinking to themselves, why did the guy go to all the effort?
again, just my opinion

 

Mike thats a good choice for a motor- I think it would be great..........whats wrong with reliability.....

 

I dont have pics but at the Hot Rod Arama this year where some badass CHAPPERS(tm) using Yamaha engines. Very trick...Danny

 

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sounds to me you're after style, might as well start with something that people will drool over instead of thinking to themselves, why did the guy go to all the effort?
again, just my opinion

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I think "why did the guy go to all the effort?" when I see bikes that are never on the road because functionally they're pieces of shit. Why bother if you can't really ride it? Triumphs aren't cheap to keep on the road if you really ride them, and they aren't trustworthy for any respectable distance. Choppers aren't for style unless you're a hippy. They're for beating the shit out of, getting the shit beat out of you by, and for cheating death. Triumphs are cool if you can afford to put up with them. XS650s are punk rock cheap and they put out ok. But best jap motor?? Please.

 

choppers not about style? you can just as easily beat the shit out of a bike with factory engineering as you can a homebuilt chopper. a factory bike will handle better than most anyone of those rigid framed, extended fork, jockey shifting bikes pictured. so if you're not modifying the bike to gain performance or handling, what is the purpose?

 

I would rather build something else than a Harley or Brit bike because I think they are both overrated as a machine. I am building a Hardtail [my frame]water cooled Kawasaki 800CC Vtwin with Belt drive[homebuilt][from Kaw belt drive parts]I see the Harleys and triumphs -they are cool too but truthfully I am sick of seeing nothing but the same ol shit and want to build what I want -Im not in a cult I CAN BUILD SOMETHING COOL that is not the same old thing the all the sheep in the "herd" do.......I have had triumphs and Harleys and I will never go back to them- That is just my Opinion from past experience.anyone else who wants to WORK on them -go ahead........its a free country.

 

Hansen, I'm wondering about the frame also. That bike looks like something you could really get on and ride.

 

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choppers not about style? you can just as easily beat the shit out of a bike with factory engineering as you can a homebuilt chopper. a factory bike will handle better than most anyone of those rigid framed, extended fork, jockey shifting bikes pictured. so if you're not modifying the bike to gain performance or handling, what is the purpose?



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Oh goody, this will be pointless. First take back the extended fork thing, I don't care about gay 70s hippy bikes. The 50s and early 60s chops were hotrodded bikes, they were about light weight and going fast and that's the only kind I care about. Dominant racing forms at that time were flattrack and drag racing, so go figure they liked rigids. Riding lean, tight little hardtail bikes is fun, jockey shifting is fun. They're fun things to do even when people aren't watching you. A chop set up right will be good at certain forgotten attributes of motorcycle handling that modern bikes aren't, even though modern bikes are good at more things and better on most roads we use today. But the 70s happened and everything went gay, and apparently most of you never recovered. You probably don't even know what the hell I'm talking about. You kick back on your king/queen seat with your feet out in those gyno styrups and putt down the road with the wind in your bandana singing EVERYBODY GET TOGETHER RIGHT NOW.... I like skidding, getting sideways, being a jackass and riding primitive homemade contraptions. I like modern roadracing bikes too. Anything built for action. If chops were just for style I can absolutely guarantee you that I wouldn't like them. In fact, I absolutely despise the chops that ARE only built for style.

 

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choppers not about style?

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and if they are just about style for you--who cares unless it's styling WHILE YOU ACTUALLY RIDE IT.

 

Here are a few pics of a some bikes my brother (58villager) built a around 96-97.
This is my bike before he made it a rigid and what it looked like a few ours later.

 

progress pic.

 

painted black. and dirty

 

Here is an old friend sitting on 58villager's Yamaha chopper.1999