Building headstock, yokes, etc from scratch

[el Diablo Guapo]

i just put a plate on top with pegs welded to the bottom of it that fit into the top of the fork legs. It is wicked rigid
View attachment 137676View attachment 137677
the headtube nut holds it all together
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It is all about the shapes. Those "triangles" are much more rigid and strong than the material alone and the forces are passed along (to the next weakest spot- ha)

N- yer stuff always looks so good!
Love the chalk drawing (on the van i assume)

 

[nosferatu1381]

It is all about the shapes. Those "triangles" are much more rigid and strong than the material alone and the forces are passed along (to the next weakest spot- ha)

N- yer stuff always looks so good!
Love the chalk drawing (on the van i assume)

Westy

 

[el Diablo Guapo]

Westy
View attachment 137694

Is that an extra exhaust pipe up front, there?

 

[hamqqea]

VWbus smoking spliff, what next?

Axle/sealed bearings from a Murray Fire Cat.

 

[karl beacham]

OK so both top and bottom are welded to forks.

I was thinking maybe a solid 30mm aluminium rod going all the way through with tapped hole bottom and top and something like M12 screw both sides

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[el Diablo Guapo]

Axle/sealed bearings from a Murray Fire Cat.
View attachment 137697
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This right here is how i started off doin' choppers!
as a kid i got a fire cat from the neighbor kid,
pulled it apart and stuck it on my s-ray/scrambler frame
never looked back...

 

[hamqqea]

Either motorbike bolt/bearing headset or removable top plate design shown earlier should work fine. I like the idea of having the legs adjustable for testing. Different materials can be tried.
Keep track of the steering trail length and rake angle. The front wheel may have to be moved forward with a zero offset for proper handling. Front dropouts past the legs look cooler to me than at the bottom of the legs.

 

[el Diablo Guapo]

OK so both top and bottom are welded to forks.

I was thinking maybe a solid 30mm aluminium rod going all the way through with tapped hole bottom and top and something like M12 screw both sides

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That fire cat is a weird set up IMHO
"most" systems have the steering tube connected to just the bottom plate, and the top plate is screwed in place by the steer tube crown, The fork legs are clamped or bolted in place ( often the bottom plate is the same, legs clamped in)

This allows for using standard hardware and bearings etc.

 

[el Diablo Guapo]

Here are some images of a schwinn OCC system (blue) and a huffy WCC system

the WCC system actually uses a threadless mount! the plate is clamped to the steer tube . These work perty much like N13's chalk-up

You can see the plate(s) is slit and clamps the fork leg. The blue one is bolted in with a friction insert at the top of the fork

 

[el Diablo Guapo]

Or of course, there is always the way i used to do it...

Sometimes you'd be riding along and notice the pedal draggin' cuz something bent
but, i mean the forks are like 6 feet long, so that is a lever

 

[nosferatu1381]

that fork leg just gave me galvanic flu

 

[el Diablo Guapo]

that fork leg just gave me galvanic flu

I just wait for the wind to blow a little... ;-)

 

[hamqqea]

There real trick here is how to fit square legs cleanly I think.
The initial design I posted supports both square and round tubes. I use bolts to illustrate where the legs are connected to L brackets but any sort of clamping mechanism could be used temporarily or permanently.

 

[karl beacham]

There real trick here is how to fit square legs cleanly I think.
The initial design I posted supports both square and round tubes. I use bolts to illustrate where the legs are connected to L brackets but any sort of clamping mechanism could be used temporarily or permanently.

Yeah the square shape is limiting for sure.

The picture below was my initial idea. But that's not going to suitably clamp square legs. Or is it. The clamping force would only be on two side right?

The benefit of your initial idea is I can use the same design across three potential applications.

First one is longer 45deg rake chopper style
Next would be maybe 20ishdeg rake cafe racer style
Finally something like a 30deg+ bobber style

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[nosferatu1381]

You can still use fork like that if the bottom yoke is welded. If you look at this it has fasteners in the top of the fork legs. The top yoke is bolted to the top of the legs

Also look at the bar mounts. If your fork leg clamps had two fasteners like that you could get all four sides of square tubing with compression

 

[nosferatu1381]

Making it adjustable to fit different size headsets is the real challenge. CNC cut aluminum yokes offer that adjustability .
These are a couple of bikes I used that fork you pictured.

Instead of a single fastener clamp you could consider two fasteners for the square tubing so they pull "L's" together

 

[hamqqea]

Actually, an existing triple tree fork can be used by welding in X4 V notches so it's also adjustable along the steerer. Again, the clamping method is the creative part.

I played around with sandwiching aluminum V blocks between the top and bottom plates in Blender. Rather than a weld the plates are bolted together so the top plate could be removed to install the lower plate with a 1'' fixed steering tube. If there's room a conventional headset is easiest. The unit could then be boxed in with plates.

 

[nosferatu1381]

Actually, an existing triple tree fork can be used by welding in X4 V notches so it's also adjustable along the steerer. Again, the clamping method is the creative part.

I played around with sandwiching aluminum V blocks between the top and bottom plates in Blender. Rather than a weld the plates are bolted together so the top plate could be removed to install the lower plate with a 1'' fixed steering tube. If there's room a conventional headset is easiest. The unit could then be boxed in with plates.

You definitely said that better. I am more of a chalkboard then just make it work guy. I actually used chalkboard paint on my bus so I could scribble an idea onto it and try it later

 

[karl beacham]

You guys rock.

I like v notch idea a lot.



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[hamqqea]

You guys rock.

I like v notch idea a lot.



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What version SketchUp are you using? Would you be willing to send me your 3D files?