Building A Custom Chopper Motorcycle, Where Do You Start?

So you want to build a custom chopper? I do too, so the first question I asked myself, is where do I start. Should I make a business plan, a schedule, a financial statement, or should I just buy my wife some flowers and blindly proceed? I guess I should do all of the above but not necessarily in that order.

I will start by trying to justify this purchase and or endeavor, to do this I will make a list of my reasons for building a Chopper. 1) I want to ride a custom chopper, a totally cool stretched out, fire breathing, gas eating, pavement pounding, old lady scaring, 2 wheel monster. 2) I want to be able to say "I built that" when someone asks me where I got that totally sick bike. 3) I want to be able to customize the bike beyond the standard add on parts I can get for my current bike a Harley Davidson Fatboy. 4) I want to be able to make this dream come true, meaning I need to be able to pay for it. A ,000 chopper is out of my current budget. 5) I have been talking about this for 5 years so why don't I get to it and stop doing all the talking and start doing some building.

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Now I have a few reasons on paper a will look at my options, then make a plan, a schedule, and find some extra money.

Let's start with a my build options, and plan on a slow and steady approach. I realize I will need to do a lot of research before I start. I have 4 basic options, a kit bike, a rolling chassis, a start from zero build, or an extreme makeover of a current motorcycle.

Option 1) If I start with a motorcycle kit I maybe the farthest ahead from a mechanical perspective, and farthest behind from a financial point of view. What do I mean by this, well a kit bike has all the parts it just needs paint, labor, gas, oil and some love. The problem a complete kit bike will cost me ,000 dollars right up front. This is a bit out of my spend a ton of money now then not be able to ride a bike for a year or two thinking. If I get a kit, I maybe able to get it together faster, as I will be motivated and have all the parts ready to go. As a first bike I think this is a very good option, when you consider all the expensive mistakes I may make along that way. One drawback to this option is the amount of customization I can do to the bike as it is put together. Because all the parts are in the kit, I may resist the urge to get new bars or different sheet metal, or other parts.

Option 2) Start with a Rolling chassis, this is the middle of the road option, spend a lump sum of money, about 1/2 of what the overall bike will cost and get a basic setup that all works together.

A Rolling chassis kit consists of a Frame, 2 wheels, the forks, and triple clamps and bars, all build and configured to work together. Add a motor and a transmission and all the major workings of the bike are in place. This setup helps avoid some of the major work needed to mix match and fit these items together. This option also allows for a ton of customization in the parts that people see and the parts that give a bike it's personality. For me this is a very serious option to consider. I would only have 1/2 the cost and 1/2 the parts sitting around and gathering dust until I get time to get it together.

Option 3) Find each and every part one at a time and build a completely custom motorcycle. I know I could do this, but I also know I will encounter more unexpected and possibly expensive issues with this type of build. This option would give me a bike that no one would ever duplicate. This could be very good or this could be very bad. What if some possible combination of frame, motor, forks, or wheels didn't work together? It would not be discovered until the motorcycle was all together. I think this option is better left to the serious professional who build bike all night long, as the are working on other peoples bikes, and running businesses during the day. I may consider this for my second custom chopper.

Option 4) Take an existing bike and start cutting and changing it. This is maybe as involved as chopping and re-welding the frame to create a new rake and angles. Or it could mean just getting a new frame and using the engine, transmission, and various other part to build a new machine. I like this idea, and I think it would be a lower cost alternative to all new custom parts. With this option you are also able to keep the current registration and title if the frame is not replaced. This is also a lower cost option because a lot of the miscellaneous parts can be reused.

I know that in one page all the possible combinations of Custom Chopper build can't be completely explained, I just hope this information give you something to start with and build on. It has help steer me in the direction of a rolling chassis, so I better get shopping.

Building A Custom Chopper Motorcycle, Where Do You Start?

Ian Parish is an avid motorcyclists and Jeeper. He has been involved with both sports for the past 20 years. He has jumped into building a custom chopper full force and is assembling that parts and the plan, on his website MyChopperBlog.com. Check out the website as I need all the help I can get. He is the owner of RedJeepClub.com and MyChopperBlog.com

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How to Build a Go Kart - 5 Go Kart Building Secrets

To make a go kart that corners on rails like a Porche, looks like a Ferrari and turns all your neighbor's heads we need to back up the truck and go to the beginnings.

In short hand, there are five steps to making a simple frame. First of all the following steps are:

Bikes

1. Engine And Passenger Layout
2. Drive Train System
3. Steering System
4. Brake System
5. Throttle System

Let's get into it now....

1. Engine And Passenger Layout

First of all the assumption, whether this go-kart is made out of wood or is made out of steel is that you have some sort of layout in mind. Typically the engine is behind, and the person sits in front of the engine. A good safe layout is to have a seat protect the passenger from the engine.

So a structure of some sort is needed to hold the seat in place. You can use a seat off of a chair, but a more protective seat is a ½ piece of plywood angled back and supported. Covering the piece of wood is optional, but it is more comfortable with basically a piece of heavy cloth covering a cushion. The cloth is stapled typically into the board (on the backside).

The structure supporting the seat can be wood, or steel.

The frame work can be wood or steel as well. If using wood, use two by fours placed vertically, so that the strength of the wood is optimized.

If you are using steel for the frame, use a tubing that is at least .070 wall or thicker. The length of the frame is really dictated by how big the person is. Have a person sit comfortably in the leaned back position with a steering wheel in their hands. That is the person compartment. Measure this length.

Add the engine drive section and the person compartment lengths together and that is the length of the gokart. Cut your frame tubes (or tack tubes together) to this length. You will need at least two parallel lengths of tubing.

Space the tubes apart the width of the seat you made (20 inches is a good width).

Cut at least four (4) tubes to the 20 inch length. Lay all the pieces on the floor. Place the 20 inchers at the following locations: Engine Plate area, seat back section, seat forward section, front main bumper tube, and rear main bumper tube. (The bumper tubes can be wider than the frame by 12 inches (6 inches per side).)

Tack the tubes in place using a welder. If you do not have a welder, then you can fasten them together using plates and bolts. (Trust me, buy a 0 welder and save yourself wood chips and drill bits, busted knuckles and exasperation!)

What you have put together now is what I term a "flat-go kart." You will soon find out that flat gokart frames are weak and require extra stiffening. You may want to put some struts into the system to bolster the frame design. Typically what I use is the seat back as reference. This works very well as an integral frame support, side seat holder, and engine protector.

2. Drive Train System

The next sequence is to place your engine and drive train system in place. At the same time put your seat in position to make sure the seat and engine are not hitting each other. Be sure to make the seat removable so that you can actually work on the engine system when needed.

When placing your engine typically a plate is needed to hold the engine onto the frame. Some designers use tubes with holes drilled in them for engine placement. I prefer the plate option, because it gives me greater options as far as engine choices in the future.

For example on the Phi-Alpha-10 and the Phi-Alpha-9 (go karts I designed) the engine plate served well in allowing me to use different engines, whether Briggs and Stratton, Tecumseh or even Honda. All engine types could be easily mounted just by drilling the holes in the motor mount plate.

Most go karts use a slot system to keep the chain tight. In other words, the engine is mounted not using holes but slots. That works, but honestly, drilling slots is intensive works and requires some patience and thought. So I prefer tensioning the chain, it works better on multiple fronts. (I can go on and on about engines, drive trains and such...but we have got to keep moving here...)

A word about drive systems: A live axle system is really the way to go. All you have to do is mount two bearing brackets and away you go. On a one wheel drive system, you need to have special rims that contain bearings, special drive sprockets that connect to the tires, and the axle if it gets bent, you have to cut it out of the frame and start over....so use a live axle...

But, that is not all true. You can get away with using old lawnmower wheels if they have bushings in them. They work great for acting as bearings. Grease snot out of the axel-hub interface and away you go. Be sure to retain the wheel with a cross bolt that is at least grade 5.

3. Steering System

So after having mounted the rear axle (with brake disc (or brake drum) and sprocket), and having placed the engine and chain system in place, proceed to mounting the front steering system.

Before we did some measurements of the person sitting in the comfortable position, make sure you remember the measurement (relative to the go kart frame) of the steering wheel. That is the target point for the steering wheel.

The actual position of the front wheels is a bit more involved though. You will need a scale. Place the scale first of all under the rear wheels. I typically use a board placed across the rear frame rails underneath the wheel area. Have someone sit in the go kart. (Be sure to a have the front wheels, steering wheel and steering structure on the go kart when you weigh it)

Now proceed to the front of the go kart and place the board in the general area that you want the steering system. Again weigh the go kart.

Take the two weights and add them together. That is the total weight. The front weight ideally should be with-in 5 to ten pounds of the rear weight. This is called 50/50 weight distribution. The more weight you have on the rear, the more the go kart will under-steer. Meaning, when you turn the wheel the go kart will tend to keep going straight. The more weight you have on the front wheels, the more the go kart will over steer. Most drivers are used to under-steer, it is easier to recover from.

But I digress...

Once you have placed the front wheels in place then fix the front steering system in place there. I typically use plates, so that I can move the steering system back or forward. So I weld mating plates on the frame and the steering system, then bolt them together.

For wood go karts, you can actually design a very stable wood go kart using the carriage style steering as long as the steering is supported an not aloud to twist.

A word on steering systems: You can purchase from the store steering assemblies that you tack onto tubes. These work real well, with one exception, they typically come in .750 inch diameter shafts, where most high speed bearings use .625 diameter shafts. The shafts may need replacement. Look for .625 shafts... Additionally, there are ways to make the steering more tractable and more user friendly, these involve geometric relationships such as camber, caster, Ackerman and so forth.

4. Brake System

Now that you have the steering system in position, you can button up the hole project by covering the bottom of the go kart. Sheet metal (like furnace guys use) is the best option. Buy some tech screws (the ones with drills on their ends) and zip through the sheet metal into the tubing. Once you have that in place, you don't have to worry about your feet hitting the ground!

Now it is time to place the brake system. You notice we placed the brakes in place on the live axle, now the actual braking mechanism needs to be mounted to the frame work. You can either weld it, or bolt it to the frame. I prefer bolting, it is more forgiving and easier to repair.

A word on brake float: The brake system should float. What that means is that the disc either needs to be mounted freely on the shaft, or the brake caliper needs to float. If the neither is floating, you will get a binding, and prematurely worn out brakes, and fast! So keep that in mind. Something has to float, the disc or the brake caliper (1 of the 5!)

For your brakes it is important to have the brake off while driving. A good spring is needed to keep the pedal back when the brake is not being used.

On a wood go kart be sure to use the same thought into the brake system. A lot of force is going into the brake boards so be sure to account for this in the brake mechanism which usually involves force multiplier linkages.

5. Throttle System

This seems like the most inane or over looked system on the go kart. It shouldn't be though. A good connection between the throttle and the pedal is needed and a good range of motion is needed too. Most pedals give you different holes to work with, allowing your several options in throttle actuation.

Again, like the brake, a good spring is needed. Do not use a spring on the carburetor, but use the spring in the pedal, or pedal system.

A word about throttles: most engines come with governors. It is a good idea to use the governor system, because it helps keep the engine at even speeds and from over revving.

How to Build a Go Kart - 5 Go Kart Building Secrets

The Go Kart Guru is a Go Karting Design, Fabrication and Performance specialist. Topics ranging from Turbo Charged Go Karts to Wood Go Karts, the Go Kart Guru has something to say (that will help you!) about it.

Are you struggling with building your own go kart? The Go Kart Guru has a whole lot to say in great details about go karts. People are saying "He has so much information...most exhaustive on the web!" Check out http://gokartguru.com/how_to_build_a_go_kart.php and see other How To Build a Go Kart Tips.

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