650 Street Tracker project.

Hi all,
with Flattracker, Mike the Mailman and Bomber on here with their Flattrackers i thought it was about time i put some details here of my lengthy build.

It started when i got this in 2008,


Great fun but too mad for the road so i put the knobblies on and started greenlaning again,


After a couple of years greenlaning i got the racing bug and despite the 650 doing a good job in my first solo Hare and Hounds in over twenty years i got a 450 for more serious racing.

So the 650 was getting a bit neglected and i decided a new project to turn it into a Cafe Racer would be an interesting challenge.


A quick trip to a local bike builder (Red Max) for inspiration changed my plans when i almost tripped over his Flattracker on the way into the workshop. A genuine Harley XR i knew that my Cafe Racer had just become a Flattracker.

A week or so later i got a frame off of ebay so i didn't need to destroy my supermoto frame,


And a quick bit of playing around gave an idea of how the bike would look lowered a few inches.


This was three or four years ago and over the next few years crammed in around work, a social life, racing the 450, a house move and a heart op the Tracker slowly started to take shape...........not always the right shape but loads of trial and error and swapping bits around started to get it to near where i wanted it.
The new frame was i believe a 501 frame (from ebay so who knows) with a bit of chopping the standards 02 shock gave a good rear ride height. The front forks were lowered about six inches to even things up, as yet no revalving has been done but they have been well behaved on the road.

A Honda CG125 tank is on at the moment but may not stay.
The rear end is a Harley XR reproduction unit that i shortened by a couple of inches for a better look.
The hardest job was getting the angle of the rear subframe correct to line up with the bottom of the tank......loads of cutting and shutting finally got it to where i'm happy with the look.
The 18" and 21" wheels were re rimmed with 19" rims to take Maxxis DT1 Flattrack tyres. The front is on a 2.5" rim and has a bout 1 mill. of clearance on each side.


The next thing to look at was the exhaust,


The underseat exhaust was put on hold to try and get the bike on the road in the summer of 2013. A standard exhaust was used, modified Cibie Oscar headlight from a Jeep was put on the front and some tiny rear lights hidden under the back of the seat unit.
The only issue on M.O.T. day was the bike was overheating. The standard radiator wouldn't fit and the first replacement was from a CBR125 which proved to be too small!........but it passed and was road legal.


An SV650 was found to fit and the overheating problems sorted. A bit more yellow paint and i could actually put a bit of mileage on it.

Over the last year and a half the bike has had a bit of paint added and some different side panels tried out.


Progress has been really slow as apart from other things i've spent far too much time modifying my Bonneville and not enough time on the Tracker.

A trip up to Kings Lynn to see Dirt Quake 3 gave me a bit of inspiration and over the last few months it's been getting a lot more attention in the garage.


The underseat exhaust is back out of the box, and after some really ugly welding, roughly fitted. (far too loud at the moment).




Another set of side panels made and fitted and in the last couple weeks the front light plate has been started.






I hate to think how many hours have gone into this bike so far, but garage time is supposed to be quality time right. Right?
It certainly isn't finished, loads of bits still need modifying or swapping or re-spraying.
The biggest expense was having the wheels built and buying the tyres. (£400)
The underseat exhaust silencer was new but all of the other main bits were second hand, taken from my other bikes or made by myself.
I'm still learning a lot about working with aluminium and painting and i'm always having to learn more about welding!

Once i've got the headlight sorted i just need to work out where i'm going to put the number plate now there's an exhaust in the way

Carl

Cheers Conalman,

i was thinking that for the number plate then saw the new Ducati Scrambler with it coming from the swinging arm.
Or chopper style to the side of the wheel.......too many choices.

Probably best to keep it reasonably simple and put it under the exhaust.

Thanks Goose,

I see you've got an original scrambler, what do you think of the new scrambler models?

Haha I know what you mean. The first picture I saw was the one with the chrome guards and thought it looked pretty cool. Then i saw the full accessory/lifestyle shopping list, the only thing missing is a trendy beard
They just did a test or re.test of the original scrambler in a magazine over here and really rated it.
Don't neglect yours with your other toys

Thanks Matts, definitely fun when you've solved each little challenge/problem.

The next one is to make it a bit quieter so its only the looks that turn heads and not the sound from a mile away

Finally managed to get the bike to a DTRA event this weekend, due to being at a bigger motorcycle event there was limited track time and no time to play with settings.
A couple of six lap races, got faster and more confident every lap and didn't crash!

In my head i felt like Mert Lawwill going round but probably looked more like Mr Magoo!

Are the practice sessions advertised on the DTRA website Bomber?
The Bristol one could work out well.

Hopefully catch up at a round soon.

Cheers Bomber.

After missing most of the Dirt Track season due to date clashes i managed to get to the final round on sunday. Five races through the day and i'm definitely getting faster and have a few ideas to improve the bike over the winter.
For me i need to get to one of the Dirt Track riding schools to learn how to ride on an oval.
Met with fellow Berg rider and forum member Bomber too and actually got a bit of attention with two Bergs lining up for the races.

The picture below demonstrates how far i've got to go technique and speed wise with the current National Champion lapping me in the first afternoon race! He didn't get me again though.