Thursday, 29 November 2012
Oil Tank
The bottom line goes a bit gimpy on this side, but I think I'll be having some sort of a panel in there anyway, so my shoddy work will be suitably hidden!
too cold and dark out there now, in with a seaming mug of coffee and my slippers on......
Sunday, 25 November 2012
Mounted!
Sneaked a cheeky hour in tonight, wanted to get the front mount sorted.
It's a pain not having my welder in the same shed as the bike, but alas- we persevere with such things.
I marked up the position, and then used little magnets to hold the tab in place while I tacked it in place....
It worked a treat, and the left side was quickly welded up.....
Drilled the frame through, and did the same on the other side.
Worked really well, and my stress levels went down quite a lot once it was all bolted in place....
I took a bit of time with the old hammer matching the tanks where I welded the lip on. I think the right tank is around 2mm lower than the left, so will need to sort out that before more beating and then filling...
Saturday, 24 November 2012
Get on a diet fat boy
Ahh, a nice afternoon spent a-fettling!
Had a general tidy up, made a shelf for my new bead blasting cabinet, chopped up an old autocycle, and picked up some gas for my welder...
Decided that I needed to have a look at the rear muddy for the 45. This is the muddy I decided to use. The ribbed and the plain one just didn't work with the bike, soo skinny, and not right....
Even though this was the muddy to use, it wasn't right, far too wide for the tyre, and the "depth" of it hid far too much of that lovely Firestone.....
I measured up, and decided that an inch makes the difference... The myth is that extra inches count, well old housewives, in this case, it's an inch too big!!!
Pinstripe tape used after plenty of measuring....
Next up- get the grinder out on a perfectly good muddy......
You never have enough hands for these things, so it's magnets and clamps ahoy!!!!
Really starting to feel comfortable with my welder now. Something seems to have clicked with me and my welder and I'm whacking up the amps, and getting stuck in...
Also decided to sort out the depth issues, and trim the muddy down to just below the rib.... This is it on the bike....
Much much better!
The kick is too much, so that will need sorting, but I'm well pleased with it!
Sunday, 18 November 2012
Tank mounting - Sunday fettle
Sneaked a couple of hours in today on the 45.
Started cleaning up the tanks....
After Indi asking about the integrity of tanks that have been chopped I had a run over the welds to make doubly sure...
I've been putting off doing anything to the frame, the fear of buggering up Toddy's hard work, but thought it best to man up and take my time to get the tanks mounted. Turned up some stainless bungs to weld into the frame, then set a string line up to ensure the bike was vertical. Plenty of marking and measuring, then time to drill....
Happy with that effort, I used some laser cut tabs (well worth buying in IMO) for the base tab...
That allowed me to have just one tank mounted, so I could check clearances.... The tank was sitting too high, and there was plenty of room for me to drop it, so I trimmed the front of the lip....
I had a little play with bars for 5 mins, and these bars were shovel bars until mr grinder had his way... Contemplating some of cro's handlebar clamps if I go down this route....
Matched the second tank to the first, and they are beginning to look how I want! Still the front mounts to figure out, which will also even the spacing out between the 2. The plan is for a 5mm gap down the middle of the 2, a bit of metal beating, and I'm afraid some filler before that looks right though...
Oh, and the seat came with an xs650 project I bought to sell on. It's comfy as hell!