'09 500AF build

[jBernard]

thanks for the kind words

i thought about the Ride caliper. IMO, its a bit ugly with the logo on the side so prominent. but the cnc work is very nice. this is purely just my opinion though as i'm super anal, cause i still think it looks nice, and the guys at Ride are good people.
and it IS a good bit lighter than a stock caliper so that is nice.
I'm going with brembo retrofit for a few different reasons:
-got a caliper for 100$ each, cant beat that
-brembo freakin rocks, tried and true. i love it on my KTM and thats with stock pad and rotor. will be way stronger setup on the AF
-getting them cerakote'd the same color as the factory calipers so will look even better
-ride caliper is only on the front. wanted something to match f/r

i thought about EFI for a bit. actually did a good amount of research and got a throttle body from a kxf450, was about to pull the trigger on a microsquirt setup and start messing with it.
few issues made me bail on it:
-weight vs a carb. would end up adding 5+ lbs i bet
-lots of time tuning. only way to do it right would be on a dyno with a true AFR tune and that = time and $
-possibility of doing all that and results marginally better than a 300$ carb
-would cost 1k+ doing it right and not hack job

the banshee guys and the rz350 guys have done this before, and on 2T so a bit of the guesswork has been figured out already for you. and the consensus is....has cool perks but people still like the carb. thats what i can gather.

[Kraemer864]

Wow! Awesome build! Im currently building a 2012 kx250afc with a 04 kx250 motor. Im looking for someone that makes yokes and a headstay mount. How much would it cost if you were to build that yoke for me? Also what angle did you bend the frame rails to? I have the tubing to make the frame rails but I dont know what angle to bend them to. Thanks!

[jBernard]

Thanks!

I have an extra headstay (shock mount frame area to back headstay mount) I'd sell, I'll PM you a picture of it later tonite. And I have had a few people wanting yokes as well. The design needs a slight revision before I want to machine up another set of them though, they were way to beefy wall thickness for my liking. Just cosmetic, but I'd like it to flow a bit better on the next revision.

On the frame rails, I made my yoke up first, then fit it into the frame and clamped it in, then put the engine in and mounted it via a solid point (swingarm bolt) in the back, then just rough set my engine angle by putting blocks under the cases. You want the engine as low as you can mount it, but still have easy to mount engine mounts. (Thru holes in the cases cant be below or equal in height to frame rails, ect).

Here's a photo of how i roughed it out.



Then I just made a rough paper template from the side (1" tube profile). Cut that out, then took it to the bender. We just got as close as we could to the paper template, with plenty of excess straight tubing to trim off later. Then at the welder we tweaked it into final position.
One big thing i'll do next time is fill the tubes with sand and cap them. Walls on the tubing started to deteriorate the last couple degrees. Also use tubing with a high radius corner. If you look at the new CRF's, the tubing they use on frame rails is almost hex shape its got so much radius. This is a better design for load than a square tube with no corner radius.
I'm going to play it safe and beef up the support to the top engine mount from the yoke before I heat treat to make up for this.

[Kraemer864]

Awesome thanks! I am getting the tube aluminum bent tomorrow and I was planning on using sand to stop the tube from creasing. The headstay would be awesome I could really really use that!

[RoostiusMaximus]

The 09+ crf chassis bikes are 5 sided tube 

[jBernard]

Wow! Awesome build! Im currently building a 2012 kx250afc with a 04 kx250 motor. Im looking for someone that makes yokes and a headstay mount. How much would it cost if you were to build that yoke for me? Also what angle did you bend the frame rails to? I have the tubing to make the frame rails but I dont know what angle to bend them to. Thanks!

here's a couple pics of the rear headstay i got machined up



i just drilled 2 M8 sized thru holes spaced to try and get as much triangulationt as possible. then welded on. it welded surprisingly nicely to the cast frame cross brace.

im going to waterjet a couple pieces of thick (around .250) carbon fiber plate to connect the headstay to the head. should be a nice change from the usual aluminum and steel, and will actually help any vibration from getting transferred.

[Kraemer864]

Great headstay design! Do you still have a headstay for sale?

[jc5057]

Dang that is going to be one nice bike

[jBernard]

Long overdue update...

Been struggling to find someone to turn a handfull of one off Titanium fasteners for me, but finally found someone and shouldn't be but a week until I get a decent amount of parts back that have been holding me up. Then linkage should be 100% done with a few tricks up my sleeve as well for it.

But some good news is that I've had some AWESOME people lend a helping hand on my project. I've made some good new friends in the industry and I'm honored that they enjoy looking at my build and like to contribute. These are stand up companies, who care about US riders and not trying to screw people out of their money and just sell as much as they can.

PLEASE help support these people if you ever need any of these products. I've talked to a lot of people regarding my project and these are the guys that love the sport.


SWEET new throttle from G2 Ergonomics, with a 400 cam to try and tame some of the 500 hit. The cool thing about this throttle is that you can easily change cams for desired throttle response.
The fit and finish is awesome as well.

http://www.g2ergo.com/





Kevin @ Tamer Holeshot Devices helped me out with this awesome holeshot device in a gorgeous finish anodizing.
Kevin is a super nice guy, that rode for Honda back in the day. He INVENTED the holeshot device, yes, holds the patent for it. In my opinion his is the coolest looking one of everyone that is basing off his design.

http://www.tamerbilletmx.com/




Josh @ Racetech Titanium is helping out tons. I really have dreamed of having some trick Ti parts on my bike that were just a bit over my head to fabricate, and he was able to make that dream a reality. I've turned Ti before and it is no joke. The finish and precision on his parts is unreal. Top quality company! He supplies all the Ti parts for the JGR team, how cool is that!

http://racetechtitanium.com/

6AL4V Ti Front/Rear axle + Pivot with DLC Coating






- DLC Coated Ti Linkage bolts (awesome!)
- KXF Kickstarter bolt
- Banjo bolt + bleed screws
- Brembo DLC Coated Slider Pins Front + Rear
- Brembo DLC Coated Pad Slider Pins







Finally got headstay bracket back from the laser cutter and it turned out OK.
The headstay is .125 which is WAY overkill but what the heck. Only issue is that you have to cut Ti with Nitrogen shielding. And its not easy to cut, even compared to cold rolled steel.
There is a bit of drift in the cut from the top to the bottom, I will have to go back and ream out the thru holes to make sure they are nice and square. I dont know if this is a laser wattage issue, or just something that happens cutting thick Ti plate, as I've never cut something this thick. Waterjet would probably have been a better option, albeit more costly by far.

With all the extra room I decided to layout a few more Ti pieces while I could. KIPS front cover plates in .125 and .80 Plate, and swingarm spacer tabs (no more rust!)





Got sick and tired of looking at that hideous yellow spring on my shock.
This looks a bit better now    Powdercoated anthracite grey.
Also can see in this photo I'll be adding a Brembo rear master cylinder and caliper to replace the Nissin stuff. The master cylinder mounting tabs don't fit up, so an adapter will have to be made.



Front headstay tab that will be welded onto the frame will be back within a week, then I'll weld that on and fit it, then send frame off the heat treat, and engine off the get put back together at Tom Morgan Racing. Hopefully lots of progress made in the next few weeks.

Thanks for looking and hope everyone is liking what I'm coming up with

Taylor

[Foxx4Beaver]

very nice progress as usual!....
I've been thinking about picking up one of the G2 tubes too, I've been waiting to see if anyone has any feedback on them before buying one, as my Pro Circuit throttle tube has been around the block for several years, and it's about time to retire it.
And since I've been planning on buying a new rear axle...I may just look into the RT ti.

[RoostiusMaximus]

Gary at G2 is an awesome guy, did you know that he makes the hoops that are marketed as "Moose Racing". He also has some heavier duty desert racing rims I can't recall the name of.

[Foxx4Beaver]

no, I wasn't aware of that...thanks for sharing, that's good to know!

[jBernard]

It's getting pretty serious over here.
say goodbye to nasty corroded carbon steel head and cylinder studs.

say hello to nickel based superalloy.
Inconel 718

with some ti 6al4v-ELI filler metal because it wanted to be in the picture too.

[LukeG]

I like that.

[Foxx4Beaver]

wow, that's perty!...are you going to make the studs yourself, or do you have someone lined up to do them?