MBBO Savage B.O.B.

[CRASH]

Cut two 2” lengths of 5/8” stainless.

2” is too much. The othe bike pictures was an inch and a half, but that seems long. So 1” seems about right.

This tubing has a slightly smaller OD, so I’m going to try to find something closer.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

OK, here's my first thought.

Cut a corresponding plug out of stainless steel plate, cut the tubes at the appropriate angle and depth, weld the underside of the plugs to the tubes, then sand and polish smooth across the three surfaces.

Something like this:

 

[CRASH]

OK, here's my first thought...

I like that thought. It was my first thought as well until a traditional idea came through. I'm not against either. I think it will boil down to whether I can match the OD. If I can't that slight difference might look odd. I'll let you know.

Oh, and I may have misunderstood you, but I can't weld the fork legs to the top plate or else the fork will never leave the bike again. That couldn't have been what you meant so I'm sure I'm misunderstanding. What I took from your suggestion is getting a piece of solid 1/2" rod that will snugly fit into the 5/8" ID. Then weld those inserts to the top plate. Then cover up the rest of the hole with the top plate, smooth it out and polish it like it was one piece.

Or... I could remake the top plate without the holes so they are truly solid. But... how would I correctly weld the insert to it? The slightest goof and it won't fit.
hmmmmm....

Good food for thought! I'm working on it!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Pictures are easier than words.

You would have to assemble all of the parts with bearings on the bike to determine the exact placement and tack weld the plugs before taking it back apart and fully welding them.

 

[CRASH]

Ahhh, ok. I'll look at that idea. Thanks for the pic! Makes more sense!

 

[Captain Awesome]

Not sure if I can adequately convey this via typing it out and with my rough sketching skills on my phone, but what if you took another plate and trimmed the head tube out of it, essentially making a C notch, and then aligned that underneath your existing top plate and welded them together. Basically doubling the thickness of your top plate yet still being able to be removable. Then that newly welded on lower plate Takes all of that torsional force from the top of your tubes

If you fully welded it and smooth it in from the front and the side, it will just visually be a thicker plate. Only from the bottom backside, would you be able to see where it’s notched out and the difference

 

[Captain Awesome]

Or the more complex and mathematical version would be if you took your press break and put a gull wing in your top plate and bent those two outside edges to a lower plane

Getting your hole alignment would take some math skills or trial and error unfortunately. Unless you have someone that could draw it in CAD and then flatten out the model before you cut it on the laser or ran it through the press break programming.