Jump to content

Rat skin seat.


artyone

Recommended Posts

That's just come to me, Rat Skin seat, as the noble pussies, one of them, deposited a fresh kill just outside the door and a few years ago we had a few up in the attic and I trapped a bunch and as I'd see some craft work where someone was farming rats in the ceiling and then curing them, the skins, and making little rat skin pouches. I had a go myself and spent a few hours sharpening up knives then divesting the little dead bodies of their coats but left the skins too long in the old tea bags solution and they rotted.

suzi_zpssuffvhu2.jpg

I got this yesterday and I'm hugely chuffed as I'm so poor these days even the Mira is getting expensive to keep running so hooning about on a little beasty like this with a nice expansion chamber as jewellary hanging off one side really appeals to me.... and it's be so thin going between the cars on the motorway parking lot of modern Auck will be ton's of fun.

A.jpg

Good golly, I just got my own joke... Something like this but no shine, can't be bothered with shine, so ratty and if it's got a rat skin seat... Oh, how cleverly Ironic!

 

Custom chambers is just down the road, at least he was last time I looked sideways in the vicinty, but I had a word with him ages ago about just using his service to get the specs right,'cause I don't know shit 'bout designing 2 stroke expansion chambers or tuning stuff, and his foldy apparatus to assemble all the steels then I'll weld it all up and he was cool with that.

 

First things first though and a clear out of the working space and bringing down the box of collected odds and ends and whether I did keep those rear sets from an old 250 racer style honda and which tractor headlight will look good.

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually a Rat skin seat would have to go on the back burner as it'd take absolutely years unless I set traps down the back where the water is as relying on the cats just wouldn't work and if I did it'd be mouse bodies without heads and they'd be finicky as to skin.

 

Had a good day yesterday pulling it apart a little here and there thinking about what to fabricate and how to fabricate it... whatever it is. Basically I want to make as much use as possible with what I already have and today, when it gets light and I can make a noise, I'm going to cut up the handlebars and weld them up to be lower and more forward.

 

I've just finished going through all the 'Girl with the Dragon tattoo' movies and reading all the books again and I'm about a third of the way through the last one and so may actually go for the seat covered in leather with a dragon painted on it... maybe even on a woman's back.

 

One thing that's kinda head and shoulders above all the other ideas is that the backbone frame is the only thing that gets kinda lavishly painted, oh, and the seat, so the tank etc keep original paint with the rusty bits cleaned up and clear coated but the frame is bright blue and then loads and loads of Gypsy caravan decoration is applied in orange and green, or maybe I'll get frightened that's too much and go for lighter shades of blue.

 

Actually the seat might be an idea I've had for ages which is to have holes in it so any upholstery has to go inside the holes and get glued or pinned in to the base 'cause theres only really ones hip bones at the bottom of our ass which actually need support but I wouldn't go to the point where it's just two small circles of padding as in one each side.

 

Just went for a walk and had a look at the well rusted Wolf 90 I got from Japnut a few years ago and theres a slight chance I might be able to use the wolf wheels which have significantly bigger brakes... hmm.

IMG_20160320_080323_zps4tyovfu3.jpg

These are the pedals I got off some most alloy Honda years ago and they're a little high but that's where an available hole was. Passenger pegs will most probably go where the lower shocks mount.

IMG_20160320_080310_zpslqqt3glg.jpg

And the silver thing atop the motor is an air box from an earlier Suzi and theres the exposed fork springs which I quite like... and looking at the wolf it has much nicer spring seats. Theres also that hole in the side of the motor with the exposed electrical gizmo and I'm thinking a bit of brass over that with cutouts and a reasonably fine mesh behind it but I'm wondering about all that charged air around it bringing in dust and shit to plaque it up and I wonder if some clear resin might help as a window?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Il look for the news headline

 

Local man kidnaps, tattoos, and skins woman

 

 

 

stainless or brass mesh will be fine over that hole, and might look good. Drill and cut out the front brake housing too and put some in there as well. I did that to one of my old Hondas.

Pluss I'm sure you have some of that laying around, its commonly found in pipes and "flower vases"

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was building condenser microphones years ago using tiny little military spec valves and did the mesh thing for those but what I've got was chromed or stainless... though maybe I do have some brass somewhere.

 

Hairy pig... actually Goat is the one isn't it though not Angora, just plain shaggy bush Goat. Now I'm actually aware, as in the sun's up plain grass fed cow with hair intact riveted (brass with aluminium washers underneath anodised blue!) will do fine. Pig and Goat are open pored leathers whereas Cow isn't so it's much more water resistant. Now I'm thinkin' about a Suzi Wolf 90 front end as they are the same fork diameters and width across stanchions and have a larger diameter brake... except the one I have hasn't the outer case with pads and speedo drive and the lining is almost all rust as is the rims and spokes. The back wheel might fit too or at least the sprocket which is drilled and smaller. Back to the handlebars now as in cut and when filed... welded.

IMG_20160320_092448_zpsdmkbrfax.jpg

And I know this is on the wrong side but it's the oil can I'll use once I find some clever fellow who can actually weld aluminium. I was going to cut the back off it and put a flat across but seeing it goes into the battery hole I can cut another hole in the opposite side and bang out some steel to fit in which means the aluminum welding is just three small tube spigots for tap and level clear pipe. Plus I get to use some rubber and some bit's like below which are used in motorcycle packing crates to tie down the sickles.

IMG_20160320_093423_zpsf5uycm7e.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So I got in a day's work sorting out the front end a bit and then lookin' at it closer than I have the frame is both bent and twisted so it's taken a fairly major hit at some stage and that initially kinda perturbed me but eventually I figured I could wedge it under my car, just the frame, and most probably bend it back where it's be better suited to going in a straight line.

IMG_20160323_101803_zpsck5gmsqo.jpg

I cut up the handlebars and tack welded then into a more suitable guise and then mounted quite the nicely shaped speedo I had lying about which is somewhat art deco in shape and I do like art deco.

IMG_20160323_101812_zpskhuv6rmd.jpg

Then I made some headlight clamps. Next step I think will be doing a front mudguard as well as a seat base as I've got access to an english wheel and what might be a silly idea that half of some aluminium tube rolled through the wheels will become mudguard shaped... the seat though will need multiple bagging against a sandbag before it goes to the wheel for smoothing,

 

Over the past few days, as well, I've been researching that totally esoteric and arcane art of expansion chambers and also been down to chat to the man at custom chambers to the extent that I basically understand he uses a computer program to work out the dimensions for specific requirements given the setup of things such as ports, carburettors and powerband placement... which admittedly I can't really be bothered with but, at the same time should be?

 

I understand that form should follow function but I am somewhat too a fan of the idea that form can define function and the idea is that a really natty and suitable expansion chamber would have a header pipe that curls up and over the barrel and then the chamber does it stuff as it curls over the motor cases then snakes along the side next to, but not too close to, where the battery is with the, now I know the nomenclature, stinger over the rear shock and between what would be my lower left calf.

 

And I know too that that is like shouting at failure of function to come and be my best friend but at the same time I might be lucky and it does actually do what I require of a motor with power. I have found a fellow who has published dimensions for a chamber for an AX100 with a really good description of what he understands as the hows and why's which is really quite detailed so if I can combine this with getting the chap at Custom chambers to run some approximations of what I have through his program I can kind of put the two together and see how close or far apart they might be. He, at CC, has also said he can just do the rolling up of cones at a labour only cost even whilst I wouldn't actually mind having a go at that....

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMG_20160323_101741_zpswbufwxnf.jpg

Quick and mouse driven drawing of how I want the chamber to be and as a fabrication in steel quite an appealing challenge. First I gotta gets some bends to do the header pipe and then it'll be days of cardboard measuring and calculating to make cones and then tape them all together...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i run one of those chambers for my ax100, they have a pretty good power increase. and a really easy design to work with the bike. 
The length of your header will change the powerband, ol' mate has probably discussed that, so if you went for a moto-x style header and chamber above the engine results may vary.
one of those AX pipes on your bike will be fine, they have similar specs.  bump it up a jet size and perhaps a colder plug and you'll be away
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

http://dragonfly75.com/moto/AX100mods.html This is the guy I been reading the most and theres a link on the page to another just about the design of chambers... It's almost as if it's more about the exercise in fabrication than actually having something that works which is kinda stupid but then again I'm often a bit stupid. Like because it's just a challenge and getting my head around making cones and making them bend and being able to even weld it all together can just be an exercise in fabrication and after the bikes built and actually goes with some consistency and hopefully goes well I can get tuned pipes designed and make them in a more normal down the side and underneath kinda way... then hang the mad chamber on the wall somewhere or make it into a lampshade or something equally useless but interesting looking.

 The thing is also that if I could make a weirdly inappropriate chamber and the man at CC liked the skills involved I could even get some work there for pocket money and God knows some actual money would be quite nice at the moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...