The Teardown

I re-purposed an old laptop as a workstation in my garage which has been quite useful when I need to jump on the web and look up a spec or browse online for a part. In the case with stripping the XL down the laptop served as a jukebox with Foo Fighters cheering me on as my fingers and knuckles bled on wrenches.

For the flat tracker style seat I plan to go with I'm going to have to cut the rear stiffener on the frame and weld a flat piece in. The frame is also going to be shortened a few inches. 

 Removing the steering column is no joke.

Yes, there is a hammer in this image. Yes, I did have to use it. Don't judge.

Another change on this build is going down from the 21 inch front wheel to a 19 inch. This will facilitate a street tracker stance rather than a dirt bike/enduro stance. 

A monkey puzzle that took me a good 30 minutes to solve. The only way I found to remove the airbox is to loosen the mono shock and lift the frame up while prying the airbox out. Seriously Honda?

The wiring harness that so desperately needs attention:

And finally, the motor pulled: