I keep meaning to ask the question, what is a SOMET?
I thought you were building a Romet?
Am I missing a joke here?
I thought you were building a Romet?
Am I missing a joke here?
Somet Hingo Rother
- Thread starter GeePig
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Well I missed that joke entirely, because I was thinking it was in Polish!
I was looking for a multi-lingual Joke when it was always in English.
I was looking for a multi-lingual Joke when it was always in English.
Work progresses, and I have been busy cutting up plastic tubes I have found lying around our barns. The idea is to create an old style motorcycle fuel tank, back from the time when motorcycles looked more like bicycles with engines fitted. My plan is to create a fake frame tube on which to mount the tank, except in reality the fake frame tube will be encased within the tank.
The first stage is to get the 'frame' tube to fit the bike, which meant fun with a marker pen and small file.
This kind of plastic is quite easy to cut with a file, and luckily this tube was able to fit in my vice.
I was stupid last year, when I failed to buy a decent old vice for a couple of hundred zloties at a local fair because I was more interested in buying a new wheelbarrow. I ask you, what better way do you know of carrying a heavy old vice than in a wheelbarrow? I blame it on the fact that I my future workshop was still full of rubbish.
With a few minutes zipping around with another file, and this is what I achieved.
I had soon slotted both ends, and it fitted well enough that it was a little difficult to remove. As long as I can make a decent job of the tank AND align it well, I might be on to a winner here.
Now for the hard task, the tank...
The first stage is to get the 'frame' tube to fit the bike, which meant fun with a marker pen and small file.
This kind of plastic is quite easy to cut with a file, and luckily this tube was able to fit in my vice.
I was stupid last year, when I failed to buy a decent old vice for a couple of hundred zloties at a local fair because I was more interested in buying a new wheelbarrow. I ask you, what better way do you know of carrying a heavy old vice than in a wheelbarrow? I blame it on the fact that I my future workshop was still full of rubbish.
With a few minutes zipping around with another file, and this is what I achieved.
I had soon slotted both ends, and it fitted well enough that it was a little difficult to remove. As long as I can make a decent job of the tank AND align it well, I might be on to a winner here.
Now for the hard task, the tank...
Nice coping work to get the pvc to play well with the frame.
Looking forward to your tank ideas
Looking forward to your tank ideas
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That’s a good idea. It’s hard to ride all my 35 bicycles each year, but I try, usually there are a few I don’t get to. Your idea makes a lot of sense.I am glad that you enjoy reading about my cycling tales, and yes everything painted here comes out of a spray can.
I am also English, and learned to be a mechanic, and then gave it up to got to university to become an engineer, for the last year that the university offered machining and welding as part of any engineering course. I spent a few years working for engineering companies, then I married my Polish girlfriend and moved to eastern Poland, where people tend to use English or Russian as a second language - wifie is excellent at both, but then she has spent her whole life teaching English and Polish to Ukrainian/Russian/other eastern language speakers, from as far away as Mongolia...
As for the seat post I am partly gambling on the major parts being from a bike frame welded rather than brazed together, and anyway it will be temporary because while I build bikes here, they all either get partially or fully stripped down. This one is my local hack bike, so many of the upgrades, such as the gears, are essential, but many of the other things will be removed later. This will allow me to reuse the parts or even the whole bike in a future build - and also I don't end up with a pile of virtually unridden bikes. It is the engineer in me, always building, breaking things down and rebuilding
That was the easy part, apparently, the tank is much more of a challenge...
I once ended up with about a dozen motorcycles in my back garden, and I decided then that I was not going to let that happen again. My wheels off my winter build are hanging on the wall behind the current build, the frame is in another shed, and the tank is on a shelf at home
You can shape and sculpt PVC a lot by using heat, and I have made brackets for my little fiberglass boat using PVC tube that I cut, trimmed, shaped and sculpted.
I used that gray PVC (which is normally for electrical conduit here), as aquarium plumbing, and it is very sturdy stuff.
I used that gray PVC (which is normally for electrical conduit here), as aquarium plumbing, and it is very sturdy stuff.
You can easily make it taper by heating it up and stuffing something inside of it,
I may not have made the best choice, but I decided to start by cutting triangles out, and then bending the remainder. If I had started the other end I may have been able to taper it like that, but it is a small gas bottle and a big pipe. I do have enough tube left for a second attempt, though.
I must admit that I have never done anything quite like this before, but I happened to have the tube lying around and a gas burner, so I though why not?
I decided to work on the front end first, even though it was going to be the most complicated part to do. To be even more certain, I did the underside first.
Of course, it was too big to fit in my baby-sized vice, but I have had a leather strap hanging on the wall for just this kind of thing. Off hand, I have no idea where this would be used on a horse or wagon, but I have a similar strap indoors that I use to carry a bucket when picking fruit from our ladder. It was certainly a lot better than the tape I used first.
A bit more heat, and we seem to have an adequate bend for the top front of the tank.
Things were going well at this point, they even were a kind of snug fit on the support tube.
Doing the sides was much trickier, as I was not sure exactly where they would bend, which meant I was not sure how much I should cut off.
Eventually, after much cutting and heating, I had everything kind of where it should be. This is is the lower side and it just needs some minor bending, some filling and sanding - and it looks a whole lot better than the top side, which I honestly forgot to photograph.
This all took a couple of nights to do, as I had to work at my computer all day, and then do some mowing around the yard and up around the orchard. It takes quite a bit of time, especially as the front yard is a lot longer than it looks.
I decided to work on the front end first, even though it was going to be the most complicated part to do. To be even more certain, I did the underside first.
Of course, it was too big to fit in my baby-sized vice, but I have had a leather strap hanging on the wall for just this kind of thing. Off hand, I have no idea where this would be used on a horse or wagon, but I have a similar strap indoors that I use to carry a bucket when picking fruit from our ladder. It was certainly a lot better than the tape I used first.
A bit more heat, and we seem to have an adequate bend for the top front of the tank.
Things were going well at this point, they even were a kind of snug fit on the support tube.
Doing the sides was much trickier, as I was not sure exactly where they would bend, which meant I was not sure how much I should cut off.
Eventually, after much cutting and heating, I had everything kind of where it should be. This is is the lower side and it just needs some minor bending, some filling and sanding - and it looks a whole lot better than the top side, which I honestly forgot to photograph.
This all took a couple of nights to do, as I had to work at my computer all day, and then do some mowing around the yard and up around the orchard. It takes quite a bit of time, especially as the front yard is a lot longer than it looks.
Here is my bench as I work on my tank, and it is remarkably well organised. I think I keep my tools better organised when I have to think about what I am doing. If I am repairing a puncture a few tools just get slung around, and I kind of remember where everything is. Here I have to think about what I am going to do next...
Anyway, here is the initial version of the tank mounted on the bike. It is at a stage rather equivalent to the ones I see here where someone makes a tank out of sheets of foam, long before it is actually finished.
I might yet have to swop the handlebar stem, but it might still be OK if the bars can be made low enough. When I shortened the head tube I forgot that some of my longer handlebar stems would no longer fit down so snugly.
Anyway, here is the initial version of the tank mounted on the bike. It is at a stage rather equivalent to the ones I see here where someone makes a tank out of sheets of foam, long before it is actually finished.
I might yet have to swop the handlebar stem, but it might still be OK if the bars can be made low enough. When I shortened the head tube I forgot that some of my longer handlebar stems would no longer fit down so snugly.
I've shortened stems. Cut it on the same angle, shorten the long bolt and re-thread it.
I did that once but I didn’t re-thread.
I cut off the head (which was boogered up anyway) and I welded a different nut on it.
File, paint, fin.
I cut off the head (which was boogered up anyway) and I welded a different nut on it.
File, paint, fin.
Progress seems slow, but then it usually is when you are not sure what it is you are doing. You just know that if you did a few then you would be knocking them out in next to no time. Progress has actually ground to a halt at the moment, because while I was at the shop to buy filler on Saturday I forgot that I would also need adhesive to stop the cut parts from moving around. I blame myself for not making a list before I went, but then they have re-organised the store recently and I wasted some of my time there just trying to find stuff and looking at the new things.
The front end just needs a few tweaks...
... but the rear end still needs some work.
I will need to add some curved bits to fill the holes at the rear, but I might be able to do that with the parts that I have already trimmed off the front. For that I really will need the adhesive, but before that I first need to finish trimming the rear edges.
I think I shall just have enough time to finish this during this month, especially since I have three weeks of vacation coming up.
The front end just needs a few tweaks...
... but the rear end still needs some work.
I will need to add some curved bits to fill the holes at the rear, but I might be able to do that with the parts that I have already trimmed off the front. For that I really will need the adhesive, but before that I first need to finish trimming the rear edges.
I think I shall just have enough time to finish this during this month, especially since I have three weeks of vacation coming up.
I kind of quit worrying about the competition, because I don’t normally volunteer for extra stress in my life.
I’ve been building whatever suits my fancy without regard to how it will be completed or judged.
I have a never ending list of uncompleted projects to distract me from whatever I might be doing but I don’t feel like doing.
I haven’t tried to do what you were doing with a torch, but just an electric heat gun. That worked out very well for me but I actually did manage to scorch the plastic a little bit.
Anyhow with some glue and filler and sanding and paint I’m sure it’s going to look good.
I’ve been building whatever suits my fancy without regard to how it will be completed or judged.
I have a never ending list of uncompleted projects to distract me from whatever I might be doing but I don’t feel like doing.
I haven’t tried to do what you were doing with a torch, but just an electric heat gun. That worked out very well for me but I actually did manage to scorch the plastic a little bit.
Anyhow with some glue and filler and sanding and paint I’m sure it’s going to look good.
