building a chopper

[runningbear]

everybody talks about customizing the 3650 yamaha's how easy is it to build hard tail and rake and customize an 1980 xs1100 sg.

[rover]

chopper

Well, Bear, the hardest part is dealing with the driveshaft. Most choppers are longer at the rear swingarm, just need a longer chain to drive the rear wheel. XS's are shaft, and a bit of a chore to lengthen, also very restrictive as to how wide a tire you can use. There are quite a few XS choppers, but the REALLY radical ones are few. If you are old (like me), a hardtail will rattle your bones to bits. If you are young, a hardtail will soon make you feel old (also like me). But, if that is your ambition and dream, go for it!!! Do a search for XS choppers and I think you will find some ideas. Good luck.

[Pat Kelly]

I think most of the chopped Yamahas are the XS650's.

[debauchery]

you tube has some decent choppers that use the xs11 engines , as far as doing it yourself its only as dificult as you make it, you can use the sportster rear shock eliminators to drob the back a few inches and use 37mm fork tube extensions to add 6" to the front and your getting there , tcbros sells a weld on hardtail that looks decent and i havent checked but i'm sure you could find a tripletree that would give you a lil rake in the front without too much trouble gd luck and post pics ! everybody loves pics!!!

[crazy steve]

The XS11 is a poor choice to chop IMO. As was mentioned, the shaft drive really limits you in what you can do in the back unless you go to a big $$$ chain drive set-up. Biggest tire you can fit is a 140/90-16 with a stock swingarm, although you can get up to a 160/80-16 (6.25" wide) with a carefully modified arm (but you have to remove the FD too when removing the tire ...). Bigger than that, it's chain drive...

You also have to be careful about how low you go. Too low, and the u-joint angle gets too sharp, shortening it's life. The u-joint is NLA, so you don't want to be toasting those. You can drop the rear of these about 1.5", more than that can cause problems sooner or later.

Raking the neck? That'll be a tough one; the XS frame doesn't lend itself to these sort of mods with it's 'clamshell' neck, so unless your welding/fabrication skills are pretty good, you could end up with a trashed frame. Not saying it can't be done, but I wouldn't tackle it, and I've raked frames before. Best bet would be to cut off everything above the motor mounts/swingarm pivot and fab new. Stay away from raked trees, those things will kill ya...

Unlike the 650, there's near-zero aftermarket support for this sort of thing for the 11, so you'll be building/adapting pretty much all of it...

[fredintoon]

everybody talks about customizing the (presumably XS)650 yamaha's how easy is it to build hard tail and rake and customize an 1980 xs1100 sg.

Hi 'bear,
rear suspension is the greatest tech advance since the front brake. But if you go the full Indian Larry you're gonna remove that too, right?
OK, it's your bike and your spinal column so do what you want.
If I were into that here's what I'd do:-
Lose the swingam completely and run open shaft in a stretched-out rigid frame.
Cut'n'sleeve the driveshaft to extend it.
You can now fit a fatter back tire because the swingarm ain't there no more.
Spacing the rear wheel out from the final drive will allow a fatter tire yet.
Sure the tire will now be offset but WTF, it's a chopper, it won't steer well anyway.
Good luck with it.