[RockAZ]

Or just give it to a teenager for the weekend,...

 

[Combi245]

If I was going to go into mass production and I had a bottomless pit of money sure why not.I prefer to use the Darwin principle - Build it until you can't break it then put it into service - no greater inspiration to get it right than the thought of serious injury or death...

 

[Broombah]

I was thinking more along the lines of just having it dropped in there for a few beers with a big customer’s programme. Can you do an fea run on a model? Surely you must know some good stress engineers that can model up a simulation for your fork leg?, again for beer tokens.

you’ve probably got all the data for the material so it shouldn’t be too difficult if you know someone.
Anyway I’ll keep quiet from now on.
(thats not meant to be facetious btw, just I'm aware you know your stuff, so there's nothing else I would want to add.)

 

[Combi245]

Christmas day and my wife presents me with a package that turned up yesterday without me noticing - the new short Mallosi manifolds, rubber mounts, twist grip and cables for the carbs. So now I can carry on and finish off the porting when I get a chance. I will match these to the ports tomorrow.

Boxing day - painting day for the wheels and the clipons. Bit of a clean up of the clip ons that have a bit of light rust where I touched them but the good old deoxidine 624 and they are ready to go.

Wheels are all good ,nice rough profile on them for the paint to adhere to. Using the PPG Amercoat 488 epoxy for these as it is pretty hardwearing and you can get a really good coat on it. It sprays pretty easily to get a good finish and flows out pretty well.

Afternoon spraying with a bit of clear coat to finish them off, had a couple of issues rotating the wheels but looks Ok.

Bit of feedback on the fork lowers and I have incorporated them into the new drawings. I have gone back to square one on the overall finish opting for a ribbed finish similar to the Racetech fork lowers, a replaceable guard mount and an extra o ring slot at the top of the opening for the fork tube to stop crap getting down between the fork lower mount and the inner tube. I am also going to redesign the general layout of the radial mount version as well - was not overly happy with the design that I came up with. I have a clearer vision of what I want it to look like and make it easier to machine hopefully reducing the machining cost.

 

[Combi245]

Couple of rides over the last couple of days, notably down to see the Britten that has had all the fairings removed for a bit maintenance. Interesting to see all the smaller details that are very rarely seen. Took a few pictures and headed home. weather has been too hot to do any composite work so I have managed to get the heads ported properly to match the new manifolds.

This one was difficult to get right as there was a lot more material than the other manifold that needd to be removed. tger was also some pretty bad defects in the actual head itself that i had to deal with.

Other side was a bit easier to do, just a bit of matching at the manifold matting faces tpo clean up and then a bit of extra porting to get a nice taper for the opening down into the port.

Now that this is out of the way I can get back to the frame. I have removed the footrest and exhaust mounts. The new mounts are the same style as the latter IE frames which I finished drawing up last night. The exhaust mounts are going to be moved to get a better angle to the low mounted Spark GP muffler that is going on - also only one side will get the mount.

 

[Combi245]

So I decided to bite the bullet and make the carbon tank upper. Mixed results but I did manage to get it all done.

I was not too concerned with the orientation of the laminate apart from where the Ducati decal would sit on the side of the tank. Originally I had a stripe laid out for down the middle but I wont be doing that on this tank.

Newton fuel cap and breather in place. I measure the weight complete with the fuel cap and all the fittings - comes out at 3.4Kg (7.5lb)

Plan from here using this as a trial piece, I will be changing the laminate slightly so that I can lay down some additional kevlar/carbon cloth in a couple of areas prone to damage where this one has extra carbon in the same places. Once I have painted it it will look the part that's for sure, pretty happy with it as a first attempt I made the base for this last year and it was pretty solid so it too can have a bit of a tweak to reduce the weight and place it in more critical areas.

 

[muddy60]

Damn nice work!

 

[Combi245]

Stack of stuff I have to trim sometime today outside...

 

[Combi245]

So I have been busy with a couple of things in the shed, everything has not been trimmed and I am slowly working my way through the various bonding that I need to do.

I removed a couple of bits I shouldn't have so am working on the reinstatement of it, specifically around the internal section where the rubber tank mounts are located. This needs to be built up and have a layer of carbon placed over it.

Tank top portion number two all infused and curing. This one has had the updated laminate added to it which will be what is going to be used from this point on. While the weather is playing the game I am going to be making as many of these as I can over the next couple of months in order to stock pile them for future assembly.

So I also had a bit of tubular carbon cloth turn up this week as well. I have the plug ready for the ram tube mould that I need to make, this is what is going to be used to make them up when I get a chance.

 

[Broombah]

what adhesive are you using to do the bond?

 

[Combi245]

what adhesive are you using to do the bond?

An additive is used with the resin that I use which makes it into a glue.

 

[Combi245]

Been off the grid for a bit, long days in the shed getting plugs ready for moulding and moulds made from plugs that are ready to go. The second of the 97 side fairing moulds will be completed tomorrow, I just need to get the support brackets bonded to the bottom of one of them. The other side was finished off yesterday and trimmed this morning. Got a bit over zealous with the cutting though so have a small repair to do around the edge. Ram tube mould has also been completed. Plug for the top screen is ready for priming when I can get some more cleaning fluid for the spray gun.
Tank number two upper is out of the mould. Getting better but still a way to go to get it perfect. I have run out of resin which is on order so I have had to park the manufacturing up until it gets here.

Side faring moulded up today

Top screen and airbox for the injected bikes been worked on a couple of days ago.

Almost completed, just need to tidy up a couple of places and make sure it has no splinters sticking out of the glassed surface. The plug is going to have the cut outs filled in and a set of moulds for the racing fairing versions to be built latter.

 

[Combi245]

So I completed the other side mould and are now working on the race version of the fairings without the cut outs for the indicators. I might end up using these in the future for my other bike and use a different indicator on the side of the fairing. Bit of filling fairing and painting to be done but in the meantime I have ordered another batch of the discs.

Made a couple of changes to them - better anodising for starters and I have asked for the disc detail to be engraved rather than the laser etching. I have also changed the hole layout on the rotor slightly as well. They should be here in about 12 weeks along with a batch of EBC sintered HH pads - I have had to order both in bulk this time around to get a better deal on everything.

 

[tboooe]

@Combi245 are you selling all these wonderful goodies you are making? If so, how do I go about ordering?

 

[Combi245]

I have managed to get the plugs for the side fairings ready for the next rendition of them - minus the cut out for the indicators.

This was a special request from the race guys that wanted them this way. Can say it is growing on me to use them for my bikes. Juat need to do a final prime and fine sand to get ready for a coat of clear.
Also on the list of things to get out of the way has been the airbox which has taken on a life of its own.

Multiple piece mould required for this one when It comes to making it but that is a little way off. Still I have completed the rough filling and fairing of it, rounded of all the edges as to how I want it, added a flange block to the front of it and have sealed it with some epoxy primer ready for sanding latter this week.
Also out of the way is a carbon repair that I did for an old work collegue. Have not seen him for years and he turns up out of the blue on a Bimpota BB1 with a carbon fibre Bimota exhaust cover for a DB4 in need of a bit of attention. Not a problem - managed to get the repair done that night with a bit of scrap and a coat of clear on it to seal it today.

Will sand and seal the inside tomorrow but I am running very low on clean fluid for the spray gun, I have just enough to do one more spray session before I run out. Bit of an issue getting some more as my supplier has run out with a wait for another two weeks before he gets more.

 

[Combi245]

So while I wait for a couple of things to turn up I managed to get the tank sanded to identify any imperfections. Namely pin holes and any voids in the laminate. Couple of areas that needed a bit of attention but nothing too serious.

Also been having a play with pigmented resins (epoxy). This has gone well to date so I am going to try it on a couple of seat supports

This was just a couple of off cuts that I laminated together on some plastic.

Peel ply finish on the intended inside.

 

[Neil66]

@Combi245 are you selling all these wonderful goodies you are making? If so, how do I go about ordering?

⬆ This

 

[Combi245]

Couple of things to get out of the way today..

First of the coloured resin seat mounts.

Out of the mould they don't look to bad.

The seats that I tried a couple of different things on. One on the right had a flat tow carbon laid into the mould but it did not work out so well.

So the thought was to have the chequred patern running down to middle of the seat so that it cold be exposed during the painting.. It is so thin that I will blend out the material on the edges of the seat.

Looks the part once the peel ply was removed and the slight join line created but the two piece mould is gone. Will have to do it under vacuum next time I try this though.

 

[Combi245]

Working on the tank No2 this week

Mounting hole and all the various screw holes done.

Filler cap mounted in place.

What it all looks like inside.

Newton filler cap and breathers used.

The alloy tank hinge and mounting pin in place.

Tank lower mounted to the bike for the first time.

And the upper sitting in place for the first time.

Carbon standard seat in place after i gave it a wash..

Finally starting to get some traction with the two Supersports that I now own.....

 

[Combi245]

All the tanks lined up ready for various work to be done on them.

Basic fuel pump layout for all of the tanks. The stainless clamps will be replaced with carbon ones in the future.

First of the seal coats applied.

All sealed with the resin and ready for the jointing compound to be applied.

Curing out in the sun

Done, just need to leave it somewhere warm for a couple of weeks.

Tidy up of the underside joint and a decision as to what colour to paint it.