Watching a custom motorcycle being built on television sure looks easy but in the real world it is a lot of hard work. You must be multi-talented with expertise in metal working, welding, body work, painting, and a good wrenchman overall. The best tool can sometimes be your imagination. In the following paragraphs I will try to explain how a custom motorcycle comes together.

The first thing Jeff and I do are inspect all the parts for quality. You would be surprised how some new parts are missing chrome, pitted, sometimes chrome peeling. After everything is inventoried and inspected we assemble the bearings in the wheels, neck races and bearings, install forks and triple tree, add fenders (more on this later), gas tank (more on this later), seat, handlebars, mount the tires on the rims and you now have a rolling chassis. During this time you may have to chase some of the threads in the frame so bolts install without twisting them off. It also makes it almost impossible to torque them properly if the threaded portions are full of crap.

After you have a rolling chassis it is now time to set up the engine and drive train. This is a very important step. After setting the engine and transmission on the frame you are ready align the driveline. It is critical that the the drive line be in perfect alignment. With the engine and transmission bolts in but very loose, we bolt the inner primary to the engine and transmission. Be careful to tighten the inner primary bolts so that nothing is in a bind. All of the inner primary bolts should start into their proper threads without pounding with a hammer or equivalent. You may have to shim under the transmission to get the transmission to set on the frame without binding. There should be no gaps under the transmission, if so shim. When the inner primary is snugged down and then tightened we tighten the bolts on the engine and transmission to the frame. Remove the inner primary and then reinstall the inner primary again. Now that the transmission and engine bolts are tightened the inner primary should go back on and the bolts should be in alignment with the threaded holes in the engine and transmission. If the bolts do not go in with out forcing them the drive train is still not aligned properly. You will have to find out what is causing the mis-alignment. After you have the proper alignment, mark where the engine mounts set on the frame with a black magic marker or such. You do not want to paint the frame under the engine mounts. It will eventually grind away and the engine will be loose and or the proper alignment will be lost.

After assuring that the above step is correct you will want to make sure the chain or belt to the rear wheel tracks properly. At this time you will install the disc rotor and the rear belt pulley or sprocket to the rear wheel and the front pulley to the transmission. A chain will be easier to track but a belt is not much harder. Using axel spacers the rear wheel is spaced until the belt tracks in the center of the front and rear pulley without rubbing on the sides. Under ideal conditions the rear tire should be in the exact center of the frame but sometime that is not possible. I like to install the brake calipers next and make sure you use the proper shims to center the calipers over the rotor. Most of the rotors come with a shim kit. At this point the engine and transmission should be in alignment, the transmission pully aligned to the rear pulley with the belt tracking in the center of the pulley, and the rear caliper centered over the rotor. Do what you have to do but get the alignment for the transmission and rear wheel right.

With all that done, do the same for the front wheel. Install the rotor on the wheel and center the wheel in the front forks using axel spacers. We use a dial indicator with depth gauge to measure the distance from the rim to the inside of the forks and calculate just how much to add or remove to space the wheel to get it centered.

Now stand back and look at what you have accomplished. You have almost finished the first mock up of the bike. At this point all you have installed are the major components.

Next we start paying attention to details. How does the seat fit around the seat? Does that tank have the look that flows with the lines of the bike? Are the wires going to be hidden? Where will the turn signals be located and where will the wires run? These are the kind of question that you will have to ask your self now and if you are not satisfied with look now is the time to change it.

Lets start with the tank. In this picture you can see that the tank was designed with front mounts that bolt to a universal mount on the frame. To give this bike a more custom look we chose to cut off the universal mount on the frame and cut off the mounting lugs on the tank. Next posisition the tank in a way that looks the best to you. Using any material you choose, rags, foam, etc. set the tank on the bike so you get the best look and the lines flow. Now we moved both the mounting lugs on the tank and the mounting bracket on the frame up higher giving a cleaner look to the upper engine area. Now there are no ugly brackets in the way. Looking at the rear of the tank you can see it is not a good fit around the seat. On one tank we decided to bring the tank under the seat and another tank to fit around the seat. First with the seat mounted and the front mounts of the tank secured to the frame we make a paper template to best fit the tank. We take the template and transfer that to sheet metal that will be the tank extension. Next we weld the extension to the tank. I'll stop here to explain that the tank you see here is a typical tank and all the welds need to be cleaned up. This is just how this tank came. Don't expect a tank that is ready to prime and paint. Before it is over you will skim the whole tank with body putty to fill all the imperfections and small dents and dings. Now for the real custom look, using the same sheet metal finish the underside of the tank by welding the sheet metal to your extension and close the bottom of the tank. Grind the welds and remount to the frame.

After mounting this tank to the frame we decided there was to much gap in the front of the tank and the frame. Again we made a paper template and welded a small piece of sheet metal to the tank to fill the gap. Turn the tank over and using more sheet metal finish this much in the same way as the rear. When finished grind off all the lumps and ugly welds and remount to the frame. In the three photos photo1 photo 2 and photo 3 of the finished tank you can now see how the rear fits snug around the seat without rubbing and how the front of the tank looks compared to the original mounts.

After the welding is finished on the tank there you will need to pressure test it for look for leaks. Hopefully you did not burn through the tank when you welded the extensions. If all looks ok we next use a product called KREEM that thoroughly cleans and seals the tank. It is a three step process that requires the tank to sit overnight full of a solution. When finished you will have an airtight tank that should not leak or rust. Later we will do the body work on the tank after all the other components are preped and ready for body work.

It is not necessary to fit every component to the bike at this point however you need to plan for all the details. Temporarly install the controls for the turn signals, horn, throttle, starter button, forward controls, exhaust, etc. This will tell you where the wires need to run and from there you can decide to hide the wires inside the frame or handlebars. Know where all the components are going to be installed. It may be necessary to weld tabs or mounts to the frame. Holes need to be drilled now for wires etc. You do not want to have to weld or drill after all the components are painted. After painting all you should have to do is assemble. It is not necessary to install little items like fuel lines, oil lines, wires, etc. You just want to get a good look at how your lines flow on the bike.

Lets assume now that all the major components are assembled, tabs welded, holes drilled, and the drive line set up. Now get back and take a good look. Is this what you want before you dissamble and paint the components? In our case we did not like the look of the rear or the front fender. The rear fender was chopped and we decided to make the fender strutless by welding the strut to the fender and later blending the strut to the fender. A small portion of the strut was ground away to make the blending easier.

At this point you should have lost enough sleep thinking about your design and have thought of every last component and where it will be located. If you are sure you have thought of everything you are ready to disassemble the bike and begin the body work. Make sure everything fits well. Paint will definitely change the way things fit. As you dissamble the parts set aside the parts that need to be primed and painted. You do not want to start reassembly only to find you forgot to paint a fender bracket, oil tank brackets, or such. It is to late then.

If you really want to punish yourself you can mold all the welds on your frame. I really like the look of a smooth frame. Sometimes welds will take away from the looks of your scoot. This is also a big pain in the butt to do because of the amount of sanding and manual labor but the benefits outweigh the negatives.

Now is the time for you to decide about paint and graphics. Are you going to do that yourself? Unless you have a large area and the correct tools and ventilation you should consider having it done. We are one of the few builders that have the ability to do this ourselves saving thousands of dollars on a custom build. Typical paint jobs run anywhere from $2,000.00 to as much as $5,000.00 or more depending what you are doing. We do it all in house.

After everything is painted you are now ready to reassemble all the components and finish your creation. All holes should be retapped with a tap to clean any paint or clearcoat. Remember where the engine contacts the frame should not be painted. Careful during reassembly, scratches are hard to repair. Keep your wiring neat. I have seen some really good looking bikes that the wiring makes them look like shit. If everything has gone right you should be able to set back and admire your ride and start planning that trip to Sturgis.