New minibike build, and a few others..

[Raywelder]

Wasn't happy with my fender, decided to make another out of aluminum. I haven't really did any serious TIG welding until a few days ago. I went over to a shop down the road and the guy there gave me some pointers and got me started.

Cut out the pieces on CNC Plasma.

Rolled it out on the english wheel.

Tacked together.

A few of the better looking welds on it
Not as consistant like I am aiming for, But I just started aluminum, and have almost no experience with the TIG in general. . It does have good penetration and will be strong enough.

I didn't get to finish it, I ran out of gas on the welder.

Old vs New

It's still not perfect. One section is rounded more than the rest. I plan on putting it on the bottom, and putting the better side up top. I will be sanding it down the best I can also.

 

[T-man]

That is a realy good job, it hugs the wheel nicely. I have been thinking about getting an english wheel because I would like to make fenders in the future. never thought of useing seperate pieces eather, I thought everyone used a beedroller for the sides. What you did turned out good.

 

[acg23]

very nice fender. it has good lines. i would suggest using backstep welding to prevent it from twisting. but the way you did it is a fine job.

 

[Raywelder]

very nice fender. it has good lines. i would suggest using backstep welding to prevent it from twisting. but the way you did it is a fine job.

It had a little bit of twist in it, I still have to finish welding down the other side and stitch weld the inside corners. I'm too worried about the twist, When its bolted down it should be alright.

 

[acg23]

it shouldnt be a problem if the struts are solid. are you going to paint the bike and leave the fender with a polish?

 

[Raywelder]

it shouldnt be a problem if the struts are solid. are you going to paint the bike and leave the fender with a polish?

It's not near smooth enough. I'm using a slow running grinder with a foamy sander pad to smooth it out. Once I do that it would be an absolute nightmare to polish that back out. Even if I didn't have to sand the whole thing, Trying to polish where I sanded the welds would be a nightmare as well.
I plan on painting it with the rest of the bike.

Color is undecided. I was thinking red for a while, But I have since changed my mind. I'm considering a dark metallic gray or a silver.
With a black frame.

 

[Raywelder]

I do know I want to paint the wheels black and leave the lip silver.

 

[Raywelder]

Update of the few things I have did.

Front brake

Rear brake lever.

Sanded Fender.

Removed extra rotor

 

[r97]

nice build!

 

[squat251]

looks mighty nice, keep it up.

 

[Raywelder]

 

[acg23]

looks like its ready for some paint now, cant wait to see this thing 100% done!

 

[Raywelder]

It's not quite that far, But I actually didn't realize how close I really was until I put it together this far.

 

[acg23]

yeaa. i knw what your saying but its getting there mann

 

[newrider3]

Awesome, very badass. I love the Model "A" taillight.

 

[r97]

its coming along nice, awesome shop, you got a fork lift!

 

[devino246]

Holy **** dude! If you dont mind me asking, how much do you have in this? Im thinking now i might have to do something similar and make it street legal.

 

[Raywelder]

We have a forklift at work. I have keys to the shop and permission to use whatever whenever.

 

[Raywelder]

Holy **** dude! If you dont mind me asking, how much do you have in this? Im thinking now i might have to do something similar and make it street legal.

To be completely honest I have long lost track. I could get a rough estimate if I were to go over the bike and make a list. But my guess is that is up in 500 now. More or Less. Most of it was spent in 5-15$ bursts every week or so. and the slightly larger costs of the motor and clutches and frame.
I got the first motor for 50,
I picked up another for 65, that seems to be in much nicer shape.
The first one is leaking oil from a breather gasket when it runs.
The one I just picked up it clean as a whistle.

Which reminds me, I have started it and rode it around the parking lot. The fastest I have been able to go is 35 or so. And at that point, the Driven clutch is just barely starting to change. The "get-up-and-go" seems pretty quick, Which I may improve, I am going to see what top speed is before I change that.

I think my carb on it is too big for this motor. It seems to run pretty good now, however with any type of filter on it, it seems to choke out, and its sucking down the gas! FAST. I fill up my temp tank, Which ends up being about a 1\2 of a 1 liter Dr pepper bottle, which lasts me 2 or 3 minutes riding around the parking lot. Which may be ok, since all that consists of short full throttle bursts.

Also, I can't seem to get it to idle down as low as I should be able to. The lowest idle speed is acceptable, But I would think I should be able to idle it down until it shuts off, which it wont do.

 

[tundrazach]

neat build man, Im just wondering why you didnt stuff the bike motor in it? either way, props to you for putting this much work into it, and doing everything the right way. cant wait to see how it turns out