LL's Bikit list

[legendlives]

......With the help of these two threaded brackets (which have since been welded in):

Will support the plate for the main electrical components:

The plate may or may not end up in this precise location, but it will be in that area.

The nice thing is that airflow over these components will be great!

[legendlives]

Up front, the Yamaha fork legs are a great fit into the Honda lower yoke, but the Honda top yoke was too small and I couldn't use the Honda bottom yoke/Yamaha top yoke as the spacings are different (Honda forks are closer together).

Necessity being the mother of invention, I made up this rudimentary boring bar for use in the mill:

It was a bit difficult setting the correct diameter for the bore, but once I'd done that it was a breeze!

Bored through and finished with a flapwheel:

And everything fits exactly!

I wanted to use the Honda yokes rather than the Yamaha ones as they have provision for the steering damper.

[legendlives]

I've decided to use wire wheels rather than alloys for a couple of reasons:

1. I can use the original shaft-drive rear hub.

2. I can use any size rim and have them laced to the original hubs.

And as I'm using the rear hub I may as well use the front as well. That also gives me twin-discs up front. Which is nice.

So with the forks now at the correct distance apart I can sort the front wheel mount. The Guzzi front axle needed turning down on one side and a split spacer on the other. I've also done away with the mechanical speedo drive and made a spacer to replace it:

That's enough catch-up for now. There's more in progress that I'll post in the next few days.

[legendlives]

It may have occurred to some that the monoshock Honda frame and dual shock Guzzi swing arm wouldn't work well together. Time to break out the tube kinker and TIG welder and make stuff happen.

The tube is 25mm OD x 3mm wall aluminium tube. It bent really well considering....

The front upright triangular box section is made (in 4 parts) from 3mm plate. 

Shock mount is turned from 6061.

I'll strip it out later and finish weld it then.

[legendlives]

The Guzzi swing-arm is asymmetrical and not at all the prettiest thing. The tubular frame follows the line of the swing arm and doesn't look too hot either!

On the right-hand side the rear of the tube frame had to be bolt on as the drive hub needs to remain removable. This bolts to the original shock absorber mount.

[legendlives]

The mount boss looks like this:

There will be quite a few of these around the bike. They're an interference fit into the tubes and are seam welded round.

Final bit of the swing arm (for now) is the shock absorber mount bush. Turned from nylon with a steel interior tube this pushes into the swing arm mount boss.

[legendlives]

The top shock mount on the CRF frame was offset to the right and way too narrow for the new shock. I cut the left-hand lug off and repositioned it around 15mm to the left:

 

With all of that done, time to trial fit the shock and see what it's like:

 

 

Everything will be tidied up a lot when it's stripped down, but for now I can get it on it's wheels and design the seat frame and side panels.

[legendlives]

Pressies!

In the absence of any shiny automotive stuff under the Christmas tree, for the last few days I've driven to Hamilton, Otorohanga, Morrinsville, Hobsonville, Manly and Clevedon to collect various vehicle related parts.

Purchase #1. $40

Renthal Fatbars. New price for these is around $250 so these were a steal. Not only that, but they came with the adapters to fit them to 'normal' risers:

Which are pretty horrible. They don't look nice, the shape is wrong and they push the bars up too high, so expect some machining in this area soon.

Purchase #2. $19.00

Fuel tank from a Honda VTR250. I bought a rough one as I intend to cut it up and make it follow the frame lines better. It's absolutely rust free inside so will take the welding well.

[legendlives]

Purchase #3. $50.00

Exhaust cans from a new Triumph Speed Triple. These were swapped out at the dealer for aftermarket items so are brand new.

On the Triumph they sit vertically, but I want to fit them horizontally side-by-side under the seat. The big heat shields unbolt so probably won't be used.

Purchase #4. $20

38mm stainless steel tube. No pictures as it isn't that exciting but I've got enough to complete the system.

The bike is starting to look like a bike now. I'll sort the mods to the tank first and then work out what seat, where the pipes will go and the design of the seat unit and side panels.

[legendlives]

Well I said to expect some machining!

With the risers turned down on the lathe:

And the adapters milled flat:

I could bolt them together. Before and after comparison:

And after a lot of flapwheel and file action they look a deal more ergonimic:

They will be smoothed and polished on final assembly, but I'm a lot happier with them now.

[legendlives]

The rear shock has a remote adjuster that needed a home and there was this spare angled tab on the inside of the left hand frame rail:

So I made up this bracket and spacers (held together with M6 countersunk bolts).

Bolted in place it is well out of the way, but still accessible:

More soon!

[legendlives]

On with the Guzzi Bro.....

The fuel tank mounts and seat subframe had to be made all at the same time and is quite a complex and time consuming task (which is why I haven't posted for a couple of weeks).

The Honda tank has a two-bolt fixing at the front whereas the frame only has provision for one. Simple enough task to cut the twin mount off and make and weld on a new single hole mount:

Slightly more time consuming than that as I made the new one too short (d'oh!), but with a new, new single hole made in the correct length and welded to the tank, the front mount is done:

Rear mount is made from 3mm aluminium plate and has a boss with a deep M8 hole welded into it. Obviously this could only be mounted after the seat subframe was made.

[legendlives]

The front of the subframe bolts to the original CRF mounts using a couple of these welded into the ends of the seat tubes:

The lower end of the diagonals screw into the rear engine mount extensions. The extensions can now be shaped up and double-skinned to match the frame dimensions.

[legendlives]

With the tank fitted, and stepping back to admire my handiwork it's obvious that the rear of the frame is too low, but that's easy enough to remedy. The good news is that the bike proportions are starting to look good (IMHO).

[legendlives]

Looking at the above photo it's obvious that the back of the bike is too low, and the engine at too much of an angle so I need to increase the height.

Out with the grinder and cut it all up (and probably not for the last time).

With the ride-height mods done courtesy of this over-engineered bracket:

it looks a whole lot better IMHO:

 

[legendlives]

While I was hacking stuff up I thought I'd attack the ugly swing arm. It now looks like this:

Which adds absolutely no strength, but does look better.

Raising the rear end has highlighted another problem. The seat is now too high for my meagre stature. Out with the grinder again and....

The steeper angle on the rear shock has allowed me to lower the seat frame. I've also extended the seat tubes and relocated the diagonals. The rear tank mount is also lower which has brought the tank more in line with the frame.

I'm desperately in need of a starter motor (which doesn't cost more than I've spent on the entire project) so if anyone knows of a secondhand/damaged/broken Guzzi starter please let me know.

[legendlives]

One of the glaring mis-matches is that reverse curve on the front of the tank:

I want the line of the tank to follow the line of the frame and make it look more 'factory', so I started by welding a flange into the front seam:

Then welded in a false front panel (it's just aesthetic - won't be full of fuel):

[legendlives]

Then welded in a closing panel and smoothed off the lumpy bits:

[legendlives]

Obviously it will need more smoothing and a skim of filler, but looks much better:

There will be more tank modifications before it's finished, but I like the fit a lot more now.

[legendlives]

And in other news, I had wanted to have the silencers under the seat, but trying them in place it was obvious they would cause a few issues, so I welded in a couple of heavy gussets to the rear of the seat subframe and bolted the silencers on the sides:

I quite like it, I think it suits the style of bike I'm trying to achieve.