GR650 Street Tracker Redux

[Pablo83]

[radianrider]

Some serious metal working skills, Pablo. Nice work.

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by radianrider

Some serious metal working skills, Pablo. Nice work.

thanks

[Pablo83]

I got a bunch of pipe bends from Summit Racing (I think that's where they came from).


And I already happened to have the perfect mufflers laying around.


Now I just need to do a bunch of fitting and welding

[ivantheterrible]

i love the tank. What did you use to cut it, and did you have to take precautions against an explosion from old gas fumes and sparks? I have an old tank i want to cut up (and put back together).

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by ivantheterrible

i love the tank. What did you use to cut it, and did you have to take precautions against an explosion from old gas fumes and sparks? I have an old tank i want to cut up (and put back together).

I used a thin disk on a 4-1/2" angle grinder to cut it.

I had to make sure ALL the fuel and vapors were out before welding it; it was a bit of a process. First I emptied all the fuel and sprayed compressed air through it. Then I let the tank sit in the sunlight for an hour or in the shop overnight to evaporate most of the leftovers. There was usually still about half a teaspoon of fuel left in it at this point so I would shake it up good and hold a long nose lighter to the cap and wait for it to go WHOOOOSH. I would repeat the shaking and lighting until it would no longer light. It was usually ready for welding at this point, but I still needed to make sure the tank cap opening was not pointed at me when I started welding. Fun stuff.

[vtwin]

Nice exhaust work.

[bk brkr baker]

With your skills and a 750 chain drive Shadow , I'd bet you could make a reasonable facsimile of the RS750. The intakes would be tough.

[Pablo83]

[henrymartin]

Originally Posted by Pablo83

I used a thin disk on a 4-1/2" angle grinder to cut it.

I had to make sure ALL the fuel and vapors were out before welding it; it was a bit of a process. First I emptied all the fuel and sprayed compressed air through it. Then I let the tank sit in the sunlight for an hour or in the shop overnight to evaporate most of the leftovers. There was usually still about half a teaspoon of fuel left in it at this point so I would shake it up good and hold a long nose lighter to the cap and wait for it to go WHOOOOSH. I would repeat the shaking and lighting until it would no longer light. It was usually ready for welding at this point, but I still needed to make sure the tank cap opening was not pointed at me when I started welding. Fun stuff.

Someone once told me to connect a long hose from a car exhaust to the gas tank you want to cut/weld, and run it for a while. Apparently, all the exhaust fumes burn any remaining fuel and vapors without explosion because of the high CO2 content in the exhaust fumes. I'll be giving it a try on my next project.

[ivantheterrible]

Thanks for replying to my question, Pablo83.

i'd heard the same thing about the exhaust gas trick. It's so hard to know which way to go, with so much at stake.

[Pablo83]

[Quickv4]

MADD fab work man! Keep it coming. Looks like the ol girl is developing some nice curves! 2nd on the exhaust!!!! Nice!

[riderjohn]

Saw your bike at Cruise Above the Clouds.I really liked it.

[Pablo83]

Originally Posted by riderjohn

Saw your bike at Cruise Above the Clouds.I really liked it.

Thanks. My bike was pretty different than anything else out there. I met Dave Doubleday of D&S Motorcycles there. He had the Kawi 750cc 2 stroke triple (the only other bike in the show). We're going to try and get more motorcycle entries for next year and he'll sponsor a prize for the class.