Monthly Archives: April 2014

A Wammo Update

Posted on by motopsyco

Just thought I’d share what’s going on around the barn a little bit. Getting the fender, seat and battery box figured out now means that it is time for the real work to begin.

<custom Honda bobber>

A few days ago I dropped the engine out but since then most of my spare time has been spent elbows deep in the severely damaged engine of some guys atv. Today I caught a little break since I have to order more parts for the Brute Force, it gave me a chance to finish tearing this one down to a bare frame.

<bobbed honda 400 frame>

<CM400 rigid frame>

Now the previous owner of this fine mosheen was a true rat biker and whenever he felt the need to attach something else to it that could not be tied or glued on he resorted to that favorite motorcycling custom trick of using self drilling screws to tack shit to his motorcycle. So I spent a couple of hours brazing up small holes in the frame, before it was time to break out the angle grinder and safety glasses and remove all of the unwanted tabs from this frame.

Some of the tabs were saved and will be reused on this and other projects, but most of them were tossed into the scrap bin to be recycled. Now its time to soak it down with oven cleaner and get it completely clean so I can do a little more welding then clean it all up and prep for paint.

<oven cleaner motorcycle frame>

By the way, I have been documenting the crankshaft replacement of the Kawasaki Brute Force 750 and will be posting a ton of pictures in the days to come so stick around.

Peace Y’all

The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute Motorcycle Safety Study – The April WOTM

Posted on by motopsyco

Virginia Tech Motorcycle Safety Study

<seen not hurt>

1981 was a long time ago; 33 years ago in fact that’s when Dr. Harry Hurt and his team published the now famous Hurt Report study of motorcycle accidents. This author is not personally aware of any large scale studies done prior to this. Dr. Hurt & his team conducted in depth analysis of several hundred motorcycle accidents in and around Los Angeles, California in 1976 & 77. This study is still the basic benchmark for most motorcycle related safety regulation & recommendations in America today.
This was fantastic work but by the time the report was published in 81 the data was already 4 years old and the state of the motorcycle industry was in the midst of serious change starting into the 1980s. In 1977 the most powerful “normal production” motorcycles on the street were air cooled inline fours from Japan, or modified Sportsters. (Yes youngsters at one time the XLCH was actually a badass motorcycle and not an overweight beginner’s cruiser.) The new decade saw a revolution in the power levels and handling of the Japanese sport bikes, and legendary machines like the Interceptor, FZR, Ninja, and the almighty GSXR. These motorcycles in box stock trim had power and handling undreamed of even in professional racing machines in 1977.
At the other end of the industry, the cruiser revolution was taking off. Jump started by the Reagan administrations bailout and swept along on a proud current of patriotic fever, Americans who had never in their life considered owning a motorcycle, rushed out to buy new Harleys powered by the reliable new Evolution engine. Millions of beginners took to the highways on brand new 1340cc machines. It was a glorious time. Even the big four got in on the act producing similar machines for those still dis-trustful of H-D quality.
The late ‘70s & early ‘80s had been slow times for motorcycle sales but by 1985 things were busting out all over, but it was a completely different scene. Today there’s good sized “retro” market for vintage styled machines resembling their ’60s & ‘70s counterparts, but with modern fuel injection, brakes & materials. A 2014 Ninja is as far advanced from a 1984 GPZ900R as the GPZ was from a ’69 Triumph Bonneville. Here in 2014 1300cc is considered to be a midsized cruiser. The greatest change of all is that there were no cell phones back in 1977. Things have changed so much. Ten years from now it will be different from what it is today, count on it.
In 1999 in Europe the MAIDS report was released. The Motorcycle Accident In Depth Study was yet another study of accident reports focused on all powered two wheel vehicles, including the moped class machines. In 2009 the organization released MAIDS 2.0 which I am certain was based on the same data set (please correct me if I am wrong) but segregated the 50cc mopeds from the larger motorcycles because the smaller machines tended to have much higher accident rates, skewing the results of the study.
Both of these studies are cause & effect studies based on accident reports. They broke the accidents and their causes various logical groups, and really did help to sort out what things were done wrong by those involved in motorcycle crashes. But to me the best way to improve safety is to find out what those who do not crash are doing right. This brings me to the current studies being conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. First I would like to thank one of their research associates a talented young engineer by the name of Cameron Rainey for making me aware of it, and helping me to better understand the focus of it. This is a series of naturalistic studies, involving real motorcyclists who agree to have their motorcycles outfitted with telemetry equipment & cameras. The motorcycles and riders are monitored, speed, position & conditions tracked for set time periods. In order to get true results from the study participants are given immunity from prosecution. I have no doubt that knowing that they were being observed caused some people to alter their riding some, but without this immunity allowing riders to behave as they normally would without fear of prosecution, this study would be completely useless. Let’s be honest here, how many of us don’t at least speed, or filter through traffic every once in a while. Okay put your hands down, all three of you

You can’t help but wonder how many of our pre-conceived notions will be challenged when the results of this new study are published. For example I always run my high beam headlight during daylight hours, does this really make me more visible or just piss people off? Another unproven belief of mine is that it is always better to stay out of a pack of cars whenever possible even if it means speeding through them or driving below the speed limit to get away from them. I do think that unless the traffic is traveling at ludicrous speed it is better to go a little faster than them, going slower than the posted speed will get you treated as an obstacle like a moped or a bicycle & tempt others to pass you in a dangerous matter. Plus I would die of shame if I were on a motorcycle and holding up a line of cars behind me.


One thing that I hope is still true from the Hurt report is that deliberate hostile action by drivers of other vehicles against motorcyclists is still a negligible, inconsequential percentage of the causes for crashes today. At this time my personal belief is that deliberate hostile intimidating action by other drivers has increased greatly no matter what you are driving. I hope they prove me wrong.
Please go check out their website, and don’t just glance at the homepage, take time to dig through it, sign up to volunteer in case they decide to do a study in your area. It will be interesting to see the completed report and compare it to past studies and to our beliefs, instincts, and gut feelings. It would also be interesting to hear from you dear reader, what are some of your beliefs about safety on the road? If you find out you are wrong about something will you be willing to adjust your riding style? Please tell me in the comments section below. (First comments are moderated so please allow time for them to be posted)

Peace Y’all
Relevant links used for research.
Virginia Tech Motorcycle Safety Study
The Hurt Report Summary
The Motorcycle Accident In Depth Study

See Me Save Me Motorcycle Awareness

Custom ABS Plastic Battery Box

Posted on by motopsyco

When I last posted the last picture was of sheet of plastic with my cardboard pattern lying on it. After tracing around it with a marker I used my bandsaw and a Dremel to cut it out to shape. Be certain when cutting plastic with any high speed rotary tool the you use either a saw blade or the router attachment. Do not under any circumstances try to use a metal cutoff wheel for plastic and of course always wear eye protection.

<custom abs plastic battery box>

This next step involves extremely high heat, possible hot metal & molten plastic. It is your responsibility to take all reasonable precautions to see that you don’t get hurt.

The first piece to get bent is the lower brace. It will get reshaped even more later but for now let’s just bend it to a nice 90 degree angle. First you clamp it into a vise sandwiched between a couple of metal angles and start heating it.

<heat forming abs plastic>

When it gets warm it will bend very easily. To get a really good square corner take a slab of wood or another piece of metal and press down on the corner and hold it for a minute as it cools.

<heat forming abs plastic>

<heat forming abs plastic>

<square corner abs plastic sheet>

After this I bent the tabs in for the sides. These tabs my not really be necessary but I like the security of having large bonding surfaces to hold parts like this together, especially in a high vibration environment like a motorcycle.

<build custom motorcycle battery box>

Bending the sides up to form the box takes a little more thought. If you have enough equipment and desire absolute perfection you should carefully clamp each corner to be folded and follow the procedures shown above. In the interest of time and since this motorcycle is going to be another deliberate neo-rat, I simply heated the plastic along the bend lines until it was bendable and then used two blocks of wood to form it to shape. Hey it works for me.

<custom chopper battery box>

<custom Honda chopper battery box>

Before moving on to the next step you will need to test the fit and make sure that your battery fits properly. At this point you can reheat the plastic and adjust things somewhat, once you glue everything together it’s not so easy

<custom chopper Shorai battery box>

When you glue it together be sure to use plenty of ABS cement. Do not use any other type of cement with ABS plastic.

<custom chopper plastic battery box>

One of the nicer things about working with ABS is that the cement is very thick and you can use it as a gap filler to seal off cracks and imperfections and then sand it down after it all dries.

<custom bobber plastic battery box>

<custom motorcycle plastic battery box>

Here is a quick shot of it in the frame with the bottom brace glued into place. At this point the battery box is pretty well done except for sanding and painting.

<custom rigid frame chopper,bobber,motorcycle abs battery box>

The next steps for Project Wammo is going to be a complete teardown to the bare frame to finish removing all the unwanted tabs & finish up the welding. Then it’ll go back together as a roller with new bearings, fork seals, brakes, tires, etc. Then it will be time to freshen up the engine & paint the sucker. Stick around & enjoy the fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Little More Fab Work

Posted on by motopsyco

It’s been a while since I updated this one, well because it’s been a while since I really had time to work on it. But spring is here and the days are getting longer and so much of the craziness of life is starting to settle down a little bit. While at the last swapmeet, I traded a guy some parts for an old aftermarket seat and brought it home. I tore the seat apart and removed all of mounting hardware, cover and the foam from the pan. After putting it into place and taking a few measurements I cut about 3 inches from the nose of it and narrowed the front end slightly.

<honda chopper custom seat>

After this I fired up the heat gun and reshaped the pan to  fit the frame and the fender better. Then I borrowed the electric carving knife from the kitchen and trimmed the foam down to match.

<custom Honda chopper seat>

The mounting points had to be relocated. The front tab that hooks to the frame just behind the gas tank was moved and bent to work in it’s new location. This seat originally had 2 angle brackets with captive screws on either side for its original application and those just were not going to work here. Instead I flattened one of them out and attached it to the rear of the seat as shown in this next picture.

<brazing a seat retainer nut>

Once everything was located & marked I brazed a square nut to the underside of the fender for the captive screw on the seat.

<brazing motorcycle fender seat nut>

Now it’s time to move on to the battery box. You may find it a bit ironic that my day job is working as a CAD designer, mainly using Solidworks, and yet here I revert to my all time favorite C.A.D. system, good old fashioned cardboard aided design!

<CAD cardboard aided design>

Some times you just gotta roll in old school style! First you cut out the pattern & tape it together.

<more fantastic CAD work>

Then you stick it into place on your motorcycle, and trim it and tweak it as necessary necessary to get it to fit.

<a cardboard battery box>

The big advantage to building a cardboard prototype is that it is so fast, easy, & cheap to work with, allowing you to make quick corrections or try multiple ideas at no cost, with very little frustration. And if you screw up your piece of cardboard you can just go to the trash bin and get another one. Once you get the pattern correct you the cut all the tape, lay it out flat on the material of your choice, and mark around it for cutting and bending.

<ABS plastic battery box>

Here I am getting ready to transfer the pattern to some 1/8″ thick ABS plastic sheet. You can use sheet metal if you have the ability to bend it, or perhaps leave the pattern taped together and overmold it with fiberglass. I like the ABS because it is easy to thermo-form, the glue for it is ABS pipe glue available at any hardware store, and it is damn near indestructible. Next time I post on this you can see how the ABS gets folded and glued to make a battery box.

Peace Y’all