[rockett]

Alright friends, critics, and others, I am breaking down and showing a picture. I'm mocking up my ironhead these last few days/weeks. I'm in the middle of putting the motor back together, rehone, rings, bearings, gaskets, new 2nd gear, the normal stuff.

Here's a cosmetic mock-up of the roller. I'm thinking I'll cut the front tab and move the tank up a bit, but not sure yet. i'll be moving the fill cap closer to the front of the tank, and moving the petcock all the way back, to increase fuel capacity. This isn't a cosmetic mod, it's simply to get all of the gallons possible out of the tank.

The bike will be pretty rough-and-tumble. Frame/wheels/drums will be painted black (cheaper than chrome, eh?) and the tins will have black sides and cream tops. I haven't made my fenders yet, I'll be building my own pair of fenders soon. I'm also going to build my own bars with built in risers, but they should be vaguely similar to those bars.

What do you think about the flow/lines? Is it a bit blocky, or is it getting close to 'correct'? Suggestions? 'Correct' is obviously a subjective and somewhat transient term, but there's also a natural flow that is appealing, and sometimes it's hard to distance yourself from your own work and back up far enough to see it.

I'm going for a bit of a lean/mean look, the back and front tires are both a somewhat narrow profile, but they're the same width. That's a 19 on the front and an 18 on the back.

Thanks hatch for making me want these wheels and tires. I blame you for that. =)

Tear it up and tell me what you think!

I'll be posting a few more pictures in a day or so, front and back profile, etc., but this should be enough to get the conversation started.

 

[Jtw79]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

Tank does need to lose tab and move up to balance out the space. I'd shave the reflectors off the legs and I think it needs a diiferent style of bars put can't put my finger on it. Looking good so far. What do you have in mind for fenders, front and rear or rear only?

 

[Guest]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

Thanks hatch for making me want these wheels and tires. I blame you for that. =)

Tear it up and tell me what you think!

Ok....I would blame Hatch for the whole thing....

Jokes aside looking good so far...

Edit... Something about the tank don't look right to me...???

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[need louvers ?]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

I have agree with JTW79 above. The tank needs to come forward a bit and drop down an inch or so up front ( I've never been a fan of 'Frisco'ed tanks myself). Shave the legs down too. That seat is going to look sooo "chunky" on an otherwise small, light bike that I would kinda revisit it too. Wheels are absolutely bitchin' though! I like the sporty front brake too. They always look sooo good drilled and polished up, and the best part is it doesn't cost anything to do but time. As far as bars, something with a little less pull back and a bit flatter is where I would go.

But what the hell do I know, I'm just a Triumph guy...

 

[Guest]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

It's the angle of the front of your tank that looks out of place...

http://www.washingtonchoppers.com/gastankpage.htm

If it had more of the raked angle like this Lucky Frisco tank has would be more pleasing to the eye...Well....My eye anyway....

But...What do I know ??....I'm blind in one eye and can't see out of the other...

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[hogster]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

I agree...start with the tank first ,cant see that "wing" on front of tank working out it just pushes the tank back 2 much ,maybe cut some off and re-radius it.the rest looks cool.keep the seat

 

[ralphiejantz]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

yeah cut that tab on the tank off
if you want to shave the lowers and need someone to do it
send me a pm
shaving lowers is the special im running in the shop this month im offering a big discount on it
it looks like you have a good start there though

 

[rockett]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

There are three bikes that have influenced me. Hatch's older sporty, Gypsy Soul, and a random thing I found on the web. (pix of the last two in this post) Pretty sure this whole bike can be blamed on the three of them. =)

I'll be shaving the lowers for sure. Just haven't gotten around to it yet. Those reflectors are an eyesore!!

Yeah, I think you're all right about the tank. Something is off. Moving it forward and trimming off the tab is a must. Once I do that, I'll take another look at it and see if I need to deepen the front of the tunnel, or maybe change the angle of the front wall. It might just be sitting too far back.

The glory about that old le-pera is that I can bust off that cover, trim the foam, and re-cover it. =D There's a good chance I'll do that, it's pretty damn fleabitten anyway.

Gypsy soul actually turned me onto this seat. (that, and it was remarkably priced well. Free.)

I'll be running front and back fender, both. I plan to ride in the rain. I'll probably build something fairly minimalistic, rib it, and give it a little bit of a duck tail. Nothing crazy, something a little understated. I just don't want puddle water in the face.

The bars I have in mind are something similar to these:

nice and narrow, simple, and easy to make, as well. They just come straight off of the triple tree, 90 out, and that's the whole story. I already have the pipe, I might even bend something up tomorrow morning. (I'm about to go knock out a 12 hour graveyard shift.)

 

[selectedgrub]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

All the best for your build.

 

[elmiguel13]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

Yes on cutting off the tab and moving the tank forward a bit.

 

[need louvers ?]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

Cool! I just re read my earlier post and realized that I had completely re styled you mock up just by writing. Sorry 'bout that. Good thing on the seat too. If you trimmed it a bit and slicked it out a touch I think it can do the deal, and very few things in life are better than free! just kill some of the "mass"...

 

[rockett]

Re: Rockett's Ironhead

Thanks guys for all the input and helpful information! Here are some more pix from this morning. I worked on cutting out some bits, did a test bend on the handlebars I'm wanting to make, (Discovered I'm going to have to make a dimpler to get the tight radius bend I want in the bars.) threw my tires on the roller to see how they look, dropped in the stock sporty fender on the front end, and mussed around on some other shop work. I'm trying to decide what I'm going to do for a back fender. I might buy one, but I'm really thinking about finding some old metric fenders and chopping them up and trying to build my own little ribbed ducktail bit. Thing is, I need it to be like half the diameter of the wheel, because I want to slide all the way around the front of the back wheel to keep the tire from spitting on the back of the motor. We'll see. Pix:

 

[FeHd]

Looks good, but isnt an ironhead right side drive?

 

[rockett]

It's just mocked up as a roller. I didn't take particular care as to which way I put the rims on. Haha. I'll fix it next time I'm out there.

 

[rockett]

Update. Not a big one, but a bit of stuff.

Built my own handlebars. Bent them, ground a nut to fit inside, drilled holes in the tubing to weld the sides of the nut, welded the face of the nut, cut crossbar, welded together, bolted straight onto the top tree. Going to use a bit of filler on the welds and then paint them.

On the seat: I decided it's too fat, especially in the back. I'm going to break it down, use the pan, and re-foam it. skinny it up to match the width of the fender, and also make it shorter, so it doesn't stick up so high in the back. I'll throw up pix after I do it.

Criticism is welcome.

Oh, and I swapped the back rim around. Thanks for catching that, FeHd. Heh.

 

[rockett]

That picture from the front makes the bars look crooked as hell. They aren't that crooked. I promise.

 

[FeHd]

Right on, just messin with ya. Looks good man

 

[el diablo]

still on both sets of pics there's something ......that looks out of proportion
and i think it has to do with the seat and still the gastank
that could be because of wheelsize and the rest of the parts all together
but maybe its just because the engine isn't in it yet .....i don't know

just my 0.2
maybe the pics are different from the real deal ....

 

[bpeak]

I agree with el diablo. Something is odd. In addition to the seat, I'm thinking it's likely the un-corrected fork tubes (will be shortened I assume) since the legs go beyond the axle... and the repurposed front fender on the rear. That fender's radius is a bit bigger than the rear tire it seems.

I've seen some cool instances of uneven radii between the rear tire and fender... but I'm not sure this one is quite there yet.

The bike has traditional sportster hardtail lines... and you're on the right track. Just keep going and work out these bugs later (most of which is in the non-structural tins and such).

Oh... and pics of the bike (with new your new bars and seat) off the lift will make a difference too... later on...

My 2 cents officially deposited.

 

[rockett]

Thanks diablo and bpeak.

I plan on taking that front fender, re-radiusing it, ribbing it, cutting off the rivets and struts and welding the holes, flaring the back end, and THEN using it. So it won't look anything like that. It won't even be recognizable when I get it finished.

You're right about the seat. I'll be refoaming it to give it a better shape.