New Chopper build started today...

Bike Wall
Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
bikeriderx said:
That is one sick bike Travis!!! :shock:
Hey Kim, as of 07:15 (local time) 11/7/09 all the pics are viewable for me... :?
Click to expand...

Very strange, i cant view any of Travis's pics i used to be able too....shall re-boot my modem tonight see if that makes a difference, tried a different browser with same result, just the word 'image' where pics should be can see everyone else..


KiM

EDIT: OK..first Travis...mice work, prefer the first shifter though, keen to see how well this fork works too mate, have you rectified the amount of steering angle available?....

RE: the images the only way i can manage to get your pics up is using a proxy server my ISP must have a block on tinypic no idea why...
 
I think I've got the steering sorted. Lets just say its a chopper not a race bike. Its not meant to turn sharp corners. I think if I chuck up and turn the balls and the end plates in the lathe I should be able to gain another 10 degrees total bring it up to 40 degrees lock to lock. Crazy thing is I've seen these exact bearings used in this same orientation on an offroad race car as the front suspension joints. You'd think that if they worked in that application it should work fine on a bike, right?

I'm off to the hardware store, I'll add pictures of the front end later today.

Travis
 
Pictures of the fork as it comes together! Yep after spending $26.99 on a drill bit to drill a total of 8 holes I got the fork together enough to make templates for the spring plates and other brackets and the headlight mount. Its coming together.

2qktt7q.jpg


ru4qds.jpg


jrf9e8.jpg


zwgtiw.jpg


2u5gqdh.jpg





28tfl83.jpg


My pops and our neighbors went fishing today and killed it! We're having grilled Snapper tonight! :mrgreen:

Later Travis
 
.... thats a wide fork Travis! What front hub you intend using?

We get Snapper here in W.A Travis we is somewhat famous for our Snapper here on a National scale.
You have bag limits there in Texas for Snapper? byt he look of the number caught and the people that were on the boat (assuming all in the pic were on board) you have a bag limit of 4-5 per fisherman? Our size limit here is min 38 cm snout to tail and limit of 5 a person or 15 for the boat...Grillz them up on tha bar-b-q with a handful of prawns beeeeauuutiful ...

KiM
 
4 per fisherman plus they have to be a minimum of 15" long but no limit on overall length. They caught those 6 miles offshore in about 30 minutes of fishing. Absolutely killed it!

Later T
 
one thing i love about bikes when i build them is how designs change as you go. i have built parts before only to put them on a bike stand back and go NOPE rip it off toss it in the trophy can and start over. my fav part of this bike is the front end the idea of using those joints is amazing it changes the look of the bike totally. this bike is simply amazing i cant wait to see it, i am amazed you have time to post up dates, the 20th is a coming quick my friend. cant wait to shake your hand
 
Karfer, Yeah a lot of parts got changed as I built it. One thing I'm holding back a little on is my handlebar mounts. I had a set of mount clamps that came off one of my RD350's after I went to clip-on's. They are designed to through bolt onto the upper tree with rubber bushings. Well turns out they are the perfect length to mount to those fork legs as a through bolt scenario. I just mocked up the bars I'm going to use and they really make the look of this bike just jump. I'll tease you just a little and tell you the bars pass thought the frame and other than the low profile clamps, they look like their floating unattached. I wish I had access to a digital plasma table right now cause I really want to make a fork plate with my logo carved out of it. None the less my neighbor said he'll make me some stickers just for the event. I'm really looking forward to it!

ay9c7k.jpg


Later Travis
 
Well I got the springer fork all tacked together and when I took it off the rack and sat on it the springs are a little soft. I used a pair of 300lbs springs from a porch swing. I've got an old 60's chopper springer in my shop that I'll just rape the springs off of for now. I still need to build a truss brace on the forward rocker posts to stiffen the front and make them work together. I'll get to that tomorrow. Also after I sat on it I'm really digging the handlebars but I think they are just a little bit too low, by about 3 inches, so I'm probably going to just make a new set with more rise.

I'm tired so this is all I'm going to say for now, and I'll let the pictures speak for me. Later Travis

8ycbhl.jpg


2l5op1.jpg


1zc1qhw.jpg


2vmdmjm.jpg


ngez48.jpg


345g2u9.jpg


nwzo6b.jpg


8wb9dw.jpg


17v21y.jpg


n5loiw.jpg
 
Its definitely different Travis...I hope your mate has some decent legs on him the bike must be quite heavy. It's beefier
than my cruiser and im touching 80lb Luckily i have a motor for forward motion hehee... Nearly ready for stripping and painting then Trav?
Powdercoating the frame or you going at it yourself with a gun?

Nice job anywayz bud

KiM
 
I'm guessing total bike weighs about 45-50lbs and yeah Pee Wee is about 6'3" and 250+/- 10lbs. He should have no problems cruising it. It will look a bit different from these pictures when its totally finished. I've just made another punch list of items I'm not happy with and items I don't want to forget to do. First thing is the handlebars are too low. I'm going to make some unique chopper Z-Bars that will bring the handles up about mid rise. Sort of like mini apes but shorter and narrower. Next is the front end needs to come up about 1-1/2" and the old school springer springs I just pulled off should raise it up right where it needs to be. The seats just a hair too far back so the leaf is going to get shortened about an inch bring it forward. Also I mounted the light to the frame instead of the fork. That works fine only its too low so that going to get raised to the next joint up, which will clean up the wiring as well.

I still have quite a bit more to do, I'm going to get right on it first thing in the morning. I got to hit the sack!

Later Travis
 
IronSpadeCycles said:
...I'm going to get right on it first thing in the morning. I got to hit the sack!
Later Travis
Click to expand...

First thing in the morning...? It looks like your last post WAS first thing in the morning!! :lol: And I thought I got up early!! :mrgreen: Man! That bike is dope!!
 
Yeah I guess its all relative, I seldom get to bed before 3AM and usually wake up around 10AM. Its morning for me right now and its about noon. LOL Ah the life of being self employed. I've been answering emails for the last 2 hours and trying to motivate to make breakfast. Or now lunch, what ever.

Updates later today. Travis
 
Your idea of putting the joint things in the frame is nice. Anything differant that hasnt been done is really good. I have never seen them before,and wouldnt have figured out how to use them if I did. I would have done a traditional neck and stuck them in the fork....shows ya what I know. Very good job. :mrgreen:
 
Stretch, honestly I wasn't sure how they would work in this application before I actually built the bike. On paper it looked like it would work fine, in practice well it needs a little more rotational movement. I will turn the end plates on the lathe this week which should gain another 3-5 degrees of rotation in either direction. In the stock as designed application they have 15 degrees of rotation in either direction for a total of 30 degrees. Most of my street motorcycles have about 40-42 degrees of rotation lock to lock. After I do the lathe mods I should get 36-40 degrees. I've decided to try something slightly different on the next one I build like this. The one thing to remember here is you'll never learn what works without trying new things. I try to push the limits as much as I can, and sometimes the limits push back.

I can't wait to get this bike done, I've got some motorcycle related work coming up next month. Two complete vintage cafe builds and a motorized bicycle that will look completely period correct for a 1920's Thor motorcycle. Also I'm looking to build my first electric motorcycle some time early next year. I've been so busy working on my computer today that I haven't gotten into the shop yet but I will try to put in a few hours this evening. I'll probable start here in an hour or so and finish up late tonight.

Later Travis
 
i see what you mean about the bars they do look a bit low. but the visual from the side is great and they do look like they are floating. i really really like where the bars are it is very refreshing.
 
Shoot Travis you got me thinking . Wonder what it would look like if you built a frame and stuck two big Hyme joints out in front . One in each tube instead of a neck. The same idea you have ,with a little diferant hardware. I hate when I'm trying to think outside the box with my builds and then somebody like you doesent even look at the dang box. :mrgreen:
 
Look closely at my anything goes build off plan ISC-1927. I'm planning on incorporating a pair of 3/4" Heim joints that will be the pivot as well as the point where the suspension shaft passes. That fork design I came up with one night and after drawing it in SolidWorks and watching it work through the animation process, I know its going to be sweet! I've kind of been saving it for the right build. Cool thing about using the Heims as a fork pivot is if your not happy with the fork rake angle you can change it very easily by backing out one of the heim joints.

Later Travis
 
it's taken me up 'til now with all the comments about it and pics to realise whats going on with the steering. i've been looking right at it and trying to figure out how it works in with the springer function instead. thinking it was some kind of upper pivot point for the springer, but not noticinghow would it turn left or right.

yep, mamma always says ahm spechul :?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top