RYERSON - Forming Aluminum Sheet and Plate

I found this nice booklet at an abandoned building I visited on Saturday in Stockton. Very good information for metal workers.

RYERSON-forming-aluminum

Alternate link:
http://www.scribd.com/full/51403070?access_key=key-1tzwniwqextfg9tplhx

right-side-exhaust

got all the little pieces figured out. It's a weird transition to make and I worked backwards from the merge collector, then had to work backwards the other way. I must have mounted and unmounted the right side exhaust about 15 times just to get this piece right.


This little bit took 2 nights plus some on Saturday and Sunday. Although I mostly slept this weekend and cruised out to Stockton to visit the old Colberg Boat Works.

2-1 pipe work

I worked this out this afternoon and evening.
I decided to shoot for the moon and at least give a nod towards equal length pipes and mount the muffler on the left side.

From underneath, on left side:With the merge collector on it:
The whole thing from the left side:
Had to pop out a little to make that turn back under the bike without rubbing on the frame.
Here's the view from the right side of the bike. Just need to make up that last couple of bends. Slightly down then about 70 degrees over.

This is pretty much the only way I could figure out how to get the merge collector in there without mounting on the side of the bike. That would put my muffler much farther back than I want it, probably going past the end of the rear tire.

I'm concerned about the hanging weight of the merge collector and am thinking about supporting it under the bike. The muffler hanger will probably address this though. Holding the muffler properly ought to take the pressure off the rest of the piping if I get it just right. I don't want this thing to shake apart and crack up near the engine.


I also took time to make the final curve cut on the right side of my tail.

Oh, and here's a shot of my muffler.

Right header - done

exhaust 3-14-11

Left side:



Right side:

I cut up 3 different 304 stainless .120 wall pipes to make my flange connection at the engine.
Did this with an angle grinder and file. Fits perfectly inside my engine.
Tools for making exhaust

status 3-9-11

I'm buggin' out over some details and got ADD tonight.

Lever height in relation to foot peg height has been a problem for a while. I've had to pick my toe WAY up to use the rear brake lever and shifter. I picked up a nice pair of Yoshimura rearsets at the swap meet Nathan and I went to. Almost intact, for $20. So I test fit those on the left side. I like the way they look better and the footpeg is bigger which feels better. I'll have to weld up the adjustable holes I drilled for the Harris set since the two don't match up of course. No prob there and a fairly low time / cost modification. I want to get the rearset brackets powdercoated since I just did a quickie paint job on them anyway.
So footpeg issues seem on the horizon of being solved and finalized. Maybe another 4 hours or so of tweaks then to the coaters.

Next was muffler hanger. I screwed around for way too long tweaking on modding the stock passenger peg brackets to see if I could make them work. The bottom line is, no I can't really, not the way I want to. The brackets are slightly too short and much to heavy for the new purpose. Another custom piece to fab, but at least I have a template to start from. I don't like the strappy muffler hanger things so I'll be welding the hanging tab onto the muffler. I need to fab that as well. Somehow rubber bushings need to find there way into the hanger somewhere but I think I have that solved.

Then I was diddling with the tail section which is currently annoying me. It looks too chubby and too stubby. I think I'll solve that by slightly elongating but this will require untold amount of sheet metal cutting bending and welding to make the curves match. I'll try and enjoy it. Certain things about this project I don't find very fun.

I've got the first bend on the right side exhaust just about dialed. I need to shave another wee bit to lessen the angle but the straight piece is cut and both are polished and ready for welding.

Of course then there's the painting which I'm actually looking forward to at this point, but just can't make up my mind on graphics. I've too much invested to slapdash design the graphics and not be happy with the look.

Ah, which way do shocks get mounted? I flipped my left rear shock so the reservoir is on top. Seems better for unsprung weight but looks wrong somehow...

Oh also, the whole back end of the bike looks low to me. Like I should have gotten longer shocks. My new shocks are actually the same size as stock or maybe a 1/2" longer but the way the bodywork is makes it look like it's leaning back somehow to me. This can be easily changed later.

Pics from tonight:

paint ideas