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Making the purchase this weekend

1K views 19 replies 7 participants last post by  Hr2burn 
#1 ·
So after a lot of searching and researching, I think I have decided on a 97 vlx 600 deluxe. It's in great/stock condition and I'm rolling it in the garage and starting to tear it down. I have no idea where to get parts at this point so any advice (if that is allowed?) would be appreciated. I'm going for the bobber style if that directs the suggestions at all. I dug up as much as I could about the pros and cons about different Shadow models, but I don't know anything about the years and what to be aware of, so again, any info would be great. Hope to document with pictures in this thread and to start this weekend.
Here goes a project for the spring and summer!
 
#2 ·
97 shouldn't be too hard to find parts for, OEM or aftermarket. Good luck with the project, be sure to post up pics before, during and after. Welcome to the forum.
 
#9 ·
I'd like to avoid eBay, I will check out TJ Brutal...thanks man. Anyone know where I can get a fab yourself exhaust setup? Flanges and basic bends...I don't even have a clue what diameter this thing runs. I'm gonna do pretty much every thing myself so I'm thinking 3-4K on top of purchase price. I said that with my 350Z, I had a total of 65k in that...sold it for 13k, ugh. Hopefully I don't get stupid with this.
 

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#6 ·
It begins...day one.

As I have been stripping and staining my 2 decks over the last 3 days, I don't have much juice left, but here she sits. $1600 (he was asking 2k) to pay for a DUI. He was giving little tips of what to do with the issues it has, "need to adjust rear brakes as they are not grabbing" I saw the adjustment screw it adjusted all the way in. Battery barely turning it over and now that it's home, won't start it. "Fork seal needs to be adjusted, it leaks" No doubt he charged it before I came over. SO MANY SCREWS MISSING, went to pull the battery out and let's just say it didn't take any tools. Someone drilled the baffles out, it's loud and kind of pops when de-accelerating.
All this doesn't matter, she's getting a make over/new life. Gotta get a bike jack tomorrow, anyone ever use a Harbor freight one. I hate their stuff but seems pretty safe if it doesn't require plugging in. I'm gonna dream about pulling ridiculous amounts of cash out of my savings. Here's rattle box Sally....
 

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#10 · (Edited)
$3K to $4K? :surprise:. Easy there cowboy, this is not a sports car Lol. Most parts for a '97 would still be available from Honda. My favorite source hands down is Partzilla. Good luck...and purchase a shop (Honda Tech) manual for it. You'll thank me later.
Partzilla: OEM Motorcycle Parts, ATV Parts, Marine Parts
 
#11 ·
What to do with all these old parts?

Harry, are you gonna tell me this is the cheapest hobbie I've ever had?? This is gonna be a heavily tweaked "bobber"....thanks for the lead on the manual, knowing me I'll wait til I have a pile-o-parts and scramble to order that.
Is there a section for free parts? I hate to throw all this stuff away. I've only had about an hour broken into two 1/2 hour blocks, but the pile of left overs is growing.
 

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#15 ·
About 4 hours in now....

I about blew an o-ring out lifting engine to work table....need to start doing some crunches or pull-ups or something. I'll be honest, I'm a little bit nervous of reinstalling that engine back in after everything is nice a pretty powder coated. I just don't want to deal with chipping peeling paint down the road. Tomorrow I start cutting the frame and turning this thing my into a hard tail.
 

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#17 ·
Lay the frame on it's side on an old mattress flat on the floor and lower the engine carefully with a chain hoist or similar.

A friend of mine that years ago worked for a small foreign car shop said they had a mattress up against a wall and when a British car like a Triumph Spitfire needed a clutch they rolled the car up against the wall on it's side and pulled out the tranny standing up. Novel ideas !!!
 
#19 ·
Angles, angles and more angles

So I lay in bed going over what I want to achieve with this hard tail conversion and all the issues I need to avoid. I have the Scootworks solid strut in there as that is as low as you can safely go....it's just a mock up for my cutting and welding to come. I. A perfect world I need 20 degrees angled in to avoid tire/chain and 15 degrees down to keep the swing arm in optimum postion (not too low, not too high.) I want cold rolled steel which I need to get at The Metal SuperMarket...I'm lucky enough to have one here but their hours and my hours are pretty close so I gotta figure out how to get there.
I'm gonna pick up a HFT tubing bender this weekend so I don't take shortcuts on my bends. I'm gonna cut out the rear in the next couple days or so.
I have MotoGadget mini switches, m-button and fuse box coming this weekend along with Pandemonium's friSTR tank, jet kit, fork rebuild kit, carb seals and the rubber connectors to cylinder heads. Gotta get engine chrome off as well as lower forks triple clamps off to sand blasting and powder coating....
Anyway, the angles I've been obsessing over...
 

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