Tag Archives: chopper

Another Year awaits, Have Fun Building your Machine

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
29 Dec

Well, what a bloody tough year we have all had, for me it has been crazy, what with moving to another location as well as catching Covid and then on Christmas day catching an awful cold with the same symptoms of Covid but without the temperatures, its been a long battle throughout.  From having some of my suppliers completely closing down due to the Virus to some retiring early, I have had to come up with some more ideas for parts and apparel to have for the coming year we await.

But, the positive side to this awful dilemma we are all facing right now is, we have some time in our garages. sheds or back yards, to turn a wrench, help a mate or give a whole new project a go and take any frustrations out of what’s going on in the world and turn it into a working machine that is yours and yours alone.

I love making parts or building new rides, its a therapy and an escape from life’s woes to be honest, and also there are many many failure before I find something that fits and works as it should, so for those who are trying it on your own, or building your own machine, Failure is a learning curve, we all do it and not only once. I have almost given up on a particular piece I was trying to make, I left if for a day or two and when I head a fresh brain, it all clicked and worked.

Do not be afraid to fail, I have sat and pondered and even been seen to shout at the parts calling it all sorts of names but in the end we managed to come up with a result that we are happy with, the fun is in the creating at most of course, taking your ride out and stretching its legs for the first time is such a thrill and the Euphoria is un measurable, but what I am trying to say is

“Dont Give up”  There are many friends on the internet that can I advise, heck, I even put my phone and text number on my website so people can text me, rather than waiting all weekend for an answer from a company phone, i want to help the best way I can, its not all about sales for me, its Service and the camaraderie of the fellow builder.

I am hoping that this coming 2021, we can all have fun in what we do and maybe even meet at an event or on the tarmac, or at the very least, on the end of the phone of email, there is something self gratifying when you complete something on your own machine and I receive many emails and photos from customers who have really enjoyed creating a unique Motorcycle that they want to personalize for themselves.

Hoping that you can get some time and turn a wrench and have fun with that two wheeled machine of yours and maybe I can help with parts or advice?

Wishing you ALL a very Happy New year that’s almost upon us and thank you from the bottom of my heart for all your orders from around the globe, you all Rock!!!!

 

Here is a little video I saw on you tube of a guy with minimal tools rebuilding his little Honda Cub.

Time and Tide wait for no Man or Woman

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
22 Oct

No matter what is going on in the world, one thing remands the same, and that is the ticking Clock, she will always continue to grind away 24-7 and I am vert aware at times of that as deadlines come up real fast when yo are a small business, but, there is nothing better than being your own boss, so that out weighs the stress and difficulties that we all endure at times in the trade that we are in. Time to get on my Bike and start to design some New parts for you all.

Things are changing for me and not long to go until I get my Own Brand New Workshop/Barn, exciting times for sure and look forward to spending some quality time in there and banging away at some projects that I must get completed my self. Sometimes I need to Police my self to get things finished, but a New Workshop is something to keep you Motivated that’s for sure.

I have just made up a bunch of Braided Hose Oil Lines and Braided brake lines, one piece and 2 piece front brake lines to cover any of your builds and continue to make and design more parts for the inline four, as well as other makes too. Have fun on your Machines this weekend everybody.

 

 

 

How to build a cool set of forks for your CB500-CB550 or CB750 Honda SOHC Motorcycle.

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
21 Mar

I get so many emails asking about certain things that I create on the bikes and parts that I build here at my place, so- I thought I would do a little Blog on my Custom Fork service that I have been doing for many years and shipping these set ups all over the Globe. So below is what they start off like, just a bog stock set of worn out, tired, telescopic front forks.

These came off a bike that was parked up many years ago and the Customer purchased the complete bike for a decent price and wanted to take the machine apart and create his own cool Custom ride, he wanted my fork service and this is a Blog on what I did.

Looks like Dogs or cats or something Hairy had been crawling across this bike for some time, also if you look, you can see the tubes are toast as there are many pits in the tubing and hard chroming these days has got so expensive to do.

The Caliper will need to be completely torn apart and I will Blog that a little later on, this is not an uncommon thing to have sent to me to fix and rebuild and hope you enjoy this little journey of what I did to get these set of forks into a really Custom looking piece.

The main goal is to take everything off, then clean up on the outside and then once happy with that, the fun begins in the transformation of these fork tubes.

There is an array of parts that I need to rebuild these and as you can see I have everything for this to fix and get the guy a really nice set up for his Motorcycle. If you look, you can see I machined the lower Fork Stanchions and put grooves in the legs for a great Custom Finished set.

Above, you can see I am about to fit brand new Honda Fork seals to the stanchions and what I personally use is some Home Depot PVC pipe that fits perfectly over the fork tube and allows me to use the tube as a Press to get the seal to slide into the recess inside the fork and not damage the rubber of the seal.

I sat the forks on a small pad and then used my Rubber Mallet and gently tapped the pvc tubing until you feel the seal come to an abrupt stop, that means its into its seating and no more tapping required.

Once the seal is in, I plop the snap ring into its place using some circlip pliers, this holds everything in snuggly and no scratches on the fork tube. You can buy these at Harbor freight Cheap.

I use Brand New genuine Honda Dampener Bolts and crush washers, I like using the real deal and not the Chinese crap that’s out there, and this will have longevity compared to China’s inferior quality.

I also fit Brand New OEM Rubber Fork Dust Caps and to really give it that Custom touch, I fit Chromed steel Dust Covers to finish off the polished Finned Lower Stanchion.

See what I mean?  It really does complete the front fork in dressing the part to show you this is no run of the mill ride, it has attention to detail.

I finish the lowers off by Polishing the clamps and adding stainless Lock washers and stainless flanged nuts, this is a great look and easy to get a wrench on to remove the front wheel at anytime.

I cleaned up the dampeners and spring and set a pre load using 4 stainless washers, an old Motorcycling Racing trick, I also do not ever use standard fork oil, I do like the old guys did and use ATF and that’s so much cheaper to purchase too.

How do I know how much to put in forks? As many of the years of the CB750 have different lengths of lower stanchions, so the volume of fluid changes.

As you can see, I have the Factory specs for the Honda CB750s right at hand and actually sell a book with all the settings in , so I can easily look up year and model to get the capacity required.

Bang on the money and now this is all ready to button up and get the forks completed for the Customer.

See, they sure do look Custom now and am happy with the way these look and the preload is right on the money too, I also use Brand new fork Caps to give the top to bottom New Parts finished look.

So there you go, a Custom rebuilt set of forks that I offer and boy do they look sharp, not cheap but add the parts up yourself, and you will see this is a good deal.

I sure hope that you liked this little Blog, thank you for following me and purchasing my parts, its my passion and Career.

Another Chopper frame I have is a Santee, built mid 1970’s

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
14 Feb

I picked yo another frame and this time this one is a Santee Honda CB750 frame, created in their Arroyo ave shop in San Fernando California in the mid 1970’s.

Custom Chrome bought them out many years later but this is an original frame and, a some point I will build this as a Custom Chopper and I am sure it will be a fun build and change guises along the way, as thats how Choppers get built. They can change forks and rims numerous times until the builder is happy, and this will be the case with the one I have right here.

I need to be able to move these frames around, so for now I am bolting a few bits and bobs on that I have laying around, but of course, this will maybe look a little different as time goes on, but right now I thought that I would throw some Ram Horns bars on as it had no bars at all when I got it and you know how hard that is, trying to move a Hondas with no bars.

Right now the front end is just a stock Harley Sportster, but they don’t have enough length for the look I am going for, so not sure whether to just get longer fork tubes, say 6″over – or go another route and get a Springer front end, I am leaning towards Springer, as that’s a cool period look and something I have always dug anyway.

I am also going to probably go a 16″ rear wheel with spokes, just for the Nostalgia, as Lester Rims and Invaders have gone and priced themselves out of the market over here, and I do dig spokes anyway, maybe a 21 inch wheel up front too.

I have a bunch of old Chopper Gas tanks and grabbed this one, not sure yet but love the split beading in the middle, of course the old paint job will have to go but I do like the old Coffin tanks too, this tank does have that peanut feel to it and like the way it sits on the frame right now.

A long way to go but I need to be able to roll this old girl around and now I can, its bloody heavy to move with the rake of the front end but am sure later on I will get it sorted out.

A long long way to go but always something fun to do and have a go at, this and the other Chopper project I have will be therapeutic for me in these crazy times and give me more than I need to do to keep wrenching.

Feel free to email me any info on the Santee or if you have any cool parts I might be able to use, be fun to get this old 70’s Custom back on the road once more. carpy@carpyscaferacers.com

Hope you all had a great weekend? Tomorrow its more exhausts to get sorted, so stay tuned for that too.

New Parts and New projects this year

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
03 Feb

Hey Everyone

Hope that you are all well and trying to continue doing what you enjoy- This Pandemic is a royal Pain in the proverbial arse, but we have to stay strong and continue masking up, keeping your distance and soon after we all get the Jab, hopefully we can get to some sort of even Keel and enjoy the freedoms that we once all took for granted.

Things will be changing a little with me as I shall be having a steel barn built to keep me close to home, I can make prototype parts and start to create some more motorcycles for Customers and of course my own, I have a few ideas for many things and here I can do all that and much more.  I shall be offering more exhaust systems, that are all made right here in California, none of the China crap will be here and hope that you can pass the word so we can keep our money in the USA as so much money goes to China, but none from me- I tell ya that for free.

 

I love what I do, I really enjoy making new parts, I also enjoy the many emails and texts that i receive every day, if I can help someone out of their dilemma, even if it does not involve using my parts etc, I am still happy as someone now has got their machine on the tarmac.

Have fun with what you do, its an awesome hobby of ours and everybody wants to help each other out, I get a lot of calls right now as people are of course at home locked down in some cases, so, as to not get bored, people are creating their own style machines and there are some great creative minds working overtime as I type this Blog today.

So get into them Garages, Sheds or back rooms and have fun wrenching, I am here to help anytime, be it phone, Email or text, sure look forward to hearing from you, stay safe and get wrenching.

 

I have always loved working with these machines

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
05 Nov

Time does indeed fly by and as we now spend a lot of time at home, I thought that I would let you know that what ever I do, there will always be time to turn wrenches and create parts or a cool Custom machine in my workshop, and I continue to do so, next few months will see the beginnings of a new place to work in, my own Barn and its an exciting time. I can redesign older parts or make new ones and of course, continue to create machines and parts to fit them.

Below is just one of my shops that I had a ball creating these 2 wheeled delights and thought that I would share.

The shop below was about 9 years ago but they all look like this at some point and loved being immersed in Motorcycles.

Friday at last, the weekend begins

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
07 Aug

Its that time at last, Friday evening, its nice to know that the weekend is now here, I have many orders to try and get out the door and tomorrow I shall be up early so i can pack a bunch more orders to send to my Customers.  It’s my Birthday Monday and although i have to work, I am blessed to have another year of doing what I love and I shall be churning more parts out this week for sure.

Have a Great weekend all of you and hope you get some time to work on your steed or even get to ride it.

My Old Thruxton was a Fun Machine

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
14 Jun

Having a day to remember this afternoon, remembering my 2013 Triumph Thruxton that I bought as stock as the Proverbial Rock in Brea and then set about changing a few things as I went along and get it to the style and menacing Gnarly Growl of the mufflers as I hit the apex of a curve somewhere in Southern California. Below, even after a couple of weeks of owning this Thruxton, I hadmade some Monarch Megaphons out of stainless steel and changed the Shocks to a set of TEC piggy backs.

Although the stock Thruxton is so much fun to ride, I just cannot leave stuff alone, I have always tinkered with anything I have owned to try and make it look different and this Thruxton was going to get some sort of make over, but, I didnt want it off the road for long as I use it all the time. Thus a long timed transformation begun and boy what a Fun time I had with this little 900 machine.

Well, by the time came for me to enter the DGR, the bikes Livery had already changed and many modifications had gone by, but this was a great look that I came up with that reminded me of the old JPS formula 1 days and I rode the heck out of the twinline in this guise.

Now this was still ongoing and was not happy until I had changed a few more things but, I still kept this girl on the road, she loved to be ridden and ridden hard, and I got all the moneys worth out of this Thruxton and it was just a fun motorcycle to jump on and go.

I rode this machine in all sorts of conditions and Triumph did a superb job designing this 900 engine as it took what ever I threw at it and more.

It would be nice to keep every bike you owned but I am no Jay Leno, but at least I have some photos that I took to remember some of the fun machines I was lucky enough to own and ride a lot.

I have ridden this to many places and in the Boiling Sun or pouring Rain, the bike only ever failed a couple of times and that was a Puncture and a set of Blown Shocks, other than that, this just ran and ran.

Many a time I took the back Canyon twisty roads out to the Chino Air Museum, as I love ww2 Aircraft, its always fun riding out here and gets the cobwebs of the week blown cleanly out as you hit the curves on Carbon Canyon Road.

But a fun machine and something i wanted to share with you lot today as I sit at home ans catch up on orders for people bikes that they are completing in this Pandemic time we are all in.

I made a rear Cowl from Aluminum and set a Lincoln Zephyr style tear drop LED tail Light in the back, as this Cowl would also store my gloves, Goggles and documents inside.

I loved this set up and was finally happy at the final guise, it did turn many heads I must admit and never got pulled by Mr Plod either funnily enough.

This time Soft Tanned and aged leather was used with 2 inches of High Density Memory Foam to make sure my Arse did not get numb on our long rides that Jennifer and I took.

This bike sat well now, big 5.5 rear tire made sure that this stuck to the tarmac and a set of Berringer brakes up front on a wave rotor made sure I stopped in time.

The Full Stainless Steel Italian Zards Barked well and I wrapped the front in Space EX sleeves that kept my legs from burning and it really worked well to be honest.

I needed that Fog light on many occasions and it gave my Trumpy that European look, I sell the fog light kit still today to people all over the globe, as well as the headlight with internal LED signals, I hand made the fender from an old BSA model.

Another one of My Products that I designed and manufactured, was the Knuckle Duster Heel guard, I had sold many of these and they really do add some cool detail to the bike, many of which people forget about. I also drilled and welded tubes in the swing arm and chromed for that Custom look.

This was a nice ride height for me and took some time to dial in to how I wanted it but now in this guise it would whip into the corners like a Go kart.

I hoped you liked a little insight into my Triumph Thruxton EFi 900 Cafe Racer machine? I sure had a Blast getting this to how it is now.

Hope that you lot get some time in the saddle this Summer and enjoy what we are so lucky to have and share the commeraderie of the road with other like minded people.

Sure be nice to see some of you when we are out on our travels, we have made so many friends in this industry and always glad to meet other enthusiasts such as your selves.

It is always good to get out and when I get back, my mind is clear and I am ready to design and make new parts once again, this has been a fun 20 years doing what I do.

If there is anything I can do to help you along with your machine, just drop us a line at carpy@carpyscaferacers.com or text on 714-598-8392 as I am here to help.

Thanks for reading my Blog today, its fun to do, takes a bit of time but always worth it if I cheer your day up a little bit.

Peace N Grease to Each and Every one of You!

 

 

 

 

 

Exhaust Orders going super strong right now

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
07 Jun

Hey you lot, wow! Is all I can say, so many exhaust orders plus tons of parts going out the door, trying to keep up all the demand for parts for you to complete your Motorcycle Projects, so you can get out on the tarmac and blow all of lifes cobwebs out of the New Exhaust system I am supplying you all with.

So many Negative things going on in the world right now and as many of you are locked down in your place, you are getting positive things done like completing your Custom machine, and once you get out of your dwelling, you can enjoy the freedom of the roads and breathe in fresh air at 100 mph.

I have sold so many over the years and continue to offer a super fun system thats easy to install and made right here in Southern California, many people ask about my systems and then they email me after to say how wickedly cool these sound.

I really enjoy my job and seeing people happy, I have been doing this for over 20 years and still ride every single day of the week, and I want to Thank You All for supporting me in what I love to do.

Thank you all for your Patience, it is so nice to know that you like my parts and, I continue to push the envelope with new products coming out all the time, I push hard at pleasing everyone but must admit I have been over whelmed with orders these last few weeks and thank you for all understanding that some of these things take time as only now are suppliers opening their doors.

Its always fun designing new parts and I will be bringing some New systems out soon for you to try on your inline four Honda  machines.

The exhaust systems are affordable but function so well, you will love the Tone and over run and the mid range really comes into its own compared to others out there in the market.

If you want something that Fits, and works very well, and- Getting value for money, Look no further, I ride, many other companies dont even own a Motorcycle, what does that say about them? They are just in it for the money, to me this is my Passion and Lifestyle and I continue to push that proverbial envelope.

Have a Great week and look forward to hearing from you about your inline Four Motorcycle at carpy@carpyscaferacers.com

Peace and Grease to you all.

 

 

 

Love what I do here in my Garage

Posted on by Steve Carpenter
08 Jul

Been doing this for close to 20 years now here in Southern California, always fun and challenging to say the least- I have lost count of the thousands of orders I have managed to be lucky enough to generate, through you people, I am stoked that you enjoy my blogs and my parts, as well as builds and my reply to emails when you are stuck with your bike.

I continue to push the proverbial envelope in this great and very competitive market that has now emerged in the two wheeled lifestyle, and its great to receive word from well known companies that let me know that I in some way have inspired them not to give up and keep trying.

I am trying to make more parts and stay tuned to my website as as soon as they are ready i shall do a quick Blog to show you have they fit and look etc and then put on the website to make available to you right away.

Thanks for all the great emails and texts etc, I am busy with a number of things, from Vapor Honing parts, to polishing and chroming, as well as making new parts, drilling hubs and working on my Vintage Hot rod too, never a dull life here in La Mirada thats for sure. Thank you again and as we enter into the 243rd year of this Great Country- I wish you all the very best and look forward to helping you any time.  Have a super week everyone.

 

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