$50 mod thread

Evorussell said:
Stainless steel "stepless" clamps for carb boots.

Seals better than factory and those stupid worm drive ones.
They are thin enough to work very well in all applications

http://www.aircraftspruce.com/catalog/appages/oetiker.php

You can get the same thing in stainless steel from McMaster-Carr.They are called T bolt clamps.
 
ben2go said:
You can get the same thing in stainless steel from McMaster-Carr.They are called T bolt clamps.

It maybe difficult to tell from the picture but these differ from normal t-bolts.

1) every t-bolt I found was to wide for the application on my CB360

2) T-bolts still have a pinch point at the top, these are segmented to eliminate that.

3) these are designed to separate and expand to make them easy to take on and off

Don't have to buy them of you don't want to, but they are not the same.
 
Check this DIY paint sprayer out.Shouldn't cost much at all.

http://www.instructables.com/id/DIY-spray-paint-1/
 
Newbie here, working my way through the thread! Some amazing ideas, very useful. I've not read everything so apologise if this is a repost.

I'm building a Honda CG125 Tracker for my other half. Having chopped the tail off, I realised I needed to bend up a rear loop. Then my eyes fell on the old unused centre stand. A bit of cutting and grinding later and I'd ended up with a pre-bent, perfectly sized rear loop for the total price of nadda.

In the unlikely event that this is new (!) I'd be happy to post up photos :)

Right, off to read, read and read....
 
Brunel said:
Newbie here, working my way through the thread! Some amazing ideas, very useful. I've not read everything so apologise if this is a repost.

I'm building a Honda CG125 Tracker for my other half. Having chopped the tail off, I realised I needed to bend up a rear loop. Then my eyes fell on the old unused centre stand. A bit of cutting and grinding later and I'd ended up with a pre-bent, perfectly sized rear loop for the total price of nadda.

In the unlikely event that this is new (!) I'd be happy to post up photos :)

Right, off to read, read and read....

pictures? please
 
Teddy21502 said:
pictures? please

Sorry, not been on the board for a while, some pics as requested. :) On this bike the centre stand main loop made from tubing of the same diameter as the rear subframe. Critical for a smooth look to the rear loop.

Take one old centre stand

11159205586_5dc21f5fa3_b.jpg


Grind away all the useless brackets and cut the ends to match the diameter of the subframe

11159193146_0a542663e6_b.jpg


Cut the ends to produce the desired up lift.

11159144615_659439120d_b.jpg


I'll get a photo of it smoothed and welded in place when it gets back from the powdercoaters :)
 
While not a mod per-se, this could be the best $15 I've spent on my bike thus far...

After finding the factory manuals online (god bless the interwebs!) I took the PDF down the street to a local printer/bulk mailer. For $15 they printed the manual, put a clear plastic cover on it and comb-bound it. Now I don't have to run into the office to look at the computer, risk an iPad getting grease-covered or damaged in the shop, or worry about losing the 1 sheet I needed from the batch I printed on my computer because the furnace kicked on and blew the pages all over the place.

I'm sure everyone has a FedEx/Kinko's nearby, but consider the local print shops near you. Any of them worth their salt can take a PDF, print it and bind it for you. They'll also be less concerned over any potential copyright issues in printing something like this (although the local Kinko's has never given me any grief either).

Oh, and if you have stuff in color, consider printing it straight on black-and-white if you can. Color printing is super-expensive compared to B/W.
 

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Wanted to share my rear frame hoop development. After spending a long time contemplating shelling out the $50-$70 for a pre-bent rear hoop, I had an epiphany moment while looking through some junk parts from the initial bike tear down. The bike originally had one of the front mounted crash guards on it (I think it was modified or a DIY guard, because whoever made it didn't have it even slightly centered, you can see it in the first photo), and I realized that the tubing was the same OD as the frame tubing, and already had two 90 degree angles bent into it. So I decided to cut off the 90's, weld them together, and use it as my rear hoop. (Going for a flat brat style seat) Here are a couple pictures to show what I did, technically, this cost me nothing to do.

I don't know why this was even on the bike in the first place, it couldn't have come from Honda this off center could it?



90's welded together.



I wanted to continue the angle of the frame and went with a mitered joint essentially. Used steel plugs that I turned down in order to help strengthen the joint.



Finished Product:

 
Cheepo File Handles
20131210_120032.jpg

Using a file without a handle is very dangerous. When I worked as a diesel mechanic I seen this clever idea on the shop floor.

Do not use this sort of handle if you are intending to use the file on a lathe.
[list type=decimal]
[*]Find some golf balls. Used balls can sometimes be bought at garage sales or could be found at the local golf course in the water hazards. (ask permission before retrieving the golf balls from the water hazard)
[*]Find all the files that need handles.
[*]Drill a hole 3/4 of the way through the ball the same size as the smallest portion of the file (the part the handle would usually get a handle placed on it). The hole is more or less kind a pilot hole and makes it easier to beat the ball on with a deadblow or mallet.
[*]Place the file handle side pointing up and the other end on a block of wood. Now beat the ball on with a deadblow or mallet.
[/list]
Warning!: Files are very brittle, so do not get carried away beating the ball onto the handle
 
Simple rust removal without the need to Kreem or coat inside of tank with oil/WD40 (and your tank will NEVER rust again!)

The last tank I used this process on sat on a shelf in my garage with Ohio weather for two years with no gas in it and not a speck of rust appeared.

Items needed:
Tank (duh)
Large enough rubbermaid container to fit your tank, with the lid -OR- ability to seal the tank (cap, block off plate for petcock) MAKE SURE THERE ARE NO HOLES! lol
1-2 gallons of Milkstone remover (available from Tractor Supply Co) It's orange and is around $14 for a gallon jug. Milkstone remover's main ingredient is phosphoric acid.
Hair dryer
safety glasses and heavy nitrile gloves

I recommend removing large amounts of flaky rust first with screws or nuts with tank filled with water.

don safety glasses and gloves. This stuff will burn you.

Mix the Milkstone remover 1:3 with water. That is, one gallon of Milkstone remover to three gallons of water. That will make 4 gallons, which will easily be enough to fill a tank. Otherwise, mix up enough to completely fill/cover the tank when immersed in a rubbermaid container. Either way, make sure the tank is as full as possible. You may also invert the tank for one day to get any areas that you can't reach by filling or submersion. If you use a rubbermaid container make sure to put the lid on or it will stink up the whole garage; also it keeps kids and animals out of it.

I leave my solution in 2-3 days. When finished, drain the solution and rinse well with water. Then use the hair dryer propped in the filler hole to completely dry the inside. Two things have occurred- your rust is gone, and the tank is coated in a beautiful grey coating. This coating is actually the outside layer of steel being chemically converted to black ferric phosphate and it will prevent future rust, so leave it on! There is no need for any additional coatings like Kreem that can peel away over time. As for the outside of the tank (if you've submerged it) the coating can be scrubbed away to reveal the metal before prime/paint.

The only bad part about this process is that I haven't found a way to dispose of the used solution. What I did is pour it into a home depot bucket and left it, it also works good on removing rust on other parts and/or chrome. It will last a long time and will do quite a few tanks/parts.

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Will it remove paint?I have two tanks that need repainting and it would really be helpful if it would remove paint as well.If not.Aircraft stripper and then the bath in your suggested solution.
 
The tank I did, it did not remove the paint. Not saying it will not HARM paint, it will usually cause a haze or dull it, but it definitely did not strip it. Aircraft stripper is the bomb, I need to do a tank soon myself. Gets ya so damn hiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh though...
 
SR250. Properly jetted, it might hit 110kph with me sitting up. I tuck and I go 120. Stuck a velocity stack on there for $40. I get 120 sitting up.

Afterwards, cleaned the carb. $5. Bike runs amazing with that stack. Had a chinese K&N copy on there before. No, the ports were not blocked.
 
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