The Gradual Morphing of My F650GS

[QUOTE="A";15721545]The front wheel I spoked up myself on a second hand KTM hub I had. I bought the spokes and rim from a local shop. The Galfer front rotor from Woodies. Could probably dig up the receipts but the costs would likely be difficult to relate to your location/currency.
The rear wheel including hub, spokes, rim, Galfer disc rotor and sprocket was all supplied by Woodies Wheel Works in the USA. Much cheaper than I could have built up similar here in Australia myself. Check his website and he can give you a quote. Hope that helps.
For the bodywork on my bike I thought I'd use Kevlar for its toughness rather than carbon which is more usefull for providing stiffness. Carbon does look nice though![/QUOTE]

Bullet proof bike..... awesome..... Just a heads up.... You really can`t sand the Kevlar...... Please don`t take it wrong..... I just wanted to share this. I see a lot of people use Kevlar....for what ever reason..... Only to see it destroy`d in the end....because of it`s toughness....


Erling

Yeppers.... It`s doable..... I guess I`ve gotten used to the simple steps using foam...... Gotta watch this though.....

Erling

can you shape foam with a belt sander to get curves?

I did the mdf route once and it was quite a lot of work.

cheers,
Mark

Yeppers.... with ease..... The red foam I use from the depot .....as in my CF threads are very strong and suited very nice for this kind of work..... much better than styro foam. Sorry for the hijack..... I do not mean to pick on this method.... It will work....but requires a hole lot more labor....

Erling

Keep up the great job. Bike is looking sick!

Yes the plan was just to muck around with cardboard then build up the base from MDF and form the surface details with clay. That's where I'm at now. I've made plugs/molds out of many different materials in the past- polystyrene foam, rigid polyurethane foam, timber, steel, plaster and other materials that have been long forgotten. I havn't tried clay so that is the one I'm going for this time. Then I can say "been there, done that".
Thanks for your interest Erling and co. Yes, Kevlar can be a mongrel to work with. I have made 5 or 6 tanks for motorcycles over the years using it in the lamination along with glass and sometimes with a foam core. One or two even with a cloth woven from both carbon and Kevlar - a material more commonly available a couple of decades ago. Generally I put glass on the surfaces that would require sanding or that may be scuffed and can therefore be sanded more easily for repair.
Anyway, all materials have certain characteristics and they all fail in different ways. I have glass, carbon and Kevlar cloth in the workshop so its possible all three could be used!

[QUOTE="A";15763158]Yes the plan was just to muck around with cardboard then build up the base from MDF and form the surface details with clay. That's where I'm at now. I've made plugs/molds out of many different materials in the past- polystyrene foam, rigid polyurethane foam, timber, steel, plaster and other materials that have been long forgotten. I havn't tried clay so that is the one I'm going for this time. Then I can say "been there, done that".
Thanks for your interest Erling and co. Yes, Kevlar can be a mongrel to work with. I have made 5 or 6 tanks for motorcycles over the years using it in the lamination along with glass and sometimes with a foam core. One or two even with a cloth woven from both carbon and Kevlar - a material more commonly available a couple of decades ago. Generally I put glass on the surfaces that would require sanding or that may be scuffed and can therefore be sanded more easily for repair.
Anyway, all materials have certain characteristics and they all fail in different ways. I have glass, carbon and Kevlar cloth in the workshop so its possible all three could be used![/QUOTE]

.... I know you will succeed with this project......

Erling

Cheers mate. I have produced some failures but I suppose that is part of the learning curve. I found images of some of the previous tanks when looking for this photo for a different thread


Tank to slip over the existing tank on my brothers TE610.

On the bike.

For my X Challenge- still work required on this one.

Fairing, tank and seat base we built for this beastie way back in time!


Regarding my current project, well the base MDF is now virtually complete so the next scary part is to transform myself into a sculptor and see if I can apply the modelling clay and shape it according to plan.

[QUOTE="A";15771728]Cheers mate. I have produced some failures but I suppose that is part of the learning curve. I found images of some of the previous tanks when looking for this photo for a different thread


Tank to slip over the existing tank on my brothers TE610.

On the bike.

For my X Challenge- still work required on this one.

Fairing, tank and seat base we built for this beastie way back in time!


Regarding my current project, well the base MDF is now virtually complete so the next scary part is to transform myself into a sculptor and see if I can apply the modelling clay and shape it according to plan.[/QUOTE]

Nice work......... What resin did you use for the gas tank???? Did you coat the inside of the tank to sustain the gasoline????? There are few and far between the resins out there that will tolerate the ethanol more than anything else....

Erling

Wow! the X Challange tank in particular looks fantastic! I'd been thinking of doing a dazzle-ship type of paint job for the F8 after the stock yellow gets all beat up.... after seeing your work though, (and ebrabaek's) I might have to get my ass in gear and start getting some practice working with composites too.

Can't wait to see more. Thanks!

Hello mate,

How is the bike build coming along? I just picked up a second damaged F650 twin very cheaply and am thinking how radical I want to go on this one. Chitown's Stormtrooper and your build are definitely inspiring!

Lukas

any updates?

i too want to see more! I have the F650 twin also, and am totally excited to see what a monster yours will look like! good luck,

A!!!!!!!! we need more pictures and an update

BUMP!?!

More pics! Quite the talented engineer you are... very exciting build you've got here.

[QUOTE="A";15694668]This will probably offend both the BMW and KTM fraternity.


The Acerbis fender just happens to be these colours
[/QUOTE]


Anyone know which KTM model this fender is from?

Just found it...its the Acerbis Tecnik fender

Nothing new on this project?!
No way you can tease us like that and not show the final work. :ddog

A... hows things mate?

Its been a while since you posted in here and Im anticipating some updates & pics... How you going with it?