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Julian's 2022 Dirtbag Challeneg build!

This weekend I was feeling much better and had more energy, so good progress was made.

First up was to finish the swingarm. This included fabricating a wedge for under the right side. Since the swingarm is asymmetric it doesn't sit well on a padock stand. The little wedge thingy helps even out the right side to match the angle and height of the left side.

20220820_141725 by andbike, on Flickr

20220820_141913 by andbike, on Flickr

20220820_143520 by andbike, on Flickr



Next was to fabricate a caliper anti-rotation post that is welded to the right side of the swingarm.

20220820_154642 by andbike, on Flickr

20220820_160818 by andbike, on Flickr

20220820_165407 by andbike, on Flickr

A little bit of adjustemnt to the length to get a perfect fit...


20220820_194001 by andbike, on Flickr

20220820_194021 by andbike, on Flickr

20220820_194012 by andbike, on Flickr




And to finish off the swingarm assembly is a machined inner spacer. The needle bearing races fit onto each side and the spacer allows for a smaller shaft and set the inner bearing spacing to 0.010" wider than the swingarm for proper fitment.

20220820_183612 by andbike, on Flickr



Sunday saw the engine mounts welded into place...

20220821_133556 by andbike, on Flickr

20220821_133610 by andbike, on Flickr

20220821_133618 by andbike, on Flickr

20220821_133638 by andbike, on Flickr


Then moved on to some machining. To complete the FZ8 to RZ350 fork swap I would need some bearing spacers...

20220821_141113 by andbike, on Flickr


Last one the agenda was to do a bit of clearance machining on the front caliper. Not a hard requirement as the caliper has just a bit of clearance, but I like to have an extra millimeter or two...

20220821_144040 by andbike, on Flickr

20220821_145119 by andbike, on Flickr


Back home I decided to re-do the upper shock mount to get a bit more tool clearance. So the CAD was updated and re-sent out. I should have a new bracket in a little over a week. Cost for a single bracket with bending and shipping to my front door is about $32.80 and saves me several hours of fabrication. So this is a great deal!:party

Okay, that's your Monday update:twofinger
 
IL8APEX said:
Sheesh. I sat around this weekend and drank beers on the dock watching boats go by.
Click to expand...

I'd kinda like to do that. It sounds very relaxing... which I could use about now... but after Dirtbag!
 
Loving that concentric axle & chain adjustment setup!
 
auntiebling said:
you've finished the hard part!
Click to expand...

Actually the hard part... assembling a "complete (looking) motorcycle" and getting it titled was done many years ago. All I had to do to prepare for the above photos was make one phone call to instate the insurance and walk in to my local DMV (an appointment helps) and write a check. Super easy if titles and non-ops are kept up to date:teeth

kpke said:
Nice work J. JYA1EL prefix = CA only RZ350 :thumbup
Click to expand...

Ya sir! California RZ... now CRZ!!!

bikewanker said:
Loving that concentric axle & chain adjustment setup!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the props:party... but you do realize that concentric adjusters don't work very well for chain adjustment... but eccentric adjusters work really well:thumbup
 
I think I'm two weeks out from the last update, so lets see if I can get up to date...

Two weeks ago was getting swingarm and forks installed for real, and adding a few small items. I had already done the stem mod (see past post) so installing triple clamps and forks was very easy.

The swingarm needed a bit of trimming, so some mill work in order to remove a few millimeters from each side...
20220827_152426 by andbike, on Flickr

20220827_152437 by andbike, on Flickr



The RZ350 pivot shaft is smaller diameter than the bearings in the swingarm are designed for, so a sleeved spacer was made...

20220820_183612 by andbike, on Flickr


Next up was some mill work on the frame to cut a pocket for a forward tank mount bung...

20220827_172823 by andbike, on Flickr

20220827_182210 by andbike, on Flickr

20220827_182143 by andbike, on Flickr

20220827_182258 by andbike, on Flickr


Foot peg mounting brackets were tack welded in place with special care to be sure each side was at the same height...

20220828_182147 by andbike, on Flickr



I spent a fair amount of time on the lathe turning some small bit. First were some bungs that will become part of the radiator support structure...

20220828_174634 by andbike, on Flickr

20220828_181058 by andbike, on Flickr



Then in anticipation of a custom side stand bracket that will need to be laser cut, I machine up a spring post + an extra...

20220828_181420 by andbike, on Flickr


And here is sits with steering and swingarm bearings installed...

20220828_182137 by andbike, on Flickr
 
This weekend was not going to be good for welding with all three days forecast with record high temps in the 100s and 113 for Monday:wow

My weekend goal was to build a complete rear sub-frame. Normally this a full day and little more if building a sub-frame for one of my race bikes using parts that I am familiar with... R6 tanks, R6 seats, etc. But I'm using a CBR400RR tank and a Late model Ducati Monster seat both of which I'm unfamiliar with. I did some measuring (and guessing) last week as to how it all might fit together and proceeded with getting some brackets laser cut.

The plan was to get as far as possible on Saturday since it would only be in the high 90s. Then return Sunday to complete the sub-frame while temps were in the low 100s. And Monday... oh hell no! Monday will be a stay inside and work on CAD day. No way I'm working outside when its 113 F'n degrees:wow

Okay, first things first is a happy pack from my favorite laser cutting service. Huge props to SendCutSend. I highly recommend them for laser cutting. Most materials are $29 minimum... including shipping:party

20220903_114550 by andbike, on Flickr



Okay, where to start?:dunno I made a guess as to how the seat and tank would mate together and made a bracket to facilitate. Let see if its going to work. It would be three parts in total. A braket, a post that the seat slides onto, and threaded bung to fasten the rear of the tank...

20220903_165659 by andbike, on Flickr

20220903_165816 by andbike, on Flickr


This actually seams to work for holding the seat and tank in close proximity, so next is to bend some tubes following the shape of the tank...

20220903_153044 by andbike, on Flickr

20220903_133411 by andbike, on Flickr

20220903_181833 by andbike, on Flickr


Always minor complications. This time the petcock interferes. So a big notch is taken out of one of the sub-frame tubes...

20220903_155641 by andbike, on Flickr

20220903_182012 by andbike, on Flickr



Much better and now the tank sits on center...

20220903_153052 by andbike, on Flickr

Oh wait! Where did that SV650 come from? Please give a big BARF welcome to my friend Mazher. Mazer is huge motorcycle enthusiast despite the fact of never owning or working on a motorcycle. Yet here he is making an attempt at a Dirtbag build. Not sure if he'll make it. But he's giving a huge try at it:party

20220903_181843 by andbike, on Flickr

Anyway, thats as far as I would get by Saturday night (its actually dark when I took this photo but my phone does well in low light)...

20220903_195840 by andbike, on Flickr
 
Sunday, F-n Sunday... its going to be a hundred plus degrees so I try for an early start... which is about 10am for me!!!

Goal = finish sub-frame!

I start by bending more tubes and splicing onto what was started on Saturday. Note: short sections of 7/8" tubing inside the butt joints of the 1" tubing...

20220904_102441 by andbike, on Flickr



Next start with the seat latch bracket... to secure the rear of the seat and terminate the sub-frame...

20220904_102447 by andbike, on Flickr

I don't have a good picture of it, but another bracket is added that the Triumph tail light will attach to.

Next is to fab the supports. This is a bit tricky because of the acute angle it will mate to the main tubes. So the notch is carefully fit by hand with lots of trial and error. Once I like the way it fits I can make a paper pattern and transfer the notch profile (mirrored) onto another piece of tubing...

20220904_121036 by andbike, on Flickr



Before attaching the support tubes, the butt joints are welded togther and sanded smooth (at least from the bottom) such that each of the main tubes appear as one continuous piece...

20220904_132347 by andbike, on Flickr



Than the diagonal braces can be added...

20220904_144151 by andbike, on Flickr

20220904_144143 by andbike, on Flickrr

20220904_144136 by andbike, on Flickr



Last is to add some support brackets that will help stabilize the seat since the sub-frame is actually very narrow...

20220904_145718 by andbike, on Flickr

20220904_151912 by andbike, on Flickr

These do the charm and the seat fits very well...

20220904_153552 by andbike, on Flickr

20220904_153616 by andbike, on Flickr


By 4pm its boiling hot and we're both done... as in well done!:bbq

As for Mazher, he was able to swap out the complete front end for GSXR 750 set-up that he found for cheap on Craigslist. He also swapped out the rear wheel and we both agreed that it made the SV look much better. He ran into complications with a miss-match sprocket that came on the GSXR wheel. It seams to be a 530 sprocket even though it had previously been used on an SV conversion which I would have expected to use a 520 chain:dunno. Kinda odd, but add to the need-to-buy list.

Once home, I added the tail cowl and got a few glamor shots. I like where this is going:thumbup

20220904_183423 by andbike, on Flickr

20220904_183514 by andbike, on Flickr

20220904_183543 by andbike, on Flickr


Today I mostly sat at my computer drawing more brackets for laser cutting. Of course there are always paper dolls to make to verify fits...

20220905_151535 by andbike, on Flickr

And thats it till next time. We're getting close!:twofinger
 
Impressed as always! Your bike puts me in mind of a Bultaco Metralla with several more decades of development. Single cylinder two stroke, but with water cooling and modern developed engine power, and light weight. Pure essence of motorcycle, no ABS, no traction control, no IMU, no anything except what it needs to go down the road.
 
sweet!
what's the rear shock from? (apologies if already stated)

monday was the only day i had to work which involved much welding (for me at least) and dropping the engine. so. much. sweat.
 
I have a Vortex 526A-47, I think it might fit? Yours (his) if you want it.
 
bobl said:
Impressed as always! Your bike puts me in mind of a Bultaco Metralla with several more decades of development. Single cylinder two stroke, but with water cooling and modern developed engine power, and light weight. Pure essence of motorcycle, no ABS, no traction control, no IMU, no anything except what it needs to go down the road.
Click to expand...

Thanks!:thumbup Interesting analogy with the Metralla... but I see the resemblence.

auntiebling said:
sweet!
what's the rear shock from? (apologies if already stated)

monday was the only day i had to work which involved much welding (for me at least) and dropping the engine. so. much. sweat.
Click to expand...

Hooli said:
Looks like R1/R6.
Click to expand...

Yes, the shock is an early R6

SVJ said:
I have a Vortex 526A-47, I think it might fit? Yours (his) if you want it.
Click to expand...

I'll see if he's interested. If so, where are you located? Thanks!
 
Here's another update, but first a shout out to SVJ for his donation of not only a sprocket, but several parts that will all go to use on Mazher's SV or my own DBC build. Big thanks!

The majority of effort on Saturday was doing some tweaks to the rear sub-frame. I didn't take any pictures as they would just be redundant to last weeks effort. The goal was to raise the tail by 1-1/2". Just enough so that it doesn't look like the tail is drooping. Here is a before and after pic for comparison...

before

20220904_183421 by andbike, on Flickr

after

20220912_185614 by andbike, on Flickr

Recieved in the mail last week was the re-designed upper shock mount. Its 5mm longer (corrected for proper ride-height) and 5mm wider (to provide a bit more clearance for a wrench).

20220910_152759 by andbike, on Flickr

Also added a patch to the inner wall where the sub-frame was notched for petcock clearance.

20220910_144957 by andbike, on Flickr

20220910_145001 by andbike, on Flickr

20220910_145133 by andbike, on Flickr

Sorry, didn't get a photo of the patch piece trimmed and tacked in place.:x

Last on Saturday was machining two coolant hose adapters. The SV650 radiator uses larger diameter hoses than the CR250 engine. So the adapters allow for connection of the two hose sizes.

20220910_182509 by andbike, on Flickr


When I got home Saturday there where two packages from SendCutSend. There was a mistake in my bend specs when they made the battery box. I contacted customer service to correct the errors, but it still got made wrong. I wasn't too worried about it as I was able to bend the tabs kinda close to correct position. The error ended up being mentioned again to customer service and they offered to make the battery box again at no charge. Wow! Their customer service is amazing. If I haven't said it before, I highly recommend SCS for laser cutting (and bending) service. I can't say enough good things about them.

In addition to the battery box, a flat pack of parts also arrived. I was worried that with Monday being a holiday that I wouldn't get parts for the weekend build window. But FedEx ground from Reno is next day and delivers on Saturday. Props to FedEx!

20220911_120337 by andbike, on Flickr

20220911_120502 by andbike, on Flickr

I little bit of welding and the battery box is ready.

20220911_115322 by andbike, on Flickr

Next is to bend and mount the cross beam that supports the battery box and coil.

20220911_124516 by andbike, on Flickr

20220911_122645 by andbike, on Flickr


Next up was to fabricate the kick stand mount. First was to drill / ream the pin holes and pivot holes to size.

20220911_130910 by andbike, on Flickr

Then a little machining is required to get the thickness to fit the slot in the stand.

20220911_144024 by andbike, on Flickr

20220911_144532 by andbike, on Flickr


Followed be some welding.

20220911_160234 by andbike, on Flickr

And then tack welded to the frame. Last is to cut the stand to proper length and weld a foot to the bottom. Bike now sits at a nice angle!

20220911_172011 by andbike, on Flickr


Last on Sunday was to tack the radiator mounts in place (look close at the photo you can see the mounts).

20220911_190538 by andbike, on Flickr

20220911_190520 by andbike, on Flickr

Stay tuned as next week is do-or-die! Dirtbag is just over a week away!!!


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