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Julian's 2022 Dirtbag Challeneg build!

Here's your Monday update...

The plan was to spend Saturday removing unwanted brackets from the frame and then get all of the frame splices welded and final welding done on the swingarm. Then spend Sunday on some of the machining and fabrication activities. The grinding and welding turned out to be MUCH more work than expected so took the entire weekend to get the frame and swingarm cleaned up and welded.

Here are some before, during, and after photos.

The stock tank mount needs to go away...

20220730_143153 by andbike, on Flickr

Brackets that were removed...

20220730_151826 by andbike, on Flickr

Lots or rough edges to clean up...

20220730_151837 by andbike, on Flickr

20220730_151848 by andbike, on Flickr


I normally use a 1/4" die grinder with a cut-off wheel followed by a 90 degree die grinder with a sanding wheel for clean up. But those tools were taking too much time for the amount of heavy clean up that was needed. So I invested in one of these. Amazing how much material this tool can remove! Don't know how I've gone this long without one.

20220730_175440 by andbike, on Flickr

With all of the rough edges cleaned up. I could progress to the welding phase. I thought about grinding the splice welds smooth so that the frame would look smooth again, but I decided to leave the welds exposed as they represent some interesting history...

20220731_172426 by andbike, on Flickr

20220731_172352 by andbike, on Flickr

20220731_172343 by andbike, on Flickr

20220731_172128 by andbike, on Flickr



So this is what I consider to be my starting point. The engine mounts and shock mounts are temporary and will hopefully be replaced next weekend.

20220731_180813 by andbike, on Flickr

Okay, that's it till next time.
 
Here's the same loosely assembled parts with the Ducati bits just to see if the overall proportions are working. Lets just say I'm liking where this is going...
Click to expand...
I also like where this is going! It’s nice to know that it’s possible to use the miscellaneous parts I think are valuable crap. Of course I soon realize I lack your talent.
 
auntiebling said:
it baffles me that you've made so many bikes without an angle grinder :laughing
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I figured someone would ask that. I don't have a great answer except to say that I've always viewed angle grinders as a tool for people wanting to chop up existing frames, where as I mostly enjoy making frames where none previously exist. So kinda different processes. For the projects where I have modified existing frames I've never needed to remove this much material. So the short answer is that I just haven't needed one till now.

bikewanker said:
I also like where this is going! It’s nice to know that it’s possible to use the miscellaneous parts I think are valuable crap. Of course I soon realize I lack your talent.
Click to expand...

Thanks! and thanks!

moto_rider said:
not sure what year your motor is but could use this to help start the bike https://pantheramotorsports.com/cr250-1987-2001-electric-starter
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Wow! For $1500 I'm perfectly happy kick starting my motorcycles:x I would like to know more about their engine kits, but their website isn't very informative.
 
Well, fuck, fuck, and capital letters... FUCK! Things didn't go quite as planned last weekend. Back to that in a minute...

It strated off as a normal - get some work done on Dirtbag - type weekend. I got in a care package with laser cut parts. Saturday I swapped out the shock mounts and started tack welding engine mounts in place.

mock-up vs "designed" part...

20220806_122927 by andbike, on Flickr

20220806_131451 by andbike, on Flickr

20220806_133738 by andbike, on Flickr


Front engine mounts turned out nice!

20220806_155840 by andbike, on Flickr


The rear engine mounts didn't turn out as good as planned, so needed to leave those off and re-do the flat patterns and re-send for laser cutting. The "paper dolls" are not an exact science when we're bending 3mm steel plate. Oh well, just part of the process.

Hard to see in the photo, but the bent gusset portions overhang too far to get a nice weld...

20220806_191409 by andbike, on Flickr


The upper engine mount is small weldment with removable aluminum plates. Somehow I made the plates WAY too long (rough trimmed in the photo). More parts to re-do...

20220806_191429 by andbike, on Flickr



On Sunday the plan was to do some machining. First up was to take 1mm off the lower bearing surface of the stem. For some reason Yamaha made the lower bearing fitment at 31mm. This is a very odd size for bearings so I trimmed the stem to 30mm diameter...

20220807_133638 by andbike, on Flickr

Next up was to machine the rear caliper mount. I'm using a CBR250 rear caliper which is set-up for same diameter rotor as the KTM rotor and has ample clearance for a spoke wheel. Just need to open up the axle hole to 20mm and machine a slot to fit an anti-rotation pin.

20220807_141150 by andbike, on Flickr

20220807_142823 by andbike, on Flickr

20220807_144724 by andbike, on Flickr

With machining done on the caliper mount, and a re-make of the left side rear wheel spacer to bring the wheel closer to center and improve chain alignment, it was time to test fit and see how the caliper mount was fitting.

I did need to trim the spacer between the wheel and caliper mount till I got the rotor centered between the gap in the mount. I did this by trial and error taking a millimeter or two off with each cut and re fitting.

I was sitting on the garage floor doing the test fits and all looked good with the caliper mount and the last trim of the spacer. Very happy how it turned out and ready to move on to the next bits to machine.

For some reason I was little off balance standing up from the floor, but what ever. Once standing I was still off balance. Oh SHIT, I was very off-balance. FUCK, FUCK, FUCK... I know this feeling. I'm having a TIA! (transient ischemic attack).

FUCK!!!

I call my wife at home. She calls 911. Within 5 minutes the fire department and a bambulane are in my driveway. Luckily in that 5 minutes I was able to hobble around and get stuff from the driveway put back inside and the garage closed.

From that point it was CODE 3 all the way to Valley Care!

(gratuitous selfie!)

20220807_154437 by andbike, on Flickr
 
That sucks... I hope you are doing OK.

Did a TIA thing 8 plus years ago and after an emergency surgery no effect at all.

Wish you the best man.

The build is awesome BTW.
 
Hope you're back up and well soon. I'm following your build, and am very impressed. Love your work.
 
The machining is some zen chits.

Calm your tits til you hit the pudding.
 
Damn Julian. Be well, get well.
 
Thanks everyone for the well wishes. Much appreciated:teeth For the most part I'm doing pretty well considering how serious this little incident was. I still have some tingling sensations on my right side (mostly my hand) but everything is 100% functioning properly in terms of motor skills. The biggest issue has been constant and at times very intense hiccups. Apparently hiccups are a neurological condition and common after effect of strokes and TIAs. This have gotten very bad at times, however today they have let up for brief periods of time, so I'm hopeful that they go away soon.

Anyway, enough about that. Lets get back to Dirtbag:party Needles to say, the pace was a bit slower this weekend. I received the revised laser cut parts including a shock mount with bends. Bending is a new service that SendCutSend provides so I wanted to give it a try. The part came out perfect and only added and extra $19 to the part cost! Considering the heavy gauge and close proximity of the bends, this was a good investment. The extra "triangle" shapes are to provide a parallel edge for some of the bends and will be trimmed of before installation.

20220813_135402 by andbike, on Flickr

20220813_140116 by andbike, on Flickr



Saturday's effort was to install the final engine mounts and remaining upper shock mount. This all went well. I double checked chain alignment with the old fashioned string method and am very happy with the results.

Rear engine mounts line up much better and no huge gaps:thumbup

20220813_152049 by andbike, on Flickr



The new plates for the upper mount look good:thumbup

20220813_152052 by andbike, on Flickr


Upper shock mount looks good, but unfortunately I didn't leave much room to get a wrench on the nut. My bad:thumbdown Rather that waste time to re-do the bracket, I'll buy a cheap 19mm wrench and grind it down a bit to fit. Hopefully that will work:dunno

With all of the mounts tacked in place I decide to call it a day. This is only about 50% of what I'd normally do in a day, but I'm still very much recovering from a major medical event so need to take it easy.

20220813_161420 by andbike, on Flickr

20220813_161426 by andbike, on Flickr

Sunday I'm exhausted from several night in a row of little sleep. I have some CAD work that needs to get done including a battery box. So that has been the focus today.

I just clicked "send" to SendCutSend for the battery box complete with bending. I rushed through the process and after hitting send realized I got two of the bend angles reversed. I sent a quick email to customer service explaining what had happened. I know they have an automated process and aren't always able to catch mistakes. Fingers crossed.

I'm gonna try to get a bit more CAD work done tonight. So that's it for now.:party
 
Hey boss- if you want some help getting work done- I have open days on my calendar on 8/21 and 8/27-28- let me know and I could meet you at the shop and help you make progress.
 
Wow, I've not caught up in awhile but wanted to be sure to send my best wishes! Heal up well, rest as much as you need and then some.

-Tom
 
cheez said:
Hey boss- if you want some help getting work done- I have open days on my calendar on 8/21 and 8/27-28- let me know and I could meet you at the shop and help you make progress.
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Thanks Dan! I really appreciate the offer:thumbup Unfortunately my workshop is s very small space and difficult for one person to move about let alone two people. That said, you are certainly welcome to stop by (food run?) just to offer encouragement. There is also one small task I might be able to push your way. As mentioned in my post, I need a 19mm wrench modified to fit into a tight space.
 
Technically , would your build be better classified as an "un-chopper" as it was crafted by reversing previously chopped up bits?

and - ambulances are really not all that comfy, what with the rock hard gurney , stiff truck suspension - don't ask how I know

glad YOU are Ok

also in libmo, also willing to lend a hand
 
GPzPop said:
Technically , would your build be better classified as an "un-chopper" as it was crafted by reversing previously chopped up bits?
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Yep, first un-chopped.... then more chopping... lol.

GPzPop said:
...and - ambulances are really not all that comfy, what with the rock hard gurney , stiff truck suspension - don't ask how I know

glad YOU are Ok

also in libmo, also willing to lend a hand
Click to expand...

You can say that again about the ambulance. You'd expect a nice smooth ride for people who are hurt, but not the case:x

Thanks for the offer. You are welcome to stop by if you'd like to see work in progress. My shop is on the west side of town near Holmes and 4th/College.
 
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