Enginerd77
New Member
Re: 1981 XS650 Project Something or other
Thanks for the link!Tijmen said:
1981 XS650 Project Something or other (going cafe-ish)
- Thread starter billyp
- Start date
billyp
Been Around the Block
Re: 1981 XS650 Project Something or other
Did a little fabricating this weekend. My goal is to build a bike that I want, but is also a little different. I want to do that, but I also want the things I do to look good, and be subtle, enhance the look of the bike, not take away from it because it looks totally out of place or over the top. I want people to look at the bike and think, damn, that looks good, then take time to notice the little design cues or small bits of fab work they didn't see the first time.
I've seen things done to side engine covers, speed holes and cut outs, things done to the alternator cover, and always liked the look so I wanted to do something to my cover. This is what I came up with..
I had some thin perforated metal that I cut bigger than the opening, placed on the cutout, traced the opening, then bent the sheet with pliers, cut and re-bent a couple of tabs and Bob's your uncle
I bent the tabs so the piece would sit a little proud in the cutout
This was the initial trial run, I tried a couple of different things to get the plate to fit and look the way I wanted. I was finally able to get it down after a couple of messes but the fit wasn't quite right, I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I'll be doing it again. At least now I'm comfortable with the process and know how the metal bends. The side covers will be powder coated "super chrome" with a matte finish, same as the head cover and tappet covers on the motor, not sure what color I'll do the perf'd metal pieces, probably a contrasting color. Opinions are always welcome!!
Did a little fabricating this weekend. My goal is to build a bike that I want, but is also a little different. I want to do that, but I also want the things I do to look good, and be subtle, enhance the look of the bike, not take away from it because it looks totally out of place or over the top. I want people to look at the bike and think, damn, that looks good, then take time to notice the little design cues or small bits of fab work they didn't see the first time.
I've seen things done to side engine covers, speed holes and cut outs, things done to the alternator cover, and always liked the look so I wanted to do something to my cover. This is what I came up with..
I had some thin perforated metal that I cut bigger than the opening, placed on the cutout, traced the opening, then bent the sheet with pliers, cut and re-bent a couple of tabs and Bob's your uncle
I bent the tabs so the piece would sit a little proud in the cutout
This was the initial trial run, I tried a couple of different things to get the plate to fit and look the way I wanted. I was finally able to get it down after a couple of messes but the fit wasn't quite right, I'm a bit of a perfectionist, so I'll be doing it again. At least now I'm comfortable with the process and know how the metal bends. The side covers will be powder coated "super chrome" with a matte finish, same as the head cover and tappet covers on the motor, not sure what color I'll do the perf'd metal pieces, probably a contrasting color. Opinions are always welcome!!
billyp
Been Around the Block
Re: 1981 XS650 Project Something or other
Hello everybody. Finished lacing the rear wheel tonight, tomorrow I'll put the bearings in and take the wheels to get the tires mounted and trued.
Also was able to get the seat frame mocked up out of some round bar. The angles aren't perfect, but it got close enough to give me a good idea of the shape and length.
Then I tacked a piece of 1 inch where I want the seat frame to attach to the backbone and tacked the round bar to that.
Added blue tape to help the visual
Tomorrow I'll fine tune the angle and mock up the support pieces. I'm picking up my steal order and the front end powder coated pieces too so I can get cranking this weekend!
Hello everybody. Finished lacing the rear wheel tonight, tomorrow I'll put the bearings in and take the wheels to get the tires mounted and trued.
Also was able to get the seat frame mocked up out of some round bar. The angles aren't perfect, but it got close enough to give me a good idea of the shape and length.
Then I tacked a piece of 1 inch where I want the seat frame to attach to the backbone and tacked the round bar to that.
Added blue tape to help the visual
Tomorrow I'll fine tune the angle and mock up the support pieces. I'm picking up my steal order and the front end powder coated pieces too so I can get cranking this weekend!
billyp
Been Around the Block
Re: 1981 XS650 Project Something or other
All my weekend plans were scrubbed due to the beautiful spring pacific northwest weather we're having, rain, so I got some good garage time in.
I finally got the rest of my parts from the powder coater after having my "small" job pushed aside for bigger rush jobs, and having them re-do several parts that looked like shit. I will be finding a new powder coater.
Put the shocks back together, got them in the triples and threw the wheels on for mock up
Finished welding up the seat frame and tacked it on the frame. I ended up lengthening it 4 inches, just didn't look right before. There will be gussets added between the front forward corners of the seat frame and the back bone and a plate added to the inside front for strength and gas tank mounting.
I wanted to open up the middle of the frame, so I tacked a temporary brace in so nothing would move around, and whacked off the two small horizontal pieces. The two little vertical stubs will be cut flush with the top of the plate
BEFORE
AFTER
I then proceeded to make the seat frame support and mock up the location for the shock. As you can see, I will be running a horizontally mounted, push rod actuated shock. I've been doing quite a bit of research on the feasibility and the proper way to set up the shock as far as bellcrank arm lengths, size and angle to keep the ratio of pushrod movement to shock travel correct. I haven't seen many of this type of set up used on motorcycles, but I love the way it looks and if can get it set up and working properly, it'll be pretty awesome. That's what building a custom bike is all about, trying to find something new, but at the same time I will not sacrifice safety and functionality for looks. If I can't get it to work I'll go to a more traditional mono shock set up...but I have to try. The bellcrank will be cut out of 1/4 inch plate and will rotate on a heim joint mounted into the frame. The push rod will attach to the swing arm and be adjustable for length with heim joints at both ends.
I tacked up a more forward seat support to see how it would look. I think I like it better than the rear support. Opinions welcome
All my weekend plans were scrubbed due to the beautiful spring pacific northwest weather we're having, rain, so I got some good garage time in.
I finally got the rest of my parts from the powder coater after having my "small" job pushed aside for bigger rush jobs, and having them re-do several parts that looked like shit. I will be finding a new powder coater.
Put the shocks back together, got them in the triples and threw the wheels on for mock up
Finished welding up the seat frame and tacked it on the frame. I ended up lengthening it 4 inches, just didn't look right before. There will be gussets added between the front forward corners of the seat frame and the back bone and a plate added to the inside front for strength and gas tank mounting.
I wanted to open up the middle of the frame, so I tacked a temporary brace in so nothing would move around, and whacked off the two small horizontal pieces. The two little vertical stubs will be cut flush with the top of the plate
BEFORE
AFTER
I then proceeded to make the seat frame support and mock up the location for the shock. As you can see, I will be running a horizontally mounted, push rod actuated shock. I've been doing quite a bit of research on the feasibility and the proper way to set up the shock as far as bellcrank arm lengths, size and angle to keep the ratio of pushrod movement to shock travel correct. I haven't seen many of this type of set up used on motorcycles, but I love the way it looks and if can get it set up and working properly, it'll be pretty awesome. That's what building a custom bike is all about, trying to find something new, but at the same time I will not sacrifice safety and functionality for looks. If I can't get it to work I'll go to a more traditional mono shock set up...but I have to try. The bellcrank will be cut out of 1/4 inch plate and will rotate on a heim joint mounted into the frame. The push rod will attach to the swing arm and be adjustable for length with heim joints at both ends.
I tacked up a more forward seat support to see how it would look. I think I like it better than the rear support. Opinions welcome
billyp
Been Around the Block
Re: 1981 XS650 Project Something or other
Gotcha, the beauty with a pushrod suspension is can adjust how the shock reacts or compresses during its travel by changing the length of the bell crank arms. For the most part the arms are the same length and have a pivot position of 90 degrees. You change the length of the arms and the angle of the pivot to affect the compression rate of the shock, you can also change the ratio in which the two moving points, pushrod and shock, will react. You can set it up so the shock will compress a great deal with only minimal movement of the pushrod by having one arm of the bellcrank longer than the other. If you make sure that the line from pushrod attachment point to rocker axis to shock attachment point is 90 degrees and is all in one plane, this will give you a linear ratio. By making the angle less than 90 degree you can create a rising rate motion ratio. I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject, I'm not really this smart
xb33bsa said:
Gotcha, the beauty with a pushrod suspension is can adjust how the shock reacts or compresses during its travel by changing the length of the bell crank arms. For the most part the arms are the same length and have a pivot position of 90 degrees. You change the length of the arms and the angle of the pivot to affect the compression rate of the shock, you can also change the ratio in which the two moving points, pushrod and shock, will react. You can set it up so the shock will compress a great deal with only minimal movement of the pushrod by having one arm of the bellcrank longer than the other. If you make sure that the line from pushrod attachment point to rocker axis to shock attachment point is 90 degrees and is all in one plane, this will give you a linear ratio. By making the angle less than 90 degree you can create a rising rate motion ratio. I've been doing a lot of reading on the subject, I'm not really this smart
billyp
Been Around the Block
Re: 1981 XS650 Project Something or other
I've been enjoying the great weather we've finally been getting and working on getting the rear suspension sorted out on paper and in my brain. Originally I was going to fab up a bellcrank, but I discovered one off of a 07-08 R1 would work great. What I liked most about it was that it has a captured needle bearing at the pivot point. It was also a nice beefy piece of machined aluminum, and best of all, it was 20 bucks. I went through several designs and drawings for the mounting of the shock, I actually had some brackets fab'd out of 1/4 inch plate but I couldn't stand the way they looked, just too big and clunky. Came up with my final design using tubing, sourced the parts, last ones were delivered yesterday and I'm ready to get going again. No family at home this weekend, so it's me, the band saw, welder and the bike...I'm excited
I've been enjoying the great weather we've finally been getting and working on getting the rear suspension sorted out on paper and in my brain. Originally I was going to fab up a bellcrank, but I discovered one off of a 07-08 R1 would work great. What I liked most about it was that it has a captured needle bearing at the pivot point. It was also a nice beefy piece of machined aluminum, and best of all, it was 20 bucks. I went through several designs and drawings for the mounting of the shock, I actually had some brackets fab'd out of 1/4 inch plate but I couldn't stand the way they looked, just too big and clunky. Came up with my final design using tubing, sourced the parts, last ones were delivered yesterday and I'm ready to get going again. No family at home this weekend, so it's me, the band saw, welder and the bike...I'm excited
billyp
Been Around the Block
Re: 1981 XS650 Project Something or other
This is the bellcrank I found, came from a 2008 Yamaha R1. I needed the bellcrank to provide a linear (straight line) motion so I wouldn't have any up and down movement of the shock as it compresses. The design and mounting location I finally settled on provides me with around 2 inches of linear compression of the shock, which is just about perfect as my shock has 1.75 inches of travel.
Hope everyone enjoys there weekend, I'll be posting pics and updates soon
This is the bellcrank I found, came from a 2008 Yamaha R1. I needed the bellcrank to provide a linear (straight line) motion so I wouldn't have any up and down movement of the shock as it compresses. The design and mounting location I finally settled on provides me with around 2 inches of linear compression of the shock, which is just about perfect as my shock has 1.75 inches of travel.
Hope everyone enjoys there weekend, I'll be posting pics and updates soon
billyp
Been Around the Block
Re: 1981 XS650 Project Something or other
Well, last weekend ended up turning to complete shit with no fabrication getting done. My band saw took a dump on me and the most important parts from Bung King were sent to the wrong address. So this past week I ordered the part to fix my band saw and waited for my Bung King order to show up. Saturday roles around and finally the Bung order shows up and I was able to get a couple hours in the garage on Fathers day. I'm making it so the whole shock/bellcrank mount will be removable from the rear subframe
Here are the parts from Bung King, countersunk bungs, threaded bullet bungs and some 1/4 inch thick brackets
This is the countersunk bung, there will be one on each side of the bellcrank attached to a piece of 1 inch .120 wall tubing
I then slotted the seat rails for the brackets and tacked the front two in place
Well, last weekend ended up turning to complete shit with no fabrication getting done. My band saw took a dump on me and the most important parts from Bung King were sent to the wrong address. So this past week I ordered the part to fix my band saw and waited for my Bung King order to show up. Saturday roles around and finally the Bung order shows up and I was able to get a couple hours in the garage on Fathers day. I'm making it so the whole shock/bellcrank mount will be removable from the rear subframe
Here are the parts from Bung King, countersunk bungs, threaded bullet bungs and some 1/4 inch thick brackets
This is the countersunk bung, there will be one on each side of the bellcrank attached to a piece of 1 inch .120 wall tubing
I then slotted the seat rails for the brackets and tacked the front two in place
billyp
Been Around the Block
Re: 1981 XS650 Project Something or other
Thanks for the input xb, that is part of the total plan. I'm trying to make the whole rear subframe as stiff and safe as possible. As I get further along and add tubing and plate as bracing if you still see a problem area please let me know
xb33bsa said:
Thanks for the input xb, that is part of the total plan. I'm trying to make the whole rear subframe as stiff and safe as possible. As I get further along and add tubing and plate as bracing if you still see a problem area please let me know
7aliveatlast7
the bearded hessian
Re: 1981 XS650 Project Something or other
whoa...now this looks interesting!!
whoa...now this looks interesting!!
