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Installing A Hardtail At Home

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So we wanted to throw out a cool tech article for the home shop mechanic this month since this is where so much of the scene is coming from today. We decided that there would be no better place to go for a “how to” on hardtailing a Sporty than to the cats at Led Sled Customs. Pat and his crew will be installing one of their two inch hardtail kits for us here. More importantly, they will be doing this to show that you can do it at home without the benefit of a fancy frame jig. By following along as they chop a ‘95 Sportster for a customer, you can learn the tricks of the trade from them. The Led Sled Sporty kit comes complete with an oil tank and battery tray that have been pre-mounted. Additionally it comes with a rear fender, complete mounting brackets, an axle and pre-welded adjusters. The tools you will need to get this job done are a sawzall, hammer and wood block, Tig welder, grinder and deburring tool. Well, of course it would also help to have all the basics and a shop manual to help you rip the thing down and put it back together. So let’s take a look.

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Here we are getting ready to start the job. The stock frame has our mock-up motor still in it and we will use it as our frame jig.

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You don’t have to take your frame down this far but the important thing is to leave the top and front bottom motor mounts on.

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Rather than trying to give exact measurements, we use this method to custom fit the hardtail to each frame.

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Here we set the new hardtail directly beside the stock frame and eye-up a rough idea for placement.

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At this point, we make some lines on the frame with plenty of extra room to cut to a closer dimension the second time just to get the rear of the frame out of the way.

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Starting with the bottom rails, we now begin to cut away the rear of the stock frame. If you are leaving your motor in for this step, you may want to cover anything that could be damaged or is open.

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With the rear of the stock frame detached, we can now slide the hardtail into place and begin to take closer measurements for a more precise cut.

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By comparing the distance between the motor mounts on the frame and on the engine, you can determine the exact location of your next cut. We’re pretty close so we’re gonna move on to the next step.

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With the frame cut to the proper length, we can debur the inside of the frame rails to accept the slugs of the hardtail and drill plug weld holes.

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The plug weld holes are 5/16 holes that you drill into the stock frame that will be filled with weld later. We can now clean the surface of the slugs on the hardtail section and prep them for welding as well.

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Next, we insert the hardtail slugs into the rails. If you have to tap it, we suggest a block of wood to keep from damaging the metal. Once the motor mount seats, we move on.

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Here you can get a good look at the eighth inch gap we have for our weld to fill in and the plug weld hole on the stock frame section. With our motor mount seated and our bolts in the rear mount, we can start to weld it up.

Now, we tack weld the frame into place. Starting with the bottom rails you want to get a good one inch tack weld on both. Then tack weld the top rail with the same one inch weld.

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Here’s what you want your weld to look like. A decent fill on the gap with plenty of penetration on the plug weld. With both top and bottom rails tacked in place, you can now take the motor out and finish the weld.

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With the welds finished, you can send the frame out to be coated or painted and you’re good to go. As you can see, we designed the hardtail kit to look as if the frame was originally built this way when it’s done. The backbone has a nice straight seat rail line and the frame flows great.

The thing that is really cool about doing this kit is that your insurance doesn’t change since your vin numbers are still stock and you don’t have to jump through all the hoops to get new paper. Check more of our parts out online at www.ledsledcustoms.com or call us if you have any other questions.

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