-Some Background-
I should introduce myself - I have been a member on this forum since last summer when I purchased a 1986 Rebel 250 as a project. I have been a lurker since then, being on here about every day to keep up on various member projects and absorbing as much information as I can.
This is my bike-
![Image]()
I bought it from a guy who had already started bobbing it- he had removed the air box, cut the stock rear fender, had a set of bullet signal lights, etc. He ran out of time and I was able to pick it up pretty cheap with a clean title. It had sat for almost a year when I came along so I continue to fight carb issues with it, but it does run.
I had some time off around Christmas & New Year's so I was finally able to spend some time on the bike. I work in a small company's engineering dept. so I have access to the prototype shop which is a huge help.
-The Build-
I wanted to hardtail it, but I wanted to do a bolt-on in order to leave the main frame as "stock" as possible for someone in the future to return it to a standard suspension if they want. After some research I decided to purchase a Honda VLX 600 swing arm since the tire dimensions and mounting system are similar.
![Image]()
I figured that I could use it with a minimum of modification and make it work as a bolt on... not the case. For the record it flairs to the RH side only, but I didn't really catch on until after I had spent a bit of time cutting and rewelding trying to get it to the same width between the swing arm pivot as the stock arms. Here is a picture of the VLX swing arms in transit-
![Image]()
Once I realized that it wouldn't work (disappointing is an understatement), I needed to figure out a way to make a tubing bender (cheap) but one that wouldn't crimp the DOM tube I now needed to buy.
I dug around and found some scrap metal from a prototype part we had built last year and it was just enough to turn down into a 3" radius main die for the Rebel's approx. 1.0" DOM tube. The bender I ended up with is not fancy, and the 1.0" x .120" wall DOM tube is easy enough to bend that I can mount the bender in a vise on one of the weld tables at work, which simplified things a lot.
![Image]()
Another view, this one from the front, showing the tube retainer strap.
![Image]()
I bent the lower frame tubes first. Here is the RH side clamped to the stock swing arm showing how it will hopefully look.
![Image]()
I want to extend the rear-end about 4" but keep the standard ride height, so the jig is set up for that. I initially wanted to totally create my own axle mounts and everything, but realized that I would need a much more accurate jig assembly to do that. To be honest I don't have time or focus to do that, so I am going with the new swing arm based off of the stock one. The plan is to use the stock pivot end and the axle mount ends and remove the rest once all the tubing is complete. More to come.
I should introduce myself - I have been a member on this forum since last summer when I purchased a 1986 Rebel 250 as a project. I have been a lurker since then, being on here about every day to keep up on various member projects and absorbing as much information as I can.
This is my bike-
I bought it from a guy who had already started bobbing it- he had removed the air box, cut the stock rear fender, had a set of bullet signal lights, etc. He ran out of time and I was able to pick it up pretty cheap with a clean title. It had sat for almost a year when I came along so I continue to fight carb issues with it, but it does run.
I had some time off around Christmas & New Year's so I was finally able to spend some time on the bike. I work in a small company's engineering dept. so I have access to the prototype shop which is a huge help.
-The Build-
I wanted to hardtail it, but I wanted to do a bolt-on in order to leave the main frame as "stock" as possible for someone in the future to return it to a standard suspension if they want. After some research I decided to purchase a Honda VLX 600 swing arm since the tire dimensions and mounting system are similar.
I figured that I could use it with a minimum of modification and make it work as a bolt on... not the case. For the record it flairs to the RH side only, but I didn't really catch on until after I had spent a bit of time cutting and rewelding trying to get it to the same width between the swing arm pivot as the stock arms. Here is a picture of the VLX swing arms in transit-
Once I realized that it wouldn't work (disappointing is an understatement), I needed to figure out a way to make a tubing bender (cheap) but one that wouldn't crimp the DOM tube I now needed to buy.
I dug around and found some scrap metal from a prototype part we had built last year and it was just enough to turn down into a 3" radius main die for the Rebel's approx. 1.0" DOM tube. The bender I ended up with is not fancy, and the 1.0" x .120" wall DOM tube is easy enough to bend that I can mount the bender in a vise on one of the weld tables at work, which simplified things a lot.
Another view, this one from the front, showing the tube retainer strap.
I bent the lower frame tubes first. Here is the RH side clamped to the stock swing arm showing how it will hopefully look.
I want to extend the rear-end about 4" but keep the standard ride height, so the jig is set up for that. I initially wanted to totally create my own axle mounts and everything, but realized that I would need a much more accurate jig assembly to do that. To be honest I don't have time or focus to do that, so I am going with the new swing arm based off of the stock one. The plan is to use the stock pivot end and the axle mount ends and remove the rest once all the tubing is complete. More to come.
