Kikker -
Hardknock Bobber
Rat Fink
Bike
This is
an educational web page that shows how I take a stock
Hardknock Kit and customize it to my taste. That's the
really neat thing about this bike is that it is easy to add
your own style.
Clicking
on any of the pictures will enlarge them.....enjoy!






My
tribute to Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and Rat Fink.


Following
on with the Maltese Cross theme on the seat and air cleaner,
I added this mirror.


I prefer
the sound of the upturned pipe.

Rest In
Peace, Big Daddy


Master
Toggle switch for grounding the magneto to shut off the
engine. Also a close up of the skeleton jockey shift
knob.



L.E.D.
Taillight and Stoplight








Pictured below is how the
wiring comes with the kit. If you assemble it this way
it is very easy, but you have a big bundle of wires up under
the tank and I don't prefer that. Also, all the wiring
comes with a metal coiled sheathing that I take off and put
in the trash.
This is the stock shifter with the dice knob.

My own addition of a skull
with jeweled eyes

This is the 'popsicle' kick
start rubber that comes in the kit.

If you cut off the white
popsicle, remove the clip, this is what you have left.

Cut off the wings and prepare
to shorten it. The rubber is from a 1971 Honda SL350.

Finished product.

To begin the process of hiding
the wires inside the frame, I drill two holes..........

And make one large slot.
This is on the down-tube at the back of the motor, just
below the wiring canister. The canister must be
removed before doing this and that will necessitate
un-looming all of the wiring. This is a time consuming
and tedious job, but it is worth it in the end.

On the top tube, near where
the brace comes in, I drilled and slotted another hole.
This is where the wires will exit the frame for the
headlight, speedometer light, horn, hi-lo beam switch.


The kit comes with two bicycle
type switches on the handlebars that control the starter
button, horn, turn signals & kill switch. I don't like
those switches, so here is what happens. I buy a
simple toggle switch and a replacement key switch with an
Off/On/Start circuit. The chrome wiring can is
modified to accept the toggle switch by drilling a 1/2" hole
as shown below.


For consistency's sake, I turn
all the motor mount bolts where the heads are on the side
away from the kick stand.

This bottom engine mount bolt
must be modified so that it doesn't interfere with the
chain.

Just cut it off with a cut off
wheel.

This is the nearly finished
wiring improvement for the front of the bike.

This is a shot of the kick
start arm installed.

And here is a shot of the
wiring on the kick stand side. This will all be hidden
by the tank.

These are now all the wires
that need to go to the front of the bike. Speedometer
light, Headlight and Front Brake Switch. I modify the
wiring circuit so that the headlight and taillight are
powered on when the key switch is turned to on. This
allows you to have lights when the engine is not running.
The stock wiring connects the lighting circuit to the
magneto on the engine and this produces a pulsing to the
lights at low RPM's.

This is a simple horn button
purchased from the auto parts store. It is the
replacement for the switch on the handlebars. All this
switch does is complete a ground circuit when pressed.
It will be tucked up under the tank and you simply reach
your hand under the tank to honk.

This is a shot of an internal
throttle mechanism where the cable will run through the
handlebars. The goal here is to remove as much clutter
as possible from the handlebars. The only things
on the bars will be the front brake assembly, a dummy black
grip on the left side and a black throttle grip covering
this throttle assembly.

The cable is pulled by the bar
in the slot. The outside cylinder has a corresponding
bar in it that moves the slide toward the outside of the
bar.

Once together, this is all you
have. I'd like to find a shorter brake lever and move
it closer to the grip.


It is always a good idea to
install a battery tender on these bikes.

Here is a finished shot of the
new key switch with the 'start' function built into it.

This is the Ignition cutoff
switch for the bike. The magneto needs to be grounded
for the bike to shut off. I installed this nifty
Carbon Fibre look flip switch.

When open, it exposes the
toggle switch. Flipping the cover up shuts off the
bike.

Another nifty idea is to
install a circuit breaker instead of a fuse just in case you
have any wiring problems down the road.

Here's that cool skeleton
shifter. I don't install the foot shifter just as a
matter of preference.

Shot of how clean it is above
the carburetor and the frame neck.

I put the wiring on the LH
side of the bike so that even though it is mostly hidden by
the tank, when it is on the side stand, it is even more out
of sight. Jury is still out on the grey cable.
It really blends in with the front suspension, but stands
out against the frame. May end up with a partial black
cable.






Now just waiting on the
painted tank and fender.
More to
come............................
Marbles Motors ©2008
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