Welcome to my Blog of the building of my Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Custom Bobber. Unfortunately the software used will not post the pictures in order and won't let me re-arrange them so some of the build sequences are out of order. You can tell my Daughter Ashley isn't impressed. She rides a ZX900R so this isn't her style.......lol.

Starting with a bare frame purchased on Ebay for $10.50. It was one of my better purchases.

A Bobber MUST have a Springer front end, right? Looks like it just bolted right on but it didn't. I had the Harley steering stem turned down at a machine shop to fit the Vulcan bearings. Now that the Springer is able to be installed I have found out that I have serious clearance issues on the frame. I can only turn the handlebars about 20 degrees to the side.

My new powder coated Springer wheel and the stainless steel brake rotor that doesn't fit. I think they shipped the wrong rotor. Rather than return it I'm having a machine shop cut the hole larger to fit the hub.

Got my new front wheel installed. I had the wheels powder coated. I disassembled the rear wheel removing all bearings and brake componants and speedometer drive parts and had the same people powder coat the rear wheel so it would match the front one.

See? This is as far as you could turn it before I modified the Vulcan frame. Step by step pics of the frame mod are below.

I wanted to retain the original Vulcan rear wheel because it had the drum brake. Since this was an old school bobber I wanted to use the old style drum brake. Besides......it was real EZ to make it fit.

After taping off all the chrome covers I shot the engine with 1200 degree flat black paint. This REALLY cleaned up the look of the engine as it had been quite faded and corroded looking before.

For some reason this software puts the pictures on this blog out of order. It won't let me rearrange them either. This shot is about 12 hours before leaving for Daytona.

As you can see thew bike is basically together but doesn't run. I'm trying to get the clutch installed and adjusted.

Finally "together" we tried to do a shake down run only to find out that when I let the clutch out the bike would die. Turns out when I by-passed the clutch switch and the kick stand switch the computer was shutting the bike down. I had to "trick" the computer by grounding one of the wires which was now buried under the right side cover and taped up inside the harness. It took quite a while to dig it out!!!

Completed Bobber after the trip to Daytona and Palm Beach. We did about 1400 miles and all I had to do was tighten a mirror while I was gone..........

You can see the hidden wiring coming out of the handlebars. Nice shot of the beautiful springer front end and the headlight.

Custom Maltese Cross rotor and high dollar springer front brake system. I love the look of the 21" front wheel too!

This was a set of Muzzy pipes that I left the megaphone mufflers off of. I added 4" baffles wich actually toned the sound down tremendously. I wrapped them with header wrap from Jeg's. You can actually lay your hand on them with the bike running and not get burned!

After the pretty powder coated wheels the next thing that gets the most comments is the kickstart pedal. No it's not hooked up but yes, it's real!! I even used the correct output shaft from Harley Davidson. You have to lay down on the ground to see where I attached it and believe me, somepeople do!! The white bicycle pedal matches all the rest of the white grips and foot pegs. It's a great conversation piece.

The business end of the pipes. The 4" baffles sure help my ears but the tone still sounds good. This is also another shot of the kicker pedal. Is it real?? LOL.

Gangster wide white wall tire even has an "antique" looking tread so the bike really gives that 50's look. At least that's what I was going for. The powder coated wheels and matching chain were a big hit with everyone in Daytona on the maiden voyage.

Believe it or not this seat is very comfortable!! But after about 4-5 hours my back was screaming for a backrest on the trip. Not having a windshield really makes a difference when you don't have anything to lean back on. The seat was custom made for me by Justified Defiance. Check out their website. Lotsa cool stuff and some really nice guys to deal with!

I got 50-55 miles per gallon on the trip to Daytona and back. I'm using a 17t front sprocket and a 37t rear. This combo REALLY lowers the RPM's on the highway and the result was great gas mileage even though we were running 80 MPH. Being as light as the Bobber is I never felt any loss of power on the take off either.

Another shot of the flat black and chrome springer front end. The after market headlight turned out nice although I think the stock one as ugly as it is would have been more 50's looking.

The Maltese Cross theme was carried through to the mirrors as well. These mirrors look great but are functionally useless!! I need some with a bigger head so I can see.

I really had to look around a lot to find these offset dog bone style risers for the ape hanger handlebars. They are rubber mounted and were meant to absorb the horrible vibrations of the Harley engine. They make the Kawasaki engine and the ride even smoother on my Bobber although I admit it took a few miles to get used to the "rubbery" feel.

Nice shot of the clean simple rear end of the bike. I really wanted to make use of a sissy bar for the right "look" and this one fit the bill nicely.

No front fender makes for an interesting ride in the rain. The water shoots up in a rooster tail that hits you right between the eyes!!! Will I put a front fender on the bike? ARE YOU CRAZY????!!!!!!!! LOL.

The next series of pics are for the people that want to "Scooterize" their Vulcan 800's and get a lot more power and better mileage to boot. As you can see the stock configuration has the bike sipping air through a straw. See how small that hole is?

Again this website has these pics out of order and no way to re-arrange them but you can see here how much more breathing area the motor has now. The K&N filter really helps too.

The beautiful thing about the "Scooterized" mod is that you can make match any style of bike! Leave the cover chrome for a stock look or paint it and add accent pieces as I have done to match a theme bike.

Here is the inside of the stock air filter backing plate. We'll take that snorkle off and fill in the intake holes later.

This is a look at the small hole coming from the air box under the gas tank on your stock Kawasaki Vulcan 800. The air has to make several 90 degree turns before making it to the carburator on the stock system. This is why it is impossible to make any power until you change your intake system.

Here's a look at the back of the air filter backing plate. We need to remove this snorkle.

Remove a few screws and the snorkle comes right off. Now we need to grind the flanges down so we can fiberglass this area closed.

I used a 4" grinder to make quick work of it but a DA sander with 80 grit sandpaper would have worked as well.

On the right is a stock air filter cover. On the left is the one I made to use on the Bobber. Simply scribe a line around the filter cover and start cutting! A Dremel or air cut off tool or a hacksaw or anything will work. Take your time, you want the edge to be straight and look nice.

A stock paper air filter on the right next to a K&N oil soaked fiber filter on the left. This filter came off another bike and is dirty. The beauty of the K&N filter is you wash it and oil it and it looks brand new again! This one is due for a bath..........

The front down tube had to be notched so the Springer front end would work. The rear leg of the Springer was back farther than the stock Vulcan forks. This is not a problem on a Harley since they do not have a radiator. The Vulcan frame kicks out to clear the radiator causing the clearance problem.

To keep the strength in the frame after cutting a big chunk out of it I used a piece of round tube about the same thickness as the frame tube.

After cutting the frame tube to fit I used a sawzall to split the tube down the middle. Then I spread the tube open and used a hammer to beat it into the cut out made with the grinder.

This is what the tube looks like after being split open and beat with the hammer into place. believe it or not this hasn't even been welded yet!! I just used a grinder to trim the edges.

OK, this is what it looks like after it's been welded and again the grinder was used to smooth things up.

Since I'm temporarily painting the frame flat black until I can get time to have it powder coated this Winter I'll wait till then to use the body filler to fill in the grinder marks and really smooth things up.

To make the sissy bar fit the 6" flat fender AND the Vulcan swing arm a lot of cutting and grinding was needed. Surprised?

The left side of the Vulcan swing arm is straight. The right side has a dog leg bend. This presented a challange while trying to mount the sissy bar.

I had to cut the fender support in half and had to grind the lower mounting points where the bolts go through so it would fit the oddly made swing arm.

It finally fit like I wanted so I welded it in place. I welded it at the same angle as the rake on the front end so the lines of the bike would flow as viewed from the side. Pay no attention to the Vulcan 800 parts bins in the back ground.........

After the decision was made to not use the nacelle on the gas tank some modifications were in order. Surprised? Me either!!

If you'll look at a stock Vulcan 800 tank you'll see 4 "bubbles" around the mounting plate for the nacelle. These are locating points so the factory will know where the mounting plate goes. The plate is then spot welded to the top of the tank. You can't grind these bubbles down because you'll make a hole in the tank. I had to use a hammer and chisel to knock them down.

After the locating "bubbles" were knocked down the plate had to be ground down with a grinder. The plate can't be chisled off as the 6 spot welds would tear holes in the tank. This is very tedious work but care must be taken so you don't ruin a paefectly good tank doing this mod.

This is the filler plate that I put in the space where the nacelle used to go. This plate is too long and will need to be modified at the bottom edge so it will fit over the back bone of the frame.

Don't forget to move the towel before you start welding!! A small fire ensued but was quickly extinguished due to my cat like reflexes.

I'm not a professional welder by any stretch of the imagination. No lessons just bought a mig welder and started welding. You can do it too just don't start on anything important like your motorcycle gas tank!!! Tack weld the panel in a few spots to hold it in place where you want it. On thin metal like this I turn the Mig down to it's lowest setting.

Then go back and fill in between the spot welds until you have the entire perimeter welded up. Skip around a lot to prevent the panel from warping from too much heat in one spot. If you're not a professional welder you do it like this then you get out your trusty grinder and smooth the welds down........

Speaking of grinding the welds down......... Thank God for body filler, eh? At this point I usually run my hand over the panel and try to tap down the high spots as EZ as possible with a hammer. A little bit goes a long way here. You don't want dents but you don't want high spots either.

Earlier I told you that I was going to have to trim the bottom of the filler panel so the tank would sit down on the rubber bushings all the way. Looks like I trimmed just enough.........success!!!!

Time for the body filler so we can smooth out the whole area where we put the patch panel. The reason we spent so much time with the grinder and the hammer was so we could make the body filler as thin as possible and still make the surface smooth. I've tried a lot of brands and Z-Grip by Evercoat is one of the Ez-est to work with and the price is good too!!

EZ at Hotsauce and Margot's house for the annual Biketoberfest BBQ and Jack Daniels drinking contest!!! See the smile on my face? That's after a 700 mile trip on the new Bobber. Even with no windshield and no back rest you couldn't wipe the smile off my face..........

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Fiberglass kits are sold at any Auto Parts Store. Mix the resin according to the directions with the hardner. Cut pieces of fiberglass mat to fit the area you want 'glassed in. Use an old cheap paint bruch to completely soak the fiberglass mat in the resin. Use the brush to help smooth out the pieces of fiberglass mat over the area and let dry. Sand smooth when dry and paint with flat black spray paint. Noone will ever be able to tell it didn't come that way from the Factory.

I don't know how much this engine/transmission weighs but after picking it up a couple times to move it outside so I could pressure wash it & degrease it I decided I didn't want to pick it up again!! I brought out the ol' cherry picker and lifted it with ease.

Swinging the cherry picker around I set the engine on the table next to the frame. I removed the side frame tube so I could slide the engine between the frame rails. Then using a crow bar and a few wooden blocks I managed to line up all the bolt holes for the motor mounts. This is kinda tricky and I highly recommend you have a friend handy to make this easier.

After sanding down the body filler with a DA sander I always go back and mark the little pin holes. There are several 2 part finishing putties on the market that spread a lot easier than the body filler. They are perfect for touching up the pin holes or small imperfections you find after the initial sanding is finished. After spreading on the finishing putty I sand with 220 grit sand paper, then I'm ready to shoot the epoxy primer.

Look at this shot carefully. Some Vulcan 800 owners will see what I've done but most will not. This is a shot of the inside of the stock side cover. I have cut this piece in half, removing the tool box. I then made a metal plate to bolt back in the place of the tool box to help cover the electronics from the grease and junk slung up by the chain behind it. Now I can put the coil and other wiring harness connection back where they were inside the side cover. Also notice that the big round end on the frame has been welded closed by inserting a nut and welding around it. This will serve as an installation point for the backing plate for the saddlebag side cover.

This shot shows the outer side cover/ backing plate for the saddle bag side cover. I made this from a flat piece of sheet metal. I'm not sure what gauge it is but it doesn't bend or flex!! This is perfect to mount the saddle bag/ side cover to. Notice I curved the front end around that really nasty ugly area on the Vulcan 800 frame to hide that mess. The upper bolt is where the chrome fender support used to go on the stock Vulcan 800. I will have a bracket for the solo seat attaching at this point.

This is a shot INSIDE the saddle bag/ side cover. To stiffen up the saddle bag I cut an old windshield into the shape of the back side of the saddle bag. I used a heat gun to take most of the curve out of the old windshield piece. Then I painted it flat black so you hardly notice it is there. I drilled holes through the plexiglass and the back of the saddle bag for mounting. The fender washers give it extra support so the plexiglass doesn't crack around the holes. The button head bolts are nice so I don't hang the skin on my hands like I would with hex head bolts while reaching inside. The little details like this are what make the Custom bike either usable or just a pain in the butt to own.

This is the saddle bag/ side cover. This is mounted so well you could almost pick the bike up by it. This saddle bag came with 4 wimpy leather straps that were supposed to go around the frame to hold it on. I could see that lasting about 15 minutes in the real world.........lol. Now I can put as much as I want inside the saddle bag and not worry about it falling off. Notice how the top and bottom of the saddle bag are cut at the same angle as the upper and lower frame tubes. This thing looks like it was custom made for this bike!!

Here is another look at the saddle bag/ side cover as it will look on the finished bike. Note the ol' school shifter. Little touches like this and the white foot pegs and hand grips and kick start pedal give this Bobber a real original 50's feel. The shifter knob and the chain are just a couple touches of color to match the powder coated yellow wheels. I didn't want EVERYTHING to be flat black!!

I used that strange threaded port that sticks out on the end of the Vulcan 800 Swing arm to mount the side mounted liscense plate and maltese cross tail light. I forget where this chrome bolt was used originally but it works perfectly here.

A low shot from the rear of the Bobber, You can see how high the ape hangers are, You can also see the suicide shifter and side mounted liscense plate.

Nice shot of the tail light and the saddle bag/ side cover. There will be a maltese cross on the air filter cover and mirrors too.

Here is what the tank looks like after shooting 2 coats of epoxy primer, then 2 coats of high build 2K primer. Then I sanded the high build primer with 220 grit sand paper. After sanding I wiped the tank down again with degreaser cleaner and shot 2 coats of sealer on the tank. It is now ready to shoot the flat black paint on it.

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