Boxer Bobber

[4444Design]

Lookin at all these rides on the forum i also wanted to share some pics of my built-up!

Actually it is not a running project but already finalized last year.

I'm working in China and had to leave my bike back in Europe when i moved here 3 years ago.

Some socalled "Chang Jiang" vintage Boxer-Engine bikes called CHANG JIANG or CJ 750 are famous here in China. They where produced based on pre-war BMW-drawings which have been sold by the russians to China during the "Cold War" ...

Usually these bikes have been used only with a sidecar by the chinese Army.

This is how they look like when in use by the army:



I liked the vintage look of these rides and wanted one for my own as well. Meanwhile i own 3 of them - 1 as a sidecar - 2 in Solo config.

Starting with a "usual" sidecar i wanted MY customized ride standing out from all the other restored Changs driving around here in Beijing.

After some planning i started to gather parts in Europe and the US and bring them in to China ...

This is is where i started:





a "real" frame up chop starting from a pile of parts

after some back and fourth and some mock ups the final design was "frozen":






HD aftermarket footboards, new headlight, new seat with seatsprings, license-plate bracket with FORD A taillight imported from US, small turn-indicators, lowered fenders to underline the vintage look of the ride

after sandblasting the whole stuff i started the assembly:

[4444Design]

almost done - just a few things to do ...







The MIKUNI's are much better than the standard carbs - lower fuel and not always dripping' like the oldstyle chinese carbs



First testride



And the final result:






And here together with my other customized red Chang




The next mod i planned was a 16" HD rim on the back - the 19inch tyre on the tail seemed too skinny!

to get working spokes for the combo of Harley rim and chang brakedrum i had to get the whole stuff back to Germany for tailor-made spokes
here is the setup after i got the whole thing spoked



The next challenge was to squeeze a fatter tyre into the frame coz of the limited space due to the propshaft ...

[4444Design]

finally i got all stuff together to assy that 16 inch wheel for my prop-shaft driven beemer repop ...

it took a while until i got all the necessary parts to china but it's almost done






i blocked the workshop for the whole next saturday and at least i managed to get that fat baby on my black ride!

just squeezed the wheel in without airpressure to see how it fits!

off course the prop-shaft is in the way and with the wider tyre also not enough space under the fender ...

so i need to consider how to mod the fender and fix that wheel to pass the propshaft ...

anyway! so far i'm happy with the result and was worth the hassle to bring all the stuff here to china!







the "dry run" worked out well and after some trial and error i even managed to keep the old fender

[4444Design]

OK!

That's how the ride finally looks like:



ain't that a sexy ass?

sideshot ...



and that's the little black boxer bobber in action:




for the final stage i was not sure what to do with the frontwheel: keep the 19inch rim or also get a fat rubber on!

took some time but now the front 16 inch Harley rim is at the powder coater and hopefully will be ready to go on my bike within two weeks!

Off course the front fender has to go - not sure what kind of replacement i will get ...

Keep you updated!

Thomas

[BeeDub]

Pretty sweet set of rides you got there. I love the fishtales on the red one.

[4444design]

Since the weekend i'm riding "fat" also on the front ...

after bringing another 16 inch rim + tailor-made spokes-set from Germany and after receiving the 2nd tire from the US i did it!

the fender had to go but BJ (Beijing China) usually is a dry area with low rainfall during the year so driving without fender won't be a problem

also the tailormade framebag is attached to the ride and comes out nicely ...