gazguy

Today I was planning on welding up some patches on my vauxhall but the weather turned to shit, so I thought I'd do some work on my ct90. 1st I cut some 41mm tube to make a double downtube, but because its above the downtube does that make it the top tube? Then i trimmed up some 18g steel, drilled some holes ready for dimple dies then put a small brake on the edges so it sits better on the tube. At 1st i was going weld the plate to the tubes but wondered how I'd remove dirt that would gather inside. So I flagged that idea and now it will be held on with button head cap screws. Ill change

A while back I cut and machined some 25x50 RHS to make a swing arm, just to see how it would work out. So I jigged it up and glued it together. I still need to notch the brace to allow for more movement as it currently hits the frame under full load. Ive got a pair of Aliexpress Ohlins knock off shocks to go on too

Lately Ive been having a clearout of stuff that I really dont need, that includes unfinished projects. So to help things along I bought an old CT90 frame and front end. Plans for the bike are to strip it to bare minimum, Lifan it and ride the fuck out of it at the waimak tracks. There will be some small bits of fabricating but nothing too extreme and keep it quite simple and tasteful. The theme of the bike is The Pork Chop Express from the 80s movie Big Trouble in Little China. I have a thing for 80s movies, I named my poo brown C50 after Sexual Chocolate from Coming to America

Once i got the 45 degree bends positioned to where i wanted i set about making the tailpipes. Originally I wanted rippled pipes and tried having a bash myself with no real results to show for it as the tube was too heavy a gauge, so ive settled for just straight pipes with a flared end which i made myself by making a tapered die on the lathe at work and used my hydraulic press to put the flare in. Id used a tow ball for my 1st goes which looked not too bad but it was hard to get the tow ball to sit perfect and it would give an uneven flare. Overall im quite happy with how the exhaust has

Once I got the bends I ordered from Uniweld I slowly started piecing them together. I pretty much redid the whole top pipe with a 90° which looks so much nicer. Then I added 2 straights with a 45° at each end. To get the tubes to line up nice for welding then metal finishing I made a clamp made from some bits of 25mm angle, some round bar and 2 hose clamps

I found some old bends in my box and had a go at the other exhaust. I was gonna tig it together but I ran out of argon. I'm thinking of buying a 90 bend to replace the tube that runs across the timing cover so there's less welds and overall better finish

I mulled over that exhsust last night and I wasn't 100% on it so I had a rethink and decided the other side would run over the top of the timing cover. And the right side would go straight out and down. It was a bit of mish getting the tubes to run parallel with both the down tube and bottom frame rails but I got there in the end. On to the other side when I get more tube.

Today I threw those forks on to see how they'd look, I'm thinking a 2inch drop to get the frame rails parallel with the ground, but overall I'm pretty happy with them. I also made a start on the exhausts with some 180 bends i had lying around. I'll get some more bends to do the other cylinder when I get the chance.

Shit 2 years since I last posted about this bike! This year is gonna be the year I really put some more effort in to this thing. I got these forks to replace the current ones. I'm gonna shave and polish the lower legs and give them a general once over. Other plans for the bike are to remake the hardtail, so I'll get some tube ordered at work and get it bent up and fizzed together and transfer all the parts from the current engine into some good condition cases that I've got stashed away.

Have you tried Butlers in chch?

Thanks again Chris, you and Aaron have got me fizzing about starting my moped build

This things been put on hold for a while. Pretty much too many projects and the missus not too happy about me working on them. Plus they're all out at my parents place. I've been trying to spend my time getting my Vauxhall and cf Bedford roadworthy. So it's about time I got started on it again. Put on a headlight I've had stashed for a while. Really suits the style of the bike.

i bought a convection heater from the warehouse to bake parts in, like the ones you use to warm up pies and savories you could try one of those.

All good, cheers Al

I'm thinking of putting a Nissan diesel engine in my cf Bedford. Its already coming out of a Bedford and comes with the mounts. How much would it roughly cost to get it certified? Cheers, Gaz