CBR600RR Trees Modded to Fit XS650

Did a little custom machining today.  Modified a set of OEM XS650 Trees and Steering Stem to accept the CBR600RR Upper and Lower Fork Clamps.  Complete with Tapered Bearings, this will bolt up and fit like OEM, with no need for shims, adapters, etc.. 

You'll have to forgive the ugly headtube, I use it for such things as this. 

The customer supplied a set of used CBR600RR trees, which I modified using an old XS650 Steering Stem, All Balls Tapered Bearings, and a bit of patience. 

I'll leave the prettying up of the paint and such to them, but this should be a sweet swap for an old machine. 

Rubber Tank Mount

Alot of Japanese, British and French bikes have those funny little rubber mounts under the tank.  I wanted to reuse the OEM tank mounts on my Motobecane tank, but I had to get a bit creative making that happen.

Here is what I am describing.  You can see the half cup mounts, that typically ride on rubber pucks on the frame.

So I took some measurements, and found the GM Hood Adjusters would do the trick quite nicely!  I like finding things to use on my projects that others might be able to find easily.  Most auto parts houses can get these for you, or in my case, I found them on the shelf at Fastenal.  At $1.33 each, they would work quite well.

I went to work on the lathe, making a nice mount for them to nestle into the fuel tank with.

If you don't have access to a lathe, you can make these with some tubing and a couple of 5/16-18 bungs.  Always try to think of what you can do using the tools you have/have access to.  I built my first major project with only a 110 Flux Core Welder, a Hand Drill, and an Angle Grinder...  Having the tools is nice, but not required. 

I trimmed down the bolts on the Hood Adjusters, as my mount would be narrow and they were a bit too long.

It goes together a little something like this:

It fit into the tank cups perfectly!

 

Got the front tank mount onto the frame.  Had to make the mount angled to clear my coil mounts, and I plan to run my wiring through the frame here.  

 

Then onto the rear tank tab.  I started with some flat stock.  I don't care for a a flat stock tab over a round tube, so some work had to be done.  

First, I got the tank fitted up where I wanted it.  

Then I took some flat stock, and shaped it over my vice.  You can do this yourself, by setting the vice jaws a bit narrower than the material, and working it over with a Ball Peen Hammer.  

 Starting to take shape.  

 

Drill a hole, and weld it onto the tank.  I'll add a 5/16-16 Bung under this tab onto the frame.  I usually leave this hole a bit larger to compensate for tank alignment and position.  My tank in particular is NOT perfect left/right so I will have to cheat the eye a bit. 

So there ya have it.  I did make my coil mounts at the same time, I'll be running 2 Dyna Coils.  They are small, pack a punch, and will work well with my rephased engine going in this thing.   The best part - both coils will be completely hidden under the tank.    All in all, this was a good productive day on an otherwise very slow going build...

Thanks for your support folks, we will be back after a short intermission, make sure to get your drinks and snacks!

To all my customers: We are expanding our production and parts line, as well as our services offered. We have just doubled our shop space, and will need to take some time to get reorganized, get some new equipment in place, and get our new office finished. We are still in the same location, just getting more space. As a part of this growth, we will be taking the next week "off" to get these things done. For those of you who have orders pending shipment with us, they should go out on time. New orders, or those from mid-last week may be delayed. I will do my best to continue answering emails/phone calls/forums but please be patient with us.

 New Office Being Built

A Dedicated Engine Building Area

 

And a few other things going on, soon to be announced. 

We have tried to continue our daily operations while expanding, and it has proven to be just too much.  We will continue to offer the same great customer service, and excellent products as we always have, it might just take us a week or so to get back with you via email/phone/etc.. 

This is going to be a great thing for the XS650 community! Thanks as always for your continued support as we expand our operations - Hugh Owings

Kreidler Goodness! 74cc Cylinder and Head

So I am thinking about putting this 5 Speed Kreidler engine into my Briton Bees Moped.  I'm thinking yes! 

Thanks to Briton Bees for the 5 Speed Lower End.  

No more slipper clutch!  A real clutch will be a nice change from the Moped clutch.

Thats ALOT of cooling surface area.  I can dig it.

Huge Cylinder Head?  Check!

 

Gonna have to bore the cases to make this one fit.  Talk about some cool small cc radness.  This is as far as the cylinder will fit onto the cases without some machine work.  

Digger Rearsets

I've been slowly hacking away at my digger project.  Knowing I wanted rearsets complicated matters even more.  I spent ALOT of time on Ergonomics when I build a bike.  A cool looking bike is worthless if it isn't comfortable. 

We spent a few nights tacking up some round stock, mocking in possible peg locations, until the bike felt just right. 

Tevan helped out a bit, so I snuck in a pic.

Once we had the location, then I had to figure out my rearset controls.  Most people run forwards controls, or even mid controls now, but I've always liked my speed chops to feel like a sportbike when I am on it.  This limits the available aftermarket controls drastically, and seeing the price of aftermarket rearsets, I decided to tackle a set myself.  This way, I could control the appearance and function 100%, without any compromise.  Something about repetition of form, while keeping function - designer words to make me sound smart... 

So I came up with a sketch or 2, and started machining out some parts. 

Countersunk mounts will fit nicely on the frame, avoiding issue with chain clearance, and allow for flush fit hardware.  Slick huh?

Some layout fluid, and a quick couple of lines gave me an idea of how my control levers would work.  These will go nicely with my wheels and girder.  Off to the milling machine. 

 

Making blue chips!  *Note, this is a good time to make sure your pant cuffs come over your boot/shoe ankles.  That, or you might end up looking like you are trying to Dubstep (whatever that is) in the shop, and people will stare at you .

One lever down, then you get the fun of duplicating it.  Nice to take measurements, and make drawings before going straight to the materials when you have to duplicate a part.  So keep that in mind when you are out there in your garage making cool parts for your scoot.  A little bit of cleaning up with a file, and you are good to go on this lever.

I had never made a set of folding peg mounts before, resorting to using random parts off of stock bikes, but this bike required a bit more effort from me apparently, and wanted to torture my brain.  Doesn't look like much, but figuring this piece out on a napkin, and making it work properly (in theory) is a whole lot different than actually making it. 

A few lathe operations, some drilling and tapping, and then a few Milling Operations, just to make a simple little folding peg mount!  I might just be a glutton for punishment, and then I remembered I would have to make 2 of them!  3 Actually if you count the one I ruined on the final milling operation, but that's another story.  

 

Those with sharp eyes will notice that this is 2 pieces.  You'll see why in a bit.  

So how does it go together?  Well first, take a crappy picture so people understand - sorry bout that folks.

I had to make a set of pegs to work with my folding mounts, just as challenging, and requiring several operations on the lathe/mill as well.  And yes, I had to make 3 of these too!  Don't be afraid to make mistakes, you'll learn from them - that's the fun of building bikes if'n you ask me.

I came up with a simple design for the pegs that I thought would compliment the bike.  Remember the KISS principle, Keep It Simple Stupid.  Less is more, or something like that.

Remember that little piece above, that's the pivot for the lever.  Here it is welded up.

Now you are getting the idea right?  All fitted up.

Once I had the rearsets fabbed, I used a universal linkage kit, and made my shifter linkage.  

How it fits, from inside the chassis.  Nice and clean.

When making your linkage, don't forget to make sure your feet and legs will clear.  I only had to make this once - what a relief!

 

 

In your planning stages, you'll want to make sure EVERYTHING clears, including the kickstart lever.  That poses a real problem for most folks running rearsets.  I tucked mine in nice and tight to the frame, allowing an OEM kickstart lever to clear just fine.   This bike will be Kick-Only, so I couldn't take any chances on this detail. 

Close, but this will work just fine. 

About that time, my best shop helper ever came over to check on things.

 

After a brief discussion, and some chasing each other around the shop, Roxxy gave me the nod of approval.  

I still need to make the short sections for the toe nubbs (that's the technical term, in case you didn't know), and I won't make the other linkage until I know what master cylinder I will run for the rear brake.  All in all, a very good day in the shop, tinkering and making cool stuff. 

I get emails all the time from people who read the blog, and appreciate the information we share.  My goal is to share in the things that we do here, and to provide you with enough information that you might try to do some of these things yourself.   I know not everyone has access to the machining equipment that we have here in the shop.  But, if you are creative, you can use various sizes of DOM tubing to achieve the pivot, a threaded bung for the mounts, and a set of off the shelf pegs to create a very similar setup.  Take your time, be creative and have fun. 

February weather in Asheville.

Pretty lame winter so far.  I rode my wife's Hot Rod Rebel to work on February 1st, if that tells ya anything. 

It has been hard to get into the "winter build" groove when the weather is soo nice outside.  So we started taking Friday's off from customer work in the shop, so we can focus on our own personal builds...  Call it an employee incentive, I call it good living - Hugh

Overseas Shipping? We can make that happen.

This is headed to Brunei, and if you are like me, you'll wanna Google that - haha.....

 

We've been slammed at the shop, but look for more updates soon!

Hugh

Big Bore, Rephased Street Tracker

Great day in February to take a quick spin!