Isn't it funny

[BWSmith]

Cap,haha... love to have ya. Building cool chit is how we roll. If you have a project,bring it. I'll point you in the right direction for equipment. "There's the 1940's over there"...

Over here,is the Asian invasion,with closing in on state of the art dust collection. Wood wacking and painting requires it. So, there's also a fabtastic sheet metal section,which is always fun.

You could spend. hrs here just looking. Or pull up to a piece and work on it?

Pro class paintworks is my therapy. How fast can you go from point A to point,ho Lee Chit.

[BWSmith]

Got paid to work on my K bike yesterday;

Polly's '16 Subaru is a Linda Blair edition.... as such,I've learned some new religious words when working on it.

So,changed Linda's oil and rebooted the whatever drive. While that bit of exorcism was being performed... I worked on my bike,bwahaha.

Needed a little more expanding on a factory Ducati pipe end so took care of it with ZERO drama(Linda,you watching?) and went about some more fitting and welding. Happy about the $$ gig though. Would've been 300$ at the stealership.

So,this morning am watching YouTube vids on a $10K Bailiegh exhaust bending/swaging machine. I don't know if it was the stupid effin design or the dumbchit using it but..... he was making a complete mess of expanding some cheap autozone 2" pipe. Took 3 attempts to get it expanded. You know that kind of tubing.... the stuff that is some kind of coated mystery metal.

I'm talking 16g 304 stainless on the stuff we're using and it will do the biz with a few pumps on the handle.

So am pretty stoked.

[BWSmith]

Here's a pic of how I've been cutting the stainless;

There's at least 1/2 dz bandsaws around here. A cpl that would apply towards this end is a really nice,gearhead 7X12 horizontal. And a ridiculously bada$$ Walker Turner vertical with "the" gearbox. Rare as hens teeth but,here it sits.

But they just don't have the quickness of this little guy. The thing takes but a minute to completely reconfigure for whatever angle/bevel needed. Then zap down the plumbers strap and get on with it. Water cooling is the magic on any stainless cutting. Need patience for the cut,and water.

[Capnrip]

A band saw is a handy tool.

[BWSmith]

Gotta build a wooden buck of sorts today;

Rear bodywork needs to come off,which is what this whole thread sorta started as.....

I need to make a quick,wooden support to hold endcans centered over rear tire,and serve as a spacer,alignment fixture so the last bits of tubing can be fitted. It will attach to the tire,put trans in gear when it's doing the job at the 12:00 position.... pop trans in neutral,leaving buck attached to tire..... and it will turn away,to allow can removal. Just makes it easier to get to these last joints with subframe off.

Then it's on to buttoning up the rear subframe,putting in the cross bracing pieces that hold the exhaust.

[BWSmith]

Did learn on this project;

Cheap V bag rests,are the doodoo for no scratch welding accessories.

[BWSmith]

Oh yeah,this square box is,or came, into focus on this project. From a fixture standpoint. Like 1,2,3 blocks in the machine shop. This simple rectangle is the doodoo as well.

[BWSmith]

Cool,made the wooden buck. Duct taped to wheel,worked precisely as planned,roll wheel and it moves right out the way.

Did not have to remove rear section to RR the endcans. If it was 1/2" more,one direction it wouldn't though. Just sayin,this is nested about as good as can be done. I'm 110% satisfied with it.

Hate to cover the cans up with rear section. But on one of these pics you can see how much is going to be visible through the open sides.

[BWSmith]

[BWSmith]

Oh yeah,there's no connection to the subframe above. The construction sees the whole system just sitting there so,it was a success. Meaning,you don't need the tail section to hold it up.... you can leave the cans and pull the whole subframe. Battery hangs off main frame.

[BWSmith]

Battery box was made with some scraps laying around. It isn't the final product but.....

You can design,engineer,model,etc until the Kaw's come home or.... take some scrap and do a run through checking machine setups and seeing if the dang thing actually works. Choosing the latter "proved" out the notion. Battery is in it,and is easily hooked to a charger.

Could list the benny's but don't need to. It's way more convenient.

The next version will have a kydex cover so need to lengthen/widen the whole assembly 1/4" to receive it. Got some more things done on the bike. Waiting on some stainless round rod for exhaust hangers.

[BWSmith]

Have been mixing up the project;

It keeps things flowing even when there's parts being shipped. Was dreading the cleaning of the existing throttle bodies but,the little spraygun had me grinning from ear to ear once again. It's like,now you see it,now you don't magic.

It's during this process that the bench work started in ernest on the extra set of TB's. Here's a quicky viability run through on machining new,larger.... and lightyear smoother intake runners. 6061 aluminum with threaded uppers to receive different "tops".

The inside is setup to,once epoxied on(reinforcement for the thinning that comes with opening them up) to bore it out on the Bridgeport.... well,that's the plan. This was the 1st hurdle. And once again,to go about processes from a construction and possibly laziness aspect than any think tank engineering. If you want the TB opened up,this is gonna be the 1st step.

[BWSmith]

Here you can see how much we're removing from TB bore

[BWSmith]

Gas tank on today. Installed a brass,barbed T in the gas line. Will make draining gas a cinch.

With tank on,and exhaust in place.... can finally finish the subframe. The lower "legs" need to be lengthened but,is based on the gas tank interface.

Hard to see but battery is in and hooked up.... albeit in mock up form. Gonna hit that hard next.

[955i]

BW. I don't understand but about half of what you are talking about. I understand about that much of what I'm seeing. BUT, I know enough to know that you are creating one heck of a great Brick Bike. I have very much enjoyed this thread and always look forward to the next chapters.

With this picture with the tank on, I am getting a view of what the project will look like when finished. Congratulations on the progress thus far. I know the finished product will be tops.

[BWSmith]

Well changed my mind on the battery box. Ice the stainless.... going with mild steel because it'll paint easier. Black,and it all sorta just disappears.

One goal,of many,is to make this bike even MORE "wrench" friendly. Disconnect battery terminals,and the whole box/battery come out as a module.

[802Mike]

Are you using one of those tiny batteries that can be laid on their sides?

[BWSmith]

Standard battery.