|
So yeah, you guys asked me to make a project thread. Between when I decided to turbocharge my Ducati Monster 696 and today, I've also taken on an arguably as insane (or more insane) project, which is building a sidecar rig as a birthday present for my wife. This thread will track progress on both projects, then. Because I'm apparently both a glutton for punishment and a complete moran.  Project 1: Turbocharge my 2010 Monster 696 Goal: ~120HP, so around 7-9lbs of boost. Planning to use a Garrett GT1241 turbocharger. Current Status: Monster is in pieces. Bill of Materials is mostly complete (I'll post it later). Waiting on cash to start buying stuff. Difficulty level: BRING IT ON  Project 2: A memorable gift for my wife's 40th birthday Goal: an unholy union of a 1963 Duna sidecar and a 1976 Honda CB400F Super Sport. Current Status: Sidecar being shipped to me. '76 CB400F purchased, waiting on shipper. Refurb tank and NOS side panels purchased and shipped to kick-rear end moto painter in Florida. Custom 40th anniversary-style badges will be hand-painted on the side covers, along with hand-painted HONDA / Super Sport logos and pinstripes. All in silver over a base of black to match the black / aluminum sidecar. The '76 hasn't been on the road since 2002, but the seller (who is one of those awesome old dudes with a barn full of neat old bikes) claims that it runs. I plan to replace everything related to brakes, replace the tires, rebuild the carbs, convert it to electronic ignition and replace the coils / plug wires / plugs, refurbish the gauge cluster, and clean up the frame which has some surface rust on it. This may mean stripping the whole loving thing and painting it. I also have to weld on eyelets and ball joints in exactly the right places for the sidecar mounts. So, you know. Easy. Difficultly level: Her birthday is in mid-April.  
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 21:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 12:09 |
|
|
 That sidecar is loving amazing, and attaching it to a CB400F? You sir, are brilliant.
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 22:34
|
|
|
Gorson posted:
By april. 
|
|
#
?
Feb 19, 2016 22:54
|
|
|
builds character posted:By april. Nothing like setting an unreasonable deadline to make an already insane(ly good) idea even better. CA needs more threads like this, for motorcycle dudes we're a pretty tame bunch.
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2016 02:59
|
|
|
This is a good thread, maybe it will guilt me into progress on my own stuff.
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2016 03:19
|
|
|
Thanks, guys. I expect that the Duna-CB400 project is going to have me taking days off work to have any chance of getting it done in time; I really want to give it to her on her 40th if it's even remotely possible. Did I mention that I have to buy a TIG welder for both of these projects?   I'm so happy to finally, finally, finally have a garage in which I can do these kinds of insane things.And really happy to have a deadline so that I actually maybe get one of them done! 
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2016 03:30
|
|
|
That sidecar is amazing. Good luck.
|
|
#
?
Feb 20, 2016 05:06
|
|
|
Title for the motorcycle arrived today. TIG welder & accessories, chop saw, metal bender, angle grinders, cutoff & wire wheels and other assorted bits en route. Bench grinder / stand, and standing drill press purchased, partially set up. A shitload of NOS / repro parts ordered from 4into1.com to refurb / replace all the wear items, electrical, anything related to the brakes... Oh, and I've decided to make the sidecar rig a leaner. This is much safer for the rider, and actually easier to fabricate. Kind of. Just need a couple of heavy-duty Heim joints. Should be interesting. My wife is complaining that I'm ruining the surprise by telling her that she can't go in the garage - she's just got no idea. At all. Even if she suspects it's a sidecar... Painter says he's sending photos of the tank and side panels in black with pinstripes tomorrow - I'll post them when I get them.
|
|
#
?
Mar 1, 2016 05:21
|
|
|
The tank: The panels:   Note that these don't have any clear on them yet, just the black base and pinstripes. Should have the first layer of clear on tomorrow, then the logos and "badges" on later in the week, and final layers of clear next week. They're going to look spectacular, I think. ninja: set up the Harbor Freight 13" 16 speed floor-standing drill press this evening. It's a surprisingly solid unit, and there is no measurable runout in the chuck. Major win for $270 minus the 20% super coupon. HandlingByJebus fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Mar 2, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 2, 2016 06:05
|
|
|
This is great. What can you possibly do for her birthday next year though? How are you figuring out exactly where to weld the joints on?
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2016 00:45
|
|
|
builds character posted:This is great. What can you possibly do for her birthday next year though? 41 is not as big a birthday as 40. I figure I have 10 years to come up with a plan to top this.  There are a bunch of schools of thought about how to determine where to weld the balls and eyes for the sidecar mount, but basically it comes down to physically positioning the sidecar and bike next to each other in the physical arrangement that you want them to be on the road (typically with the sidecar wheel's axle 6-18" in front of the bike's rear axle, and with a slight toe in), then determining where the most accessible strong parts of the motorcycle's frame are, and designing arms that go from the sidecar frame to the two low points and one or two high points on the motorcycle. The sidecar's lead (i.e. how far the sidecar's axle is ahead of the bike's rear axle) determines how hard or easy it is to turn, trading off how stable it is at speed. Since I'm planning on making this a leaner, though, I only need two mount points on the underside of the bike - one fore, and one aft, both as low and on the centerline as possible - to locate the Heim joints that will allow the bike to lean while maintaining the same position for the sidecar. So rather than welding to the frame, this means building a mounting plate that locates to hard points on the frame (ex. center stand mount, motor mounts) and provides the attachment points for the Heim joints. Should be simpler, it's less invasive to the motorcycle's frame, and it's way safer to ride (i.e. you still ride the hack with countersteer, rather than direct steering). The downside is that the sidecar ends up being further away from the motorcycle than with a hard-mounted rig.
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2016 03:20
|
|
|
  
|
|
#
?
Mar 3, 2016 23:50
|
|
|
  
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2016 20:09
|
|
|
Those look awesome.
|
|
#
?
Mar 4, 2016 20:50
|
|
|
Fantastic.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2016 04:20
|
|
|
Yeah, dude did an amazing job on them. Can't believe that's all hand-painted! Now I have to do the paint justice with the rest of the project.
|
|
#
?
Mar 5, 2016 05:48
|
|
|
Great project ideas, and those paint jobs are excellent!
|
|
#
?
Mar 12, 2016 21:11
|
|
|
Chris Knight posted:Great project ideas, and those paint jobs are excellent! Thanks man! News: I TIG welded some bar stock to some other bar stock last night. I have a huge stack of parts for the CB400F, which arrives tomorrow. This weekend, the project begins in anger.
|
|
#
?
Mar 15, 2016 23:29
|
|
|
Oh fuckin'  SNAP. I knew that exhaust was going to make this project a total pain in the dick, but drat, that's going to be a giant pain in the dick.
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2016 00:54
|
|
|
Left hand sidecar
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2016 01:07
|
|
|
Jim Silly-Balls posted:Left hand sidecar Not a chance - for multiple reasons. Super unsafe on left-hand-drive roads, and I am not going to cut up a rare 50 year old sidecar worth probably 3x as much as the bike to solve this problem. I'll build a left-side exhaust first. Current status: very, very happy that I bought a refurbished tank to be painted. The one on the bike is full of rust. When I siphoned out the tank, I saw dime-sized chunks of rust in the hose. gently caress. Thank goodness there's at least an inline fuel filter in there. The bike is also a little bent. It wasn't obvious in photos, but both fenders are rusty / pitted and misaligned, as are the headlights / gauges. Fortunately the wheels and forks seem straight. There's a lot more rust on the frame and other parts of the bike than I thought. It is really starting to look like I'm going to have to take the thing down to bare metal and have it painted, which I'm not stoked about. The front shocks are a mess too; seeping fluid, and making awful clunking noises. They need seals, probably springs, and definitely oil. The costs of buying a 40 year old motorcycle that hasn't been on the road in 14 years, I suppose. The sidecar's wheel is on, and I've built a crappy little wood stand to position it appropriately for mocking up the mounts. I'm not sure if it's going to be possible to create leaner mounts given the position of the pipes, so I'm looking at either relocating the pipes, building a super complex mount that goes around them, or giving up on the idea of a leaner and going with a hard three-point mount. I have created a to-do list in the garage. It's long. I have less than a month until my wife's birthday. I've got this. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2016 08:13
|
|
|
sofullofhate posted:Not a chance - for multiple reasons. Super unsafe on left-hand-drive roads, and I am not going to cut up a rare 50 year old sidecar worth probably 3x as much as the bike to solve this problem. I'll build a left-side exhaust first. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLUW5ppDjAE
|
|
#
?
Mar 17, 2016 17:49
|
|
|
 Just mocked up, obviously. Haven't even finished tearing the bike down yet, let alone started mounting the sidecar or the tank / side panels...   I think I'm going to paint the fenders and chainguard black.
|
|
#
?
Mar 19, 2016 02:53
|
|
|
Well, poo poo. 
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2016 03:39
|
|
|
You know how to weld, right? Right?
|
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2016 04:44
|
|
|
Slavvy posted:You know how to weld, right? Yeah, but... I'm not sure how to replace this exactly. edit: Current state, as I give up for the night: 
HandlingByJebus fucked around with this message at 05:30 on Mar 20, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 20, 2016 05:07
|
|
|
Not a tonne of progress today, due to another minor setback: That's the oil filter bolt, which had decided that it wanted to be a permanent part of the oil filter cover. The flange on that fucker is pretty thick. Cutting it off was a lovely project, but I got it. Current status:  Nothing on the frame except for the engine and engine mounts. Once I separate the two, the stripping and painting process begins. Fun fact: the forks weren't low on oil, they were completely empty. I don't even know how that happens except for some kind of structural failure allowing the fork oil to leak out, so that sucks. PS: the tach cable is still attached because the retaining screw is rusted to complete poo poo and fused to the valve cover.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2016 01:26
|
|
|
sofullofhate posted:Well, poo poo. Drill a hole through the center, take a new bolt, cut the head off, insert through the hole and weld both sides?
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2016 02:54
|
|
|
Gorson posted:Drill a hole through the center, take a new bolt, cut the head off, insert through the hole and weld both sides? That is probably the answer. Drilling out that much bolt is going to suck out loud, but that looks like more or less how it was done at the factory.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2016 06:09
|
|
|
The only other solution is to find a donor bike, which probably wouldn't have to be a cb400, cut off the whole post and weld it on but that would take time you don't have
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2016 13:37
|
|
|
I think welding something into that broken bolt is the way to go but the crucial part is how you get it out from there. I'd torch the post around it and use a manual impact driver to remove it. Or maybe an air gun.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2016 17:34
|
|
|
Rev. Dr. Moses P. Lester posted:I think welding something into that broken bolt is the way to go but the crucial part is how you get it out from there. I'd torch the post around it and use a manual impact driver to remove it. Or maybe an air gun. I don't believe that it is screwed in. I think it's a section of threaded rod that is welded on the far (and maybe near) side of that hydro formed section of the rear frame, with a collar over it, which is also welded to the frame. The back side of that hydro formed section has obviously been welded to, but only for something the general size of the threaded section. If you look at how the "shank" of that bolt is attached to the frame, it looks like it has its own collar / washer, which is welded to the outside per of the frame. I'm really not sure how I'm going to tackle it. At least the threaded section is only loaded laterally - it doesn't support the weight of the bike, it only locates the top of the shock on the shank. So just welding a new section of threaded rod might be sufficient.
|
|
#
?
Mar 21, 2016 19:26
|
|
|
Slow progress. Finally got the master cylinder apart. Note the broken eyelets on the circlip, which was literally rusted into the groove. Thank gently caress for Evapo-Rust. I've been bathing drat near everything that's come off the bike in the stuff, and it's magic. Some pieces, the rust literally wiped right off afterwards. Incredible. Obligatory:  Then I tackled getting the engine out of the frame, which I thought was going to be pretty easy.  That lump is loving heavy, and it has to come out the side of the frame, of course. I managed to avoid dropping it or (I think) damaging it, but I am in a lot of pain from just wrestling the drat thing around. I have absolutely no idea how I'm going to get it back in the frame. Obligatory:  I'm not happy that I've had to leave the engine leaned forward like that, but it's so front-heavy that I can't actually put it on wood blocks, which had been my plan previously. Not sure how to proceed with it. Next step: figure out the broken suspension lug on the frame, then strip it and paint the entire frame. I have figured out how to make a leaner mount that will use only existing holes on the frame, so I don't need to weld to the frame! Except for that loving suspension lug, of course.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 05:25
|
|
|
sofullofhate posted:Then I tackled getting the engine out of the frame, which I thought was going to be pretty easy. Standard procedure is to lay the bike on its side, then lift the frame off/lower the frame on.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 13:15
|
|
|
Bucephalus posted:Standard procedure is to lay the bike on its side, then lift the frame off/lower the frame on. Well. That will be easier than what I did to get it out. Thanks!
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 15:03
|
|
|
sofullofhate posted:which I thought was going to be pretty easy.  What's the list of your major issues at the moment? 1. Exhaust 2. That rod in the frame
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 15:07
|
|
|
So wait, you're going to line up and weld side cart to a bare frame? Did you take measurements on a fully weighted bike first?
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 15:10
|
|
|
builds character posted:
Project blockers: 1. Threaded section of right rear shock mount Known potential issues: 1. Master cylinder was rusty, but not in the bore; not yet sure if rebuild will be successful 2. Forks were devoid of oil; not yet sure if they're structurally sound 3. Need to find / purchase an intermediate-long list of NOS/repro parts (headlight surround, oil bolt, oil filter cover, rear shocks, potentially fenders if I don't want to paint them...) 4. Clearing the exhaust for a fixed setup would be difficult  5. The speedo cable carrier on the front wheel does not allow the wheel to turn easily. The wheel bearings are fine, but the carrier wants to turn with the wheel. 6. Both the speedo sensor and tach sensor retainer screws are fused and need to be EZ-outed, drilled, or nuked from orbit, and replacements will be super-easy to find.Nitrox posted:So wait, you're going to line up and weld side cart to a bare frame? Did you take measurements on a fully weighted bike first? Absolutely not, fortunately I am not that stupid. Per above, I've figured out how to build a leaner mount in such a way that it will clear the exhaust easily, and will locate to the front bottom engine mounts and the centre stand mount. No welding to the frame, and I will do it once the bike is back together.Note that I will cry if it doesn't work and I have to weld to the frame. HandlingByJebus fucked around with this message at 15:58 on Mar 22, 2016 |
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 15:50
|
|
|
This is triggering all kinds of memories (good and bad) of my CB360. gently caress those master cylinders. That circlip was an absolute bitch to get out of mine and even after a full rebuild the MC leaked. You may want to find a more modern replacement along with a steel line. For stripping that frame, I would get that job outsourced. Aircraft stripper is horribly toxic, makes a big mess, and doesn't do a great job. Take it to a media blaster, they should be able to do it for $50-$75. Then after you get it painted wrap the frame rails in foam pipe insulation: http://www.homedepot.com/p/Everbilt-3-4-in-x-6-ft-Foam-Pipe-Insulation-ORP07812/204760801 This will protect the paint when you reinstall the motor. For that, do as others have said and put the motor on its side and lay the frame around it. I keep a big honking piece of foam rubber (36"x48") around the garage for jobs like this, does a great job of keeping the motor from banging on the garage floor while you muscle it around.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 16:05
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 29, 2024 12:09 |
|
|
On 2, the forks having no oil will not really be a big deal structurally. The speedo carrier should be pretty easy to disassemble for inspection - it's usually a plastic gear drive and a metal worm drive to the cable. Some resistance is normal, especially if the cable isn't lubricated.
|
|
#
?
Mar 22, 2016 16:22
|
|