hi
if you have read my introduction (in the introduce me section) you will know why we are building this bike
its based on a 1979 gs550 which was rough at best, the guy i bought it off called it a barn find- more like left in the middle of a field for 20 years (i never saw the barn to see if it had a roof)

Piccies? Oh, and welcome! Ooops, just seen your post in newbies! Welcome anyway Tony, will be very interested to see what carbon wizadry you have to show us.

i said it was a shed!!
it only had 11k miles on it too
spent a couple of hours on it the other day & reduced it to this

The wizard will need a big carbon wand !!! that is gonna be a proper labour of love matey, good luck and i cant wait to see the carbon bits you make for it, will be an excellent opportunity to showcase your skills

had a good few hours on it this morning
cut all the brackets off the frame- even cut out the lower frame brace with center stand mountings as we will be widening the frame by 20mm
for the new swinging arm to fit
found some rusty (almost rusted through areas) not too bothered as i will be bracing the frame
so those areas will be strenthened anyway

then started on bracing the headstock, just tack welded them in place as my mate is a better welder than i am (he does it for a living)
also braced accross the frame down tubes - diaganals to be added next when i test fit engine & exhaust

managed to get the engine in yesterday gsxr750 r705
phew it ws a tight fit
had to take the rocker cover off & remove the sump bolt so it would go in.
the rear upper engine mount lines up ok will have to make brackets up for the rest to line up.
Suzuki use the same head bearings throughout most of the range so got to fit some gsxr750 m yokes for the upside down front end.
more pictures next week

Had a very busy week at work this week sending carbon parts to the Usa,New Zealand, Italy along with a couple of wholesale orders & our Uk customers so not had much time to work on this project but still got a few bits done.
Here is what i have done this week,the engine is roughly in, needs mounting brackets making, have had to mount from the front bolts instead of the rear to pull the engine forward to clear the air filters on the frame rails.
The exhaust is loosely fitted to check for clearance for the extra bracing under the head stock to the new cross member i fitted last week.
Swinging arm now fits the frame (roughly) its a honda bros arm which i have fitted a vfr750 L hub & caliper which allows me to use a vfr 5.5" rear wheel, 180 section tyre.
The swinging arm mounts on the frame needs drilling out from 15mm to 16mm to fit a bros spindle & a center mount & it will need bracing possibly to the lower frame brace & engine mount which i have to make 20mm longer than standard .
The next major task is to widen the frame at the left swinging arm mount by 15mm to allow the chain to clear & let it run true also this puts the arm slightly over & the rear wheel bang in the center of the frame.
The forks are gsx750/1100 L & the wheel is the same at the moment, that will change for a honda wheel to match the rear prob an early 16" fireblade with speedo drive.
Tank cover is a rickman cr long tank unit which i have started to smooth ready to make a mould from
Next week i have to make rear shock mounts, rear set, mounts coil & battery box mount & try to finish the frame ready for blasting.

have just added another 100 plus moulds to our collection, spent some time sorting that lot outl!!
just fitted the rear shock & started making the frame mountings up for it, will finish the bracing & hopefully get the frame welded up fully this week.
did a bit of work on making the plug / master for the seat unit mould, 7 layers of insulation foam bonded together with mastic & left under the weight of the bench sander for the weekend, have started to do a bit of shaping with a bread knife borrowed from home (please dont tell the mrs) have quite a bit to do on this but its taking shape slowly
tony

That's moving along nicely! Do you have a web site for your carbon fibre bits yet?

we only have a holding page at the moment as it is taking forever to build our e-commerce site
& a bloody fortune,
best just emailing, texting, ringing or pm me for details, even if its just for pic of our work
tony

hey tony
question can just about anything be replicated in carbon proving you have a part to be copied?
is carbon a good or bad idea for a petrol tank
cheers miffa

hi mate
just about anything can be made in carbon, the original is the easiest way to make a mould but we can
make a master out of foam, paper mache etc just takes longer therefore costs more
petrol tanks are not road legal as far as my MOT bloke says as they could split on impact (i think they are as strong if not stronger than metal if made properly)
the other problem is unleaded fuel contains additives that attack & break down the resin(some epoxy resins are better than others at resisting this)you can get a coating that will protest the internals.
however we are working on a range of cafe racer tank cover in carbon or fiberglass which will fit over a standard tank or a purpose made tank
tony

will be talking to george today(my mot tester).

will ask him.