Hard at It

The first weekend post-race season saw me attack the rear of the bike with various cutting tools, in order to cut down on the excess weight of the subframe.  This is my second attempt.  A lot of serious ex racers have fabricated an alloy subframe, but for now this will do.

After a bit of work, this is what lay beside the bike.  It is deceptively heavy, considering the bracing going on.  Designed to carry two passengers, of course!  It weighs close to 10 lbs.

Can we say "overbuilt"?  Luckily the top rails were no where near this thickness.  This piece was the lower rail section.  I wanted to leave the top in place as it located the rear of the tank.

I ended up buying some cheap 1" steel tubing from Canadian Tire.  Again, much thinner wall than what I removed.

A day of grinding and filing, plus some welding with the good old oxy-welder resulted in this.  I have already painted the section with "hammerite" paint.  It is awesome -- durable, and close enough to the stock frame color.

Form follows function.  It was interesting welding near the rear shock, but some scrap metal allowed me to protect it from the flame.

Most of Sunday was spent fitting the electrical components and tucking the excess miles of wire to the ECU out of the way.  I've really been able to centralize the mass... the ECU used to be far to the rear of the frame.

The tail section is from a CBR1000.  I had to do considerable work on it, widening the front section to fit the frame rails, and reinforcing some sections of the underside.  Fits a treat in the end, with an alloy bracket securing the front end.

Rear 3/4 view.  I think I might change direction slightly with the front fairing.  Even considering aerodynamics, I like the idea of something simpler.  Always a fan of Cafe Racers, here is something from Radical Ducati...

The idea here, of course, is lightness!  With the tail section sorted, next step is more involved... fitting the new R6 radiator.