Engine top mount

Got the top engine mounts welded up!
Then I cleaned them up and got them on the bike. The welding had warped the brackets a bit so it's a tight fit but I managed to squeeze it on.

Then I tried it with the tank on, was a really tight fit round the nuts and bolts so had to cut them down a bit.

Still needs a bit of tweaking but managed it get it in position and fix the seat on too.

Starting to look like a bike now!

Engine top mount

Got the cross bar in place for the seat mounts and tacked it in position (with enough strength so I could sit on it and brum!)

I need to make a new top engine mount as the triumph tank fits really close to the frame.

If I could I would stick with the stock ones for now if I could to save some time, but space doesn't allow unfortunately, so they will be up for sale! Anyways I'm making the brackets out of 3mm steel plate but started off as I always do with a friendly neighbourhood cardboard template.

I cut the bits on and tried them in place but unfortunately I was trying to twist the central piece in three planes so it didn't really work as well as I thought it would.

Doesn't look that bad on the pic but I wasn't happy! So I made a new bit of cardboard and remade the top bits.

Got them just resting in place on the bike for now. Much better, I will weld them up next time

More seat mounting action

Bit further with the seat mounts. I made a plate with the right hole spacing for the seat position and used it to hold the bolts in the lugs while I welded them in.

Then I positioned the lugs on the frame and spent a while lining things up and making it all level, which seems to be a big part of bike building!

Then once I got them tacked in place on the bike I took the whole cross bar off and welded them up

I recently got a DVD from lowbrow customs about TIG welding specifically aimed at bikes, and even though I haven't watched it all the way through (I was napping!) it has already helped me with my welding. For a start I had the amps way way too low, and just simple things like cleaning the tungsten tip up correctly seem to have helped a lot. I highly recommend it!

Shed day

Great day in the shed! Started off slowly, making a matching strut for the other side of the fender.

Then came the tricky job of holding them in place while I tacked the struts to the end washers.

Took them off the bike for welding up and spent a long time cleaning them up with the dremel. I've recently squired some little tungsten carbide grinding tips that are brilliant for cleaning up welds.

Really pleased with the result. There is a bit of flex in the fender, but overall it feels nice and sturdy, so I won't worry about a third mount for now.

After that I wanted to do something different so I started turning up some lugs to support the seat springs.

I drilled a recess into the underside of it so I could fit a bolt through for fixing the springs onto

Tried it on the bike and I'm happy with the result. As per usual tho, I've only made one and it will take me about 2 hours to make a matching one for the other side haha!

Boxing Day fun times

Nice Boxing Day afternoon in the shed. Spent a long time figuring things out as usual and my first attempt was a waste of time. Was thinking of trying to make the sissy bar out of one long piece that bent right over the rear fender, but after messing about heating up bar with a gas torch and bending it round stuff I think I was being a bit over ambitious and decided to stick with 'keep it simple'.

I decided that simple was one strut either side using the existing mounts on the fender. So I started by cutting two bars the same length and bending them both a bit at a time in the vice. I put some heat in them with the propane first to soften them up a bit.

Then I turned up some big washers on the lathe.

Then there was the usual amount of looking and sharpie marking before I cut the bars to length and filed down the edges so the profile reduced to match the washers.

Didn't get as far as welding, and I only did one side, but you didn't expect me to get it all done did you?!

Weld in a comfortable position

After another hour or so of looking and moving things around ever so slightly I finally manned up and committed welding the rear fender to the bracket.

 

Just tacked it in place on the bike and then came up with this ridiculous contraption to allow me to weld the inside seam.

 

It actually worked really well! Also seem to have got my mojo back for TIG welding, I had the gas down low and the power way up high.

I was going to make some little triangular insets for the gaps at the side but instead I just blobbed it up with a thick weld rod. I am going to round those corners off so doesn't need to be perfect. Next I'll clean this up and start thinking about that brace!

Small nail

Got a little further with the rear fender to tonight. As usual spent the majority of the time lining things up and tweaking the position of the read mudguard. Is it central? is it too far away from the wheel? etc.

I go round in circles for so long then I think bugger it, get out the sharpie and make some marks on the basic bracket I'd cut the slots in. Hacked into it with the angle grinder to get the basic shape, but that's as far as I got tonight. Next ill tack it in position on the bike then take it off to weld.