Friday 28 September 2012

Friday Feeling

Completed the second side this morning.





I think its quite a neat solution, and will defo use this method again.

I dont know if you can see from this picture, but the brake side was sloping downwards...



with plenty of heat I got it standing to attention as it should be!




I then sat on the bike for a good hour. I made bike noises, prtended to be a bad ass - drank a huge cup of coffee, I didn't want to get off. Pegs have a bit of flex, but are fine, had my full weight on them no bother (17+ stone) so should be good to run.

so, all major fabrication done, just little bits and bobs left to weld on....




had to sit back and have a look for a while longer....


oh, and paint these up!




Thursday 27 September 2012

Good times!

Well today has been a great day. I honestly think I broke the back of it today, and feel that all the big things have now been tackled.

It was a good omen when I got outside and the morning sun was streaming down the side of the house...



Chris told me he hated the original rubber mounts for the bars, and with the big high bars, they would just make it worse, so I cracked on with turning up some new ones....



I didn't spend too much time tidying the bottoms, and need some new tips to clean the top surface, but they'll work nicely!



Just awaiting new nuts to arrive for the bottoms now...



next up - rear mudguard.

Ive been avoiding doing this - no idea why - probably cos I havent done it before, but it was time to get it done!

Got one of the laser cut tabs in the vice, and cracked the oxy acetylene-kit out for some fun!



heres a before and after kinda shot....



Man - I Love my Oxy-Acetylene kit!

pushed the wheel right up against the back of the sliders, and put the parts in place.



cleaned the paint off, and welded it in place.



I now know its not quite straight as the bike was leaned to the side slightly - but I'm not gonna loose any sleep over it!

Then used top mounts to sort the top of it out. I would be lying that it didn't take me ages to sort this out. I guess it would be much easier to do with 2 of you there, rather than trying to stuff things behind the tyre and hold the sissy bar forward, and TIG weld...





Happy boy!

I had to move the P-Pad further up the muddy, as it was closer to the seat than I was comfortable with.

With the oxy Acetylene torch still out I bent the Z into the rear brake arm...





Well that was all I was planning for the day - but as this was just past midday, thought I had better crack on some more. The final job I had been avoiding was the foot controls. A real pain as it was all getting a bit tight with the exhaust / engine and the kick pedal.

I took a few pics and consulted with the great guru Toddy (this was the second call of the day to him, as i bugged him about the muddy mounts)..



we dicussed a few options, but agreed that using a strong piece of angle iron I could weld some nuts to the back, and then weld onto the frame, while drilling the nuts into the frame rails. This was the best option as it needed to be right over the join for the hardtail - this way there was more strength being put into the frame.



I didnt take too many pics, but here it is all tacked on. When its all together and I strip the frame i'll seam weld around the box section, and probably trim the bottom somewhat...







the moment of truth - will the pipes fit on???



yup, its a snug fit, but fit a treat!

With the dome headed nuts sitting another 4-5mm proud of the bracket it has swung the back out slightly - but nothing to be really worried about....


So that concludes today's efforts class. I've even managed to get in, showered and sort dinner (with a glass of red) by 5pm!

what a great day!

Wednesday 26 September 2012

High pipes v2

Chris drove up from Milton Keynes with his xs in the boot today so we could make his stainless pipes. He had a good idea what he wanted. The engine is super clean, and the frame a nice silver colour after powder coat.

Armed with an array of stainless mandrel bends we scratched our heads as to what the plan was!!!

Plenty of head scratching later and we had an awesome set of pipes!!!!



It's gonna be one sweet ride mate, hope your as happy as me!

Tuesday 25 September 2012

Onwards, Ever Onwards

Day 1 of the real holiday (the missis back at work while i'm off!)

Despite having a river running over the floor of the side of the house, its full steam ahead!

Cracked on with re-making the backs of the air filters - I had to make them offset so they fitted correctly, plus I wasn't happy with the welding on the outside. I decided to weld a seam on the inside of the filter, so cut a hole for the tube to locate to, then welded away.



of course I did the same to the other one as well...



drilled the holes so they located on the main part of the filter..



then trimmed up to the shape of the main part with a grinder...



stripped them down, cleaned them up with the old Jizer, then a good scrub in the sink with soap and water. I'm normally rubbish at having things laid out in preparation, but today...



the black foam is ramair sponge. its a 2 part foam that can be cut to size / shape...



fits like a glove!



tried them on the bike with red tubing, but it looked a bit gay!





so I opted for black instead...





still need jubilee clips to hold it all together. but very happy that all the effort has come good (in my eyes anyway!)

Next up i turned up some spigots to locate the seat springs too..



and welded the buggers in place





Chucked a bit of black paint on to cover it from the weather...

Its coming together slowly!!

A river runs through it!

It sucks not having a proper shed or garage to work in - the wonderful British weather is as you would expect - and I have time off to work on the bike - Bloody typical!

Monday 24 September 2012

Bye Bye Sporty!

Today sees my sporty chop going to pastures new.
I've had this bike for 2 years, and its been absolutely awesome. Anyone that sits there and slags off sportster chops is a moron. This bike lived on the road outside my house for 9 months of the year under a cover, its never failed to start on the button (albeit with plenty of choke) and has chocked up a good couple of thousand miles my lanky and heavy frame on it. It was only an 883, but never lacked in power.

Big runs down the Hayride twice, The Trip Out, Birmingham British motorbike museum and various trips in Yorkshire.

Its gonna be missed, but I must crack on with the XS chop for next year - I have no choice now! Its going to someone I know, so I'll be able to catch up with it, no doubt in a new guise for 2013!


Friday 21 September 2012

Car-in-van-ing

Went over to toddy's on Monday, there is always a mixed card of general madmen / oddballs and eccentrics calling in and out. There was a young lad there who moved scrap about, and said he had 2 cars to pickup and take to be weighed in. One on an A frame, and this was the other....

It had been carefully inserted into the back of his van using an excavator!

This guy gets 11 out of 10 for effort and ingenuity... Bet he had Lego and tetris as a kid!