Rear fender forming complete!

It took me over a year to decide how to finish the fender.
Once I got the final design in my head it took only 3 days to weld up and form.
I mounted it last night and I like it!

Tank completion is in Sight!

Getting close to finishing the gas tank. All that's left is to weld up the top, cut out triangle side plates and weld them, and weld on mounting tabs. Then it's time to sand and buff.

The tank is all aluminum, hand fabricated from 1/8" 6061 sheet. I posted photo's of the forming work in an earlier post. The tank features a 'pop-up' aluminum gas cap and 2 sight gauges. One on each side to indicate fill time.

Return to the ExBikes BLOG!

I lost permission to edit Exbikes blog in July, I don't really know why but James fixed it for me.
Thanks... James!

Everything is straightened out now, so I've got some catching up ahead of me!

Here's an updated comparison picture of the X-bike and 914. Headlight, tank, most of the cowling, front brakes, and handlebars are mocked up.... much more to do! The 2 cutout's
at the base of the tank are for mounting gasoline sight gauge's.

One of my favorite Pictures!

This photo always gets me going. I took it 2 years ago when I first got the X-bike frame rollable.

I parked next to the 914 so I could take this picture periodically as the build moves along.
.

I hope to have an updated version of this picture this weekend and I'll be sure to post it then!

Inside my Custom HID for the F2

Here is the diagram I came up with for using the original F2 handlebar mounted dimmer switch with the Nissan (solenoid operated) HID Lens I mounted in the "stoplight" style aluminum housing I made.

It turned out that I couldn't get away with just a relay, I had to add the diode so it was reverse biased when switching to the dimmer position. Otherwise, the relay would latch and not let the baffle spring back to dim the HID. Guess this was due to the voltage discharge time delay lengthened by the relay and solenoid in parallel making the handlebar switch faster than the dropping voltage across the two coils.

Also, I added "third eye" barend mirrors along with front turn signals..... finally ready for Virginia Safety Inspection!

The F2 is complete, for the most part anyway.
.

These photo's were taken while I was waiting for it to get dark enough to test the HID headlight I installed. I need to make a built-in focal length adjustment and a dimmer
circuit .

Luis, enjoying a beer, after riding from Virginia to Georgia on his GS500!
662 miles, 11 hours, then..... made it down to Biker Wednesday in Memphis!
Yah! Cudos to Luis!

F2 Update-
I'm about half-way through the F2 annual makeover. Awaiting HID kit, Perelli Diablo front tire, and 3RD eye bar-end mirrors. Here she is awaiting reassembly!


Forks "on" and calipers cleaned!


Truck bed liner coated parts dry'en!


Here's Cody's 450 project bike which he inherited from Jordan.


and another Jordan inheritance, Kyle's Yamaha frame.

Tonight at Ex-Bikes

I prepared the F2 for some standard maintenance and then a final remounting
of the new speedo and front light. Cody helped me mount the F2 up on the frame hoist and then helped on removing the front wheel, calipers, etc... After that Mark ordered two pizzas, I ran out and picked up some beers and we attempted to finish Marks bike. Installed the battery, gas tank, throttle cable, clutch cable, worked on the front brake, installed the pipes, and tried to fire it up. But, the ebay fuel pump Mark bought would'nt produce. So we decided to try again another day!

Here's a pic of Luis hanging his 650 out to dry!



And this one's great too ... it's Dori welding up a cracked NightHawk case in the vacuum assist weld chamber at the Ex-Bikes shop.


There's Charlie at the workbench just behind the red dollie. Charlie is the most experienced mechanic we have at Ex-Bikes... he's getting ready to remove the end pilot spacer from the 2.0 Liter type 4 crank that I plan to put in the engine for the Xbike.... Once the spacer was out we checked run-out tolerance between centers on the big Kingston lathe.

June 27th 2010
root's log

Today's blog is a diversion from the Type 4 "Rear Forward Bike Project", (X-bike).

I had to get away from the X-bike build for awhile.
I have a back log of projects to do and I'm committed to finishing them
before the summer is gone.

The X-bike needs to have a power plant worthy of it's
stature and I'm planning on building the engine this fall. It will be a 2.0 liter type 4
with Delortto 44mm Carbs.

Hopefully, the aluminum tank will be complete by the summer's end and the last major task will be the engine.

Anyway, here's what I diverted to last week......

I got an HID lens from Christian Fiorillo, (my log-time Bolivian buddy, who I often refer to as "Tonto"), He gave it to me a while back and have been planning on doing something with it for a while. Last week I got a new idea to make a housing from aluminum to hold the HID lens on the CBR, I made some bubble mount brackets and I'm going to try it as the headlight on the CBR 600. After finishing the headlight I cut out the original CBR speedo from the instrument cluster and made a housing for it to. I added 4 indicator lights for charge, neutral, oil, and high beam to the left side of the housing bracket.

june

X-Bike Update

June 6, 2010

Aluminum Tank Fabrication

I started using 1/8” thick 6061 aluminum sheet.

Cut out 3 pieces, 2 sides and a bottom sized to

span the top tubes of the bike frame and reach

from the steering yoke to the tranny cowling cover.

2 half- funnel shaped tank sides were formed from
8” diameter6061 aluminum tubing. 6061 is not friendly to bend. It put up a real
tuff fight when I was bending the smaller end.

funnel shapes were welded and a strengthening cross member was added.

The estimated tank volume according to root will be approximately 5 gallons.
So, 5 gallons X 50 mpg = 250 miles per tank fill........






Next,

Diagonal cuts were made in the tube sections to accept hammer formed front right and left side domes.

Left dome was welded and the tank was set on the frame to check for fit.

Prolly going to be a while 'till this tank holds petro!

X-Bike Update

List of recently fabricated items:

• Ninja hydraulic front brakes
• ‘38 fenderless Ford truck headlight pushed back into forks and remounted.
• Aluminum tranny cowling ruffed-in.
• Hinged aluminum chain guard ruffed-in.
• Rear Fender arched to match rear tire line.

Checklist to finish:

• Fabricate aluminum gas tank.
• Fabricate front fender.
• Foam and cover seat.
• Build 2.0L engine.
• Mount oil cooler.
• Disassemble, blast, and powder coat frame.
• Wire up ignition, lights, air bag controls, etc.

(hand formed aluminum cowling and rear fender)

Hi Kyle

You're going to rule!

Linkage Life!

After weeks of not posting I finally have an update on the jockey shift linkage I've been working on....

See the billard ball in the above pic? That's my shift handle!

The general theme here has been "test-and-try", I've been fabricating custom pieces for days, trying them out, then modifying them to fit or when there's just no hope for the little bugger, I end up throwing it away (cutting bait) and starting over again.

Finally, I think, I have it down to a working prototype that can be improved with a few new lever bearings. For now I have 2 nylon ball and socket joints that give universal movement forward / backward and side to side. I'll be sure to update this after I drop some cash for some new (LOW FRICTION) hardware. But for now it's a working 'home-brew' linkage.

Bearings and Seals are In

Everything is cleaned up, the outside is painted with Ceramic High Heat Paint. The bearings and seals are in!

Pressing in new diff taper bearings...

Here's the diff case with new taper bearing and seal.

Diff and cover ready for install...

Plop 'er in......

Seal and measure gap........

Stand 'er up and install the gear stack....

Check shiftability...... and it's VERY GOOD! Smooth, positive, w/2 quick moves and all 3 speeds!