Bonneville America Forums Forums Technical Forums Custom Corner Thompson's build update

WHOEVER IT WAS THAT TWISTED THAT SISSY BAR FOR YOU IS, IN MY OPIONION, ONE FINE CRAFTSMAN!!!! THAT SICKLE IS LOOKING MIGHTY FINE MY FRIEND, MIGHTY FINE INDEED!!!

I agree with ya' Newt. Bruce does awesome work. Great prices too. I paid $250 shipped for that & it's a custom piece. Compared to some of the crap on Ebay for more that don't even come close to the sheer pizazz of this. As far as I'm concerned, I got a deal. For more shots of his work, go to
www.twistedsteelfabrication.com Dudes name is Bruce Riley.

Just playin' around here... Trying to determine the best angle for the sissybar, tail light location, etc.

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Here I'm tryin' to determine the approx. location of the fender mount bracket.

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FYI, the flat rear fender is out. This bike is screamin' for an old school Brit ribbed fender. It's on back-order but hopefully I'll have it in a couple of weeks.

This is pretty close to the final angle the bar will sit at:

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This is approximately where the Sparto's gonna sit. These are usually mounted behind a sissy bar but I opted to put it here for maximum visibility by anyone behind me. (Yeah, I know there's no fender there, but you get the point, right?)



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Speaking of missing fenders, I've decided to run without a front fender. Hey, if there's any chance of rain whatsoever, I'll ride my '07.

Okay this thing is looking SICK. I don't usually like retro sissybars but I have to agree this thing is an amazing piece of work.

I only have one problem.

Those front turn signals. I don't know if it's the style or the location. Okay, it's the location. Might also be the style, but they bug me.

But the rest as our Brit friends would say, is bloody brilliant. And craaaazy.

Yeah John, I don't much care for them either. Perhaps if I cut down the mount & make em hug the springer they'd look better. We'll see. Unfortunately, I've gotta have em in this state.

Thanks for your kind comments.

******, that bike is getting me hotter than Danika Patrick, and that is saying something!!!!!

Danika Patrick? Really? That's your paragon of hotness?

This bike is much hotter, like Megan Fox or Angelina Jolie.

Thanks guys. Personally, I wouldn't kick any of 'em out of bed. But Angelina or Megan, whew, either one of them would probably give this old fart a heart attack, but man, what a way to go!

You want to talk sick? My neighbor Spanky came over yesterday afternoon. Longtime Harley dude. The sissybar was still mocked up on the bike & he hadn't seen it yet. So, I'm going over a list of to do's & new ideas. Meanwhile, he's checkin' out the bike, in particular the sissybar. "Thompson," he says, "this thing's really starting to take on a medieval look. Whatdaya think about this..."

He suggested having Bruce (sissybar maker) fab something like it on the tank. So, he lays it all out for me & I'm liking it better 'n better by the minute. I told him after hearing it all, "Dude, you don't even smoke weed man. Where the heck are you commin' up with this stuff?"

He wants to do something like this:

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Now, you've gotta imagine at the top it'll be bent to follow the shape of the tank, & come down the center of the leading curved edges at the tanks widest point.

Look how closely the profile follows the tank as it is:

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Then you throw in this little do-dad (an Ebay belt buckle for like $3) that was gonna go on the bike somewhere anyway... (I'd already planned on getting another & mounting 'em back to back near the top of the sissybar).

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I'm really liking this idea, but gotta talk to Bruce for a dollar amount first. Probably gonna end up doin' it though.
Thoughts? Ideas?

Very cool, it's a very good look. All the same, the Triumph Triangle would look pretty good in there as well...that twisted bar is so nice.

Only one thought: "Make it so."

I like the idea of something similar to the sissybar on the tank too, very cool look.I'm jealous, I want to do something like what you are but just haven't had the money yet.

I'm glad I'm getting positive thoughts from you guys. It's important. What was the 80'ish movie with the wacky robot? "Need more input." You know the one...

Yo' Friar. I took your comment to heart & found a new way to mount those front turn sigs. They were kinda buggin' me too. Push comes to shove, I took the easy way out. I kinda think I would've moved em anyway somewhere down the road, but you eliminated any chance of that not happening. You'll see when I post some more pics - prob Tuesday evening.

And Skid, I owe you a most sincere apology for dissin' Danica. Checked her out a couple of times during the Super Bowl - she could compete with ANYBODY.

Feb. 9th update - my other headlamp came in.

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Don't remember if I mentioned it earlier or not but the original forward controls shown when this all started are out of the picture. I ran into an adjustment problem with them - couldn't get the brake pedal into an optimal working position. At any rate, they didn't compliment the direction this bike is taking anyway.

The replacements came in yesterday & for only $75 more than the originals, there is absolutely no comparison in the quality of the machining between the two.

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I got an email out to Twisted Metal Fabrications a couple of days ago asking if he could fab the tank up per Spanky's idea. Haven't heard anything back from him yet, but figured the tanks gonna have to come off soon anyway so I yanked it.

Tigman did a great job with the hidden attachments. Four very easy to get at bolts using a standard socket. Took all of five minutes. Here are some close ups of the mounts:

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The underside of the tank:

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And some shots of the temporarily mounted controls. The brackets need to be re-done.

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This is my bud Mark. Kinda my 'tech support' guy. He's no mechanic, but he can pretty much replace anything that needs changing should an engine break down or need adjustments made. He can also figure his way thru the wiring process. Be advised - he ain't too pretty to look at...

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