Honda Shadow 600 VLX Custom Rebuild

So my pet project is my 2001 Honda Shadow 600VLX Deluxe

Here is a full write-up on all that i've done, basics on how i did it and yes, there are pictures!

STOCK (how i bought it)

STOCK (how i bought it)

STOCK (added soft bags)

Shortly after i bought it, i had planned to ride 412 miles from Chicago to Pittsburgh and back again (A trip i ended up making 4x).  And so, knowing that each time i'd be spending about a week or more in Pittsburgh, I knew i wanted to take more than just a backpack.  So I did some searching online for the biggest saddle bags i could find at the best price.            

I settled on these Leather saddle bags with double strap closure and a weather strip under the flap to help prevent rain and dust from getting inside.  They were under $100 and i could fit a ton of stuff inside.  I picked up the saddle bags and a Tourmaster Tailbag with built-in rain cover from Jafrum.com and only spent $100. 

After a while of just basic maintenance, changing tires when they blew, replacing the chain when it needed and of course keeping up on breaks and oil, i started to envision the way i wanted it to look and the shape i wanted it to take-on. 

   

    I had played with the idea of 'do i want to do a batwing, stereo and hard touring bags? Chopper and rake the front? Bobber and make it a hardtail?' I spent hours of course pulling up tons of pictures of other peoples Shadow 600's and kept coming across images of so-called "bobbers" mostly completed using bolt-on kits from a company that calls itself "blue collar bobbers".  Which confuses me, because the term "Blue Collar" means: "of or relating to manual work or workers", and a "Bobber" motorcycle is: " is a post World War II motorcycle typified by modifications in which non-essential body parts are removed, or "bobbed." Chopped fenders and rigid tails are other bobber traits, as are a general lack of chrome, unlike their chopper counterparts." 

In otherwords, the name of their company is an oxymoron by what they offer.  See, pre-made, bolt on parts that at most require you to chop a few small sections of the frame out of the way for the sole reason as to allow the parts to bolt on in the 'proper places' to give it a 'look' is Not what bobbing your bike was all about.  Besides the fact that the point of a bobber is to lessen the weight of the bike as to add performance/speed, But the name "bobber" itself is used because the rear fenders were 'bobbed' (cut short).  If you are buying a small fender and bolting it in place, what have you bobbed? And then couple that incorrect term with the term "blue collar' well yes, things dont bolt themselves, and you may have to spend 10 seconds with a cut-off wheel to cut a few bars on the rear support off, but i mean...can you really consider that some "blue collar manual labor"? A Blue Collar made bobber if you ask me, would be the guy who spent time mapping out what to cut, how to cut and how to fabricate to make it fit the way he envisioned the final bike to look.  Not the guy who bought a kit in a box...a 'build by numbers' system.... But i digress.

    And so, as i came to conclusions on what i wanted to do (and by conclusion i mean as things popped in my head, i ran with it, i didnt really have a concise plan until toward the end, but ill get into that later), i started doing it.  The first thing i absolutely knew were three things...and after i recovered the ripped stock black seat with a white one i moved on to the rest... 

stock grips and mirrors (and the cop that stopped me

The Stock Grips vibrated way too much for as much as i ride cross-country, so i needed new ones, and i wanted to have a lot of 'Spade' elements on the bike.
  And so the first thing i bought were some small spade valve stem caps, and black grips that had spiked ends that i knew when it all came together they'd complete the flow of spade shapes and some custom spade mirrors.  But minutes after ordering those things i realized i might as well switch out the handlebars as well.  I knew i didnt want drag bars, as that wasnt the 'feel' i was going for, and i didnt want sky high apes, and so i went with a nice custom set of 9" z-bars with 3" risers.  I wasnt sure of the final color scheme id do, but i knew i wasnt going for a 'chromed out' look because thats not what makes a bobber, and so, i chose black and had Road6Customs make me a custom pair that were not made for internal wiring like the ones they regularly make.

Custom Z-Bars

The bars arrived first and i put them on.  Of course the first 100 miles or so i was loving the height.  Felt like i was riding with my hands in the clouds, but at around 101 miles i realized "i wouldnt mind going even bigger!" ...But i havent, and i probably will keep them right where theyre at because they really look great!

 Next i put on the new grips!  And i tell you what, for under $50 the comfort level in the padding is 100x better, however due to the fact that my throttle cable was quite old, and caused my throttle to stick and be hard to turn, the glue between the throttle and throttle body comes undone very quickly leaving me to soak the inside of the grip with a ton of super glue which eventually sets, and holds nicely.  The other good thing about the grips being comfortable AND cheap, is when i got hit by a car, head on, not only did the spiked ends on the grips protect the handlebars from getting damaged (that's the reason behind the spiked grip tips), but also due to the grips splitting from impact on the ground, they were easy and cheap to replace!  

road rash from the crash

(Side note about that accident:  The guy tried to turn in in front of me and didnt use a turn signal and hit me head on.  It ended up breaking the left grip, bending the right upper fork tube and snapping the left footpeg/shifter/frame.  I took it down to Norms Cycle Shop where they worked their welding magic and i was up and running in a couple days).

Last to put on (sadly the day of the accident) were the custom Spade mirrors, which survived the accident but got banged and scraped up and are on my list to have remade. 

   The size of the mirror takes a few days to get used to, but you CAN see a lot, just not as much as those ugly giant squares that Honda gives you.

The next thing i did was get rid of those ugly turn signals because, lets be real, they're not needed.  I know when im turning and i make sure i let others know...one way or the other!

 
Then i knew i wanted some LED's and since i couldnt figure out a perfect color scheme yet, and at the time had figured I'd eventually settle on keeping it black and white since i had already added a white seat (big mistake by the way, especially being a non-garage kept bike), i decided to go with all white lights.  I got a $160 kit for $20 (perks of being a favored regular at a local bike shop).  It consisted of 2 strips of 14 leds,

Bottom stock - Top Extended 6"

    Next i decided that being 6'3" that even though the Shadow has "forward" style controls already, they could be better.  So i added 6" fwd controls making it a much better ride and look.

Next thing i did was i decided on a bullet fairing.  They dont make them for this bike so i had to get a Harley Sportster fairing and modify it to fit on the Shadow giving it that 'club bike' look (which suits me seeing that i am in a club).

When it comes to any type of wind blocking its not good for that, it actually throws the wind right at my face now, but it looks good, so such is life!

    Time went by where i just did basic maintenance and enjoyed riding till my rear tire got a nail and i decided to get a white wall replacement.



I just did the rear because the front was practically brand new, so no need to replace the front with a white wall and waste a tire (yes yes i know, i could just keep the regular one as a back-up but i figured id just wait). 

Next thing i needed to do was clean the carbs.  The bike had started to bog down a bit and it seemed like carbs were the issue.
So about 11pm i pulled into my shop, threw on Spades Radio and got to work.
Im not going to go thru all the steps of cleaning carbs but lets just say, the screws are a pain if theyre as old as mine were. So they were stripped, but the Speed Out screw set works wonders and i just replaced them with OEM screws i ordered.

 
Right about the same time i decided to do a complete electronics overhaul.  Whoever had the bike before me had wired the headlight directly to the fuse box.  When i plugged it into the harness it wouldnt work, then after getting into the bike more i realized the cut the harness that goes to the headlight.  So i re-wired it, and still didnt work. And so, i said screw it, time to replace the whole electrics system.  So in front of my house one day, i ripped out the whole wiring harness, took off the rectifier and took out the stator and replaced them all.

 The harness was easy, the rectifier was a piece of cake, the stator cover however... Took 3 hrs to get off due to a stripped screw.

But as the sun set, i turned my LEDs on to offer more light (shouldve done it at the shop...

 lesson learned!).

I eventually got the cover off, and everything hooked back up.

Then winter set in, and i was having some kind of compression issue.  I didnt have time to work on it myself and decided id just run it down to Honda House and have them fix it and itd be done.  Because as much as i love working on bikes, sometimes i just want to have it done and go riding.
Well, that moment of laziness proved a horrible decision.  I told them it was an issue where there wasnt proper compression.  They tried saying it was the carbs needing cleaned, and having done that, i told them they were wrong... So my bike sat down there for 4 months.  I finally tell them screw it, ill just come tow it back since it hadnt been running properly, and fix it myself because now the weather is breaking and the Blessing Of The Bikes is nearing and my goal was to completely redo the bike and paint it all in time for the Blessing over winter.
So i get my bike, run a couple tests and find out the rear towers not heating up, so its not getting a spark.  I check the plugs, theyre fine, i check the wires, Nothing.  So i look at the solenoid and the connector isnt connected good...its loose.  So i connect it properly and bam...issue resolved.  And i cant wait to go back to Honda House and tell them what the issue was that they couldnt figure out in 4 months.
    So now the bikes running, and ready for me to rebuild and chop and bob it...but in order to have it done by the Blessing of the Bikes, i have 1 week.  And in that week, due to caring for my war injured grandpap, i only have a couple hours a day i can ACTUALLY work on the bike.

And this is where the 21 hour build began...

First Tank Concept

First i had to solidify a compete concept and color scheme.  So i jumped on photoshop and started drafting ideas.

I thought about doing the classic black and white bike with red rims. But quickly decided to go with a color scheme that matches my shop logo.

Tank Idea

Tank Idea

Tank Idea

I picked the perfect orange, and decided on how i wanted to do the spades on the tank.
Then i went further and drafted the whole bike out. I knew that if i was going to build this bike in 7 days aka 21hrs (after all the parts arrived) id need a clear and concise idea and a plan...

So i got to work doing all i could digitally before doing it physically.

Final Draft

 Now that i had that done, and all the parts i needed were ordered, i just had to wait till they all came in.
 

 The first parts to arrive was the Orange chain and front and rear sprockets. (and ill explain more about that later)

I cant remember all the parts in the order they came in, but lets just jump to the day before i started the rebuild... when it was time to go buy supplies.

The supplies i needed included:

• hi-temp Paint
• Primer (self etching and filler)
• sand paper (80grt-8000grt)
• degreaser
• breather mask
• aircraft stripper
• clear coat
• protective gloves
• painters tape
• wire brushes
• plastic containers (for cleaning liquids)
• chain breaker
• rubber sanding block

Most Of The Supplies (via snapchat)

I picked up the paints at Advance Auto and everything else at Harbor Freight.

Day 1: Tank Prep (3hrs)

The first day it was time to strip the tank and prime it.  The tank had a few scratches that had looked like they started to rust a bit (someone took a knife to it a few yrs back and i had slacked on painting it). 

Scratches in original paint

The other think that really sucks about how a lot of bikes are made, is the decals are under the clear coat.  Meaning no matter the condition of your bike when you go to paint it, if you dont want that ugly outline of the decal showing under your new paint job, you have to take it down to the bare metal.

So i threw on my vapor breather mask, and got to work spreading the paint thinner on the tank after masking off the gas cap hole and taping off the gas lines underneath.

It works quick...and thats good because even with the breather on, i was still feeling like a hippy at woodstock!

The thinner took about 15min to penetrate the paint and start to give me enough to work with. I scrapped off the paint with a scraper and kept adding more thinner to places that needed it.  Making sure to not leave it sit on the bare metal too long because this stuff WILL eat thru the tank, and then you're screwed.

  What i didnt realize though, was just how bad the rust was under those scratches.

Rust under the paint

So i thought about it, should i grab my palm sander?  Heck no!  A 21hr build should be done the ol'skool way, so i grabbed some 80 grit paper and used some old fashioned elbow grease.  And to even my surprise... it turned out rad!

And just for fun, i tossed it in place on the bike and snapped a few pics.

 

So after that i cleaned it well with degreaser, making sure there wasnt any residue of stripper on it (its never good to have left over stripper :p )
And it was time to put on the filler primer.

1st Coat

1st Coat

 Im not going to explain how to paint, but ill tell you, if you got that 'michael j fox' problem, then you may want to leave the painting up to professionals.

I did 3 coats of primer with 10min between each coat.

2nd Coat

2nd Coat

3rd Coat

3rd Coat

After the 3 coats were applied and dried, It was getting late and so i put everything away and placed the tank inside the house in a medium temperature room...not too cold, not too hot and with a lot of air circulation.

Day 2: Tank Paint (3hrs)

 So it was time to paint the base coat on the tank.  Being that i was making the sides orange and that is a smaller section than the black, i had to do the black first.  As usual i did 3 coats of base color, with 10min between each coat.

1st Coat

1st Coat

2nd Coat

2nd Coat

3rd Coat

3rd Coat

 After letting it fully dry, it was time to do the orange tear drop sides.  So i jumped on photoshop making a stencil.  Layed it out on painters tape, making sure the edges over lapped the edge of the design and then cut the paper off about a 1/2" past the tape leaving the actual edging if the design as tape. (if it sounds difficult, it is, and you should just have me do it for you).

 
The edges turned out great.  The hardest part was making sure to tape it in a way that when it was time to pull it off (while the last coat is still wet as to be sure the paint doesnt bond to the tape and cause it to pull, meaning the edges wouldnt be crisp.  And while i was adding a pinstripe to the edge anyway, i still wanted it to be as crisp as possible.
And so, i applied 3 coats of orange (are we seeing a standard pattern? Yes, 3 coats is typically a good rule of thumb.

2nd Coat

1st Coat

the center section that showed weird cracking in the 2nd Coat

 I got that weird cracking and while i couldve just added a couple more coats, letting it build up and cover smoothly, i got impatient and did slower sprays... and what happens when you spary too slow?

1st time i ever got runs painting

Yep i got runs.  I had never gotten a run in my paint....EVER!  So while i was mad at myself for rushing, i also was looking toward the challenge i had never had to overcome...fixing runs in paint!
So i grabbed some 1000 grit paper, a bowl of water, and wet sanded it using a X (cross) pattern...Trust me, it works better than back and forth or up and down.

wet sanded

After it was dry (which only took minutes because it was in the hot sun), i added 3 coats.  The first 2 being light just to bring that area back to the level the rest was at, and the last to even the whole thing out at 3.
  The result?

Results

the edges werent as perfect as id have liked because since i was helping care for my grandfather

Results

I had to take longer than i had wanted to pull the tape while it was still wet, but again, i had my safety net because of the pinstripe i had planned on lining it with.

Masked Off

1st Coat

 








Now it was time to repeat the process on the other side.  The side i knew not to rush and thus could avoid runs!

3rd Coat

Final Result

Final Result

Final Result

I was quite happy with the way it turned out and was now ready to clear clear coat it.

   I didnt take pictures of the clear coating process because a picture really would do no justice in showing the progression.

However, what i did in between clear coating (10min between each coat) was work on the rear fender.

Day 3: Rear Fender (4hrs)

Referencing the rear fender i had done in the draft image, i had 2 options.  I could cut the end (where the plate is) off leaving a perfect fit when it comes to scooping under the seat.  However that would cause there to be a big gap between the tire and fender.  I knew i was cutting some of the sub frame, but i was leaving enough of the brace to support a passenger.  My other option was to cut the front (where the seat is) off and shorten the fender that way which will leave the nice curved end and make less work when it comes to the edging...However to do this meant id have to drill new bracket holes, cut a section out to fit under the seat and while the gap would still remain between the tire and the fender itd be an angled fender giving it a little bit more personality. 

   And so, i went with the latter of the two.

Protecting the vance and hines pipes, and with the wheel still off i began the process of measuring and taping and cutting and fitting.

 After i got that all right i placed it to make sure it fit right and then proceeded to paint.

 

 

Three coats of filler primer and i was ready to paint it.

Since i was doing the same idea as the tank, with black as the primary and orange on the sides, i started with a base coat of black.

 And then when it dried i taped it off, and did three coats of orange on each side.

Now that that was done, it was time to Clear Coat it...

And while all that was drying between coats, i painted the side covers black and cleared them (but i forgot to take pictures of it.)

Day 4: Rims (3hrs)

I originally was going to powder coat the rims black and the spokes orange, but before doing that since my front rim wasnt perfect condition i wouldve needed to buy a new rim.  Well, being on a time crunch, i decided to just paint the rims and use this awesome product i came across called SPOKE COATS. 

    So i cleaned the rims with degreaser (and ill tell you, theyve never shined so well), let them dry and then prepped them for painting.

    I wasnt removing the tires, so i used 4x6 index cards, sticking them between the tire and rim to prevent overspray from getting on the tire.  And i used newspaper and painters tape to mask off things like the axel hole, the rotor and tire stems.

FRONT RIM

  

 

BACK RIM

Painted the hub as well

Finished

SPOKES

So i watched the video for the install on the spoke coats, and it seemed very easy... Just start at the bottom, slide it up and youre done.  If by chance where the spokes cross are too close together, just loosen the spoke one at a time and slide the coat on and re-tighten.  Well, i found out that because theyre made to fit PERFECTLY, after i had painted the rim, and didnt worry about NOT painting the spokes, the paint added a layer that made it harder to slide the coats and also made the spokes a bit thicker, meaning not a perfect fit for the coats anymore.  That is my fault, not the fault of the coats, but definitely something to keep in mind.

   The other disappointing situation was that EVERY spoke of mine crossd too close together, and so instead of taking time to undo every single spoke one at a time , i used a hammer to gently pry them apart and slide the coats on.

  Its not a perfect job, but pretty decent and again its no ones fault but my own.

I do suggest these coats to you though, theyre nice quality, they do look great and the service is wonderful, as i miscounted and when i realized, he sent the ones i needed and didnt even charge me for them (i did pay a couple bucks for shipping though).

But these are for sure a great way to go if you dont want to spend the money on powder coating or buying colored rims, spokes and then truing and all that.

The last thing to do was add some HIGHLY reflective rim tape.  I originally wanted to use Tire Penz glow products, but their customer service was horrible as i contacted 4 of their reps and none of them offered what their website said they did, and it took them days to even get back to me. I had to email, call and facebook them for a few days straight just to get a reply.

So i went with a different product that in my opinion, looks and works just as well!

 

Flash on, you can see the glow

Day 5: Air Intake, Side Plate, Grips (3hrs)

Almost done, its now friday and im feeling like im on the final stretch.  Not much to do now, and tomorrow is Saturday, the day i have the whole day to finish the bike because Saturdays i dont need to care for my Grandpap.

So friday i dive in to some little details.

First i painted the side plate.

Didnt need to do 3 coats, but i did.  It was chrome, so first i did 3 coats of etching primer to make sure the paint would bond to it.  Did a quick sanding of it and then hit it with the paint.

Now that that was done, i moved on to removing and installing the new air intake.

I had to first remove the old air box, and then pull out the plastic air box that sits ontop of the engine.

After doing that, i realized that the wires hung down and looked bad with the opening there, so i zip tied the wires up and out of the way.  And while doing that, i decided to bypass the fuel petcock and remove that whole system as well on the left side.

I then realized that now the top of the carb would be visible whereas before, with the old intake, it wasnt.  And so that left me with another part to paint. 

 And so, a few coats of primer and paint after cleaning it good and it was done.

 

 

And it was on to the grips.  I knew the spike tips came off, i learned that after the accident, and so, i grabbed an allen key, and removed them and then hit them with primer and paint.

 

Day 6: Chain & Sprockets (aka Doomsday) (5hrs)

Saturday came, and i was ready to reassemble the bike, install the front and rear sprockets and the chain.

Shouldve been simple and easy...

   Should've been....But wasnt.

I learned a valuable lesson for sure... 

The chain i ordered was a 525.  It arrived about 2 weeks prior to this day, and i looked at it, but didnt inspect it to make sure it was correct.

That mistake cost me.  The chain was incorrect...it was a 520.

I installed the sprockets first, not realizing the chain was incorrect.

Then i went to install the chain and it didnt fit.  By now it was around 530pm and while normally in this situation, being that i needed the bike running and ready for the next day, i would've reinstalled the old chain just to get it going.  But the old chain (which was stretched to its limit) had given me problems removing it, and i ended up cutting it to get it off.  I cut 5 links worth off., and so i knew this was going to be a problem.  

   I immediately started calling bike shops in search of a chain.  Well, on a saturday, at 530pm in Pittsburgh, almost all the shops were closed, and those that were open didnt carry a 525 chain in stock, and they also didnt have any master links for me to make due with the chain i had.

I called my buddy Dish who's also in my club and he came through.  He worked on getting the chain to fit and we couldnt.  We needed master links at the very least.  So i called Home Depot, and they said they had them... We hopped in the minivan, and drove to the store.  We get there and they didnt have master links, that had chain clips. Doing everything i can to not tell the associate exactly what i think about him, we leave, and im ready to cancel the plans for the Blessing of the Bikes.

  Dish tells me hes going to make some calls and see if he can figure something out.

I go to bed, disappointed and pissed off. and get a call at 12am from Dish saying he posted on facebook and someone responded saying they may have what we need.  Dish says "If the guy has it, you better be ready in the morning, because i gotta go meet him at 7am in the cold, and ill be bringing it to you."  I say "ok, let me know" and i fall back asleep.  Still not very hopeful.

    3am, my phone rings, its Dish.  I answer and he says "I told you i always come through...im meeting the guy at 7am, be ready!"

   And so, 7am, im up, finishing the details on the bike that i had given up on..like the pinstripes on the tank, rear fender and adding the spade to the tank.

 The spade i added i custom made...both the spades in the picture on the left and the right are exactly the same.

Yea...Dont ask, just admire!

So Dish shows up, and the chains he got still, didnt work, so he makes a call, its like 8am, and his boy about 30min away says he can rig anything.  So, back in the minivan we go, off to his house.

He fabricates some modifcations making the masterlinks we had work, and we figure out we have to use my old chain.  But to make the master link work, we need to cut 2 links off the piece we have.  And we already reconnected the 5 links i had cut before.  So, were hesitant wondering if the chain will be long enough...but we cut it, because its our only option.

We drive back to my place, and Praise God, the chain is JUST long enough to work. 

Its not the Orange chain i wanted, and it sounds like hell grinding as it goes, but it'll get me to the Blessing of the Bikes and home.

I dont have time to buff and wax the bike, but who cares....its done. And it only took 21hrs.

I had emailed and complained thoroughly to the chain company.  Come to find out, the manufacturer of the chain had messed up a bunch of chains.  The box the chain was in said 525 but the chain was a 520.  They apologized, and sent out the correct chain, with a handwritten note stating that the chain was stamped 525 AND 520 that they just sent me, but they tested it and it is a 525 and they will be taking up the concerns with their manufacturer.

And so a few days after the Blessing of the bikes, I was able to add the chain, to complete the look.

AND THATS HOW I REBUILT MY 2001 HONDA SHADOW 600 VLX

Still to be done is wax and buff, paint the engine, custom springer seat and painting the bullet fairing either orange and black, or just a fresh coat of black.

Thanks For Reading,

CLUTCH

Heres an extra quick video during my compression testing

Posted in: blog entry, bobber, custom, honda, motorcycle, rebuilds, shadow, vlx