Note to self...next time you ask the fabricator to make you an oil tank...

...explicitly tell him the exact thickness of the material you would like him to use. I now have a beautiful 3 quart oil tank made from 1/4" sheet aluminum to the tune of 8 lbs! He said he wanted it to hold up in case of a get off...I told him it would hold up to anything just shy of nuclear detonation...too funny.

I told him aluminum and gave him a cardboard mock up of how I wanted it along with the bike...but I assumed the presence of a wr400 motor in a TZ250 chassis would, in and of itself, command the use of a light gauge aluminum. Oh well...it's done and the bike should be ready to go for it's Music City debut.

If it works and the premise is sound the bike will go back for a lighter one on the off season.

 

That reminds me of another "fabricator detail" from the show about building custom bikes, when asking for a fabricated gas tank, include in the design a pet-cock so you can get the gas out of the tank

 

Someone's been watching American Chopper. It's ok, me too. I love watching them fight.

 

He did the tank too. Fortunately he put the stock petcock back in as well and at the lowest point evenl!

 

Sounds like a really cool bike. Got any photos yet???

 

Hey Ryan, how ya been?
Sounds like a cool bike.

 

Richard H! Doin pretty good. Family is great. We just had our second daughter in October, Aubrey. Stationed down in Pensacola now.

My new clubman project is coming in pretty sweet...under my budget I set at $3K, $2,884.56 is what I have in it so far. That should get me on the track. BUT I have yet to fire it up!!! I should finish my rollers (electric sort) on Thursday. I pick the bike up tomorrow and over the weekend should finsh the wiring, plumb the oil tank and get ready for the test start!

Rich D...I have some pics but mostly of the mockup but when I get the bike back tomorrow I will take more. The motor is mounted, and I handmade the exhaust using 3-mandrel bent u-bends and a section of straight pipe. It is 1 3/4" pipe. That was a lesson in humility!! I tacked it together and had the fabricator tig the final product.

The oil tank (all 8 lbs of her!) mounts under the engine along the left side. The exhaust runs down the right side. I did not have to modify the bodywork or the radiator position. Interestingly enough the capacity of the TZ rad is exactly the same as the WR rad.

I have compared the primary gear ratios of the TZ the WR and the YZ (I created a pretty elaborate interactive spreadsheet to help me) in looking at some decent combinations on the final ratios. Ben Welch (put the YZ426 motor int he TZ125 that is moderately famous now) gave me some insight on what he uses for gearing for a couple of tracks so I think I am pretty close to start with.

I mounted the motor through the swingarm pivot so the sprocket sits lower (about an inch) now than with the TZ but it was by far the best way to do it. Horizontal I am within .006" (there is probably a slight variation in my measurements due to the way I did it but I am still pretty damn close). I had to cut out the bottom of the gas tank and have it raised. The carb mounts in the stock manifold but so far no provisions for an airbox. Not sure how it will run open...

There is so much room in the TZ Chassis is was not very difficult to get the motor in the chassis.

We will see how it turns out. The top gears are pretty far apart (vs the YZ) so I am not sure if going with that motor was the best choice and it is still a stock 400 so the HP is going to be on the low side.

I am pretty proud of it so far as I have done everything my tools would allow. I didn't machine the swingarm or do any of the aluminum welding but all the machining and fab work was performed to my specs. The motor mounts I made from steel tubing.

Hopefully it will be fairly competitive in clubman. I don't have anyway to host any pics but I will put some on Imagestation and post a link tomorrow night.

 

Here is a link to imagestation. I will post more pics tomorrow. You might have to register but it's free and fast. Sorry for the inconvenient way to view.

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4287164795

 

I like your Awesome Exhaust Hanger Does it come in any other color than Grey ?








j/k

 

Thanks Gary. The one thing I forgot to mention was I also had to have the exhaust flange (the flange to the can) cut as I didn't have anything to cut metal that thick. They used a plasma so it looks pretty sweet. Those pics were pre-flange. The can is 95-96 CBR900 V&H S4 Ti. I bought three brand new off ebay for $45 each.

 

My name is not Gary. Its Scott.

 

Ryan,

Glad to hear the project is coming together.

Come see us at B&M if you need any help with the starting.
If we can't get the rollers sorted - I volunteer to push!

Can't wait to see the bike!

Ken

 

My utmost apologies Scott...I saw the 317 and thought you were someone else. Thanks for the kind words.

Ken, I will swing by and say hello.

 

Ryan,

Have you been to Foy Gilmore's shop? He is an "Old~Guy" like me.
(used to bee on Music Ln.)

He is prolly the best fabricator in the SouthEast, not cheap, but very good.

 

No I haven't. Is he down in P'Cola?

I picked the bike up and just took some pics. I will post them tonight.

 

Actually that extra-heavy duty oil tank might come in handy. I knew a guy that had a Rotax engine in a CBR900 frame that split the oil tank twice from vibration. Guess where that oil goes, right on the back tire. I think the Rotax motors have no balancers of any kind so it was a real paint mixer of an engine.

 

You should be thankful

 

3 quarts? I run mine with 1.5 qts. Found a $39.95 power steering over-flow can they use on cars. Cant wait to compare bikes. You racing SE region?

Oh..and check out my $7.99 belly pan. Its a football baking dish.

 

Wow Jason, that frame cleaned up nicely

 

Thankful for what? being confused with you, it is you that should be thankful for no longer being confused with me: a short time racer, big time crasher. I was so good at crashing (resulting in a some hospital stays) that I am now running crash truck.