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Do you remember the abomination of a brake hanger that I showed you a while ago? Well, the time has come to make a proper one. This is how I go about it. There are of course a lot of ways that you could do it, but this is an easy one, especially if you are familiar with Adobe's wonderful vector-drawing application "Illustrator".
The prototype made from scrap pieces of steel (top part of image) is fundamentally correct, but has an awkward shape that I want to improve on. I also want to add some "meat" to certain parts of the hanger now that we're switching from steel to aluminium. So I put the prototype on a flat-bed scanner and place the resulting JPEG-file as a background image in a new Illustrator drawing.
Using vernier calipers, I take some really exact measurements of the real thing (length, width, size of the hole for the steel spacer) and make sure that the scanned image of the hanger gets the exact right size in Illustrator. Now that I have the scanned image as a background/template in the right size, I can draw a nicer looking hanger "on top of it" and still get the measurements correct and the needed holes in the right place (lower part of image). Once satisfied, I do a printout of my new hanger in 100% and check against my prototype.
Finally, I export the Illustrator file as an "AutoCAD Drawing"/dwg file and send it off to the laser/water cutters. If all goes according to plan I will receive a 15 mm thick alu part cut to my specification next week. This part will need a little bit of milling to get the right thicknesses (its thicker at the back) but it's still easier than doing the whole thing in the mill.
BTW: The reason why the hanger is a little bit longer than normal is that I want to be able to secure the "tuning fork" part of the hanger to the little stud inside the swingarm that keeps the hanger from rotating, using a screw. And in order for me to get to that stud it needs to be welded a little further forward on the swingarm – to clear the brake disc. The hanger will be black and most of it will be hidden by the black swingarm anyway so that's no problem.
Can anyone point me in the direction of a mechanically driven speedo that would work together with my Ducati speedo drive? I can't find one I like. This one from Deus is passable, but surely there must be a firm somewhere that specialises in old school mechanically driven speedos?
Well, that's the name: Star Bars. Supplied by Outtacontrolla from his "Red Max Speedshop" at a very reasonable 80 quid including postage and packaging.
When I unpacked them my first thought was: damn they are REALLY wide. But once on the bike they give that flat special flat track look that is so hard to describe to people who never heard of the sport. And they look quite well made too. Glossy black [of course] anodising, matching the forks perfectly and with a really nice matte, almost crackelated finish on the "bird pearch" as we call it i here in Sweden. And what's even better: they don't have any ugly painted logos or anything like that. Just a small and tasteful "Star Bars" embossing on the central part of the bars. You see, we want the designer stuff – we just don't want it to be too obvious:-)
Now, if you've been in any way inspired by my little build and is currently sitting in your garage, espresso in your left hand and angle grinder in the other, thinking; hm, that old Gold Wing might look good with a new frame and some 19 inchers, then by all means go for it. But before you tear your bike to pieces, do yourself a favour and take lots of pictures, from all possible angles. Trust me, you will thank me later. I am at the moment trying to modify my wiring loom to fit my now totally modified bike, and the pictures I took before starting the disassembly are really worth their weight in gold (if a digital image actually weighs anything...?).
On a side note: looking at my "before-pictures – what a terribly messy job the Italians did with the wiring on my original Husky! It looked like a Calcutta street corner, loose wires hanging everywhere. I promise to do a much neater job this time around.
I've said it before, but it bears saying again: it's a good thing I don't do this for a living. I've been dicking about with the angle of the muffler and the connecting pipe now for days, without finding that elusive, perfect solution.
I tried the shallower, scrambler-looking position (see last post) for the muffler for a couple of days, but I just COULD NOT get the link pipe between the 2-into-1-pipe and the muffler to look good. The angle and curvature of the link pipe clashed terribly with the angles of the frame. It looked like an afterthought (which in essence it was - but don't tell anyone...). I now have a whole heap of discarded pipes on my work shop floor, and a new-found respect for people who make exhausts as a regular job.
As you can see, I have now gone with a much steeper angle for the muffler, which makes the link pipe much easier to get right. It's now parallel with the support strut for the seat and doesn't break with the overall lines of the bike. The increased angle (which was suggested by "Outacontrolla" BTW) actually looks more flat track than Scrambler as well. Or is this just my brain trying to justify my decision to give up on the other position? Hm. Next up: moving the mounting point for the muffler a little bit backwards and fabricating a little hanger to replace the strip of duct tape. I don't fancy the "clamp hanger" that came with the muffler.
My Supertrapp exhaust arrived yesterday and I'm now trying to decide on the optimum position for it. I've tried quite a few different angles and found that a slightly forward sloping angle works best (see image).
Marcus of Marcus Moto Design, gave me some feedback on my first attempt and suggested that I put the exhaust as high as possible in order to show off as much as possible of the wheel. A valid point and I have now moved it up as close to the seat unit as I dare (I don't want the heat to spoil the paint). Looking at the image now, I think I'll try to lessen the angle a little bit further to make it a little bit more parallel with the seat unit (also one of Marcus' suggestions). But I still want to keep a little bit of forward lean. I tried the fully parallel route but it looks to static and "slow". What do you think?
I may add a laser cut polished stainless heat shield with the same style holes as in my radiator guards, for that old school scrambler look. More on that later.
Have you ever noticed that 99% of all bikes have the speedo drive on the left side of the front wheel? Neither had I. Well, at least not until I started to look for a new speedo drive to replace the original one on my Husqvarna, which for some unknown reason was mounted on the right side.
Since my new front wheel spindle has a diameter of 25 mm – in order to fit my Gixxer forks – the old 20 mm speedo drive wouldn't fit, and couldn't be modified (like enlarged/drilled or something like that). After a lot of digging in the intertubes, I found that some Ducatis use a 25 mm front spindle and I finally found a drive from a 996 at my local breakers in Fleninge outside of Helsingborg, who incidentally is THE least service minded and friendly establishment I've ever had the displeasure to visit. Anyhoo, the problem is, as you can see in the image, that the Ducati drive is meant to be mounted on the left side and can't be flipped over and mounted on the right side, since it then spins the speedo wire backwards. And there is simply not enough room on the left side where the disc carrier gets in the way of the speedo cable...At this point you are probably asking yourself; why the hell doesn't he stop this nonsense and mount a modern little magneto driven speedo instead? Well, first of all: I like a challenge, and secondly: I really want a nice looking proper mechanical speedo, and not some poncy liquid crystal, glorified pedal bike computer. I know that the 996 drive won't be very exact since it's calibrated for a 17 inch wheel, but that a compromise I can live with.
I sat wracking my brains for hours on how to modify the drive gear or the spindle in order to make it all fit. Then it suddenly struck me. What if I simply flip the wheel over? After all, I can just as well run the brake disc on the right side... I'm not entirely sure if this means that I have to exchange my Tochico brake caliper for a right side one, or if mine can be used, but that's a small issue. Time to start looking for a nice looking speedo. Any suggestions?
Do you remember the abomination of a brake hanger that I showed you a while ago? Well, the time has come to make a proper one. This is how I go about it. There are of course a lot of ways that you could do it, but this is an easy one, especially if you are familiar with Adobe's wonderful vector-drawing application "Illustrator".
