Project Panther - Yamaha XS850

remotorcycled

New Member
Hello,

I left a wee message in the introductions the other day. I thought I would create a build thread for my current project, a 1981 Yamaha XS850. Here's how it currently sits:


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This bike is my second build, my first was a 1989 Yamaha tt600 I turned the retro cool up a little bit on:
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This bike taught me an absolute shitload but I knew I could do more. on the way back from exhibiting at the bike shed show 2019 in London, I had already most of the XS850 build planned in my head.

I quickly made a crudely drawn sketch of "Panther". I had a crazy idea to take inspiration from the black panther animal, all black and mean with subtle colours...Not quite a cafe racer (ouch my wirsts) but not quite a tracker, somewhere in between:

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I wanted to use this bike to continue to learn new skills including more fabrication, learning how to tig weld, part design, carbon fibre use and anything else I wanted to use this platform for.

First big ticket item was the exhaust. Something I have always wanted to make. I purchased a TIG welder last year and was using it for many little projects around the house. I set my self a pretty ambitious goal of building a pie cut custom exhaust. I wanted to really open up the triple sound so designed a 3 into 3 system of slightly varying lengths to exit underneath the bike:
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I recently got round to getting this fully welded together. First time welding stainless....first time welding pipe...I managed to get the settings dialled in and it was starting to look OK by the end.

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I made a pretty detailed youtube video series about my experiences and learnings, the latest video is here:


Once I get my camera plugged in I will share the pipes exiting underneath the bike. They are not perfect yet and need some adjustment.


Next on the list was to create a battery box that suited my needs, so i spent a bit of time trying to think what i wanted to store in it. This was initially made on CAD (As it was quite a complex shape) then i cut and bent out of sheet metal. This was my first time welding thin metal so it was a bit tough going....reckon after all the exhaust welding it would be a bit easier now!

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I will add some more pictures and updates in the coming days to bring me up to date (there's quite a lot to write up!)

Thanks
Struan

If I can figure how to upload video direct here, I can show you the bike running momentarily to hear the exhaust... it sounds great!
 

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Exhaustas exiting undet the bike (held in place by a template)....this was prior to welding, it has since moved slightly so i need to "manipulate" it back into alignment...
 
Some pictures of the switch gear I have designed and had 3D printed....I will get these machined out of aluminium soon!

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Good stuff. The TT looks like a blast. I just came into a 750 triple. Excited to see the potential of these Yammy triples.
 
Good stuff. The TT looks like a blast. I just came into a 750 triple. Excited to see the potential of these Yammy triples.

Thanks dude. Yeah the TT is fun....there's a wee vid of me doing a naughty flyby to hear the thumper in action...


Still got the odd few bits to do this winter to get it finished in my eyes but it is a fun little bike!

Same, I have an xs750 in the garage to also get done up...more projects than i know what to do with! what the plans for yours?
 
Your stainless welding is a heck of a lot cleaner than mine. I notice you are using an argon feed into the pipe to purge it. Do use a second tank for that or Tee off the main tank? And with a 240v machine what sort of current do you have it set for?
 
Your stainless welding is a heck of a lot cleaner than mine. I notice you are using an argon feed into the pipe to purge it. Do use a second tank for that or Tee off the main tank? And with a 240v machine what sort of current do you have it set for?
Hey buddy, thanks, it was getting into the swing of it by the end! I used the same tank with a Y-splitter with two air flow regulators. I ended up moving to a 20l tank as the smaller 10l tank was getting rinsed quickly! the current for welding was a pulse, around 3 pulses per second I think, with a max of 80 amps and background of 25% of that, so 20amps. pulse seemed to help me a lot. If I didn't pulse i had it around 45 amps with a foot pedal but wasn't as neat or easy for me.
 
First iteration of my front panel has been printed. Liking how it looks, some minor tweaks needed. I think I’m actually going to go with the 3D printed for the final but will skin it in carbon fibre or something. The ever evolving process that is custom bikes!
 

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My mate's gone absolutely doolally over 3D printing, he's gone from zero to hero on the things in a month. Now has three of them printing out stuff 24 hours a day. Such an amazing tool - do you do all the CAD work yourself too? I know my way around photoshop but know nothing about CAD, apart from the cardboard-aided version. I'm not bad at that.
 
Hey buddy, apologies for the delay! yes I love it, infact I'll share pictures of a prototype yoke shortly! So the CAD i do myself, I picked it up at school then always just kept it ticking along in the background, a handy skill for sure. however, the Cardboard Aided Design is also very helpful!
 
First attempt at yoke prototype fresh off the 3d printer
 

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