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Kimjon's Harley bobber project


Kimjon

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Meh, just use the 'rock side to side and listen for a slosh' method. 

I reckon those tubes ruin the clean look and are just something else to leak/go wrong. Far better spending your efforts on getting the fuel tap location right cos it sucks when you 'run out' but there's litres left in the tank. I know this cos i adjusted the angle of my tank after brazing in the tap... :)

Actually I'd rig up a trick bracket for a 1 litre alloy fuel bottle. They can look pretty cool, and when you do run out you've got enough to get to a servo...

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Haha, I'm not feeling the love for sight tubes eh.

Moving right along, I cut the coil tab off, now that its relocated to another place.

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And gone:

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Much better!

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It really opens up that space. I've always thought my tank was just a touch too long, but by opening up this space by removing the coil bracket it changes the proportions and makes the tank appear a touch smaller.

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I love this look, with huge gap between tank and neck of frame. The Japanese are making some of the baddest bikes on the planet these days. I love their edgy style and ability to push the styling limits.

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45 minutes ago, Chris.QCR said:

Yeah ive always looked to the Japanese for Harley Chopper inspiration and LuckMC builds the raddest bikes for sure ! Im digging that look on your bike now too

Fuck yeah, I've been a luckMC fanboy for a long time now. Just love their style.

 

 

I saw one of their earlier bikes about 8 years ago now and saved it as inspiration. They've built a heap more cooler bikes since then, like the one above.

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Okay, I ordered some brake lines. Custom made to my dimensions I supplied. Excellent service, happy with the product... but perhaps I should have taken more care with my measurements...

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So this banjo turned out to be an oddball at M11. Balls!!!! Cunt!!! Shit!!!

Of course I measured a couple and got M10 (3/8"), so simply assumed they were all the same, ordered all M10. Hmmm 3 out of 4 normally isn't too bad, unless its safety critical.

I've drilled it out to M11. I figured 0.5mm off each side won't affect the way it works that much. So I'll get some better washers and was thinking I'd probably just run it like that. But now...not so much.

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Everything else looks good.

The rear. Well I measured it all correctly, but didn't realise how small the 90° bends would be. Unfortunately so tight and small it cant reach the hole in the master cylinder for the banjo bolt. It's short of reach by about 10mm Balls!!!! Cunt!!! Shit!!!

So I bent it to 45°. But now I'm stressing that I shouldn't have done that, as it may fatigue crack. So I'm going to take it to a brake place in Hamilton and get them to put a new press fitting on it, for peace of mind.

So all in all, a bit of a fail.

 

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2 minutes ago, Lord Gruntfuttock said:

Yeah brakes is something I happily pay to get right, not stopping can coast a heap more than some new lines...

Yip, probably put this down to learning and get them all re-made again.

Guess that's the price of education sometimes.

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Okay, things aren't as bad as I thought. I took the lines into a brake shop in Hamilton.

Manager said that drilling out the M10 to 11mm is fine. No problem at all, something they often do themselves in fact. As long as I use quality copper washers and check it for leaks it's no problem. So that's reassuring.

The other line that I bent by hand from 90° back to 45°, he said is probably fine too, but a small question mark about the possibility of me over working it. No guarantee that it won't fatigue. So for 100% peace of mind I'm going to replace this line. He has more crimping options that may allow me to get the 90° bend I really desire, rather than accepting a 45° and making that work...so I'll probably get one made ($140-$160 per line...ouch)... but fuck it, I'm living the good life right now and don't want to check out this early.

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Just now, Raizer said:

Where'd you get then done?

Apex brakes in Canada. Much cheaper even including postage it was only $120 for both lines delivered. They meet SAE/DOT standards so all compliant. Delivery took less than a week to my door.

I fucked up my side of things. This would have happened no matter where I got them from. The mistake was mine.

Tempted to order another set from them, however my local guy has a longer fitting that better suits my needs. So I'll get them to make the rear line with this much longer fitting.

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Mint, might try them next build!

That sounds better than my experiences with custom brake lines, made the mistake of having lines custom made via eBay and AliExpress, they all leaked into the outer sheaf and then eventually popped it lol

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11 hours ago, Raizer said:

Mint, might try them next build!

That sounds better than my experiences with custom brake lines, made the mistake of having lines custom made via eBay and AliExpress, they all leaked into the outer sheaf and then eventually popped it lol

I Googled how the crimping is done. Out of curiosity...

Basically it has an inner part, that gets pushed inside the line, like a hose barb. And then the outer part is what you see (on the outside obviously). The two parts are positioned in a machine that hydraulically crushes them against each other locking it in place.

Very simple idea, but works great. Unfortunately each machine is only able to crimp a very specific size, so although very close, the guys in Hamilton couldn't cut my fitting off and put theirs on because of the slight difference in the sizes.

 

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So, funny story to tell. ( @Raizer please read, in case I've given you a bad lead on where to buy stuff from)

I noticed my brake lines didn't have printed markings on them, unlike the photos the guy had on his website. So having been through a cert before, got worried I actually have no proof that the lines meet any standards. So I emailed him, asking for something in writing to show he used the correct parts.

I got a weird response about how the website photos are 12 years old and manufacturer's don't print id marks on their lines anymore because customers don't like the writing on their custom bikes and that legally he can't show me any paperwork as it breaches his contract with the distributor of the brake line company... (bullshit).

So long story short, after a few emails he offered to refund my money. So basically I think the guy was full of shit. Anyway my PayPal account received a credit and I've got my money back.

So I'll take my $125 refund, add that to the $140 I was going to spend on the new rear line, and get exactly what I want here in NZ. Over double the price...but all legitimate, not dodgy underhanded tactics.

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Attacked my exhausts - cutting a fair bit off them, all in order of gaining a few inches of ground clearance.

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Then I shaped it a bit more to mimic the upper one:

 

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Trying to follow the line of the rear leg angle as much as possible.

 

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It's just sitting there loosely at the moment, but looking about right. I liked it better before...but there's always a price to pay in exchange for some practicality. 

I think I would have gained a fair amount of "lean" before it hits now. Probably 10° or more additional???

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The only thing that would have been more awesome, would be if they just sent me the right fucking ones...like I ordered...

Cunts fucked up the sizes and sent metric M10, instead of 3/8" -24 like I ordered.

Hero to zero...

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