'09 500AF build

[jBernard]

had been looking every day for months on ebay! then someone hooked up up with some vf2's  now i'm all set on mystery parts to find.

[jBernard]

quick iphone pic update....

- rekluse adj slave cylinder. will try to get down to the fab shop within next few days and start fitting the hyd clutch on!


- anodized Applied 20mm clamps with HPSD mount I made. All Ti Hardware. Pic doesnt do the colors justice, better one coming soon!


- made a Ti anodizing setup, anodized my Ti wheel bearings i machined up a while back, lot of fun doing this late last night.
 NOTE- right click and 'view image' to see it bigger. forums smash it down to fit, you can barely see anything.


next up, measuring front headstay bracket, getting it machined locally, then frame is off to heat treatment and engine back to TMR for assembly.
stay tuned

*** clifnotes*** - now you can see why this project is taking me so long.  

[sandblaster]

Beautiful..... 

[jBernard]

thanks.
here's a few action shots of me turning the wheel spacers.

[jBernard]

prototyping the front headstay, trying to get it finished up and the small frame mount cnc'd so I can get it welded and then frame off to heat treating. (any structural pieces like this I want done before HT, things like radiator mounts, ect I'm content without).

YES i kind of stole JFabs headstay base design. but i'm having to custom make the rest so wouldnt be able to use his anyways.

biggest issue I'm running into is clearance. my engine is very close to the front yoke/downtube. so when i pivot it on the swingarm bolt its hitting on the head mount.
2 options here. raise up the bolt location (not sure i want to do this, the higher i go the less rigid it becomes) or to cut a relief in the head base pattern, which i dont want to do either because it will reduce stiffness on the head mount. i'll figure something out.

also, going to use .187 Ti plate for this, so should be nice and beefy, and ya'll know how much i hate rust and things not to be shiny!

guy printed this locally for me for only 20$. SUCH an awesome prototyping method to test fitment and really work out the kinks before you dump $$$ on machining time.

[hulkteam476]

Have you checked if the engine went out? with the fourth carrier. after being welded.

[sandblaster]

Wow!
That is a beefy head stay.
It will be interesting to see if either one of us experience the cracked down tubes that some have had without the front head stay.
I'm betting no but time will tell...

[jBernard]

Have you checked if the engine went out? with the fourth carrier. after being welded.

yes, looks like its not to hard to get the engine in there. I'll leave the swingarm pivot in, and take all other brackets and mounting bolts out. Rotate the engine back so head is close to where the tank area is and pull head and cylinder off. then bottom end can be removed and removed thru the side of the frame. Would be nice to fit the completely assembled engine thru the frame but no way thats going to happen.

[jBernard]

Had to go ride some downhill mountainbikes in Colorado so sorry for the lack of updates 

Here's a quick update pic though...

Getting close to tackling the hydraulic clutch retrofit. Stock pushrod isnt going to work (not long enough), so I had a piece of Ti 6AL4V-ELI precision ground down (+-.0002! d**n!) for a custom length rod.
Don't know why the stock rod is waisted. If i had to take a guess its so they could turn down the ends on a lathe for precision and not have to worry about the whole thing, since it only needs to be tight fit on the ends where it mates to the bearings.
NO idea how I'm (or rather Tom Morgan when he goes to build this engine) is going to find out how long to make the rod for proper engagement but I'll worry about that later.

[jBernard]

Hey all. Bit of a long overdue update. Have a few things arriving back from the 3d printer tomorrow, so once they check out on fitment its off to get made and some more progress completed. Here are a few Solidworks screenshots of a few revised parts:
- Front headstay head mount (laser cut Ti with welded uprights)
- front headstay frame mount (chamfer for welding recess
- HPSD frame mount
- KIPS front cover plate (will be laser cut Ti)
- Rekluse Slave cylinder spacer/case mount
- Swingarm spacer tabs (laser cut Ti)



Will post an update when I have some of these parts fitted/made as well.

For now heres a shot of current state of the bike. it 'sort of' looks more like a motorcycle! dont worry, yellow shock spring is getting powdercoated blue. Just need to make sure its still the right spring ratio before I coat it!

I've gotten ahold of '13 Brembo full front and rear brakes, and a hydraulic clutch! So the controls on this bike are going to be top notch!




stay tuned!

[sandblaster]

I'm officially jealous... 

[Foxx4Beaver]

yep...it's definitely one of the best looking AF builds on here!!

[Chainsmoker]

Top notch build, I love all the TI, great attention to detail! It looks fast already and its only halfway done, can't wait to see a finished product.

[jBernard]

Thanks guys.
If you like the Ti i'll be posting an update soon with some sponsorship eye candy I'm sure you'll love!

For now here's the 3d printed pieces back to test fitment.
The rekluse spacer I'll need after doing some case milling to get a flat area to mount it to. This will be pretty tricky but I'll figure it out. Also since I have to weld the perimeter I'm worried about thread distortion since it's so close to the edge. May have to do pilot holes and tap after its welded on.



HPSD mount looking pretty rad. Its a bit to compressed at max so i'll shorten up the throw about .050-.075" and it should give me just the right amount of play buffer.


I have some Ti Sheet laying around, and since the swingarm spacer tabs are exactly .080" i thought what the heck. So these will never see rust again! 



-Next up is to get my linkage races/bushings finally machined up so I can stuff my Mg linkage and the back end wont be floating around anymore.
-Machine up HPSD mount
-Still working on getting some Inconel 718 head and cylinder studs made, becoming a PITA.
-Rekluse slave case fitment

thanks for watching!

[duranmorley]

Wow beautiful project! Cant wait to see the finished product. Have you considered Ride engineering's brake caliber? And have you done EFI on a 500 before?