What’s what

Today is the day I’m gonna give you a close and detailed tour of my 2000 Yamaha 1100 Drag Star Classic or V-Star, for the Americans. For those of you who know the stock model, you can see it doesn’t look anything like it anymore. Those of you who have been following my channel, have probably watched the three videos that document the conversion from the stock, all the way to the current bobber look. I had been looking to get a bike on which I could work on a little, and I’ve always liked choppers. So I decided to stay with the Japanese ones, because I then already owned a Yamaha FZ6 N. They are easy to work on and super reliable. Let’s start with the beginning: I bought this bike in July 2014 from its second owner and it had always been well looked after. It only had around 24’000 km on the clock when I got. And since then, I have put a massive, wait for it, 3’000 km on it. Mostly because I spend the first summer converting it to a bobber, and then in 2015 I spend a good time of the summer abroad.

Tour around the bike

Anyway, as you can see, it is now a one seater only motorcycle. While it has stayed completely stock regarding the technical components (yes, even the exhaust pipes…), I changed the seat, both fenders, the handle bar, the handle grips, the rear lights and the turn signals. Oh and yes, I had it resprayed from its original black to this pearl red. A lot of people who do a bobber conversion take off one of the front disk brakes, to make it look even more vintage, but that’s not me – I want solid brakes. Besides, there is no way I would be able to register the bike like that here in Switzerland.

Handle bar

The handle bar is a pretty short drag style bar made by “Highway Hawk”. I also had to install the corresponding risers in order for the handle bar to be high enough and not to touch the fuel tank when turning. I got them at Cycle-Tech.ch, which is where I also got the new handle grips. Those are “Highway Hawk” as well. The rest of the instruments, switches and mirrors are all stock.

Front indicators

The original front indicators were massive lollipop style ones. I got the new bullet style ones, as well as most of the bobber conversion parts, from Blue Collar Bobbers in Utah, USA. They make outstanding complete conversion kits for Japanese motorcycles. Although these indicators have the same shape as the ones that came from Blue Collar Bobbers, they are actually different ones, because they have to meet the European regulations. So what I essentially wanted from Blue Collar Bobbers, was the steel mounting bracket, but I couldn’t get it separately, so I had to buy the indicators as well.

Front fender

The front fender is an all-aluminum part. It came primed with the black powder coated steel mounting brackets. Hence, all I had to do, is to get it painted. Many bobber conversions skip the front fender altogether, but I prefer having one. To me, it just looks more balanced with it.

Seat & seat pan

Now let’s go over and have a look at the seat and the seat pan. They too are from Blue Collar Bobbers and come as a set. You can get it in different sizes and leathers. I got the 11” spring seat kit with the tarnished brown black pleats. Although it looks very basic, it is actually very comfortable, even on longer rides of over two hours. Fitting the seat pan is the part of the conversion where you have to be the most accurate and careful, because you have to saw the rear part of the frame off. And once it’s off, it’s gone forever, so pay attention to it and cut straight. Once that’s done it’s pretty much just a bold on procedure.

Rear lights & indicators

Moving on to the rear lights. I got these on Amazon.com. These are the ShinYo Colorado LED lights and match the front ShinYo Bullet indicators. I just love the steel housing. Because they are LED, you either have to change the corresponding relay or just integrate some resistance into the system, in order not to get the LED lights burnt out – Evidently, they need far less energy than the original light bulbs. The cool thing about the Colorado is that it’s an all in one package: tail and brake light in the outer circle, yellow indicator light in the center. It doesn’t show that good in the video, but the indicator light actually is yellow.

License plate bracket

Let’s get a quick look at the license plate bracket. This is actually the one and only part I made myself. I was looking at a couple of license plate brackets online, but I found them to be really overpriced, especially if you want one that fits Swiss plates. So I figured, why not make one myself? How hard can it be? And it really wasn’t that hard; an LED light, some metal plates I bended and cut, a prefabricated frame, some paint and voilà. It does look self-made, but that’s what it’s supposed to, isn’t it?!

Rear fender

Just like the front fender, the rear one is from Blue Collar Bobbers. Contrary to the stock one that was bolted on the part of the frame that has now been sawn off, this new bobber style one is entirely bolted to the swing arm. In the rear, it’s bolted to existing holes on either side, so there is really nothing that can go wrong there. It is a pretty straightforward process, just be sure to use a cloth or something similar, and wrap it around the various parts as you are tightening the bolts – just so you don’t scratch anything. In any case, I strongly recommend to bolt it on once before getting the fender painted. This way if you do scratch it, you’ll know how to handle it once it is painted. To attach it to the front part of the swing arm, you get a custom metal plate, which you put around the swing arm and on which you then bolt the fender.

Engine & oil filler cap replacement

Although I didn’t change anything on the mechanical side, I still want to give you a look of the engine. It’s got 1100 cm³ unit, obviously, 62 hp and a five speed gearbox, which transmits the power to the rear wheel via a cardan-shaft; a comfortable, reliable and really maintenance friendly concept. The only thing I changed here is the oil filler cap. I removed the plastic one and put this RR metal one with integrated temperature gage. Obviously, I can’t see it while riding. I just think it looks good on it. And if you ask me, replacing some dull plastic parts with shiny metal ones is always a good choice.

Exhaust and fuel tank

Now, moving over to the exhaust. This is where I usually get nice comments for the looks, but surprised looks for the sound of it. Yes, I mentioned before, it’s stock as well. Hence, you can barely here any noise. But at least it’s got exhaust wrap on it. J I might change the exhaust eventually, but I haven’t yet found a legal one that looks and sounds nice. You might have noticed the decals on the tank – I made them myself out of some film you’d usually use to decorate your windows at home. It’s not entirely waterproof, but then I only ride it on dry weather.

Click on the following YouTube video if you want to see it in action: