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I found a cheap treadmill on eBay (only 99c as it had a problem with the motor). Turns out the brushes and bearings were shot, but $11 later and it was prefect. 2.5KW motor too so I had plenty of torque for my little lathe.
It's a DC motor and much smaller than stock.
I tried to salvage the motor controller off the treadmill to drive the motor but unfortunately I fried it testing it, so had to resort to a proper DC motor driver from KB Electronics:
Which I mounted in a custom box with the RPM sensor, pot (for speed control, heat control fan, filters for clean air and all on quick disconnect cables:
Good work. Reading your post "I'd been having issues for ages now with the lathe and getting a good finish on the parts I'd been making. Today jogged me into remembering the importance of quality stock to turn. Poor finishes were gone as I dropped some Alu into the chuck and drilled and reduced it. It came out smooth and shiny and I was very impressed with how my 1946 lathe was making parts!" Made the penny drop for me, I have a lathe the same age as yours, lots of wear but was cheap to buy, the quality of the stock makes a big difference to the finish.
I have some exciting news around the corner... my headers are nearly finished! However it brings back around the issue with the exhausts. I have since departed company with the Yoshimuras as they were simply too large for the bike and I want to avoid the generic reverse cone as its a little uninspiring, plus I prefer something to match the tougher, more modern stance of my bike.
Pulled some images off Coneeng to mock up a couple of options. The angles aren't 100% correct but the main aim was to check the scale of the exhausts vs the rest of the bike.
1. Reverse Cones:
Its a good looking option, however its not floating my boat.
2. Cylindrical Muffler
I noticed these on Coneng a while ago and I have to say on the bike I think they look even better. I can't mock up the rear view but I am confident they will look like the brown plastic mockup I did a few years back now:
I am thinking I will be going down this option. Now I just need to work out he best way of mounting them.
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