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2017 vstar 1300. Bobber build?

5K views 6 replies 6 participants last post by  Keith Post 
#1 ·
So I’m pretty new to the bike scene, street wise anyway. Grew up on dirt bikes. Recently I got a 2017 vstar 1300, it was dropped and needs a bit of work. I want to build a bobber, but have not been able to find any similar builds or info with such a new bike. And any of the “kits” for bobber builds I see are for older model years, and only for the 650s from what I see. I imagine these are not compatible? I’m no mechanic, but short of rebuilding an engine myself, I do my own work of my cars.


but with the bike, the work is mostly fabrication and body work, which I have no experience with. I’m just looking for Some General direction, or if it’s even realistic to take on. If anyone has time to share some insight I would really appreciate it.

Along the lines of what it requires, where to find parts, tips, tricks, etc. Any input is appreciated. I think I need to go after market with the tank anyway, but that is one thing damaged on the bike, and I can’t find a replacement online, is this normal?

I’ll try to attach some photos. Thanks
 

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#2 ·
There are quite a few guys here that have bobbed stuff out. I dont know if you looked for the bobber threads. You might be able to get some ideas. There are a lot of people here that can help you out.
Unfortunately i am not one. Did you buy it damaged? If you could straighten it out you would have a hellava bike. I can't see how much damage is in the front. I can just see tank and bars
 
#3 ·
I’ve searched around in general, can’t say specifically on this forum I guess. I’m sure they are share a similar process, just haven’t found anything as specific as I’d like I guess lol. Bought it damaged for 1k, couldn’t pass on it for the price. as for the front, needs lights, handle bars, new brake cables, and an ignition. Nothing to bad.
 
#4 ·
Welcome to the forum from Atlantic Canada. May I suggest posting in the new members thread so we can all get to know you a little better? Deeks is right, there are quite a few people here who have made their bikes into bobbers and I know they can help out with any questions you might have. As you mentioned, the 650 seems to be the most popular model for it but a 1300 would make a very interesting project. Here's a link to one of the bobber threads that may give you some ideas but there are several others as well. I just searched for bobbers and got a page full of results.

 
#5 ·
I broke out my google-foo and found lots of images of 1300 bobbers but no kit I could find. The seats are easy to source, the bars the same. remove the front fender. The rear mini fender might be harder to find. you might try partzilla to see what other vstar bikes use the same rear fender as the 1300 and then find a kit for that particular bike. i.e if the 1100 and 1300 have the same fender then the kit for the 1100 should be useful for the 1300. The signals are easy to mod or replace do then its mostly pipes I would think. I have seen almost every production bike out there bobber-ed. I had a friend bobber out a 82 Goldwing, it was ugly but fun!

The most important thing is that you dont do anything that would make the bike unsafe for you to ride. Like removing the front brake system, or changing the front rake without checking if it will change your riding characteristics.

This was the beginning of by 650 bobber, the seat only took about an hour to sort out and install. I did the fenders afterwards but changed them back.
91545


Good luck! It may not workout the first try but that's half the fun of doing these things.
 
#6 ·
I would say buy a used tank from ebay, as said the seat is easy, bars are simple, as for back fender when we built choppers back in the 70's and 80's it was break out the hacksaw and grinders. with advent of the dremel that is alot easier. you just draw with a marker the shape you want and figure where it can get support and cut away shaping it as you go. you can also find different front wheels pretty easy on the internet.also any trim parts that were damaged look on ebay to see if you can find a used one or a new part from partzilla.

since the internet everyone looks for a kit.....go back to old school and design a one of a kind bike that is yours
 
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