MK3 Restomod

gortnipper said:
All the sympathy in the world, mate. I have had three surgeries on my hands for Dupuytren's contracture. My hand doc, the best in Auckland, says it is the most aggressive case he has ever seen. He said at 53, my hands are what he would expect from someone 70-80.

Yep, mine were for Dupuytren's too. A light clutch pull, light throttle, and a throttle lock so I can rest the hand once in a while help a lot to keep me riding.

Ken
 
Fast Eddie said:
Ken, why not just hack the gusset out of the way? I know it would have been easier before now, but if you sheet over everything (again) it won't be to big of a job me thinks.

Even the FCRs with Matts lovely, and shorter, manifold still come close, I would expect you'd still have issues even with FCRs.

Yeah, I've thought about that. I'm just trying to avoid the extra mess and delay. Wish I'd known it would be an issue back when I was working on the frame. Might still bite the bullet and do it.

Are you going tubeless on those rims? A shame not too take the advantage surely?

Still thinking on that one. The wheels are not made for tubeless tires, so don't have the extra retaining rib, but I ran them tubeless on the race bike without problems. I'll probably try them tubeless, and if they leak too much, I can always add a tube.

Ken
 
A little more progress. This is the primary drive and starter system mocked up in final form. I did have to make some changes. Originally, I moved the gearbox over .250" to the left, as I had done on my race bike back in the day. Turns out that isn't going to work here. The ring gear on the clutch basket takes up some of the space on the belt pulley part of the clutch, so I can only move the gearbox over by .125", unless I want to move the engine pulley outboard by another .125"+. I don't want to do that, because that would also mean moving the alternator rotor out that much, making a new rotor nut in the process, and reducing the amount of shaft support for the rotor. It's not that it's impossible, but it doesn't seem like a good plan to me. The extra .125" will give me enough chain clearance for any tire I might want to run on the rear wheel I'm using. I originally moved the gearbox over to allow a wider rear tire, and in the beginning I was planning to have enough room for a modern 17" rear tire, just in case I chose to do that in the future. Giving that option up doesn't bother me much. I still need to keep it at least .125" offset so the clutch basket will clear my wider swingarm at the pivot.



Now I'm back to fabricating a primary cover, and I should be done with this part of the job.

For carbs, I've decided to run the 36 mm Amal Mk2s, mostly because they fit. These are the carbs I've been running on my landspeed Norton, but now I'm going to larger carbs on it, so these are available. I've got a new set of chorme plated brass slides from Burlen for the carbs, and I'm going to try some slightly lighter return springs. That should at least get the bike running. If it doesn't work out, I can always try something different later.

Still waiting to paint the wheels. It's been cold and wet lately, and I haven't had a good opportunity to paint.

Ken
 

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The 36 mm Amals look like they fit just fine. I went through them and installed new stayup floats and needles. I was going to also fit them with chrome plated brass slides, but one of them is way too tight to use. I think the left carb body has distorted a bit, and it binds a lot on the new slides. I put the old slides back in, and they work with no problems. If I want to fit the brass slides in the future, I'm pretty sure I could fit them with a little bit of sanding in the body. I just don't want the extra delay right now, and I know from using the carbs on the race bike that they will function properly. I'd still like to end up with the lighter throttle pull from modern carbs like the Keihins, but this one isn't too bad. I'm using a Tomaselli throttle that has just enough travel for the 36 mm carbs, so the leverage is about as good as I can get it.



I'm starting on my third iteration of the primary cover. It's a challenge to keep it tight enough to keep the rocks out but still have enough clearance for the belt, as well as keeping the front as small as possible for ground clearance. I'm probably way overthinking it. Third time's the charm, I hope.

Ken
 

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IMHO that is a sensible carb choice Ken. You know they work and you know they'll be close to being right for your big motor and you're obviously well versed in setting up Amals.

You can always fiddle with fancy carb options later, when the other inevitable niggles have been ironed out. But my guess is this thing will go so well you're unlikely to wan to do so!

Looking forward to seeing the huge steps forward you're making over he holiday period...
 
Making a little more progress. This is the inner primary plate. It's 1/8" 5052 alloy, and my first experience at aircraft style riveting. Still have to make the outer cover. I'm debating whether to try fabbing it up out of alloy, or make a plug, pull a mold off it, and make a glass fiber, or maybe carbon fiber, cover. Always decisions.



Ken
 

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lcrken said:
Making a little more progress. This is the inner primary plate. It's 1/8" 5052 alloy, and my first experience at aircraft style riveting. Still have to make the outer cover. I'm debating whether to try fabbing it up out of alloy, or make a plug, pull a mold off it, and make a glass fiber, or maybe carbon fiber, cover. Always decisions.

MK3 Restomod


Ken

Ken, you know there's only one right way to do this...

Make a CF cover!

In fact make more than one Ken and sell one to me please !!
 
Got sidelined a bit by back injury, but back to work again. Finally got the wheels painted.

This is a bare wheel that's been cleaned and prepped with brush-on Iridite conversion coating, with the Rustoleum gold paint beside it.



And this is my high quality paint studio, with the front wheel in process.



And this is the painted pair. After they cure for a few days, I'll do a 2-part clear coat, and that's it.



Time to order some tires next. The wheels are both 18", with 3.5" rear and 2.5" front, so I have some options.

Other than the wheels, I'm working on the plug for making a mold for the primary cover.

Ken
 

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lcrken said:
Got sidelined a bit by back injury, but back to work again......Other than the wheels, I'm working on the plug for making a mold for the primary cover.Ken
Well okay then Ken, I guess you made your decision & so you're gonna go fo it, :shock: and make the composite primary cover / covers? :D
 
New tires mounted to wheels. Finest kind Shinkos in 100/90-18 and 130/90-18. I've used the same style Shinkos on several other bikes, and am amazed at how well they stick. And they last, too. I decided to go ahead and run them tubeless, even though the rims are meant for tubes, so they are now sitting for a day to be sure they will hold pressure, before balancing and mounting disks and such. If they don't hold air well enough, I'll use tubes.



I also have the oil system ready to make hoses and install. Sharp eyed listers might notice that the hose ends are not new. I'm doing my best to uses up old race bits wherever I can instead of buying new.



Still working on the primary cover, but it will take a while. Worst part is making a good plug to pull a mold from.

Ken
 

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It's been a while, but I finally have a little more progress. These are pictures of the finished oil lines. I decided to go with the newer hose from Earl's, instead of the stock I already have. The newer stuff is still the same steel braid hose, but now has a black braided fabric protective layer. The 90° fitting I needed was on backorder for a long time, but finally came in, and allowed me to finish the lines.







I've also managed to finish the rear brake rotor adaper, and am just waiting for some flat head countersunk titanium fasteners to come in to finish it.

This is the rear wheel with rotor and adapter. The rotor is from a TZ250 race bike.



This is the wheel and rotor with the Brembo caliper I'm using. It's from an Aprillia, which has a slightly larger disk, so I won't be able to use the bracket in the picture, but will have to fab one to fit. The style bracket I use is pretty simple, so that part shouldn't take too long.



I've been working on the fork yokes, so I can get the bike up on wheels. It was going well until I had a senior moment and bored the fork holes too large, so now I'm waiting for some more 6061 plate to arrive so I can start over. It's a bitch getting old.

I haven't forgotten about the primary cover, but decided I wanted to see the bike with wheels and such attached first.

Ken
 

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Hey, it's all gotta get done. At least you're making headway. I'm at an impasse until the first of May or so.
 
Time for another update. I've been working on getting the for yokes done. This is a shot of the lower in the mill with the basic holes finished.



And this pic shows the upper and lower with the fork and spindle holes finished. Also shows the location of the bolts holding the two bits together. It's made for 52 mm offset with no spacers, and can be adjusted to a max of around 68 mm if needed. 52 mm offset gives a 97.5 mm trail with my current choice of tires and chassis dimensions,which is just a bit more than a stock Commando. I think that should be pretty good as is, but if the steering is a bit too slow, I can add spacers to get it to suit me after the bike is running.



Now it's time to get the rotary table out and try to make them lighter and prettier, as well as machining for the pinch bolts.

Ken
 

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