Chassis and Tank

In the 1970s motorcycle designers became more and more spirited and the familiar lines and appearance of two-wheelers were radically remodeled. Daring tank and seat combinations, mostly realized in fiber glass, soon freshened the bike scene and some ideas were even picked up by large manufacturers. The Beefy Body derives from a design by the legendary Californian company Tracy, which was an industry leader in this field back then. Gas tank, seat, side panels and rear fender form a single unit and completely transform the bike. Just add a fancy paint job and your scoot will stand out in the crowd, guaranteed. The whole body is made from fiber glass covered with a VE Flex gelcoat, which provides a smooth and clean surface for painting. The original fender struts can be omitted and the Beefy Body bolts directly to the frame. A seat base plate for building your own custom seat comes with it.

Leaving the road on your Sporty you risk the underbody of your bike being rock blasted by nasty gravel particles. There are ruts and potholes just waiting to scrape your frame. Fallen tree branches, beetles, manure – many dangers for the nether parts of your bike are lurking out there. Good for the motorcyclist who can defy them with the BATES Skid Plate for Sportsters. Easy to install, this beauty protects frame and engine from encounters of the unexpected kind. If you see a certain similarity between this skid plate and the LeBeef skid plate we can tell you: they are not only similar, they’re virtually identical and are designed to the same level of toughness, but they’re made of lightweight aluminium. LeBeef keeps supplying us with his handmade steel skid plates; by agreement with LeBeef we source the aluminium version where it is being made to our high quality standards to earn the right to bear the BATES name.
For adventurous Sportster riders who keep an eye on the weight of things (usually that of their bike), this skid plate could be a welcome alternative. Friends of steely stuff will continue to find the original version from Sweden in our catalog.

Sometimes it's the little things in life that make the difference. Like this inconspicuous T-nut by Bates.
If you want to mount a sissy bar on Big Twin rigid frames 1936-1957, this is usually done at the mounting holes for the fender braces, which are located on the axle plates. The original mounting bolts are pushed through the axle plate from behind and secured from the front with a fairly large nut (wrench size: 5/8"). The problem is on the one hand, due to lack of space and mounting bolt length, the complete rear wheel as well as the brake base plate must be removed and on the other hand that the nut mounted from the outside leaves a rather bulky impression.
Bates T-nuts can be placed into the axle plate without removing the rear wheel and brake base plate. Additionally they are threaded, so the sissy bar can be mounted with a fairly plain 5/16“-24 screw. This gives the Harley-Davidson Chopper a much cleaner look. Two flats allow you to hold on to the T-nut with a 9/16“ open-end-wrench during installation.

These studs come in handy when installing footpegs or footpeg mounts in limited space. Can be cut to length as needed.

This 8-piece tab assortment is just what the doctor ordered when mounting custom gas tanks. The pre-cut, weld-on parts will save you lots of time that you can spend for a little ride-out with your new scoot. All tabs are made from 1/8" mild steel.