iatethepeach said:
There is. Its suspended underneath. Its tough to get a decent angle on it, the shop is pretty cramped, but i'll have some good photos of it once its all buttoned up.
74 Honda XL 350 - The Turd
- Thread starter adventurco
- Start date
There is. Its suspended underneath. Its tough to get a decent angle on it, the shop is pretty cramped, but i'll have some good photos of it once its all buttoned up.
trek97 said:
Thanks man, I'm gonna be assembling the finished piece tomorrow, I'll be sure to post some pics.
Small update but I'm trying to gain some steam and get this thing buttoned up within the next few weeks. I have a couple new projects brewing, so it's time to wrap this build up and put 'er on the road.
All the original cable stay brackets were ruined by rust, so I pulled out the tin snips and worked some sheet metal.
Here they are installed.
And one for the speedo cable since that was junk as well
All the original cable stay brackets were ruined by rust, so I pulled out the tin snips and worked some sheet metal.
Here they are installed.
And one for the speedo cable since that was junk as well
HerrDeacon
Over 1,000 Posts
Nicely done, they look great.
Yesterday's project was to mount up the KTM barkbusters I snagged at the Barber swap meet for a few bucks. They were made for 1" thick walled bars and the bars i have are 7/8". So I modeled and 3D printed some spacers for the bar clamps to take up the space there, and welded 8mm nuts inside the bars since the aluminum expanding inserts were too small to get a tight fit.
Stuck an 8mm bolt in the drill and locked the cut-off aluminum spacers in there. Spun them down with a file and some paper to get rid of the nasty gouge marks. It's a redneck lathe but worked a treat.
And here we are all installed.
Fun little project. Would have been way less time consuming to order a pair that bolted right up but what's the fun in that.
The beveled spacers that go into the ends are all busted up. I'm going to model them and have them 3D printed in aluminum, since I don't have a lathe. Works the same, but the turnaround time is a few weeks so that's the only downside.
Stuck an 8mm bolt in the drill and locked the cut-off aluminum spacers in there. Spun them down with a file and some paper to get rid of the nasty gouge marks. It's a redneck lathe but worked a treat.
And here we are all installed.
Fun little project. Would have been way less time consuming to order a pair that bolted right up but what's the fun in that.
The beveled spacers that go into the ends are all busted up. I'm going to model them and have them 3D printed in aluminum, since I don't have a lathe. Works the same, but the turnaround time is a few weeks so that's the only downside.
Cast them yourself in aluminum. It's not that hard, since it melts at such a low temp. You can melt it with a torch, or even charcoal. Cast your model, reproduce in wax, cast the wax, melt wax out, pour aluminum. Easy peasy.
irk miller said:
I need to get some casting sand, I have a solder pot that might melt aluminum..have to check the specs.
You can melt aluminum in a steel can.advCo said:
You don't need casting sand, which is basically bentonite and silica sand. You can do it in silica/plaster molds.
advCo said:It's a redneck lathe but worked a treat.
Youre a man after my own heart. Thats the same sort of shit I have to pull all the time cause I dont own any "real" tools.
Also, if you play w molten aluminum, babbitt, lead, etc. Be absolutely cautious WATER (rain drop, sweat, etc) CAN NOT accidentally enter the mix. Molten aluminum and water is VERY VERY EXPLOSIVE. Splatters of molten aluminum on your hands, face or eyes.
Well, that would just hurt like a mother fucker.
Didn't like the little nub I welded onto the kickstand a while back, so I hacked it off and made a new one out of steel rod. Looks much better now, and will be real easy to reach the kickstand once the muffler is installed
Had to trim back the skid plate to fit by the header.
Drilled some speed holes in the stainless RR bracket for ventilation, and got the new Sparck Moto 12v RR installed. Just have to get it wired up. 12v bulbs are on the way and the battery will be installed today.
Panniers are mounted, luggage rack is being painted. Have to sort a few details out on the panniers like a hinge and locks.
Had to trim back the skid plate to fit by the header.
Drilled some speed holes in the stainless RR bracket for ventilation, and got the new Sparck Moto 12v RR installed. Just have to get it wired up. 12v bulbs are on the way and the battery will be installed today.
Panniers are mounted, luggage rack is being painted. Have to sort a few details out on the panniers like a hinge and locks.
JustinLonghorn
No Purple Hearts, No Blue Ribbons
You've got some riding to do.
It's getting there fellas. Starting to feel good.
Today's issue to sort was the panniers. I disliked having to unlatch the front and back to open the boxes, so I hacked the latch off the front end to make space for a hinge. I used a piece of 3/16" rod filed to a point as a drift to open up the end so I could slide some 1/4" rod in and weld it to the box.
Left is welded up with a hinge, right side is untouched.
Inside the box, still needs to be cleaned up
I was going to buy some aluminum or stainless drawer pulls to use as tie down points on the panniers, but after I cut the old handles off I realized they were perfect for what I need. Trimmed them down and welded them on.
Quick vid of the hinge action. Works well enough for me.
https://youtu.be/zZS4sRfSCm4
These are getting close to paint!
Today's issue to sort was the panniers. I disliked having to unlatch the front and back to open the boxes, so I hacked the latch off the front end to make space for a hinge. I used a piece of 3/16" rod filed to a point as a drift to open up the end so I could slide some 1/4" rod in and weld it to the box.
Left is welded up with a hinge, right side is untouched.
Inside the box, still needs to be cleaned up
I was going to buy some aluminum or stainless drawer pulls to use as tie down points on the panniers, but after I cut the old handles off I realized they were perfect for what I need. Trimmed them down and welded them on.
Quick vid of the hinge action. Works well enough for me.
https://youtu.be/zZS4sRfSCm4
These are getting close to paint!
redwillissuperman
Keep it simple- engine, wheels, bars
Actually, if it's PLA, you can pack it and then melt it out. Check out YouTube for PLA casting.
iatethepeach
Coast to Coast
Cool. The double latch would have driven me nuts, too. Nice work on the hinge!
If you didn't already mount the panniers, here are my unsolicited tips: first, try to angle them slightly so stuff tends to slide forward- that way it's easy to keep heavy stuff toward the front. Also, if you're adding a rack/platform in-between them, keep the boxes a half inch or so higher. That way, anything you strap down has that lip on each side to help keep it in place.
Finally, I don't know if you care or if you already plan to do this, but I've found you can grind off those spot welds pretty easily if you're patient. In other words, you could also delete the now-redundant latch plates from the fronts of the panniers (under your new hinges).
The recycled anchor points were a good call, too! I'm looking forward to seeing everything painted.
If you didn't already mount the panniers, here are my unsolicited tips: first, try to angle them slightly so stuff tends to slide forward- that way it's easy to keep heavy stuff toward the front. Also, if you're adding a rack/platform in-between them, keep the boxes a half inch or so higher. That way, anything you strap down has that lip on each side to help keep it in place.
Finally, I don't know if you care or if you already plan to do this, but I've found you can grind off those spot welds pretty easily if you're patient. In other words, you could also delete the now-redundant latch plates from the fronts of the panniers (under your new hinges).
The recycled anchor points were a good call, too! I'm looking forward to seeing everything painted.
iatethepeach said:
I actually did mount them angled forward a bit so they would line up with the luggage rack. Good to hear that I accidentally did that part right. I've never had a bike with bags or panniers before, so I'm guessing on a lot of this stuff.
I ended up making the top of the boxes flush with the rack, since I am going to add passenger pegs so I can ride 2-up. If they were any higher, the corners of the panniers were diggin into my girlfriends legs, so I tried to tuck them out of the way a bit.
iatethepeach said:
I actually thought about that, I had luck with a pry bar pulling up the spot welds on the side. I'm going to leave the latch plates, I kinda like the look of it, breaks up the plane.
iatethepeach
Coast to Coast
Design criterion number one: comfortable girlfriend! All other design criteria can be disregarded.
