JTH's HD 883 Dual Sport'ster conversion

[JimmyTheHog]

Originally Posted by whicheveranywaycan

i pray that the fuel tank won't cost me my arm!! Are you planning the peacock to be at lowest point of the tank or ? Will the tank be capable of withstanding drop-down abuse like the ims tank?

Too soon to swag a price.

yes - the petcocks will be on the lowest points towards the front - one on each side with a crossover tube and qd for quick removal.

i am definitely in market for fuel tank and clearly i shall put off my plan to purchase this which is cheapest big tank i could find on the market for the 86-03 model. The plastic design sounds like the tank might be a bit lighter than this one.

Edit: One quick question- would the designed tank change the setting of stock seat? I already have day-long seat and would hate to not use it

yes - i plan to make it fit with a stock sportster seat. The base of the tank will have the same basic shape as the storz tracker tank which does work with a stock seat. I started with a stock seat on mine, with some small mods. Then went to a corbin that is moulded around the tank for a nice fit. Either one should work. .

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[bravada]

Lookin good!!!!! Keep it going. I keep checking back every so often.....

[formulals1]

I ran across it at AU. Cool!

[JimmyTheHog]

Nice! Thanks for posting this. AU was well done this year and it was fun riding the bike down the halls of Mandalay Bay casino

I used Acad and Inventor to design the components so Autodesk invited me to show the bike there.

[JimmyTheHog]

Heres an update on the gas tank development:

I now have a foam tank that was cnc'd from the solid model to do the test fit and see how the shape looks on the bike. The clearances are good and i think the shape follows the lines of the bike pretty good.

Heres a few pics of the progress...

[trav72]

Damn, that bike just keeps getting better and better! Nice work!

[johnwesley]

thats a good look

[boatpuller]

That does look good.

How many gallons do you expect it to hold? (Sorry if you said it earlier and I missed it)

Will it also be adaptable for FI Sportsters with a fuel pump?

[JimmyTheHog]

Originally Posted by boatpuller

That does look good.

How many gallons do you expect it to hold? (Sorry if you said it earlier and I missed it)

Will it also be adaptable for FI Sportsters with a fuel pump?

Im shooting for a useable volume of 5.5 to 6 gallons. The 3D volume measurement is at 6.05 gallon, so i may add a bit more to compensate for the wall thickness and shrinkage.

Currently no, not for the FI models, but i plan to fit test it on some stock sportsters 93-03 frames like mine, and then the 04 model on.

For the FI models - Is the fuel pump in the tank? or outside of the tank?

[boatpuller]

On the big twins the pump is in the tank on the FI motorcycles. But, maybe it would be doable to get an exterier pump and plumb it into the fuel line on your tank.

[kellymac530]

Hey Boat Puller....note the front wheel size.....

A serious adventure heavyweight bike with a dirt biased design and he is running a 21" front....Im just sayin.

Hey JTH, I love what you are doing here. I love some "different" ideas and OOTB thinking. I would love to see this bike in person and comb over the details. Just beautiful work and concept.

My best riding buddy is a Harley guy but wants to get into ADV style riding and exploring with me so I sent him this thread to show him he could have BOTH.

I would never want to throw my opinion in on such a great build but if you would like an idea I see may help on this build....stop reading if not

Have you considered or looked at running a sprocket brake on the rear. You may save weight and compress some stuff. I personally have never been a big fan of that huge rear caliper and mount system on Harleys, maybe going to a smaller 4 piston Brembo or similar and then make a bracket to mount it on the drive sprocket like some chopper guys have done could keep braking power or possibly even increase it and cut a couple of pounds of unsprung weight.

Here are a few ideas just to make you think about it a bit...not telling you what to do at all, just thinking outloud and throwing it out there.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=sprocket+brake

[kellymac530]

JTH,
I forgot to ask something, I went back and re read the thread and I must have missed something, I am an idiot, but what was the reason you changed from the single left side shock you intended when you designed the schwing arm to the verticle dual shock design you are now running?


It is probably there and I missed it, but direct me to a page to see the info if possible.

[JimmyTheHog]

Thanks for the input and tips everyone.

For the rear brake caliper, i hear you! It is big and heavy. The reason i kept it this way was to keep the stock HD mounting. This way It will fit other aftermarket caliper set-ups which I'll probably do someday. But until then, its stock HD that actually works pretty well for stopping power and the HD shops can replace or work on it with stock parts.

For the FI models, an external pump would seem to make sense if theres room to locate it.

I opted for the dual shocks for a few reasons - to maintain the stock frame (with only minor mods), didnt want any uneven swingarm twisting and related poor handling characteristics (considering where the shock would have been mounted, i think there would have been some considerable redesign of the swingarm to address the stresses and stiffness requirements), and I liked the old school look of twin shocks since the bike is a mix of new and old.

[bk brkr baker]

JTH , I've following from the start and it's been a beautiful trip.
The bike looks wonderful.Each piece is well made and thoughtfully done.
I may have missed it somewhere, but have you put it on a scale yet ?

[JimmyTheHog]

Yes, I have weighed it - its 474 lbs with ~1 gal of gas in the tank.