My apologies to Wil Smith... spent some time coming up with some subframe options for the mz -- I was able to score a rear tail section from a TZ250, brand new, for $25... so with this back home I began to see how well it would mate to the KR1S/MZ subframe combination... not very well, unfortunately. So I removed the MZ subframe and decided to build one from scratch. I decided to use mild steel from Canadian Tire, as it is far cheaper than 4130 and if I screwed up or came up with another option, it wouldn't beak the bank. I quickly threw one idea together, welded things up quick with the intent of doing it again properly if it worked out OK. Looks OK, but things weren't properly square, and it turns out the seat height was too high for comfortable use by a short-arse like me...
You can also see the R6 forks and front wheel on in this shot... while the seat orientation looks OK, when you add in the height of a 160 rear tire, the seat height ends up being 34 inches -- taller than the ex650! So, the basic idea is sound, a combination of square and round 3/4" mild steel tubing will be used, and using the rough draft as a starting point, I began construction again, using a lot more attention to detail to make sure everything was properly square this time...
This is a little jig that I have plotted out using a large square and some scrap wood. The piece to the left has the attachment for the rear of the tank tacked into place. The longer piece to the right supports the seat section. Using a protractor, my tubing cutting jig, a bandsaw and a disc sander, I've got the first of two pieces (the diagonal one on top) set in place. I need to make a stop at Canadian tire for some more material, as well as the welding supply shop to refill the bottles. Dad said when he built his airplane, he essentially built it twice, as the first try for each part he made wasn't up to snuff. I hope I don't have to build everything twice as well, but subframes can be tricky, and I needed to see it in a draft form first before proceeding with the "final copy"...
And courtesy of Dave Pearce (Mr. Tigcraft) here is another piece of bike candy -- that's a KTM 690 engine, and a composite aluminum-chromoly frame. Don't drool on your keyboards, folks!
Happy new year, everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment