Thorrn wrote: I would love some technical veteran builder guidance I want to replace my swing arm with a mono shock I want to know how to accomplish this street scrambler build My vision is a post-apocalyptic RAT street/scrambler something that is build for performance in all conditions or built for versatility of terrain and changes in a post apocalyptic urban/any where environment thoughts suggestions and Ideas appreciated need feedback this is my first build I have the vision and the drive just need so tech advice thanks
Greetings!
I think I understand what you are envisioning for your build.
There were some wild looking, multi-terrain, enduro-on-steroids kind of scramblers (Ha! I didn't know there was a name for this styling
) at the recent
[ Hand Built Show in Austin, Texas ]
.
I saw some creations there, that used bigger horse power bikes typically associated with speed but with gnarly, knobby, wheels, high suspensions and for the most part they followed the so-called "rat look", although my first thought upon seeing them was "steampunk inspired". Honestly, I thought the concept was very cool, even though I have no idea how or what was done to the likes of 500cc up to 1000cc motorcycles. BMW, Ducati, Indian etc. All kinds of manufacturer's motorcycles were used.
Most dramatically (personal opinion), the big/wide, wheel and tire sizes were close to the same front to back and of the off road/traction format. The suspensions high usually but not always - some leaned more toward a tracker look with street tires and lower suspensions. Gone were expensive, shiny paint schemes, even while you could see tons of hours were poured into the finished look. One bike looked like it grew out of a mid 80's Suzi Katana - hand welded, multi faceted fuel tank was all raw metal and rusty (post apocolyptic looking as you had mentioned) with slippery looking, 2-stroke stinger exhaust on old bias ply tires.
Anyway, I'm sure there are a few guys here that can help you out with this pursuit. There are a few guys that have done the extended trailing arm/mono shock conversions and the front end changes to later, wider tired, forks. Luckily, there are a few really good machinists here too that can (not sure on cost or how much beer may be involved in getting on their "to do" lists ?
) do some great fabrication work that is needed when swapping out the front and rear suspensions as you wish.
The best news of this, IMHO, is a search here on the forum can make it easy with a
[ Show and Tell. Swing Arm & Fork Swap ]
Good luck. Wish I had the vision for radical departures from stock. Maybe it's being old. I'm happy just to get it back to looking like it was manufactured recently and just rolled outta the dealership floor before the last rain!