Manky Monkey Motors

Hi folks, thought I'd start a thread on my chop rebuild,
It was originally built and finished in 2008 and sva'd etc, then run for a few years until I got interested in air-cooled vw's it's since Sat rotting away until earlier this year when if was pulled out of the shed and a quick inspection showed that although in bits didn't need that much work,
So here we go

The initial build idea was something that would keep passengers comfy and dry, as my kids loved to go out pretty much anywhere on the chop, they are now older/wiser so a more minimal look is in order, the original motor was sold to fund a static caravan at the coast, so I was looking for a replacement when an old school mate posted a picture of his bike in his shed, I could see in the back ground a few motor's kicking about and cheekily asked him for one, to my surprise he kindly offered me a 77gs 750 lump and carbs and wouldn't take money for it, I gave him a pre unit oil tank (he's into brit stuff) and then he also told me it used to be owned by a late mutual friend of  ours who left us too soon, which of course makes this definitely the motor to use, so a massive thanks to stezz and wig if your watching then I hope you get a buzz seeing this 8) r.i.p brother......

So with that out of the way let's crack on. I started by collecting bits to remake the girders (as much as possible in stainless) and also parts for the restyling of the rear end.

I found a guy on ebay selling mudguards that are ment for specific size tyres, I will be running a 160/80/16 so that's what I bought with some doubt as to fit etc, but it's amazingly good, nice thick material almost perfect radius (see pics) whuhoo

So onto the girders, I sourced some stainless tube in 5/8 enough to make the legs, also  a guy named reg supplied me with a chunk of 316 for the top yolk, so away I went, closely following the design of the original except moving the pivot forward to allow a through bolt for easier accuracy

More pictures

More with some of the other bits I made earlier

Another trial fitted to the bike

Last one, on to the legs next

Ooh, haven't had a new project posted here for a while :)
Looking forward to reading this one.

A new project AND girder ! Great.

Thanks guys, best make this a good un then  ;D
 Yes like a set off girders and had a good look at the ones you built olds.
These are the 3rd set I'll have done first set we're these pre sva which were a lot shorter then remade just with longer legs, then I made Andy a set for tazs trike and learned a better design which I've used on this top yolk, basically moving the top pivot forward in the yolk and drilling completely through so I use a solid spindle, drilling this in mild steel ws easy compared to the 316 stainless, another learning curve but worth it in the end, trick seems to be a solid set up and keep the cutting feed constant with plenty of coolant and stopping is OK and advisable to cool things off but getting going again requires a bit of courage to hit it at the same feed rate no rubbing as it will work harden the material and leave you stuck, I'm glad that it's now made and if I do any more I'll get 303 grade which machines more like normal mild steel

Some photos of the sort of look im going for

Just means more machining of the side links

Pic with old top yoke

And a test look with the new one, the repositioning of the shaft has also increased the trail which was a disired side effect.

That is clever, I’m sure it’s not easy but looks superb

Thanks guys, it's only drilling holes in metal,  ::)(mostly in the right place) I'm on to the next bit now.
Getting the bits ready to make the legs, bought a 450mm long bit of 30mm dia stainless to make up the bosses for the axle and the link shafts, I made a jig years back to hold the bushes in place, I make the legs in pairs so any size difference is equal and will match perfectly, then fit/bend the tubes and tig weld it all up, here's a test fit picture of it all together, (not sure on the bars)

So as test for my poor tig welding skills I am making some other bars, using some hex bar and inch tube.
trial set up picture I'm thinking of bending the ends down where the tape is then making up separate ends as the tube is 26.5 mm not 25.4, think its the bore size it's measured on

After a quick tickle with a pipe bender and a bit of a go on the Miller we have the beginning of a pair of bars, not sure if I love them but I have enjoyed the process so far and like the fact they will never rust, hopefully the tig welding won't be too much of a mess  :D

Another on the bike

Last one

You've been busy! :)

I was making great progress, then life got in the way slightly  ::) I have purchased some 1" for the bar ends and moved the whole plot into a temporary gazebo until I find room in the shed, it does allow me room to work albeit a bit drafty  ;D

A compressed picture instead of resized, which looks better?

I always resize to 600 x 600, but either looks fine.
Bike's lookin' fine too.

Thank you sir 8),
Finally found a spare second to weld up the bars,
Always a bit of a worry trying to weld neat where it will be seen but I'm happy so far with the results

More

+1

 :)

Learned a bit about tig welding along the way, tube in stainless needs purging on the inside to stop the weld 'sugaring' basically like mig without gas, I did a test and the unpurged weld as well as looking rough, also rusts on the sugary bit? I do like tig now just got to be very clean and accurate in the fit of parts, I'd say a more gentlemanly way to join metal ;D 8)

My mate Keith TIG'd the headlight brackets on my truck recently, (I decided to move them). I was rummaging for some old blankets to protect the glass & paint from sparks, but he told me TIG doesn't produce sparks like other welds.
As you say, a more refined way to glue metal together.

A progress pic, not much done due to house repairs and work on my daily transport. Im Liking it tho

I like that too :)

Love the look of the front end. Are you on facebook ?

Thanks guys, yes I'm on Facebook, don't get enough time to work on it, but hopefully I'll Riding it next summer (famous last words)