My Bike Needs Me...

My bike needs me plan and simple... who else will spend the time and money
machining new magnesium triple clamps for it??? not the aftermarket companies...
there's not enough RC45s world wide for them to bother with... so it's up to my
Lathe and Mill to keep my bike happy...

It all started with 43mm Ohlins forks found on Ebay that were for an R1
Yamaha...
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/Ohlins43mmRoadTrackForks.JPG

Although the Ohlins slipped right into the stock triple trees... it would have
upset the trail...
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/RC45StockClampsOhlins.JPG

You see the stock RC45 fork leg features a 5mm offset whereas the Ohlins has
zero offset... so the Ohlins net effect would add 5mm of trail... extra trail
adds to a bikes stability but also adds to the tendency of going wide at the
exit... not to mention heavier steering...
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/RC45FrontAxleOffset.JPG

To make the new forks work I designed new triple clamps with an extra 5mm of
offset to counter the 5mm missing in the straight leg Ohlins... I started with
an 43 pound block of Dow Magnesium...
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/RC45MagClampsStart.JPG

After 2 weeks the clamps steadily took shape... a lot of time spent on the
rotary table on the milling machine...
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/RC45MagClampsProgress.JPG

My unique design was model after an aircraft wing spar... the blue outline
represents solid magnesium part whereas the silver represents the relieved
parts... all sharp corners were radius...
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/RC45MagClampLayout.JPG

I sent the Magnesium clamps off to TechPlate in L.A. for Mil-M-45202C protective
coating called Dow #17... they came out nice and tan... no???
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/RC45MagnesiumClampsOhlinsB.JPG

I order titanium bolts from Yoyodyne and even made my own steering stem out of
Fortal Aluminum which meets and exceeds 7075 T6...
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/RC45MagnesiumClampsOhlinsF.JPG

I machined a pattern in the top clamp so I have something nice to behold as I
actuate the key...
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/RC45MagnesiumClampsOhlinsT.JPG

Stock Clamps weight 4 lbs 7 oz... and my magnesium clamps turned out weighting
exactly the same at 4 lbs 7 oz... so I didn't save any weight but I will save
over all because the 43mm Ohlins are 1 lb 3 oz lighter than stock 41mm Showas...

Does your bike need you???

Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vg&user=netters2

 

All for the low, low price of????

 

Beautiful work, Larry.

 

<snip>

First let me say, nice work. I don't believe I would have had the patience
to get that done on manual mill and rotary, I can appreciate the work
involved in doing that way. Myself I would have taken it to work over the
weekend an done them in my CNC, but I understand that is not always an
option for most folks.

My question though is why magnesium? We avoid that material because of the
hazards involved in machining.(to which I'm sure you are well aware). My
choice would have been aluminum for weight or maybe a Stainless for strength
and corrosion resistance.

Alex

 

"Larry xlax Lovisone"

SNIP
<Ted>
EXCELLENT!
</Ted>
<Bill>
Indeed, most excellent...dude! That like ROCKS!
</Bill>

Indeed it does...no shop space and I wa^H^H^H^H^H NEED more
power tools. I've the ideas...but it would be cheap do it
like you do than pay.
--
Nefarious Necrologist 42nd Degree
Some people ride, some just like to show off their butt
jewelry once in a while.
Dum vivimus, vivamus
<3 )3~ <3 )3~ <3 )~ <3 )~

 

Impressive machining work, Larry. Got a question, though.
Couldn't you have just made new (whatever you call the end
of the forks where the axle bolts up) with the same offset as
your original? Or, since the Ohlins have a larger hole for the
axle, couldn't you just have made an offset bushing?


--

"Brutal and sadistic? By what girly-man standards? Compared
to how Saddam treated his prisoners, a bit of humiliation was
a walk in the park. AFAIK, No one died or even lost any blood."
-Albert Nurick, a usenet kook and blatant liar, on the rape,
torture and murder at bu$h's Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq.
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0512-10.htm

"I don't know where bin Laden is. I have no idea and I really
don't care. It's not that important. It's not our priority."
-- George W. Bush, March 13, 2002

http://www.commondreams.org/
http://www.truthout.org/
http://counterpunch.org/
http://responsiblewealth.org/

Don't let bu$h do to the United States what his very close
friend and top campaign contributor, Ken Lay, did to Enron...

 

Apparently not, it's been sitting for a very long time....

 

Very nice. Maybe i should build a lightweight goldwing. I like the coating.
I was told to take a set of NOS vintage magnsium Lotus racing wheels and
machine the rims to a high polish. I tried to explain how quickly they would
turn gray, but wound up doing it, and then had guy bury them in preservative
until just before starting time. What a pain! Now he says he should have
left them alone.
Mag is fine for fast heavy cuts, but didn't like fine cuts, i had two chip
fires, but as i kept it clean they were not a problem.

 

Magnesium block was $120.00...
Dow #17 was $240.00...
Fortal stem was $ 40.00...
Sweat equity 0.00...
but if I were commissioned to engineer and machine a set that
would push up labor to $800.00... not cheap eh???

Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vg&user=netters2

 

No, my bike needs you Larry.

 

Thanks Alex...

Granted... as you know doing it by hand and eye is tedious at best... one wrong
move and it's junk... if I had to make another one I'd head straight for the
nearest CNC shop...

For the low weight and high strength the extra material affords... as you might
know magnesium is a dead metal... it doesn't ring like aluminum... that quality
should produce a superior feel at the hand bars on a my World Superbike frame
that's stiff as a slab of marble...

We avoid that material because of the

Yes... magnesium is the metal that burns... you can;t let the chips pile up...
once ignited magnesium burns hot enough to ignite water flaring up like gas on a
flame...

This is my pumpkin on magnesium...
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/MyPumpkinOnMagnesium.JPG

This is my pumpkin after water was poured on the magnesium fire... any
questions???
http://www.fox302.com/userdata/netters2/files/ShopPics/AddWaterToMagnesium.JPG

Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vg&user=netters2

 

The Orange one does, it is like my baby. Baby Frakenstein.

 

I'm a machinist by trade and, I like to tell myself my bike needs me.
I haven't yet found enough of an excuse to make triple clamps,
though. Maybe that RC-51 front end I want will do it.

While I can't fault your workmanship and effort, I have a small
quibble with your design. Customarily one would leave metal on the
perimeter and carve out the innards from the underside to remove
weight. This, of course, is much easier said than done on a manual
machine. I think if you had done as I suggest, you might have saved
some weight and had a stiffer part.

There's always some jerk, right?

Bill Smith

 

Dude, I would be so paranoid that those forks still have Yamaha cooties
on them.

 

Yeah, I was thinking all three of my bikes could use a little Ex_Lax...
Especially the VTR who asked me for a new set of forks last weekend up on
Skagg's Springs Road.
It also was whining about getting a real swingarm some day as well.

--
Jim Stinnett
VTR1000
R1100RS
YZF R1
http://moto-rama.com

 

Bravo Larry!
I couldn't supress an involuntary guffaw, when I read:

" I started with an 43 pound block of Dow Magnesium..."

 

Hiya Dan... well the Ohlins have never seen an R1 left alone touched one and
I'll make sure they only see 1s in passing... hey meet you at Bubba Gumps during
MotoGp???

Larry L
94 RC45 #2
Have a wheelie NICE day...
Lean & Mean it in every corner of your life...
If it wasn't for us the fast lane would rust...
V4'S are music to the seat of my pants...
1952 De Havilland Chipmunk...
Yank and bank your brains loose...
http://members.ebay.com/aboutme/-xlax-/
http://home.comcast.net/~netters2/
http://www.fox302.com/index.pl?s=vg&user=netters2

 

Fire fighting teams at sea have two methods for extinguishing magnesium
fires (used extensively in aircraft landing gear)...

1. Sand.... LOTS of sand...
2. Jettison...

Guess which gets used most often.

 

Or rubbishing, or at least two other parties.

--
Lady Chatterly

"I don't know who she is. I doubt that its a bot. I have my guess as
to who it is. Regard the frequency of posts. What frequent poster is
missing? That Be Packi, is an old mind trick. Ignore it." -- Pip

 

2 ....because there is no "extinguishing" magnesium.

nb