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Kimjon's Harley bobber project


Kimjon

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On 03/04/2020 at 17:58, Muncie said:

You'll have this ready for cert by end of this lockdown. Good shit! 

Pretty sure once you have it idling it'll be finished as soon as the last parts arrive from Ebay.:grin: should totally make it run.

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It's surprising how many hours and dollars go into these projects eh. I make life hard for myself by making as much as I can to try keep the overall price down (false economy, but also a weird sense of pride I get being able to say I made most of it). Initially I kept receipts, but when I got to 13K about 3 years ago I stopped adding it up, as it was far from finished then and at that point I realised I could probably import one already done from the States for money it was going to cost me when finished. 3 years later, I think the cost of it would buy me an RX7 or maybe half an RX3 coupe. And that's not including any of my time. 

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So, my model of motor was an earlier version of the Evolution 1340cc. The main difference between these two is the later evo's have a head vent for removing crankcase pressure and the early models have a crankcase breather.

So mine has the crankcase breather, not the head vents. However my carburetor is off a later model, so is setup to suck crankcase gases from the heads.

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Banjos for head breathers. These are about 16mm diameter, quite big eh.

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Huge holes for oversized banjos to go in, but behind this is only a 5/16 unc (about 8mm) threaded hole in the head. So a 16mm banjo isn't going to go in an 8mm hole.

So, my first idea was to eliminate the pcv system altogether. But then I'd have shifted the problem;

○ I'd have to make spacers for the carburetor steady.

And 

○ I would still have 2 hoese to block off coming from the air intake.

 

So, my cunning plan, make a stepping washer to centre everything, then bolt it up with the required 5/16" bolts that will effectively blank off the pcv valves.

So, time to get to work with shit lying around...covid19 lockdown prevents zipping into town to buy some materials, so I'll have to make do.

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This will work, just needs some love to shape it into something useful. Luckily I have a small box of these pneumatic fittings.

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Starting to look the part.

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Better.

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Fuck yeah! That'll do it...

 

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On 19/04/2020 at 09:30, Kimjon said:

It's surprising how many hours and dollars go into these projects eh. I make life hard for myself by making as much as I can to try keep the overall price down (false economy, but also a weird sense of pride I get being able to say I made most of it). Initially I kept receipts, but when I got to 13K about 3 years ago I stopped adding it up, as it was far from finished then and at that point I realised I could probably import one already done from the States for money it was going to cost me when finished. 3 years later, I think the cost of it would buy me an RX7 or maybe half an RX3 coupe. And that's not including any of my time. 

I’d have to agree with you there.. when I built mine from scratch (2004-2011 from memory) I stopped counting the cost, but worked out it got up to around $20-25k In the end. 
It was a fun journey and I often catch myself reminiscing and wanting to do it again , but I remind myself of that cost then let it go haha

 

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8 minutes ago, Chris.QCR said:

Im gonna sort out the last few jobs real soon. 

Ol mate @Kimjon had been inspirational with the regular updates. Im gonna shuffle my shed around tonite and get it into a better spot for working on 

Do it.

Best thing I did was stick it on a dolly and roll it from my house to the workshop. That way it was in my sight and I couldn't ignore it anymore. It was in the house for 2 years and I basically didn't do any work on it because I couldn't be fucked going back and forth to the shed.

Definitely buying a bike that goes, then modifying it from there is the smart way. Buying it one bit at a time isn't cheap and I've had to learn what every bit does along the way. Also I've brought many bits 2 or 3 times, as the compatibility issues between models and years has caught me out many times.

But it's a fun journey all the same.

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Today's efforts, take a chunk of scrap:

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Add some more scrap metal to it...

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Mill the bejesus out of it...

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Add a speedometer...and fuck yeah!

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Just in case you were wondering if I can actually see it when on the bike, the last pic was taken sitting on the bike.

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The cable has a straight line down to the speedo drive, so will look tidy and minimize the ugliness of needing a cable. And it keeps the handlebars looking clean, plus the springs are where a normal speedo goes, so all up I'm stoked with this.

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Mmmm, shiny. Buffed it up on the rag wheel. Bracket looks like it belongs there now.

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I learnt that aluminum is a very good conductor of heat, far out it gets very hot, very quickly... hot fingers! No pain, no gain or something like that all the tough kids used to say?

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Thats looking tough man!
I actually don't think that rear guard looks bad at all to be honest..

I hear sissy bars are quite easy to make - that could be a little mini project to keep you going for all of an hour haha.
Surely you could make something rad out of scrap you have laying about! Would be cool if you had some twisted looking metal. Would match the springer front
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Was on a teleconference for 4.5hrs about health and safety today. I tried to fake attention for as long as I could. I lasted about 2 hours, then glazed over...far out...could have summed it up and just said "right you cunts, don't do anything dumb" and that would've just about covered it.

Anyway, while this enthralling conference was going on I noticed something for the first time, a potential health and safety problem of my own, but not a bullshit hypothetical one, an actual real world problem.

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Yip, my belt could contact this gearbox mount. Fuck!!!

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(Warning 1:41 of your life you'll never get back if you watch this)

So using what limited materials I have, I made this up. Hopefully its thick enough to space the pulley off the hub a sufficient amount? My entire bike is offset by 1/2", so I'm thinking a 1/4" spacer may not add up. It looks like it's going to work...but after that teleconference and an hour on the lathe all I can think about us getting fucked up so I don't have to think about today. Beer o'clock is well and truly calling. Fitting this can wait until tomorrow.

 

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Balls!!!!

Okay, looks like to be safe the 1/4" isn't the best idea, so better to go with a full 1/2" offset spacer for clearance.

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This is with the 1/4" spacer in. It clears the gearbox mount...but only just! If the belt slops around, as they do when you go WOT then suddenly back off...there is a chance of the belt whipping and hitting that mount. It may never happen, but may as well do it right.

I could cut the mount, but I'd rather not fuck with that, as the motor and gearbox are sitting perfect right now, all fully aligned and flat on the same plain.

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But, as you all know. The moment you shift something, it creates flow ons. I now need to remake this fender strut. Double balls, as it cost me $50 to get this one chromed and it looked fucking good too!

And

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This entire mounting system of holding the rear fender, oil tank and remote oil filter has to be remade too. It would work with 1/4", but not with the 1/2" offset.

So this minor oversight is a bit of a cunt, as its created a lot of work. 

 

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Would it not be easier just to mod the gearbox mount a little? I know you said you dont wana farrk with it but it would save the flow on effect? Looks like theres an another mount close by so if you cut and shut it everything should stay as it is?

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It's certainly a possibility, but I really don't want the drama associated with warping the mating surfaces. That would create a real issue that I can't afford to have.

The hardest part of making those other brackets was coming up with the measurements and figuring out what it needed to do in the first place. Building them all over again will be relatively easy the 2nd time around, once I can get hold of some steel.

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