1. Chop the pipes. (done)
We chopped the pipes just behind the H-pipe, stuck improvised performance cones
(copper pipe reducer fittings) into the pipes near the heads, and added
angled tips at the end of the pipes to keep from setting the passenger directly
on fire. The pipes have been painted with gunmetal header paint.
We cleaned the HELL out of the inside of the carbs, put new main and slow
jets in (115 and 40's). The intake inlet is 2.25" (57mm). We got Emgo black
with chrome mesh air filters that fit perfectly in there! Got a red breather
filter at Wal-Mart for $10 for the valve cover.
2. Rotate the rear fender back (done, but redoing)
We rotated the fender back about 45 degrees, giving it a low-bob old-school
look. An old round trailer light was used for the taillight. Orange triple-LED
lights are being used for the rear turn signals. We're putting a red LED light
into the taillight to make it brighter.
After riding it for a few hundred miles, we realized that we put the fender
too low! With a passenger over 120lbs, the bike likes to bottom out. We're
going to raise the fender up an inch or two. It also gives us a good reason to
fix the bad bondo job we did and repaint it better.
3. Lower the rear end. (done)
11" short shocks have been fitted... Tire clearance is a little tight, but
it doesn't rub unless you hit a real mother of a bump!
4. Custom Seat. (In progress)
We fitted a 2000 Magna seat to the bike. It looks absolutely AWESOME, but it's
way too wide-looking without having a bigger gas tank. It didn't quite fit the
style we were going for, so we're making a super-thin custom seat instead.
That'll give a lower ride height (especially for the passenger).
5. Get a bigger gas tank. (FINALLY got one!)
An early 80's Shadow 700 gas tank will fit the Rebel with very little work.
The 86/87? shadow 700's had a newer tank design similar to the Super Magna and
look absolutely fantastic, but they're really hard to find! We finally got one,
no dents, already primed, on Ebay. We'll be painting it ourselves very soon.
It only increases the fuel capacity from 2.8/0.66 reserve to 3.3/0.5 reserve.
6. Drag bars (done), higher risers (not done) and gauges (not done)
Chevy bought some bars from Ebay. They have to be seen to be understood. They
rock! I got him some kick-ass skull grips that are equally fantastic. Now we
need risers, a tach, a cooler speedo (optional) and an alternative to the
Rebel 450's light-pod.
7" straight risers
by Aeromach. They take 1" bars.
Highway Hawk has ton of risers. Model 56-0062 are only $64 - 6" rise, metric equipment, shims to use either 1" or 7/8" bar, M10 bolts.
this page
has cheap dogbone risers that work very well - I have them on my CB900 chopper.
Mechanical Tach Option... probably won't work out.
We've given up on this for now.
Mechanical speedos and tachs
Drag Specialties electric tach
7. VLX Softtail swingarm
Looking over the frame designs of the Rebel and VLX (they seem to share a lot
of parts and design specs), it looks surprisingly easy to mount a VLX softtail
rear-end to the bike. We'll be looking for one to salvage very soon.
8. Super Magna (39mm) front forks.
I have an extra set of super magna forks around, from my first of 3 rebuilds
for the same damn wreck. They're in fantastic shape, so we're going to try to
stretch the stock triple tree to take the 2mm larger forks and stick 'em on.
9. Mikuni Carbs
The Rebel appears to have 30mm carbs, based on our measurements. We're looking
to get 32mm mikuni round-slide carbs to replace the current ones.
10. Forced Induction, baby!!
Yeah, we're sick in the head. We got a kick-ass oil cooler that's made for
liter-bikes or larger, and we'll be stuffing that on the bike. Since the bike
never gets ANYwhere near overheating even without an oil cooler, we figured
it would be fun to force some air into that engine and give it some serious
kick! Now comes the big question of the day.... Supercharger or Turbocharger?
Superchargers are progressive, linear in execution, don't heat up the engine
nearly as badly and are far more predictable. They're my personal favorite.
HOWEVER, motorcycles don't have external pulleys for us to connect to a blower,
so it's a VERY difficult task to mate a blower up to a bike.
Turbochargers are much more RPM-band dependent. Ones that spool quickly
function well at low-to-mid band, but stop progressing as you get up to the
high band. And ones that spool more progressively lag like hell in the low band
but give an exhilirating ride in the high-end! They also generate a shit-ton
of heat and require a lot of (leak-prone) plumbing. However, fitting a turbo
on a bike would still be a lot easier than bolting up a blower.
A cheap way to supercharging, provided we can
set up some sort of pulley to run the bastard.
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