Where to begin...?

Since getting my Motorcycle License in August last year, I have been slowly but surely falling for the simplistic look of Bobber motorcycles. To cut a long story short, I decided to 'build' one.
I am off my standard restrictions on 21st November this year, so have a few months to work on it in my 'spare' time, amongst work (which takes up a lot of weekends), working on my yard/new house etc.

So I went looking for a bike that I could by in good working order and modify my own style, with inspiration from all the awesome bobbers out there. One that wasn't 'too' powerful (if there is such a thing!) and not too expensive - but it had to be reliable.

The resultant donor bike? A 2003 Kawasaki Vulcan 800 Classic:

I know a true 'Bobber' is a bike that has nothing on it that doesn't make it go faster or stop harder, but I really don't want to mess with good working mechanics of the bike - I will stick mostly to aesthetic alterations, and some minor electrical stuff....for now.

I have had a look at a few forums where people have bobbed these bikes, and studied the 'Blue Collar Bobbers' on their website and Youtube - I have also taken a lot of inspiration from the Headbanger Motorcycles' "Hollister", "High Flyin' " and "Summertime". If you haven't seen them, I highly recommend you take a look.

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A lot of decisions are yet to be made, including colour scheme, but think it's best to get the guts of the bike done and all 'mocked up' before deciding on the colour/paintwork required.

So where to begin? I've decided to start with the rear end - the fender and seat came off ASAP and I did some measurements/mocking up for seat and fender sizes. I realised that to keep the shape of the frame the way I want it, the BCB 'Seat Kit' was not the way to go - it was too bulky and takes away from the overall look of the bike. So to do it the way I want it done, I had to replace the stock (Lead Acid) battery with one of these, an 8cell Dry Cell Battery (LiFePO4). I ordered it on a Friday, and received it in Melbourne the following Tuesday morning (from the U.S.A) - awesome.

It kicks harder than my stock battery, and is a third the size.
Not the best photo, but it shows that the Battery and other electrical components will fit in the original battery box, clearing room for my seat and keeping the clean look I'm after.

I will be ordering my Seat and Fender/tail light 'kit' when I get back from overseas in a couple of weeks. For now, it sits in pieces.


-Hayds