Phat GL: Formerly known as the 82 Bagger

[ericheath]

I’ll suggest finding cardboard or carpet and laying the bike over to the pegs or engine guards or valve covers and seeing how close other things (bags, pipes) are to scraping. Picture your bike leaning through a corner and hitting a bump. Shocks have to flex. You don’t want to find out in the corner.

[txtriathlete]

I spent a fair amount of time thinking through ride height clearance when I started the project. For riding, the bike shocks will be full inflated - stock ride height. It only gets lowered when its parked. When its lowered, the back end of the pipes will pretty much sit on the ground (about an inch of clearance) which is what I intended. The bike will have an onboard compressor to re-inflate the shocks as needed.

Even in the event of a catastrophic failure of the shocks (blown seal when riding for example) the tire, swingarm, etc. all have an inch and a half of clearance to prevent binding the rear wheel and drivetrain, which should allow me to get it safely stopped and to the side of the road. I guess I could theoretically ride it (slowly and carefully) as an uncomfortable hard tail, but most likely I would just trailer it back.

This is not going to be a coast to coast cruiser - I have my Valk for that. This is a custom build for showing and local rides, nothing too strenuous.

[txtriathlete]

Some pics of the light assembly





For brake lines I don't think I will use the stock splitter "block" under the headlight since I'll need custom brake lines anyway to fit the longer bars and forks. Looking around online I've seen several options for an integrated split line.

I found a nice set of Speedhut gauges that have all the indicator gauges in a nice retro package but they are very pricey - over $600. I may revisit mounting the gauges on the shelter like on the 78-79 bikes and go with a cheaper speedo and tach. I dunno, more thought required.

And what I'm thinking on the back end.



I think I can invert the stock air shocks (fat part on bottom) which will then clear the fender with no mods required. The shocks will be hidden by the fender when lowered so it should look ok. I plan to start cutting the fender to fit around the frame this week starting with a small cutout for the battery box and then cutting back further from there as needed to get the fender to tuck in. There will still be a little shaping work required but it should get me 90% there (I hope).

[txtriathlete]

This is the color I'm thinking.

[LastMohawk]

Nice work,
and I like the color.

Greetings Harald

[txtriathlete]

It's been a long time, been a long time, Been a long lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely, lonely time, Yes it has...

But at long last, there has been new work on the bagger! Life stuff has kept me away from this project for too long, so today I pulled her back out onto the floor to get a look at where I left off.

One thing led to another and boom! the grinder found its way into my hand and work was underway again! After a great deal of trial and error I got the rear fender fitted.



Closeup:



I'm about 60% happy with the cut on this side, I would like it to be closer to the side cover. I think I'll end up welding a piece of sheet metal onto the fender there and reshape it a bit.

The other side:



This one came out much better, it pretty much hugs the side cover all around which is what I wanted. Its hard to see in the picture but the bottom of the side cover is painted black and the Indian fender follows the line underneath.

I still need to weld a length of steel bar behind each of the lower front fender pieces. The weight of the fender is cantilevered with bolts through the ends of those long pieces under the side covers, making the fender tin bend and bow slightly from the weight.

While I was playing with the fender, I put the taillight on to see how it would fit. The light housing will eventually get powder coated black like the other chrome parts.



And another shot of the front end showing the light bar I made and the headlight.



I'll eventually make covers for the driving lights to match the headlight. Fork brace will get powder coated as well.

I've been looking for a front fender for a while but haven't found any I like better than the wing fender. Maybe a shadow ace fender, but those look a lot like the wing fender, so...

I've purposely delayed buying tires until I had it road ready, but I may spring for the front so I can mount the spoke wheel instead of the Comstar. The forks have 3 inch extensions, but now they look too "leggy" to me. Not sure what's going to change there.

At this point all the mechanical stuff like water pump, belts, brakes, etc. has been fixed except for carbs, although I still need to tidy up a few items - like front brake lines. The extended beach bars are too long for my Randakk stock length stainless set. So I'll have to source new ones. And I still need to replumb the rear air shock hoses to their final mounting location.

Regarding carbs, I was pretty wedded to the idea of twin Webers with the Randakk manifolds instead of the stock carbs, but I'm not sure I've got the coin just now to buy it all new. Maybe someone here has a set they want to sell used (hint hint!). I have a Randakk rebuild kit for the 4 banger I can offer up with the stock carbs if someone wants to trade.

So after getting the fender cut and fitted, I sat back to look at it again:



And started envisioning the exhaust run. The plan is for blacked out "Flash Gordon" fishtail exhaust:



Looking at the bike, I think I'll end up running naked pipe from the header up along the contour of the lower frame and have the fishtails tuck up close to the fender. Its obvious the center stand will have to go when the exhaust gets done, but I'm keeping it for now for convenience while I work on the bike.

I also have driver foot boards and a heel/toe shifter that will get installed in the next few days that will add to the retro theme. And another surprise that I haven't quite worked out the details on yet, so more to follow on that...

Finally, I pulled the seat and hard bags down from storage to get a look at them.



My choice is to buy a retro spring seat or cut down the original to make a large solo seat. That gap from the faux tank to the rise on the fender is looonngg - 21 inches. I haven't found a spring seat that big, although I seem to recall some old Indian MCs had a "buddy" seat that was longer, so I may investigate that. The stock seat will actually work pretty well as a cut down, but I'm not sure about a "modern" seat on this build. And I'll have to come up with some mechanism to fasten the back of the seat to the bike if I cut it. Decisions...

And bags. I had the idea to use these:



but I'm not feeling them with the Indian fender. I like the look of the old school "saggy" leather bags that bolt directly to the fender, but I would like it to be a hard bag "bagger bike". Indian hard bags would work but they are spendy...

Anyway, looks like I'm back in rhythm on this build. More to follow soon (I hope) !

[Rat]

Glad you’re back at it .... great build ....

Gord

[txtriathlete]

Found a few hours over the past couple of days to give the old girl some love and attention.

Got these old footboards and heel/toe shift cleaned up, painted and installed for a test fit. They were mucho rusty and crusty but it all came clean with a bit of persuasion (and a wire wheel).



I still need to make a front shift pad from some steel bar stock.



I replaced the rubber on the floorboards with some non-slip rubber flooring that I picked up a while back for my shop. I like the heavier tread pattern to replace the stock rubber inserts, which was torn to shreds and had to come off. And paint the shifter and brake pedal.

I took another look at the brake lines, and they are indeed too short, by several inches. So now waiting for Galfer to come back with a price for a custom set. Gotta love buying stuff twice...

Speaking of buying stuff, this followed me home the other night:



Its a 99 Kawi Nomad with only 14,500 miles. For $2500 I couldn't resist. Many years ago I had a Drifter which I really liked, which is essentially the same bike with different sheet metal. I've had an eye out for a Nad for a long time. According to the VIN this one has the POG, so that will have to get addressed eventually.

With purchase of the new bike I am now resolved that I will not be buying new carbs or seat, so I started to cut down my existing seat.

Seat cut down underway:



Looking at it from the back I was surprised how closely it matched the fender. I think I'll be able to have it curl around the fender enough to not slide around. I should be able to fab up a a couple of "ears" to fasten the seat to the shock mounts as well to hold it on.



The pan is still several inches too long and will need to be trimmed quite a bit, but I think I can get it to settle into the "pocket" between the tank and fender without too much angst.



That's about it for now. Near term work will be seat cut down, carb rebuild and brake line install - not sexy or picture worthy. Then comes connecting up the electrical and cleaning and more cleaning - all the new parts sure reveal how cruddy the rest is. As of right now I'm not planning to remove the engine from the bike - it was turning over fine before I tore into it so most anything else that needs fixing I can do with it still mounted.

[230Rocket]

Great looking build here. I’ve always had a slight hankering to baggers and this really has some cool lines.

Cheers
Dean

[txtriathlete]

Spent some time today shaping up the seat.





Its more square on the back end than I would like, I'm going to let it rest for a few days and then look at it again before I decide to cut more. As it is now it will be a stretch to have ears reach all the way to the shock studs. If I cut more I may have to weld mounting points onto the frame behind the side covers.

After getting the foam and pan cut down to the right size, I went to work on the cover. My plan is to reuse the old cover, its in good condition and already fits the seat part - I just have to recut the back end.

I split the back end along the seams thinking I might be able to reuse a large part of the rear seat cover without a lot of cutting. After a bit of finagling I go the back to overlap in a way that will give me two small "tuck" seams on the back corners and one join seam in the center of the back. And I'll have to stitch the top to the sides again. The end of the forceps in the picture are where the seat bottom is, so not a very long vertical seam at all.



I'm hoping I'll have enough left on the bottom to make a "skirt" for the seat to help cover some of the fender surgery.
There's a lot of rivet holes along the bottom, I many try and do something decorative like studs or conchos to fill the holes.



Its still a pretty ugly seat but it will have to do until I get around to buying the custom spring seat I want.

[txtriathlete]

Not much to update. Between honey do's (chicken coop roof, garden fence), Jeep repairs (steering and rear diff) and travel (Yellowstone MC trip and family camping) its been hard to find shop time.

The Kawi Vulcan is gone (Sad Panda) but in its place is a new 'Oldwing - a 77 that will be a major refurb project this winter.

But as concerns this bike - she's the PhatGurl - or so she says. Perhaps I'll get a custom tag for her - "PHATGL". Yes? No?

As promised before, nothing exciting to show. Some wiring work:



bleh. 4 wires left that I'll have to search the wire diagram for (unless someone here knows).

I had planned to go with aftermarket gauges but funding for this project is getting low at present so I elected to reuse the stock ones. Pretty ugly:



They stick up and out too far for me to mount a shield, so I'll have to come up with a way to cut them down. I think if I can relocate the ignition, I can cut off the bottom of the center plastic and fab a bracket to mount the gauges lower and closer to the handlebars.

Buying tires this week (guess I'm committed now!) and exhaust pipes and will be starting on the carbs once the wiring is set.

Details, details, 10,000 little details to finish...

[desertrefugee]

Nice ideas on this build. I like.

“Phat Gurl” has for a very long time been the affectionate name for the Valkyrie. You might catch a little flak from Valkyrie riders… like me… but the name kinda fits.

[txtriathlete]

Nice ideas on this build. I like.

“Phat Gurl” has for a very long time been the affectionate name for the Valkyrie. You might catch a little flak from Valkyrie riders… like me… but the name kinda fits.

Ah, didn't think of that. I am a Valk rider also...99 IS...must be why it stuck in my mind. Maybe Phat GL as in GL1100?

[desertrefugee]

I only pointed it out. It is your motorcycle and you can name it whatever you want. But, I do like the play on the “Phat” name and “Phat GL” has a nice ring as well.

[txtriathlete]

So a bit to update over the past few days. First, this just in:

Remember this?



Yeah, I sold it.

And made a tiny bit of coin. But then promptly took my winnings and bought this:



which is more complete than it looks in the picture. After inventorying the loose bits it appears to all be there minus the few odd nuts and bolts. I've turned it over by hand to make sure it's not frozen (its not) but then pushed it out of the way for now. I'm about 80% committed that it will be an Adventure dual sport build after the Phat GS is done.

That's also breaking news I guess: this one's now the Phat GL. That's what she told me anyways. Should make for interesting conversation around here once its done, especially at Sturgis rally time.

So this bike, the Phat GL. Let's get caught up shall we?

Electrical, bleh. It all went together easy enough, I still have to do the tail light but that's pretty easy, I'll just cut the factory wires behind the light and soldier in connectors for the new unit. I haven't swapped the coils yet either, the originals may stay in until its running.

Was stymied by this little piece:



IIRC it was shoved up inside the head tube. Anyone know what it is? I'll have to dig through the fiche to find it. It has a little dial on the bottom for adjustment...



One thing I noticed is that my neutral light on the dash isn't coming on. Pretty sure it worked before I tore into it. The bulb is good, the wires are solid, but no green light. I did replace the water pump a while back and tried to get the switch realigned correctly, but may have screwed something up. Is it worth going back in there to see? I haven't tried to crank it (no fluids in it at present). Will the light not illuminating stop it from starting?

I put some time in on the back fender, got the struts under the side covers welded in place and welded in the patch panel on the side where I over-cut the fender.



Ugly welds will be hidden (thank goodness).



Still a little trimming to do but its close.

Got these bought:



they get put on the 83 wheels on Monday. Also sent the cut down stock seat off to the upholsterer.

Exhaust came in - 2 of these:



which led me to start thinking through the pipe run:



Yeah that one is way off. I'll probably wait on this and just take the whole bike to my exhaust guy and let him bend it with the bike there in the shop rather than any more trial and error. My goal is to get it as close as possible to hang from that rear footpeg bolt hole in the picture. I still have to think through how I will support the rear of the pipe - maybe it will just hang, dunno. I could always weld the frame tailpiece back on (or a modified part of it) to use the holes on it.

Which I may need for bag support anyway. And speaking of bags, I spent a fair bit of time thinking through my approach to these. I looked online to see what a new set would run (unobtainium in my world), so rapidly moved toward the idea of trying to build or modify some on my own.

Fiberglass anyone?

As it turns out, one can pretty easily modify a set of bags (or create a new set I suppose) for the investment of a lot of time and labor and a little cash for fiber cloth and rosin. Hmm. So, poking around on the net lead me to a few videos where people basically just glassed over an existing bag to add new shape or dimensions. Maybe I can do this?

Remember these?



Yeah. A few hours and some cardboard and tape later:



Now they match the contour of that Indian fender. The bag tails will be more flat than the fender tail, but I think it will match ok.



The brown bags will stay as the actual "saddlebag" part of the bag - where cargo rides - the inside volume of the bag will be the inside of the brown bag. There will be dead space between the new fiberglass top and the brown top - I'll mount speakers on the new tops and the backs will be out of sight in there.

The bottom space is where I'll put the electric pump stuff for the rear shocks on one of the bags. I might (if I can find one) put a small sub and amp to drive the speakers inside the bottom space on the other one. Once I have them glassed up and finished except for paint, I'll cut a small access door on each one on the side that faces the fender so its not visible.

As the final item of this post, I came across this Sportster shield a a reasonable price that I think will be the donor for this bike. Or at least the hardware.



The plexi is a little taller than I had envisioned, so maybe I can cut it down.

That's it for the next few days. Traveling to visit family so I won't be doing much. Most likely I'll clean off the bench and pull out the carb kit and get those sorted next.

Only another 10,000 tiny details to sort out from here...