Dogbytes' R80 ST project

Impressive machinery :thumb

I keep thinking about getting a Dividing Head for my lathe & pillar drill. That set-up looks the biz :clap.

Bob.
 
Voyager said:
Impressive machinery :thumb

I keep thinking about getting a Dividing Head for my lathe & pillar drill. That set-up looks the biz :clap.

Bob.
Click to expand...

It is useful but it's not really rigid enough set up like that. Unfortunately my rotary table isn't big enough to mount a chuck on - which would be the ideal set up. I will probably but one to do the steel version.
 
Somewhere around there then...

It should look something like that - but the motor is sitting about 10mm too far forward for some reason I've yet to figure out. I'll have to figure it out before I start welding though! It's something to do with the shaft but I don't know what...

Oh, and I'd better start looking for an external oils filter conversion. I think Motoren Israel still do them. Oh yes...
http://www.motoren-israel.com/produ...iate-ring-25-mm-with-external-oil-filter.html
 

Attachments

  • Pos checck HDR.jpg
    Pos checck HDR.jpg
    115.4 KB · Views: 1,036
So...

The week has ended well enough. I have finalised the new position of the motor - the front end is 50mm higher and 45mm further forward. The rear is a little over 25mm higher.That all seems to line up nicely and I'd probably have welded the mounts in except that whilst deliberating over the final positioning I got bored and started making up the real driveshaft spacer in 316 stainless. Having started that, by facing it and turning down the o/d, I then couldn't take it out of the lathe until I'd bored it - for fear of losing concentricity. The state of play is that the 'real' spacer is at final o/d, bored and I have began to turn the projection at the front. I'll finish that tomorrow and then it can come off the lathe and make room for the new rear engine mount bushes. When they're done I'll weld the front mounts up, drill the frame and weld in the rear mounts (with fingers firmly crossed!).
With a nice narrow motor it should have all the cornering clearance an airhead could possibly want for - even with my lardy arse trying to push it into the tarmac.

In the meantime Richie Moore, who I believe is beginning to delight in tempting me to make my life more difficult than need be :) threw into the conversation that it might be nice to dry-sump the motor - not necessary, he stressed, but nice. Something to think about, maybe. Thing is, now I've thought about it and considered how it might help crankcase breathing, I can think of little else... West Performance do a bolt-on conversion for £850+VAT, of course it drives of the camshaft so the ignition has to move to the crankshaft and therefore no alternator is possible but, hey, who needs an alternator? Question is, would it work together with a Motoren Israel sump extension (better crankcase breathing still!) and external oil filter? Imagine what a trick looking sump it would look if it did all work!!! I'd have to fit some of those blue LEDs that the boy racers use just t show it off - but no, that'd drain the battery even more and what with no alternator...

Say what you like about 316, it does cut nicely...
 

Attachments

  • Steel spacer.jpg
    Steel spacer.jpg
    97.1 KB · Views: 1,001
The ignition can work off the crankshaft. Euro MotoElectrics does one, & there are some German ones that bolt onto the standard alternator. Unless you are think of doing away with the timing cover, in which case thats a whole nuther discussion..
 
Have you thought it might end up a bit unstable in the handling dept ?

They feel quite nice when the main weight of the motor is down in line with the wheel spindles - but you've just lifted it up .

it might have more clearance - but i bet it won't feel as nice. :augie
 
Box’a’bits said:
The ignition can work off the crankshaft. Euro MotoElectrics does one, & there are some German ones that bolt onto the standard alternator. Unless you are think of doing away with the timing cover, in which case thats a whole nuther discussion..
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'll have a look at that. There's plenty time as that side of things is still way in the future. There's still a lot of work to be done to the frame and the front suspension first. I spoke to Richie Moore the other day and I know which engine bits I need to start gathering together. No point rushing these things :)
 
Kaister said:
Have you thought it might end up a bit unstable in the handling dept ?

They feel quite nice when the main weight of the motor is down in line with the wheel spindles - but you've just lifted it up .

it might have more clearance - but I bet it won't feel as nice. :augie
Click to expand...

What you say is true of course but all things are compromises and I think you'll agree that 'nice' is not always the priority. I have to admit that I've never either ridden an airhead on a track or ridden a raised-engined one anywhere at all. However, speaking to those who have, I am told that they don't feel as top-heavy as one might imagine. I was less concerned about how it felt than I was about how quickly it could change direction but I guess I'll only really know when it's finished.

In all honesty this is a toy. It's not even, in terms of priority, a riding toy - it's mainly an exercise in what can be done. If it turns out that it rides like a crippled camel it will, of course, be a disappointment but it will still have been fun to do and we will all have the opportunity to learn from my mistakes! Let's face it, better men than me have produced evil-handling motorcycles and some of those bikes are the most fun to ride.

There are many other handling-related questions with this project. Such as what all the bracing is going to do (it's not all on there yet!) - there are those who seem to believe that it's not all that difficult to make these frames too stiff for their own good. Also the bottom frame rails are going to be removable and I have been told by a trusted source that that will definitely be detrimental. Yet my Moto Guzzi handled nicely enough and with much worse suspension than the Beemer has now - let alone what it's going to have! It probably had a higher C of G too.

For what it's worth, I think I'm on the right track but it's great to read the opinions of others and we'll see how it turns out in due course. It is certainly a very interesting and enjoyable pastime.
 
Well, if you are going with removeable bottom rails, then have you seen Manuel from SWT-Sports bike. He cut the frame rails & reworked them, so he got this raised engine without the filter access issues.

swt%2520sports%2520frame%25201.jpg
 
Doesn't time fly!

Can't believe it's been five months since I last had the chance to work on the ST. Anyway another project is over and I'm back in my own workshop - so expect updates soon. Next up is welding in the front engine mounts and drilling the holes or the rear ones. Then it'll be the top engine brace, the diagonal frame braces and the removable frame rails.
 
Well I've welded the front engine mounts back in! Got to do the pain in the arse rear ones now...
 
Nippy Normans supply Touratech, Wunderlich, Desert Fox and many other makes of accessories.
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

R80 restyle project
2 3 4
Replies
64
Views
27,708
Kenny
Kenny


Back
Top Bottom