The old rear rim was tossed to make way for a Harley 4.25" DNA rim!
I ordered up a Shinko SR741 in a 140mm width and dropped off the spoke kit from Buchanan, hub and rim to be laced by a local shop. I would try my hand at lacing the wheel myself but in all honesty, I would rather the peace of mind of knowing it was done perfectly.
I started polishing the hub up to a dull shine, don't want it obnoxiously shiney. Trust me, too much chrome is definitely a bad thing.
I also took and made a muffler/tail pipe from a small bullet style muffler we had floating around the garage.
I took the muffler and welded some 3.5" pipe over it. I cut a slit down the center of the exhaust pipe so it would fit snuggly around the muffler and welded the rear portion of it together:
Once that was in place I took more 3.5" and pushed it inside the cut/stretched pipe/muffler piece. I did this to seal up that seam of 1" that was open.
I welded all the pieces together and inside the pipe to make sure nothing will rattle or come loose. I also welded the tip of the pipe to hide that it was multiple pieces, turned out kind of cool.
With all of that done I welded the pipe to the factory 4-1 header and mounted the tire and brakes back on. The exhaust sounds decent, it didn't really quiet it down too much but it does a little. I will probably add some kind of baffling to the inside of the pipe or possibly just build my own header, not sure yet.
Here is what the finished product looks like:
It all has turned out so well thus far, I am looking forward to getting paint on the bike and ditching the god-awful Keihin carbs for the Mikunis I have in the garage. I will be fabricating some intakes and converting over sometime in the near future as well as completely rewiring the bike with Weatherpack connectors and a sexy new fuse/power block setup. Stay tuned!
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