Wednesday, November 2, 2011

The Dirty Irishman...


We really never gave this bike a proper introduction. The blog was started after the work on this bike had began so we just kind of started updating it. We decided that maybe we should post up showing you guys what we have done so far from day 1 until now so you could see how things have come together and the direction the bike has taken so far.

After some research John, co-owner of Speakeasy Custom, found a bike he was ready to make his own




A 1981 Heritage Special Yamaha Xs650. The above pictures are from the classifieds listing for the bike originally.

On December 10th, the guys went to go pick the bike up and bring it to its new home.



We knew the bike was going to be a fairly large project but John had found himself a solid bike, in great shape, and an already well known platform to work off of. It didnt take long to start tearing things down to analyze what was needed and begin the build.








Once everything was broken down a few decisions on some major parts had to be made. A design for the hard tail and wheels were two of the first things to come to mind. John decided to run a David Bird Yamaha XS650 Weld-On straight style with a 3" drop and 4" stretch.




And the wheels



The parts came in and it was time to see how things fit



The wheels were sent out for paint. Along with the front forks. Just a little change to really make them fit the bike properly. Big thanks to Maryland Performance Coating


It was also time to lower the front to keep everyone looking right. The front was lowered a total of 2 7/8" with the help of a lowering kit from Hugh's Handbuilt

Test fitting everything up on the bike, its starting to look like a bike again!


With all of this mocked up and the design really starting to fall into place it was time to make a decision on a tank. John decided that he wanted to run a Cole Foster tank. The one he decided to go with was a Modified Jammer that was originally designed for a Harley Davidson Sportster.


Next up was the seat pan, there were a lot of ideas thrown out there for this but with the direction that they wanted to go... why not just make it from scratch? Well, thats what happened. The first test was made from 22 gauge steel and this was what came of it



The final product will be based from 14 gauge instead

That brings us up to date (for the most part).



Our goal is to TRY and get this bike to the Timonium Motorcycle Show in February but there is still a lot left to do on the bike. It's going to be a stretch but hopefully we can work it all out. Please subscribe and follow us to see how this bike (and hopefully lots of others in the future) come together!


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