I’ve been pretty bad at updating the website with DualSporty Project updates. So, for those of you that don’t know- the idea started with some Burly Brand parts. Stiletto shocks (15″ rather than the stock 12″), Cafe Racer tail section, Scrambler bars… completely transforming a regular ol’ Harley Davidson Sportster into a road eating machine.
My lady friend Caroline kindly let me chop up her bike, she said it was time for a change. I was excited to do something on the complete opposite spectrum of the Monster Project.
Here at the Ventura Compound, Wolf and I have been chipping away at the project in the free time we do have. Last time I posted, I had finally received the custom made 18″ rear wheel, mounted the Continental TKC80 dual sport tire, and chopped the subframe off the bike. Wolf and I have finished the rear frame hoop, frame gussets, front tire swap, and more fabrication work to the tank.
Here’s a photo timeline, with captions.
Boyle Custom Moto air cleaner and Willis bolts (the breather bolts that mount it). These are currently unfinished- they are capped off with a nice foam filter and mesh cover. I’ve not yet installed them because I may need to remove them again before the bike is totally finished, and the tiny little c-clips (aka oh shit or jesus clips) are a pain in the butt to get on and off. (bcmmoto.bigcartel.com)
Front wheel removed in order to swap the white wall front tire for the dual sport knobby.
The Continental TKC80’s are one of the most popular on/off road tires. They also have a nice aggressive off road look while not wearing out too quickly on the street.
Much better without the white wall.
In order to achieve the proper width at the tail, while having a gentle slope toward the front to match the frame, we had to make the rear hoop out of multiple pieces.
You can see the gentle slope above, which gives it a curve that matches the Burly Brand ‘cafe racer’ seat. The hole you can see drilled in the tube shows the inner metal rod that reinforces the hoop.
We added the fender for a full mockup. This fender remnant will later be shaped to go with the rest of the design.
We ground down the surfaces and tack welded the hoop on.
At this point, the DualSporty is finally taking shape. It looks completely different than when we started.
We started to create the frame gussets to fit between the shock mounts and hoop to clean up the gap.
Good old grinder with a cutting disc.
After they were all cut out, I cleaned up the burrs around the holes from drilling, made the pieces as similar as I could, and put them up to the bike to see how they fit.
Like a glove!
All that metal grinding in a tank top came at a cost, though. Sweet arm pit burns!
My welds on the frame hoop weren’t pretty, but they’re solid.
We tack welded the gussets in. Wolf told me the idea here was that we’ll spot weld the pieces on, and as they heat up, we’ll hammer them in line with the sloping hoop.
I let him show me how it was done- I’m not about to continue learning how to weld on such a prominent area of the motorcycle. Not yet anyway! I’m not too proud to admit I’m just not there yet.
The gussets really clean up the tail of the bike- they keep the frame flowing together instead of a messy, lazy looking chop.
After this we drilled and tapped a hole into the backbone of the frame to mount the new modified Honda tank.
After we successfully tapped the hole, Wolf modified the tank mount bracket so it would sit properly on the backbone of the Harley.
The mount needed to be a bit long so the seat would clear the bolt when being slid into place.
I started prepping the front fender for a chop. Taking 4.5″ off the front of the little bugger.
Making progress.
I stopped by our neighbor Manny’s body shop while walking my pup Akila to see if he wanted to mix up a color for me to use for reference. He happily obliged.
We quickly came to this silverly emerald color. However it was lacking the glitter I needed. So I showed the photo above to Justin of JG Fabrication in Ventura, CA. He showed me this.
Green metal flake and color over base colors (from left to right) white, gold, green, and black.
I chose the black background. The depth looks amazing in the sun and in the dark. It never stops blinging at you- it’s like Emerald City.
So, that’s where the DualSporty project is at. We have parts on the way for some other cool mods, like the Lowbrow Customs belt to chain Sportster conversion kit. No more Harley belt, how awesome is that?!
In the mean time, make sure you’re following the @motolady instagram, and MotoLady facebook page to see random live updates and behind the scenes goodness like videos and such.
Mary McGee is a pioneer in American motorcycle racing, thanks to her untamable determination and a spirit as warm as her smile. Her excitement for motorcycling, especially racing, is contagious even in her eighties. She was the first woman to receive an FIM racing license in the United States, first woman to complete the Baja 1000, and the first woman to race the Baja 500 solo. These aren’t her only firsts, either. She was also the first woman in motocross and road racing in the States. McGee was rightly inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame in 2018.
Tags: 883, boyle custom moto, burly brand, custom, dual sporty project, fabrication, harley davidson, motolady, motorcycles, scrambler, sportster, wolf designs
Posted on August 30, 2014 in Blog, Motorcycles by Alicia Mariah Elfving
Very Damn cool Motolady! luv the gussets!