R1200GS Billet triple clamp project

[Strong Bad]

An additional market for your lower triple clamp (with minor changes) is as a trail reducer for the sidecar guys. Prices have been in the 800 to 1200 range for them.

[billdonna]

Originally Posted by mark0ne

Dont know if thats really that important to do with this story??

Yeah, stories can take off in a direction out of your control sometimes...

Just wondering about the engineering here. My triple clamp is a forging. As you must be aware of, parts machined from a billet are never as strong as the forged original. How did you address this safety issue?

[FlyingFinn]

Originally Posted by billdonna

Just wondering about the engineering here. My triple clamp is a forging. As you must be aware of, parts machined from a billet are never as strong as the forged original. How did you address this safety issue?

The original triple clamp is made of cast alloy, this one machined from one solid block is for sure stronger and has way better quality control.

Where's this fucking "safety issue" you're talking about?

Yeah, a forged part would be even stronger but a stout billet part is MUCH stronger than the original.

Damn some people rub me the wrong way!....

Hi Vaughan, keep up the good work!

Mikko

[billdonna]

Originally Posted by FlyingFinn

The original triple clamp is made of cast alloy, this one machined from one solid block is for sure stronger and has way better quality control.

Where's this fucking "safety issue" you're talking about?

Yeah, a forged part would be even stronger but a stout billet part is MUCH stronger than the original.

Damn some people rub me the wrong way!....

Hi Vaughan, keep up the good work!

Mikko

Yup, just checked my pig and it's a casting. My bad! My concern was based on the mistaken assumption that the part was forged for extra strength.

But thanks for the correction.

[mark0ne]

Originally Posted by billdonna

Yup, just checked my pig and it's a casting. My bad! My concern was based on the mistaken assumption that the part was forged for extra strength.

But thanks for the correction.

No stress mate Even if the OEM clamp was forged our clamp would still be extremely stonger, the bmw part has pockets on the under side leaving a 3.5mm wall thickness on the top face and then placing 3 holes for brake plumbing in there. Our clamp has bracing over the top, extra clamp area, 3 pinch bolts, corner radius everywhere, not to mention the fact the material we use is supplied by ThyssenKrupp Aerospace. The billet is certified to FLY

[LaurelPerryOnLand]

Originally Posted by mark0ne

No stress mate Even if the OEM clamp was forged our clamp would still be extremely stonger, the bmw part has pockets on the under side leaving a 3.5mm wall thickness on the top face and then placing 3 holes for brake plumbing in there. Our clamp has bracing over the top, extra clamp area, 3 pinch bolts, corner radius everywhere, not to mention the fact the material we use is supplied by ThyssenKrupp Aerospace. The billet is certified to FLY

In the US it is widely know among PILOTS that the price of an FAA-certified PART is determined by:

Placing a $ in front of the PART NUMBER!

Does the same thing prevail Down Under? Or...is it AFTER the Part Number? As in $AUD

[mark0ne]

Originally Posted by LaurelPerryOnLand

In the US it is widely know among PILOTS that the price of an FAA-certified PART is determined by:

Placing a $ in front of the PART NUMBER!

Does the same thing prevail Down Under? Or...is it AFTER the Part Number? As in $AUD

HAHA!! Yep same here, same part with a uni graduate putting another 400% to certify it! But not the case here I was just saying that where we buy the raw material it is as good as you can possibly buy! They are a German company that supplies all the aero companies so I'm sure it will be up to scratch for the big Beemer! The cost is only about 10% more for the billet which we wear that for our own peice of mind!

[funsummer]

Well I will ask the question on everyone's lips...
Or is that finger tips!

When is the clamp estimated to be in production and available to public or advriders?

I'm ready to order one ASAP.

I see this as the part that will give me a chance to ride my gsa in soft sand whoops..

Why are others interested in the stiffer clamp?

[Quirky]

Why?
A clamp that will fit the stock wheel fender with a 21" front wheel to minimise the spray from tyre with no changes to the bikes geometry.

The Wunderlich option seemed/is very expensive, also had to buy a fender & not sure what was involved with brake lines.

Bonus
Well hopefully it will add rigidity to the front forks, this just might be a huge bonus. Going to look nice.
If I go back to the standard 19" wheel it could add considerable clearance for muck on tyres.


No clearance (just touching) at front with this half worn knobby

Dunlop R908R 90/90 21" thats more than half worn and is a tall very stiff sidewalled tyre. MT21 will be my next tyre to try on the front.

TKC80 fits with more room and fitted with Touratech fender.

Touratech fender cracked mid trip and rattled badly. See the rub marks from the d908rr FYI the TKC80 didn't rub except for the odd rock. I was actually glad to find it cracked as it wasn't my new Wilbers falling apart. I am not totaly convinced the rubbed section caused this to fail, maybe the corragated tracks or a combination of both. So took the damn fender off, 2 days later it rained and I got covered in shite, well mud mostly I hope. So out with the saw of the Leatherman, cut through either side of the crack and re-mounted it. It helped a little, stopping some of the stuff coming up in front of the tank anyways and still had it spraying muddy wet drippings all up the windscreen. The only people looking dirtier than me (180 odd gs's on safari) were a few HP2 riders. All good fun!

Now with certified aviation grade alloy parts. Good ta fly ey! Well they sound like crop dusters to me.

Is that a good enough reason why?


Cheers

[mark0ne]

Hi Guys sorry its been a few days since my last post but here is the next stage and a few catch up pics I left out earlier!
Helpful aluminium info for Aussies!
Here are some pics that I was meant to post the other day. The first pic is of the company that supplies us the material - this shows we dont just buy from any old aluminium horse trader! We have been promised quality in the past from some other companies and believe me there is lots and lots of S#%T out there We choose either Action aluminium for extruded bar, plate and assorted aluminium material and then ThyssenKrupp for tooling alloys, titainium and magnesium.
If any of you are doing any project that requires aluminium like check plate, tube, flat bar, round bar, plate or any random off cuts then give Action Aluminium a call speak with Brad or Michael they are great guys and they sell top quality stuff also. www.actionaluminium.com.au they have branches in every state of Australia and will cut to size big or small. (I dont want to make this a sell job but sometimes knowing where to buy the right stuff makes jobs easier!) ThyssenKrupp are more for very high end tooling materials which are a bit overkill for DIY stuff.




Now before I start on the cross drilling here is the not drilled clamp looks like sitting in its home! Notice where we have located the top brakeline down through the bridge.



Jigs and fixtures
Now the biggest key to machining anything be it for a aeroplane on a million $$$ CNC or milling it out manually for your lawnmower, holding the job is the key! If ya dont hold it properly the machine will spit right back at ya!

Here are some pics of the jigs we have had to make to hold this part in stage 2 for top side machining and then also the 4th axis rotary jig for splitting and cross drilling.

STAGE 2 JIG

Blank soft jaws ready to have a profile milled into them


Profile of the clamp milled into the jaws


Mark checking that part sits in perfectly and all is well!


Reggie (Mark's Kelpie dog) also had to check it was ok

STAGE 3 JIG

Jig block took about 4 - 5 hours


Triple clamp mounted in jig block


Jig and clamp mounted to the 4th axis rotary table. The clamp can come on and off the jig so we dont take the jig off the 4th axis everytime.

Drill Tap Split
Jigs done clamps mounted and everything is clocked up ready to go. We wrote the program which is not much as far as code goes but its lots of double checking because the collision chances are much higher here We do dummy drawing of the whole setup and check clearences and then we do another check with the machine simulation. Hits at this stage really give you the........


Checking the angle of the dangle


Ready set go!


Pinch bolts done, plenty of clamping there!


Drilling the brake plumbing


Brake line hole in the front face done.

Done done and done........ well almost!
The machining on this clamp is now complete so it ready to get bolted up to Quirky's beast and he can come pick it up and start spreading the word! When we have the annodised clamps back from annodising in approx 3 weeks time we will grab the bike back and install the annodised clamp on to his bike.

^^^^^^ Hey Quirky, just saved a phone call!

Here are some pics at different views for you all to have a peep at for tonight untill I put the installation post up hopefully by Friday evening













I will try get back on here late tommorrow and finish this off before I depart for my honeymoon

Cheers
Vaughan

[Quirky]

Ummmmmm.... Speechless!

I'm really just like mouth open and drooling.....

Ummmmm.... cool!

enjoy the honeymoon and all the best Vaughan,

Mark, I will try & get there Monday.

[mark0ne]

Originally Posted by Quirky

Ummmmmm.... Speechless!

I'm really just like mouth open and drooling.....

Ummmmm.... cool!

enjoy the honeymoon and all the best Vaughan,

Mark, I will try & get there Monday.

Good when it works for everyone involved! Thanks for the loan of the bike and making the phone call to us in the first place! It was a great project and challanging to say the least We do enjoy being let loose with designing parts like this, it keeps the brain crankin over!

Can't wait to head off, will be my first time in Hawaii - day after we arrive we are straight into a hike up a mountain then a massive mountain bike ride around it then back down, will probably need to come back to work for a rest!

I wont catch you on Monday but Mark and Jarradd will be able to help you get loaded up and on your way!

Cheers bud!

[funsummer]

Lovely work.
As a gsa owner I thank you for your efforts.
Will call tomorrow.

Enjoy that honey moon!

Joel

[mark0ne]

Ok fellas, we have done the costings on everything and have worked out a price for you guys.

$480.00 AUD including freight world wide
In Australia we have to pay the Gillard Spending Tax (GST) and international have a larger freight cost so it works out the same total.

We will be starting a batch next week so if you would like to put your name on a clamp let us know through the week as you decide. If we get an idea of numbers that will make it heaps easier for us and then people are less likely to miss out.
No depostit is needed so we wont hold you to it but I would appreciate that if you put your name on one it is with intention to buy!

Just Installing it all now so I will put a post of the fitted clamp up tonight.

Cheers
Vaughan

[Dirt_Boy]

Hi guys just wanted to tell you you have nailed a couple of of my favorite things in one post. BMW's and CNC Machining. The 5 Axis stuff is really amazing. The work to create the piece is just beautiful. I remember looking at things like Bimotas just to look at the CNC work. I have a San Jose Tip Clamp in my Airhead that I bought in 1988. Some times I just watch CNC machines on YouTube just to see them in action...Great work and made in Australia