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There was a kid whose father owned a Kawasaki dealership when the 79 KX80 came out and he had a LOP banana arm on that bike. In fact, his dad put just about every trick part in the book on that bike…would love to get hold of that one.
My LOP arm was likely made by the same guy who made the Pro Form arms, but it is what it is…an LOP prior to the banana arm (made in fewer numbers). Also, my CR arm was not made by Pro Form, it was made by a company called JD Engineering, which few people have heard of and that arm may be even rarer than the LOP arm I have (who knows)…but I have never seen another.
And regarding the OW YZ swingarm, the shock on the Works bikes sat lower so in order to get that look, modifications would have to be done either to the frame or the surrounding parts to make it work and that is where we ran into problems. I’m sure with enough time we could have made it work, but Yamaha did a lot of testing to take that setup work and my budget was not unlimited so realizing that I was not willing to invest in the unknown. If I were building a show bike I might, but I wasn’t.
of Ottow's weld on fork bottom/extensions, it came with longer damper rods. I
would love to see one of his swingarms, his mod forks were very cool! Not
much overlap on the beefy 35mm forks though, his Dad would rotate the forks
in between moto's because if Butch would flat land a jump he would bow them
forward!
But I could be wrong. Have been so at least once in my life.
Here's another rare one from the late Mr. Franks. I recall that only one, possibly two of these swingarms were built. Kelvin did like those snail adjusters.
Pit Row
I keep toying with the idea of selling these bikes as I build them (but it rarely happens), so I may just have to race this one, however I first have to work out the carbon fiber chain guide...I'm doing some mock up drawing on paper that I will transfer to poster board. Next, I'll transfer the outline I drew on poster board to the carbon fiber sheets then cut them out. The thing that looks to be a challenge will be to cut into the carbon fiber to make the oval shape (see the chain guide on Brad Lackey's bike in the above photo). Then there's my 76 Elsinore as I still have to get the cylinder resleeved (I had to replace the cylinder I just put on it as I could not fix the air leak) and lastly, there is the matter of the Mugen cylinder for my 83 CR250 (see below). I'm going to mate this to the VForce3 reed cage I have on the bike now using the Mugen piston/top end (so who knows how that's going to work out), so lots of work to be done...Mike
I've used a dremel to cut out shapes in CF sheets after transferring the template off a printed sheet. If you need more accuracy find someone who has a laser engraving machine.
As I understand it, Mugen only made these cylinders with one spigot. I am no Mugen expert so someone else please chime in. In 85 Honda went back to one spigot on production bikes, but Mugen apparently never left the one spigot idea. The solution is to use a Y-tube and run the radiator hoses into the cylinder head via the 2&1 Y-tube (I'll post photos when I'm done). The guy I bought this cylinder from also sold me the 83 CR250 this head came off of, however he would not part with the cylinder on the bike at the time (without some extra $$$). So eventually we settled on a price.
And regarding the carbon fiber chain tensioner, yes I will use a dremel along with a table saw (table saw for the larger cuts and the dremel for closing shaping and I will follow that up with some old-fashioned hand sanding for the finished product. I kind of got lucky years ago when I purchase a Ferdette alloy chain guide that I never used (I think I had a KTM at the time and colors didn't work for me). Anyway, I did a mock up with the Ferdette chain guide (see below photo) and it lines up perfectly, so I will make my basic outline using this chain guide, then add a bit of length too it as well as the rear mount like the works guide has. More to come as I'll be providing photos of my mock up throughout the process to the finished product. Mike
I'm guessing the carbon fiber sheet is thick like maybe 1/4" or 5/16" and you want to recess the oval(about 1/8-5/32) but not cut it all the way through to mimic the look of the factory part.
Get a plunge router. You don't need a big one. You aren't doing big work. Bigger is harder to handle.( I have one you can use) Then get a maybe a 3/4" strait bit. http://www.homedepot.com/p/Diablo-19-mm-Two-Flute-Straight-Router-Bit-M…
You are going to have to practice with cutting depth on scrap. Around the carbon piece you will screw blocks of wood to the bench in the right location so you wont have to freehand the oval shape. Done right it will get you the result you are looking for
All this is just to copy the recessed oval
Its easy to be creative. See something in your head. Be ready to spend more money than just paying someone to do it right. Be ready to be laughed at and you can create just about anything
I have to try this as my plan was to take a piece of aluminum and shape it in the oval, then use a heat gun to heat up the carbon fiber and the piece of aluminum then carefully press it into the carbon fiber. Now, this is an idea only that I would have to practice doing a couple of times to get it right because you don't want to over heat carbon fiber, but your idea seems more practical..more to come and thanks buddy. I am no craftsman, and I agree with you as it's something you are either exposed to you just practice until you get it.
True story
Thanks for the tip on the Plunge Router, I picked one up on Amazon new for $23.99 & it was delivered in 1 day free (see below). I'm gonna take your advance and work with carbon scrap first before I cut the actual shape into the chain guide. Mike
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