Mini Apes - Take 2!

Worked out the forks, with a light shined down the outer tube, there are 2 slits to insert a tool into, which can be twisted to allow the fork to be broken down. I haven't got any tube the right diameter to make up a tool, so will have a look in the week.

A productive, yet wallet lightening morning in Newark today. Got loads of little bits and bibs that I needed for both bikes.

One of my bargains, 3 sets of bars for 8 quid! Got home and had to have a crack at re-making my skinny apes...

Kept it simple by only cutting the middle out, and slugged with 80mm of 16mm steel I turned up.

Checked them in the yokes, and were looking grand!



Flattened them out on the bench prior to welding ( surprising thought how out they were compared to the eye) and en welded them up. Fitted a cheap set of pit bike levers I got at a previous auto jumble, and the biltwell grips I got from sumo. I cut the ends down a bit as they were too wide...

I'm well happy with them!



The pics aren't great, but with a bit more of a clean up, they will be spot on.

Wet weather forces shed time....

Bit of a bummer today, I was supposed to be working on the relic to get it wired and fired up, but it's pissed down all day. This alfresco building ain't all it's cracked up to be!

It did allow me some time on the rotter though.

First up I welded all round the tank, really happy with the weld I got all around.

That just let the petrol tap, I used a bend from a chopped set of handlebars, and the old tap, and made this little neck



I used the old hole for the tap, just widened slightly..



Pretty happy with how it looks...



Next up was the bottom part of the forks, they needed the scotch pad treatment to clean them up..




The spindle on the one leg was about 10mm!!!!!!!!!!!



So I had to drill that out, using the drill bit in the lathe and the tailstock to keep it all straight and level...



I actually drilled it out to 18mm, then turned up a little shim for the inside to take the 15mm spindle...



I mocked up the front end, and it's looking good to me!!!!




Gotta work out how the innards of the forks go together, so I'd better get reading up!

Rotter Top Yoke

Cracked on with the yokes tonight while i could grab an hour. I used the speedo mounting holes for the yokes, but had to grind off the little mounts for them first...



I thought about welding the yokes i cut off back on, but they were battered to hell and back!



I had some XS lowers and random tops in the shed - luckily the bottoms were steel, so i could weld directly to the yoke..



I drilled out the holes to take the risers, the lined them up with some bars while i tacked them in place..




then i attempted to weld them up. The yoke was steel (I assume) and welded ok, but it did leave a lot of crap around which must have been blown out of the weld area...



with the tops on...



also started to clean up the bottom yoke - that red paint is bloody hard work to shift!

Rotter tank....

Thought I'd have a bit of fun with this old bantam tank I got cheap...


Cut the middle out to get the skinny look i'm after...



Taped it together, then tacked it at rough 2 inch intervals making sure the metal seams lined up as well as possible.




The metal wasn't too bad, so seamed the top up, only 3 blow through's where there was deep rust spots...

I had bent up a tunnel over the handrail the other day on the steps outside my house much to ross's amusement.



Cut trimmed and tacked it in place, and then started welding up the seam...




Had a mockup on the nice bike to se how it fitted...




Fits like a treat!

MAG Ride

went to the MAG ride out on Sunday, found a video - the turnout was even better than I thought!

see if you can spot me....

So bloody close to ... FIRE IN THE HOLE!

Getting close to making noises now, oil in the engine,carbs attached, throttle cable and clutch cable connected, just waiting on a banjo bolt for the oil feed and I'll have to get a splitter for the fuel line, bit of wiring and it'll be fire up time...

My winter project....

This is it! its not too small either, thought i would proper dwarf it, but its not too bad.