MotoFiaccone Bob--Feb 2011 update

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob

Big hello to all from Western Australia - very interested to see the direction you are taking with this project.
Just working on a similar concept myself - have a 1985 Suzuki DR250 which I am turning into a semi cafe style bike.

Here is the original bike:



What it looks like now after a heap of frame work and custom touches:



Hoping to get it finished over the next few months!
Will be checking in here regularly to see what you are doing, good to see a bit more of a oddball approach...

Cheers,
Lorenz

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob

I like these offbeat builds, lets have some updates.

Lorenz, do you have any more pics of that bike? It looks interesting. I am doing up a DR650 myself.

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob

Lorenz: that's one heck of a debut, nice start on that one mate!

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob

Thats ten shades of awesome!

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob

Thanks for the kind words guys - sorry for hi-jacking your thread by the way Chris..!

I have a full build thread on my local bike forum which can be seen here: http://www.perthstreetbikes.com/forum/f61/dr250-cafe-racer-86430/
But for those interested I basically started with the full original frame, front end, engine etc. and did what I thought was needed to achieve the general style I wanted.
Being a mono shock it was never going to satisfy the "purists" but that is not my style anyway, I wanted something different.
I basically started by stripping the bike down:



The frame needed to be reworked substantially to fit the fibreglass single seat so after lots of cutting and shaping:







Batttery and shock reservoir are hidden under the seat:





Fitted suzuki katana front end but needed a heap of work to get original spoked wheels to fit. I wanted to use the old brakes too (lighter):



Lots of other small mods but basically up to this stage now:



Still a heap more work to do (electrics, paint, switches, some brackets et.c) but will update you guys once it is done.

Back to you Chris - apologies once again for posting my crap in your thread.
I do however have a nice '82 GPZ550 just waiting for a mad bob chop style makeover which I will be starting in coming months once the DR is done

Cheers guys - Lorenz

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob

Wow! It's been a while since my last update. As many of you know, I got a new job last Jan., and I've been busy with a bunch of international travel. I tell you, when your bored out of your mind in a hotel room, DTT hits the spot. Unfortunately, I got into a habit of reading too many other peoples threads instead of building.

At any rate, the SP125 is coming along. I have the aluminum tank on; it just needs a bungee to hold it in place. The tank is getting blasted and sent to DCC for polishing. The dented aluminum will look fantastic.

The seat is pretty well sorted. I do think I'll chop the loop off the back and decrease the seat angle quite a bit. I'll also extend it 3" or so. I initially wanted it nice and short, but for a 2-up, it's just too short. It looks like standard stuff, but quit a bit went into that whole seat situation. As it stands, the seat is nice and low so my wife can ride her.

After 6 months, I finally got my wheels back. The bad news: I could have done it locally for the same money and gotten them bak in 4 days. The good news: they look fantastic.

The other interesting thing I did was use a Yamaha R6 damper. I wanted a coilover than could handle the turns and the jumps. After a shitload of math, I managed to get it to work. The R6 dampers are double adjustable (bump and rebound), 30 clicks each way. Much better than 80s dirtbike dampers.

My daughter was screw around with a decent camera and snapped the photos for me--except for the iPhone pics.












--Thanks for looking, Chris

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

Lookin great Chris, love the tires

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

Looks good chris. Hey, I notice the motor is out of the RD, what's up there?

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

I've been waiting to see some movement on this, I'm not disapointed either. Looks good, can't wait to see more.

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

very very cool dude!

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

THERE it is!!! nice man

Hi All:


I've found a bit more time on my hands, so I'm back to working on the little SP125. The last post saw the R6 damper being used in the back. That lowered the back down to the absolute minimum, but still gives fantastic rear travel in the rear. Doing this required me to drop the front down significantly. Visually, it does not look like much, but I dropped the forks 3", and upped the preload a bit. This still gives good travel.





To do this, I basically followed these instructions:





This worked a treat.

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

Next up is the seat. I modified it quite a bit from the last post. It was a bit of a challenge because I wanted to maintain good bump travel, meaning the seat needed to be raised in the back. I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but this bike will be a learner for my wife, whose is a boarderline LP. So the primary seat height needed to be low. Anyway...I first had to make some attachment brackets out of stainless bolts and a strip of steel:




I didn't want to feel the fasteners under the seat, so I ground them down a bit and riveted them onto the seatpan:



This was made out of .060" 6061-T6. It should be strong enough for us. The holes were drilled to attached the leather cover.



Another view:








Then I clamped on the foam padding, which I made intentionally tall. Some spray adhesive is holding it to the aluminum. Hopefully it holds. If not, I'll use Gorilla Glue. Hopefully it won't come to that, though, because I hate the stuff.





I'm ordering the tool leather for the seatcover, which will be a little bratstyle-ish. The 'ribs' will be tooled in the leather, and the cover riveted from below. I already ordered the Cherry N rivets. It's intimidating because covering a seat is not exactly my expertise.


In other news, I'm still debating the exhaust material. I had originally intended to use 18ga titanium, but I'm having second thoughts. I'm now considering 18ga 304 stainless with mandrel bends. material cost wise, it will be about the same. However, cutting straight Ti tube into a bunch of little slices 1.) doesn't sound like fun and 2.) will be hell on saw blades--stainless is bad enough.


--Chris

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

Looks real good Chris. I agree about using Gorilla glue, I hate that shit but it holds. Have you ever tried a hot glue gun from a craft store? Works good.

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

Nice to see you back at it Chris. Looking good! I'm trying to find some quick release pins to use for attaching the seat pan. still working on that.

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

diesel450 said:

Nice to see you back at it Chris. Looking good! I'm trying to find some quick release pins to use for attaching the seat pan. still working on that.

Click to expand...

That was my, original intent too. But it has to me just perfect or it won't work right. A little long and it will be wobbly. A little short--ever to slightly--and it will be a pain in the ass to attach. With the tool leather thickness varying a bit, I wasn't sure. So wing nuts it is.

--Chris

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

Good info. I may take the easy way out as well. I'm taking an upholstery class to get my seat cover done and learn some technique.

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

Glad to see you got some time in on the little guy. Excellent work as usual. I don't know how much you have worked leather, but once it is moistened it is good and pliable. You'll get the hang really quick, and it is pretty forgiving.

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

CrescentSon said:

Glad to see you got some time in on the little guy. Excellent work as usual. I don't know how much you have worked leather, but once it is moistened it is good and pliable. You'll get the hang really quick, and it is pretty forgiving.

Click to expand...

I've never really worked with anything but really soft and pliable Italian leather. This seat will be 8-9oz tooled leather. Think horse saddle. I plan to wet it out really well so it will stretch a bit, then rivet it to the bottom. Does that seem right?

You don't happen to know where I can get a 24"x24" piece here in DFW do you? I'm getting ready to spend $50 for a piece online, which seems a bit steep to me. Seems it Texas we should be able to find the stuff all day.

--Thanks, Chris

Re: MotoFiaccone Bob--Oct 2010 update

Tandy Leather Co.
10220 East Northwest Highway
Dallas, TX 75238-4408
(214) 342-2282

The store front is a bit mom and pop, but he has a good selection. 8-9 oz tooling leather turns to velvet when wet. No worries man, you'll nail it.