I've learned a lot about building handmade exhaust systems for the last couple of months. I flat screwed up the first tech on tools, but returned to Home Depot, found the correct parts and went back to work. I picked up a couple of 4-inch C-clamps, and the proper diameter goofball plumbing clamp. I'm still trying to order the Holly pipe guide inserts. They're back ordered.
Okay, so one lonely night in the garage I dug through the rafters for chunks of pipes. Don't ever throw pipes away, chrome or no chrome. Stack them in the corner somewhere or hang 'em from the ceiling.
I built the clamps tool first. Hold it. I grabbed a Corona out of the used garage fridge. I recently experienced an e-mail conversation with a bike mag editor which was on my mind. So many mags treat bikes like the insides of a sewing machines. I can't write like that. We don't build bikes purely for transportation. They're wild monsters to support the crazed beast inside us, goddamnit. Over the years we dropped discussing drugs, crime and even illegal maneuvers on bikes. Some mags set a law that you can't, literally, mix drinking and the riding.
Okay, so where does that leave the hungry, chain knawing writer? Sex? The romance behind the ride. Sex is all over the place, but I've received heat for mentioning women in articles.
Here's an excuse from the editor, “The readers are all middle-aged family types that ride on weekends.” Yeah, so fuckin' what? Does that mean the ol' lady cut off their balls and the credit union ate their hearts? Whatta you think?
Let's get back to work while I ponder a writer's fate. I took a chunk of 2-inch pipe to Home Depot with pieces of angle iron to make sure I bought the correct sized shit. I did, returned home and brazed the angle iron to the cast C-clamp. I braze 'cause I enjoy it, there's flexibility, it's sometimes faster and when you're welding mild steel to cast it works.
I performed the same maneuver with the stainless pipe clamp as last time, drilling smaller to larger holes and ultimately cutting a couple of slots. I won't use that clamp as much. There's the risk of tacking the clamp to the exhaust pipe. It's so damn tough to see anything through a MIG face shield. Don't get me wrong. This time around I used three pipe-clamping tools successfully, but you'll see as we move forward.
I brazed a chunk of 3/4-inch angle iron, 4-inches long to the solid end of the clamp, then a couple of short, about and inch long, pieces to the pivotal ends. I did my best not to fuck with the rotating ends with too much heat or wild brazing maneuvers. They need to stay loose.
Below are the feeble remnants of the old exhaust system, but I decided not to shitcan the entire unit but to slice off the exhaust manifold segments. The rest hit the trash.
We wanted to build a cool little system with performance in mind. They're straight pipes and I tried, initially, to maintain similar lengths.
I'm getting ahead of myself. With the clamp and spring in place on the pipe segment, over the steel wool gasket, I snugged the manifold clamp down. Make sure to use the gasket. It won't fit the same without it. I decided to have the pipes scoop over the tranny hiding the starter motor and solenoid. I cut and re-cut a chunk of scrap pipe until I felt the match was perfect. In this case I used the hose clamp tool to hold it in place for tacking. I clamped it and stood back. I used a carpenter's level, checked the motorcycle lift for level, the frame for level, then the pipe. With rubbermount bikes you need to leave extra jiggling space. Frank Kaisler told me if it's rigid leave an 1/8 of an inch, if rubbermounted a 1/4-inch.
“Actually a number 2 pencil eraser works perfect for measuring the needed rubbermount space,” Frank said. Rubbermounted drivelines flex in a front and back plain, not side to side.
I tacked it with the Millermatic MIG welder and stood back. The clamp worked like a charm in the tight space and held the two pipe chunks in perfect alignment. One problem. I tacked the clamp to the pipe. Actually it wasn't too awful. I hit it with the Makita hand grinder and it snapped loose. I returned to the tool box and cut large slots in the clamp with a die grinder to avoid unnecessary tacking in the future.
Next, I used the C-clamp tool to hold the fine, rear pipe segment in place. Again, it worked tight and right and made it easy and accessible to tack. I used the level, then the MIG. Once satisfied I welded the circumference of the pipe at both joints. The rear exhaust pipe was complete. I installed it and started to work on the front pipe.
In this case an awkward pipe junction didn't work for either clamp, so I shifted to solution number three from Kustom Fab in Hawaii. As you can see in the photo the gap was too large and unruly for the hose clamp tool. I cut a chunk of pipe, cut a groove in it and installed it in one section of the pipe then the other.
With the internal segment filling the gap, tacking and welding was a breeze and the pipe was strong as hell. I moved onto the next chunk and here's where Coronas and limes came into play. For some god awful reason I was determined to fashion the pipes at similar lengths for performance, balance and vibration. Some performance guys profess to a particular length, like 32-inches per cylinder. Most pipe systems are whack cases when it comes to length. I still had the Shrunken credo in mind. Keep it all short and sweet. So that's what I did and was pleased with my work after a couple of beers.
Screw chrome on pipes. From now on we'll Jet Hot coat them, or paint them with heat paint and use chromed heat shields.
Plan B, called for a simple lengthening of the front pipe to stagger with the rear. No problem. Cut and weld another chunk of 1 3/4-inch pipe between sipping a Bloody Mary and both predicaments were solved. The pipes were out of harm's way of the rider and the exhaust bracket was tight and organized to the top rear 1/4 tranny bolt.
I welded 5/16s studs (3/4-inch long) to the back of the pipes and did my damnedest to place them in perfectly level positions. Hold the stud in place and tack it or draw around the base with a felt pen, remove the pipe and weld it. Then it was back and forth bending and drilling the bracket. Do me favor, don't cut the bracket to length until you've finished bending. One slight bend and the bracket changes length considerably.
I dug around for a longer 1/4-20 bolt, then needed to run a die down the shaft and expand the threads. It worked, the pipes were tight and in place. I don't mind the welds showing, but we'll grind and smooth them some before final paint and installation.
The final step involved the tear drop heat shield to prevent leg damage or abrasion to the fragile black heat painted surface. I grabbed a stock heat shield or two and looked for the perfect chunk. We sketched it out with a felt pen and cut it carefully with a high speed die-grinder. Make sure the strap is centered or positioned correctly on the back.
With it cut we worked the edges with a grinder, then I rounded them slightly with a Scotch Bright pad on a polishing wheel. It was destined to be re-chromed.
Below is a shot of the completed Shrunken FXR when a pressurized call came from Harold Ponteralli, the master builder of H-D Performance in Vacaville, California (707)453-1649. “Bandit, you drunken asshole,” he said over the phone from 500 miles north, “is that piece of shit going to be finished for the Easyriders show in Pomona?”
For the first time I looked at the Amazing Shrunken FXR and thought, yeah, with paint and finish, it'd sing. “Fuck you,” I said to Harold indignantly.
“Am I painting that beast?” he asked. “Better ship me the shit.” He hung up. I stood back and assessed the project. Was I close enough, to completion, to tear it down. We had discussed making it run and road testing it first. There's serious drawbacks and positive considerations to road testing. But what the hell, I'll roll the dice and go for it.
The FXR is a tight, simple custom, so it came apart quickly. Harold told me his formula to disassembling an FXR drive line. Jack the tranny with chunks of wood and take out the engine first. We did. Harold is a wild man and a helluva painter. He created the paint theme on the Blue Flame and his bikes grace many magazine covers, including the recent Art of Choppers book from Motorbooks International.
We removed the sheet metal, packed it in a Custom Chrome engine crate. Said a blessing over the wooden box and sent it on it's way. Then we pulled parts for chrome and powder at Custom Powder Coating in Dallas. It's a good idea to take shots of the inventory to keep track of what went where.
No we didn't make the Easyriders show in Pomona. We took the lower front end legs to crazy John to have the fender bracket holes welded shut for a cleaner look. He also engine-turned the Billet-6 brake calipers for a finished detail. We're shooting for a classic Hot Rod and Bike show next week. Will we make it? Who the hell knows? Harold finished the paint in time, the chrome's done, the powder and the frame will hopefully show up tomorrow. Hang on. Regarding editorial rules and regs. That's one reason for Bikernet. We'll call our own shots.
BRAND NEW CUSTOM CHROME CATALOG RELEASED–
Custom Chrome's new offering for 2004. The California based distributor brings you the most comprehensive product offering in the Harley-Davidson aftermarket! At over 1,200 pages and over 22,000 part numbers, their 2004 Catalog features the new RevTech 110 Motor, Hard Core II, Ares bikekits and noumious frames and forks–everything from nuts & bolts to performance products. It's the Custom Bike Bible for the year.
ONLY $9.95 + 6.95 Shipping**
We're getting right down to the bottom line. Harold Ponteralli, our painter called, “If I deliver the paint can you make it to the show.” I assembled bikes overnight for run deadlines in the past, so we went for it. We installed the new sheet metal, ran the oil lines and picked up a few chrome knick knacks from Long Beach Chrome. Frank was on his way to the Bikernet headquarters with a brown bag full of Goodridge hydraulic fitting. The heat was on.
I installed the exhaust while Frank custom cut lines to fit each application perfectly. You can see how the man does it in our King tech articles using Goodridge lines, fittings and shrink wrap. For throttle cables we relied on Barnett for custom cut-to-fit lines.
We replaced the Rev Tech 6-speed, cable tranny cover with a Joker Machine clean, chromed billet, hydraulic clutch. Why did we go hydraulic? Hell I don't know, maybe to balance the Joker controls on the bars? The cover slid right on and we torqued it to specs (15-20 ft. lbs.).
While I wrenched Frank ran a line from the Joker front brake mastercylinder to the Custom Chrome Billet-6 brake caliber. Crazy John took the calipers to a shop to have them milled smooth then engine turned for an added detail. Whatta ya tink?
Then Frank ran a hydraulic line from the H-D rear brake master cylinder (stuffed under the tranny) to the brake switch bolted to the tranny case, through a series of Goodridge fittings. Finally another line was constructed from the brake pressure switch to the rear brake caliper. We kept in mind that the wheel will be adjusted for belt tension and will flex up and down with the swingarm. There needed to be slack in the line.
Finally Frank carefully made a line that ran from the Joker handlebar controls to the Joker hydraulic tranny front. He immediately started bleeding the brake systems and they fell right in line. We watched the direction air bubbles might travel. Generally front brakes can be bled several ways. Some pump the fluid in from the caliper bleeder nipple forcing bubbles north out of the control reservoir. Sometimes, as soon as it's filled, it's cooked. No bleeding is necessary.
Sometimes I fill the reservoir and pump it slightly until the Dot 5 runs down the line and fills the caliper. This can take awhile, but as it sets the bubbles rise to the top and out the reservoir until it's cooked again. We were lucky. The rear brake caliper was installed above the master cylinder and the bubbles blasted to the surface with little bleeding. Our Giggie (from Compu-Fire) designed, mid-brake lever worked like a champ with the sharp Custom Chrome pivoting pegs.
As a side note I coated the pipes with rattle-can barbecue heat flat black. What the hell, if they don't work, I'll mess with them again. Oh, and I tried to find a place to stash a H-D rear brake reservoir but couldn't. I held my breath and entered a Yamaha shop and ordered a small sport bike unit. We made a bracket and stashed it under the tranny.
Building custom bikes is all about options, abilities, resources and a handful of rules. Check the John Covington Safety Code in Special Reports. He makes some good points. There's also various considerations between rubbermounted bikes and rigids. For instance we designed the rear fender to hug the tire, but it moves with the swingarm which means the sonuvabitch better be strong. Also there needs to be considerable space between the seat and the rear fender for shock travel.
On top of style is ride consideration. I like to build bikes that will hang for a cross country run, handle slick roads and corner without dragging pipes or pegs. And it better corner. That's what bikes are all about. Alright, I got off the tech. Kyle, the shop intern, installed the Custom Chrome petcock and gas line to the carb. He cut the line and inserted a gas filter (check the arrows for flow direction).
We loaded up the Cyril Huze oil tank with RevTech 10-50 Oil and looked for the UPS man. We waited patiently for the Le Pera styled/Bikernet seat to return to the fold stitched with emerald threads. Harold Ponteralli painted the sheet metal and want to see it in the Easyriders Pomona show. We didn't make it. Then he jammed us about making the Pomona Roadster Show and we busted our buts. I did a couple of midnight runs installing the Custom Chrome stainless plates under the rear axle and polishing stainless fasteners. The gloss black powder arrived right on time from Dallas. The chrome sparkled and Custom Chrome delivered parts when we needed them.
If the seat had rolled in the door, we would have wired the bastard into the wee hours and drug the scoot to the show, but nooo. Cross-eyed, we pulled the 1928 Shovel out of the headquarters, also painted by H-D Performance in Vacaville, California, detailed it and delivered it to Pomona. It was essentially built by Strokers Dallas, and sonuvabitch if they weren't at the show with a half a dozen Stroker bikes. They took Best of Show and the Shovel took third place in the classic category. Whatta week.
At this point we need final shifter linkage, which Frank fabricated, so we could install the BDL primary drive. Then some wire and we can fire this puppy. Hang on.
