Oops

Right, update time

I welded some brackets to the bottom of the battery box to provide some fixing points.

I decided to support it on two seperate 5mm cross plates rather than one big shelf. I think this will make it easier to get the battery out without dismantling the rest of the bike and also reduce the chance of water pooling if its wet.

Once they were welded in place I drilled out the holes and drilled it for mounting the battery box.

Now that was all well and good but little did I know of a major problem that I had incurred. As I had stripped the frame down to mount the battery box I decided that it was a good opportunity to weld up all the bits I had tacked in place and clean them up with some dreamel lovin.

Unfortunately though I had welded the cross members in without bracing the rear axle plates. I didn't realise that the frame had warped until I tried to put the bike back together tonight. The rear wheel fit but there was no way the spacer would go in too. So I got the ruler out.

It's supposed to be 8.5" and it's measuring just under 8"!!! I looked at the TC Bros instructions and it concluded my fears that I should have braced the frame to avoid warping when welding the cross members in place.

Now i need to work out if its salvageable or if I've completely fooked it :/

Open for business

Check out the store!!....

Holme Valley Customs

Got a Big cartel web store set up now to make things easy to browse and purchase. Not much there at the moment but hopefully things will grow with time.

For now its just the M8 bungs and a set of fab plates;

Battery box

I warmed myself up by finishing off the new stainless steel rear brake linkage that I've been working on in between other stuff

Then I thought I'd best stop avoiding the hard stuff and started work on my battery box. I've not quite worked all the details out like what route the wires are going to take. But I thought a good place to start would be the main 'box' part.

There isn't much room in the frame either way I sit the battery, so I wanted to make it as snug as possible. I measured the battery up and cut the bits out of 2mm sheet

Then bit by bit I tacked it together using some magnetic angles to make everything square. Before I tackled the welding proper, I decided that some extra stickers on my mask would improve my skills.

And it fits the battery like a glove. Thing I'm not sure about now is which way to orientate it in the bike.

I think I'll put it in line with the frame, as it keeps the battery as far away from moving parts as possible, and if I'm clever I could make it so that I can tip the battery over and slide it out without having to remove the electrics box above it (I would have to remove the brake linkage mind).

Chopped at last

Haven't had a good shed sesh in a few weeks, partly because I've been busy, and partly because I was avoiding chopping that fender! Well tonight I finally pulled my finger out and took some advice.

Marked it with tape and then took the angle grinder to it. Wanted to add some strength back into the fender to I bent a piece of 5mm bar by hand into the rough profile. I tacked it in place bit by bit to bend it to shape before fully welding it in

Cleaned it up with the flapper disc and tried it on the bike. Now I've done it I'm actually pleased with the result. It's clean and simple and necessary.

M8 bungs

Picked up my first batch of M8 'top hat' bungs today. Ideal for welding into your frame to make a neat bolt on connection.

More do it yourself fabrication parts to come!!

Chain tensioner

Made up a chain tensioner. I managed to track down an 'idler' gear that comes with a built in bearing to run on, and turned up a bush to sit inside it.



Then I made a slot in a 5mm plate for it to fix to



I got it jammed in place with a bit of pipe and welded it to the frame





Also spent some time tonight working on the rear fender. Decided it was high time I cleaned up my welding and sorted this gusset out.



Made the gusset out of 10mm plate and welded it in



The chain clashes wih the rear fender so I'm going to have to cut some bits out of it

Brake linkage etc

Cleaned the torque arm up



Spent most of this weekend working on the rear brake linkage. For starters I knew I needed a con-rod longer than the original, so I ordered some 5mm bar and cannibalized the stock one.





Didn't think it through though, as the stock rod is tapped M6 at the end, but a 5mm bar isn't thick enough to achieve the properly, so it just got a slight thread on it. I welded it to the stock connector and also welded a washer on. It will do for now, I've ordered some 6mm bar and M6 studding to make a better one.

Next problem. The new hardtack frame means that the brake lever on the rear drum sticks too far out so the conrod clashes with the frame



To rectify this I carefully made two slits in the lever, not quite all the way through, and bent it to the right angle



Now I thought I had got everything in place apart from the spring, but after lots of fiddling I still couldn't get the adjustment right for the foot pedal. What I didn't realise until I looked back at the stock frame was that there was additional adjustment in the form of a screw which acts as a back stop.



So after a seriously thick coat of thinking I decided that I needed this and that the simplest way to do it was to mimic the stock frame with a screw of my own. I started by just drilling and tapping my frame in the right place.



I wasn't satisfied that this was secure enough, and I needed another connection for the spring, so I went with the threaded bung idea again and made two mini M6 bungs.



Tacked them into the frame;



And that did the trick!





You can see i also had to lengthen the step in the lever for the bolt head to sit nice and flat. I tested it out and I can now adjust things up so the rear brake feels nice and sharp. Just need to remake the con-rod when the bits get here.