Power Plant in!

Recently had some time with the Gouger.  I installed the engine and carbs, as well as the pipes.  I am going to paint the pipes however so they are just in temporarily.  I have not done anything with the engine yet, maybe over the winter I will pull it out and shine it up more or paint it.

Roller!

Its a roller! started installing some parts last weekend.  Got the paint scheme figured out, new tire on the front rim, seat mounted as well as the handlebars.

Back to it!

I have been working on the bike again and finally have a bit of progress to post.  I did a bunch of work on the frame.  Including welding some bungs on for the rear fender and welding the seat brackets on.  I made the seat brackets out of the old rear frame that was removed, and bought the bungs from Lowbrow Customs.  Also made a sissy bar mount out of some old handlebar mounts.

As you can see in the picture it has also been painted.  To save on cost I decided to go with spray paint!      This has three coats of primer and two coats of gray paint.  The tank as well as the rear fender, triple trees and handle bar mounts will all be black with the classic orange Honda color for trim.

Progress

Put more of the Gouger back together recently to see how it will look.  I still have a lot of work left before it is ridable, but I was getting impatient so I threw some parts back on.

I found these handlebars for $15 at a motorcycle savage yard and I really like how they look. Not too high and pretty straight across rather than pulled way back.

Not too many pieces left before I can try to fire it up!!

Christmas gift!

My brother gave me this sweet sign for Christmas, and I finally got it put up in the garage.  Looks awesome thanks bro!  I think I will try to use this Honda wing on the tank of the Gouger.

Suzuki Tank?

Found this tank a while back, it is in better shape than the XL tank I was going to use.  It is a little more narrow and shorter and seems to fit the bike a little better.  I just cut off one of the mounting tabs on the rear of the tank and it fits right over the frame perfectly, and is nice and snug.  I do need to figure out a way to attach it.

New, Free workbench!!

Got a free workbench off of Craigslist tonight!!  I did a little modification to the legs and attached the whole thing directly to the wall.  This will come in handy when working in the garage.  It pays to search CL for hours!

I have come up with a name for this build, "The Side Hill Gouger" it will be known as!  This name comes from a mythical creature my grandpa invented that lived in the hills and valleys of Wisconsin and Minnesota.  This is what I would think it would look like.

Its coming together!

 I started putting the bike back together to see how it would look with the frame welded together.

There is obviously a lot to do with the frame before its complete but I couldn't wait!  I will need to sand the frame and get it cleaned up and then painted, also think I will add some metal pieces to the joints just for a decorative look.

Welded frame

I was able to get the hardtail welded onto the original CL frame recently!  I think it turned out pretty good, just had to take it back once because it sat a little cocked to one side.  It is not the pretties frame around but it fits with the build.

The original CL 19" tire vs. the XL 21" tire.

Here are both tires next to each other.  The CL original tire is in forks obviously.  I think the knobbies will add a bit of personality as well.  I wanted to incorporate a dirt bike feel to the build as well.  Along with the knobby tire, the new fuel tank should give it that look.

I will have to figure out a new axle however, the XL axle is much thinner.

Back to work!

It has been a while since I have done anything with "The Side Hill Gouger" build.  I have continued to accumulate some new parts however.

I found some wheels, tires and a fuel tank off of an old Honda XL on Craigslist.  I got the whole package for $50 from a very cool lady who rebuilds old Honda mini bikes.

I love the look of the tank, this is exactly what I have been looking for.  The only down side is that it has a nice dent on the opposite side and does not fit the backbone on the CL frame.  Pretty rusty on the inside as well.

The front tire I am really excited about.  It is a 21" tire, the original CL front was a 19". I like the look of the tall skinny tire.  I plan to lower the front forks to accentuate the height of the tire and to keep the frame level.

New mock-up.

I moved the build back out to the garage since it is starting to "warm up", however there is still snow on the ground.

I figured I would see how it looked with the original tank and handlebars back on.  Don't really care for the look, I will be looking for a skinnier, smaller tank and taller handlebars.

New Seat

I bought a new solo seat for the build, it arrived last week.  I had thought about building one myself, but saw this one for a good price springs included and free shipping!  Cant beat that!

Donnie Smith Motorcycle Show and Swap Meet

Went to the motorcycle show today and my wife was nice enough to accompany me!  It was packed, but saw some nice custom bikes and a lot of club vests .  I did not buy anything, but found some inspiration and motivation.

 This was a Yamaha XS650.  I really like the bike, but the paint aint my cup o tea!

 72 Honda CB450, very similar to the engine and frame from my build, just a bit bigger engine.

 1922 Harley Davidson, enough said!

 Really like the style with this custom, cant remember the year.  Harley Davidson.

 1970 BSA Lightning 750, beautifully restored bike.

1930's?  Cant remember the year, Indian.

Pre-weld mockup with engine

Did a new set up with the frame, engine and front and rear wheels.  I did some modification to the hardtail frame.  It was not fitting very well so I cut the cross support and seperated the frame into two pieces.  I was able to line up one side of the frame with the original swingarm in place and clamp it right where it needed to be.  Then I removed the swingarm and installed the other side of the hardtail and clamped that into place, then installed the tire.

 By cutting the cross supports I was also able to widen the tail and fit the original Honda wheel in much better.

Some light cleaning..

Did a little bit of cleaning on the triple trees today.  Basically just cleaning the paint off, not finished yet but looks a lot cleaner than the old black paint all ready.

Welding prep and alignment.

Did some work on the CL this weekend, started getting the frames ready to be welded together.  Cleaned off some of the old paint and primer.

This is how I will fit the two pieces together.  The hardtail will slide right into the original Honda frame and will weld the two together on the inside of the Honda frame.

But I could not stop there...too much fun!

So I added the front tire as well.  I tried it two different ways, with the front forks clamped in the usual way.   Then I pushed the clamps down a bit to get a lower stance.  I love the way it looks so far, I really like how is is shaping up.

Coming together...(slowly)

Just for fun I started doing a mock up of the build.  I clamped the frames together, threw the front forks on and added the rear tire to see how it is looking.  Just this little bit of assembly made me very excited to continue.