KX Riders
Maintenance & Technical => KX500 Aluminum Frame Conversion (AFC) => Topic started by: jBernard on October 26, 2012, 10:53:04 AM
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Hey guys.
Been putting off posting my build for quite some time now. After having the original 09' kx250f bought, stripped down, and engine sold, its been almost a year. :cry:
had a ton of dead time mixed in there, from new jobs, to 65hr work weeks, to girlfriend and 3 kids moving in with me. project got put on the back burner, but i was always reading on here and thinking of things to do to her. now i've been trying my hardest to get things rolling again.
heres a few sneak peaks of the progress ive made along the way within the last month or so. taking rails to get welded in tomorrow. so after that its engine positioning, swingarm and motor mount spacer building, then the real fun starts!!!!
I'll be making a blog here shortly with a detailed write up journal, way better photos and more detailed info :-D
Solidworks Yoke design, using gusseted joints instead of butt welds.
(http://i46.tinypic.com/302cq50.jpg)
Solidworks Ti 6AL4V peg brackets
(http://i47.tinypic.com/4ui89s.jpg)
6061 T6 yoke made per print , Ti peg brackets
(http://i49.tinypic.com/69q2i1.jpg)
Yoke rough fitment
(http://i45.tinypic.com/3097zlz.jpg)
Ti peg bosses, Ti boss pin, Raptor Ti Pegs
(http://i48.tinypic.com/xlkves.jpg)
Org alum wheel spacers, New ones being made out of Ti bar stock, gonna be anodized blue next
(http://i46.tinypic.com/4oxl1.jpg)
Frame rails bent, and mocked up, getting fitted tomorrow
(http://i46.tinypic.com/dwt8cj.jpg)
Applied triple trees, made a threaded offset that will be welded to lower tree so i can use this HPSD stabalizer on my kx!
(http://i49.tinypic.com/x2w0u8.jpg)
Hope you guys like my stuff so far. long way to go, but she's getting there!
Taylor
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Wow! This is going to be a good one! Cant wait!
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Looks great!
Keep the info coming.....
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That is some beautiful work! Very nice!
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That is some beautiful work! Very nice!
Yeah, it makes my build look like it was done with meat cleavers... :-D
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I thought that I had a good looking billet yoke, but yours looks much and much better.
Dutch
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Like you, my project has been on the back burner, due to family and work mostly (I'm responding to this thread from up in the Arctic, Northern Canada).
I have lots of new parts in my workshop that I haven't touched. But I've finally got rounbd to getting on with it. Well, I've taken it to a builder and he's just done the frame recently.
That frame yoke looks fantastic! Shame about my timing, otherwise I'd have offered to buy one off you...
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Those are some great looking parts. Are any going to be avaliable to purchase? Like the Y. Those are the parts that set a bike apart from others for sure.
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whew. after a bit of a delay on the guy getting to weld the frame up, i finally got it back.
had to make a few more passes on the welds because looking back i way over engineered the yoke, wall thickness on the joints is way to thick. its .250 and should be .125 or less so it would be more visually matching the frame. but hey, this is version 1 right? :lol:
in regards to if i'd offer some parts for sale. yes, that is something that is def on the horizon. so stay tuned on that one :wink:
here are some crappy iphone pics right when i got it back.
(http://i48.tinypic.com/25u0j8h.jpg)
(http://i49.tinypic.com/153a0r7.jpg)
(http://i48.tinypic.com/2s0oco8.jpg)
(http://i45.tinypic.com/or73hd.jpg)
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2hzsphg.jpg)
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Wow!
Looking good.
Just curious how you bent your rails?
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Man oh man where were you a year ago that yoke rocks.
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rails are 6063 off ebay. was like 14$ for 25'. plenty to mess up on.
took them to a local business that does custom stairs, i knew they would have a decent machine to do bending, since thats all they do.
prebent to about -5* of finish and looked good, no wall caving in at all. made the final tweek and it started to deteriorate just a bit. only on about a 1" area on the outside of the radius (bottom of rail). not that bad and i'd have to point it out. so its just cosmetic.
next one i do i'll fill the rail full of sand, cap both ends then bend to give it some internal resistance from caving as much as possible.
thanks for the kind words shlepy, you can always build another right :evil:
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Would love to get ahold of those peg mounts! How much would it cost to have you make a set?
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Hey guys.
Been putting off posting my build for quite some time now. After having the original 09' kx250f bought, stripped down, and engine sold, its been almost a year. :cry:
had a ton of dead time mixed in there, from new jobs, to 65hr work weeks, to girlfriend and 3 kids moving in with me. project got put on the back burner, but i was always reading on here and thinking of things to do to her. now i've been trying my hardest to get things rolling again.
heres a few sneak peaks of the progress ive made along the way within the last month or so. taking rails to get welded in tomorrow. so after that its engine positioning, swingarm and motor mount spacer building, then the real fun starts!!!!
I'll be making a blog here shortly with a detailed write up journal, way better photos and more detailed info :-D
Solidworks Yoke design, using gusseted joints instead of butt welds.
(http://i46.tinypic.com/302cq50.jpg)
Solidworks Ti 6AL4V peg brackets
(http://i47.tinypic.com/4ui89s.jpg)
6061 T6 yoke made per print , Ti peg brackets
(http://i49.tinypic.com/69q2i1.jpg)
Yoke rough fitment
(http://i45.tinypic.com/3097zlz.jpg)
Ti peg bosses, Ti boss pin, Raptor Ti Pegs
(http://i48.tinypic.com/xlkves.jpg)
Org alum wheel spacers, New ones being made out of Ti bar stock, gonna be anodized blue next
(http://i46.tinypic.com/4oxl1.jpg)
Frame rails bent, and mocked up, getting fitted tomorrow
(http://i46.tinypic.com/dwt8cj.jpg)
Applied triple trees, made a threaded offset that will be welded to lower tree so i can use this HPSD stabalizer on my kx!
(http://i49.tinypic.com/x2w0u8.jpg)
Hope you guys like my stuff so far. long way to go, but she's getting there!
Taylor
Hi nice work ... machining, parts beautifully designed
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thanks!
i need to update this thread! been crazy busy with work lately and havent had much chance to work on the bike.
Hopefully getting engine mounts machined within a week so i can get all the frame welding completed finally!
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thanks!
i need to update this thread! been crazy busy with work lately and havent had much chance to work on the bike.
Hopefully getting engine mounts machined within a week so i can get all the frame welding completed finally!
Cool ... Man
I leave you a picture of foot pegs, all titanium.
Could you quantify me (as an estimate) achievement.
Same width as your foot pegs "RAPTOR TITANIUM"
with the same types of fixed as you designed mounting Honda CRF 2002/2012
If you have enough time for that ...
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As soon as i get this thing finished i'm looking at getting a few parts like the peg bosses made that i did in Ti.
But since you ask about them for a CR i know they have different mounting points/design than my KX just by looking at them.
I'll have to buy some steel stock ones and re-engineer them for each Make. And hopefully they fit a fair amount of years for each model! Would be to much expense if a particular design only fit a model for a few years.
those are some great looking factory pegs! very odd though, you can see the platform is either waterjet or cnc, but i dont know how they did the spikes, because i dont see any welds visible. i dont think they CNC'd the whole thing, that would be a nightmare. my guess is that they made the base then welded a bent piece of plate with the spikes on top, then ground down the welds and polished out the heat affected zone. my guess.
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maybe i'm confused on your post now that i think about it. were you asking about the actual pegs or the peg bosses? the peg bosses hole the peg to the frame, and thats what i made, as well as the pin.
my pegs are from Raptor Titanium.
http://www.raptortitanium.com/
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figured i'd give you guys a teaser on a few pieces i'm in the near stages of completing.....
(http://i46.tinypic.com/zpx8w.jpg)
stock linkage on left!
(http://i48.tinypic.com/2dhb2vq.jpg)
Here's a few hints.... Its not aluminum and its 60% of the weight.
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please, tell me how much. For this work on the links
This will give me a base to do this in France.
for foot pegs is (CNC) full titanium the nuance you used
I like your delirium
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Need know! HI, can you tell me which diameter of nozzle tungsten did you use for the different weld cords realized. thank you
whew. after a bit of a delay on the guy getting to weld the frame up, i finally got it back.
had to make a few more passes on the welds because looking back i way over engineered the yoke, wall thickness on the joints is way to thick. its .250 and should be .125 or less so it would be more visually matching the frame. but hey, this is version 1 right? :lol:
in regards to if i'd offer some parts for sale. yes, that is something that is def on the horizon. so stay tuned on that one :wink:
here are some crappy iphone pics right when i got it back.
(http://i48.tinypic.com/25u0j8h.jpg)
(http://i49.tinypic.com/153a0r7.jpg)
(http://i48.tinypic.com/2s0oco8.jpg)
(http://i45.tinypic.com/or73hd.jpg)
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2hzsphg.jpg)
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figured i'd give you guys a teaser on a few pieces i'm in the near stages of completing.....
(http://i46.tinypic.com/zpx8w.jpg)
stock linkage on left!
(http://i48.tinypic.com/2dhb2vq.jpg)
Here's a few hints.... Its not aluminum and its 60% of the weight.
Unobtainium or magnesium would be my guess!
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Scandium, or magnesium are the only two that come to my mind.
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Mg, nice job :-D
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Need know! HI, can you tell me which diameter of nozzle tungsten did you use for the different weld cords realized. thank you
I didnt weld it personally, sorry dont know the details! we had to make a root pass and 2 or 3 finish passes on the top of the yoke so the blend was better. i over-engineered the wall thickness and its beefy but leaves a bit of a gap when its butted up next to the tubing.
sorry, wish i knew more than 10 words of francais, i could speak better to you :-D
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whew. after a bit of a delay on the guy getting to weld the frame up, i finally got it back.
had to make a few more passes on the welds because looking back i way over engineered the yoke, wall thickness on the joints is way to thick. its .250 and should be .125 or less so it would be more visually matching the frame. but hey, this is version 1 right? :lol:
in regards to if i'd offer some parts for sale. yes, that is something that is def on the horizon. so stay tuned on that one :wink:
here are some crappy iphone pics right when i got it back.
(http://i48.tinypic.com/25u0j8h.jpg)
(http://i49.tinypic.com/153a0r7.jpg)
(http://i48.tinypic.com/2s0oco8.jpg)
(http://i45.tinypic.com/or73hd.jpg)
(http://i45.tinypic.com/2hzsphg.jpg)
Any update as to when you will offer any of these parts for sale? specifically the Y and rails? Thanks!
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Can you tell me what type of mg (nuance. grade) Have you used. please Merci
you speaks only a few words in French, but you working really well with solidworks!
software created by a French company Dassault systems
Need know! HI, can you tell me which diameter of nozzle tungsten did you use for the different weld cords realized. thank you
I didnt weld it personally, sorry dont know the details! we had to make a root pass and 2 or 3 finish passes on the top of the yoke so the blend was better. i over-engineered the wall thickness and its beefy but leaves a bit of a gap when its butted up next to the tubing.
sorry, wish i knew more than 10 words of francais, i could speak better to you :-D
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merci, ami :-D
alloy of Mg is AZ31
i think AZ61 is slightly higher strength, but harder to find. Then there are a few alloys like ZK60 but some cant be welded. (not that i needed it to)
for this project though, AZ31 looked fine and was easily available, so thats what i used.
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Here are some better pictures of the wheel spacers i made out of some Ti bar stock.
(http://i48.tinypic.com/idghug.jpg)
and since i re-did the linkage pieces, i was surprised how everything in the bushings, collars, bearings, ect is steel and how heavy it is when its all apart.
got some tricks for making that nicer, rust free, and saving tons of weight in those pieces.
here are the collars that face the outside of the bearings.
Ti, of course.
(http://i46.tinypic.com/20jhdmd.jpg)
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so any word on selling the "y" and would it work on a 250f-2502t conversion
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finally got engine mounts and headstay in and got her welded up. big step finished yesterday so i'm super pumped up.
now engine comes out and on to some cosmetic pieces and non-chassis stuff.
i made some beefy engine mounts, each mount is custom height and width for that space. used a nice fat chamfer for the standoff for weight distribution. theres about .200 of thickness touching the frame rails so they are super sturdy. only had to trim one width about .025 to get it to fit in too, so they are nice and tight.
on the headstay i went with a side plate design, i'll grab some pics of it welded in better, but thinking of using some thick .250 7000 series aluminum laser cut out for each side, hopefully its sturdy enough.
(http://i43.tinypic.com/2ns2d6r.jpg)
(http://i39.tinypic.com/jafjnc.jpg)
(http://i44.tinypic.com/2z65g61.jpg)
(http://i39.tinypic.com/2zow2dk.jpg)
(http://i41.tinypic.com/28mkvl.jpg)
(http://i39.tinypic.com/332rryb.jpg)
(http://i41.tinypic.com/2z4im9y.jpg)
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Very nice! Pretty welds too!
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Very nice, very clean, great job!
Thanks for posting those pics.
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Looking Good!
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Are the rails made from solid stock or tube? Looks awesome
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thanks guys!
tubing is 1" square, .125" wall, 6063 T52
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pic of headstay in place. a triangular headstay mount would have been more rigid, but wanted to have enough clearance to get engine out.
(http://i44.tinypic.com/20tgymr.jpg)
engine mostly apart. have some tricks up my sleeve for some design ideas (clutch, waterpump, governor, ect)
(http://i40.tinypic.com/903hqt.jpg)
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have some tricks up my sleeve for some design ideas (clutch, waterpump, governor, ect)....
Can't wait :-D
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what about some clarification..... :-D
-side cover with waterpump and governor deleted. also will incorporate removable clutch cover.
-electric waterpump
-servo driven KIPS
stay tuned!
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This should be good!
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G'day guys I am in the process of doing the conversion. Was wondering if anyone could tell me the degree u set the motor to? I was thinkin if this was wrong it would throw the handling right out the window. I could be wrong though. Thanks.
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the lower the engine, the better it will handle. i made my engine mounts with just enough clearance for the engine bolt to be able to get a socket on the end.
the FMF ktm/kx5 that was in the magazine, they recessed the engine mounts in the actual lower frame rail. they had the benefit of working with steel, but it looked like sh*t fab wise. no idea how much of a difference it actually made in the long run though. and no idea where they got that idea as i havent seen it done on any other bike.
I also tilted my engine back enough to be able to get access to the kips plate on the front above the exhaust manifold so i could service without having to take the engine out.
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Thanks For your reply that's Interesting them cuttin into the frame, bugger that. I will try keep the 500 as low as possible to try help handling as much as I can. Would a 450 swingarm help u think? Just being that tad bit longer. Is yours a 250f frame?
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a 450 frame will have a bit more room in the engin ebay, as well as the swingarm being a tad longer. i dont think much though, just a few mm if i remember correctly.
yes mine is a 250f. i got a great deal on the bike to start with, 450f's were about 1500$ more than what i gave for mine.
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And your 250f frame handles the power and suspension still works ok? I was also lucky I picked my 09 250f up for 1700 with Suposably a blown motor but all it needed was a cam chain and re timed. Then it run a treat. Sold that motor now and the 500 is going in :-o
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i dont think the geometry of the 250 and 450 are that different. i know the swingarm is .750" longer.
mines not to the riding stage yet.
stock suspension is out and i've got Showa A Kit going back in.
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trying to make some progress on this thing!
Suspension back next week, will post some pics of that, will look badass!
Head/Cylinder is at Tom Morgan Racing and will be back around a week or so.
Split cases tonite and going to go thru and vaporblast the cases so shes looking brand new.
here's a pic until the next update:
(http://i43.tinypic.com/23s6df5.jpg)
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Tom Morgan Racing High compression head, ported cylinder for MX, and a windowed new weisco piston from Todd
(http://i39.tinypic.com/29z77ds.jpg)
(http://i44.tinypic.com/nvxljs.jpg)
(http://i39.tinypic.com/s28ivt.jpg)
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Nice, can you post a pic of the bottom of the cylinder?
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sure, heres a quick iphone pic.
(http://i44.tinypic.com/2liivmd.jpg)
larger res:
http://oi44.tinypic.com/2liivmd.jpg
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wow. time is flying and i'm dragging on this thing :|
I've only got a few more bearings to pull out of the cases, then they go out to get media blasted then i can start putting engine back together after that.
But for now here's some pics of parts that are going to be going back on.
Showa A-Kit from 06/07 ProCircuit Team bike (no production serials on lugs)
WP Micro Fork bleeders
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Suspension.jpg)
TC Racing CNC'd hubs, laced to bulldog stainless spokes, and SM Pro Platinum matte black rims
Tires are Michelin MS3 Starcross 80/100/21 on the front
and Bridgestone M204 120/80/19 on the rear
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Wheels.jpg)
Galfer Tsunami 270mm Oversized Superlight (aluminum spider) floating rotor
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrontDetail.jpg)
Galfer Wave Rear rotor
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/RearDetail.jpg)
Ironman 47T sprocket with J27 Titanium socket head bolts and aluminum nuts
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/SprocketDetail.jpg)
hopefully more pics of things getting done soon. stay tuned!
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and thats my new '14 KTM 250SX in the background. it is.....AMAZING. and after having my first Brembo brake and hyd clutch experience, i WILL be retrofitting a brembo front caliper and master cylinder on my 500AF. i have to build a oversized bracket anyway, to fit the 270mm rotor, so might as well make one for the brembo caliper at same time.
I dont think i'll be doing Brembo on the rear though, i'm not that fast of a rider to really feel the difference on the rear between the brembo and the nissin as of now. + the rear bracket is more involved and harder to design than the front.
also going to attempt to do a REAL hydraulic clutch on this engine as well. Ive seen a few pics of a French guy on here show his off, but not give any details on how he did it. So this may take some time. and figuring out the location perfectly as well as the pushrod length needs to be precision made, this will take some work.
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and thats my new '14 KTM 250SX in the background. it is.....AMAZING. and after having my first Brembo brake and hyd clutch experience, i WILL be retrofitting a brembo front caliper and master cylinder on my 500AF. i have to build a oversized bracket anyway, to fit the 270mm rotor, so might as well make one for the brembo caliper at same time.
I dont think i'll be doing Brembo on the rear though, i'm not that fast of a rider to really feel the difference on the rear between the brembo and the nissin as of now. + the rear bracket is more involved and harder to design than the front.
also going to attempt to do a REAL hydraulic clutch on this engine as well. Ive seen a few pics of a French guy on here show his off, but not give any details on how he did it. So this may take some time. and figuring out the location perfectly as well as the pushrod length needs to be precision made, this will take some work.
My 2012 KTM 250SX is a great machine and makes just under 50 HP according to MXA magazine. One of the best machines I've owned to date! That 500 of yours is coming along nice! Waiting to see the finished product and a ride report!
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thanks! i need some deadlines to put on myself so i have some accountability,
this is my first ktm. i grew up on CR 125's, then got out of mx when i went to college. this is my first bike back into mx (im 30), i'm 6'4" and about 240# and the ktm puts a smile on my face EVERY time i ride it so far (5 times thus far). there have been several 'oh s**t!' moments on her so far, i cant believe how hard this bike pulls even with me on it. for a kid to get off a 125 and get on this and weigh say 160# would be like a rocket ship! easily the most powerful, best handling, best feel, braking, powerband, bike i have ever ridden. cant say good enough things about it.
saying that, if i find the 250sx fast, i think a high compression MX kx500 is going to be terrifying. :evil:
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(http://i39.tinypic.com/soa36e.jpg)
looks like i'll be the first to try this out! should be interesting.
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(http://i39.tinypic.com/11tmobd.jpg)
well shizzzz. trying to pop that rubber outer seal out looks like i slipped and got into the seal surface with a flathead. :-( bonehead move.
by the looks of it how do you guys think i should fix this? leave it as is? ghetto jb weld and smooth it out with my finger?
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ive been there before.....just put a smear of black three bond on the seal and it will be ok :-)
i was contemplating using one of those harley decomps aswell!
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dont forget to kiss it with some sandpaper to take off the high points
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Yamabond or some other semi-hardening sealant.
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thanks guys, will do.
and nice eye ylwgtr!!! impressive you knew what it was from.
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(http://i39.tinypic.com/soa36e.jpg)
looks like i'll be the first to try this out! should be interesting.
What type of an electrical system do you have?
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I tried one of these out yesterday .....works well!!!You could use a capacitor to run it
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@Larry
hey sorry, i still need to give you a call about mounting this on the head, will try and call you this afternoon!
i don't know what my electrical system is looking like at this point. Plan is to go EFI, and I'm trying not to run a battery, or at least a heavy one. So i guess my choices are either a charging capacitor like the crf's and yamaha wrf's use but not liking the idea of kicking over several times just to charge it. so maybe a small lithium battery it is.
BUT...for now, i was planning on triggering the solenoid with just a 9V source, and an Arduino platform, which is just a microprocessor i have some experience with. Reason i'll be using the arduino is for some other sensors on the bike, IAT, MAF, coolant temps, crank position, ect. so having a switch tied into that circuit would be easy.
@ylwgtr, where'd you mount yours at? the solenoid is a bit larger than it seems in the pictures, so i'm trying to think about the best place to mount it right now.
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how much room you got around the rear?This is where I put it
(http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s398/ylwgtr2/null_zps84f2408c.jpg)
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badass!!! i know the harleys vent the bypass right into the exhaust valve outlet. would be pretty cool to do that somehow, but really nowhere to put it to pull that off.
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im just running a hose on it down beside the intake (with a wire holder like on the left side of the reed cage for the CDI wire) then down through the metal band the overflow tubes run in behind the engine and out under the bottom
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just had a look....you could route it into the front right hand side of the kips chamber on the cylinder....the side valve is open at starting time so it would dump it straight into the exhaust pipe :) not sure of any side effect of blow back whilst running though,maybe crap building up in the pipe?...id need to have a bit more of a think about it
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(http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s398/ylwgtr2/null_zpsbecefb4e.jpg)
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I whipped this up in a few minutes today....I'm thinking there is enough material on the cylinder to drill/tap and I will prob put it in the mill and take a drop in with a large end mill .3 of a mm to make a sealing area for a copper washer...what do you guys reckon?
Anyone see an issue apart from having to clean the tube/decomp valve when servicing the powervalves??
(http://i1049.photobucket.com/albums/s398/ylwgtr2/null_zpsac0d7362.jpg)
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Ps....sorry for cluttering up your thread... :-(
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NICE! thats a rad idea! definitely going to go something along this route now.
no worries on the post in here, thats whats helping us all out in the builds!
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Finally have some stuff to update. Been dealing with some unfortunate events at home :| so bike got put on hold.
-Going to send frame out to heat treating tomorrow hopefully.
-Took apart tranny and got all gears and pieces REM treated. Insanely smooth now!
-Crankworks has my crank and is balancing it right now. Hopefully back at the front of next week.
-Engine cases are back from vapor blasting and they look AMAZING. Like brand new.
If anyone wants them done right, and no glass or sand pitted in their metal check out this guy:
http://www.vaporblasting.biz/
Pretty cheap too. I think mine was 30$ per case half.
Pinsonnault windowed weisco piston. Thermal coated via SwainTech
New Wossner kx5 rod
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Piston1.jpg)
KX5 cases looking brand new!
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Cases1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Cases2.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Cases3.jpg)
Check out this CNC magnesium linkage, coated with Kephos coating (harder than hard ano and just as thin. Hopefully bearings press in without much effort. haven't checked the clearance yet!
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Linkage1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Linkage2.jpg)
- Next steps are I'm finishing up finding some nice SKF Explorer bearings for all the case bearings. This is taking a bit of work but will be worth it. Then when crank comes back i can start assembling engine.
- Clutch side cover is at 3D scanning place right now. Designing a Magnesium side cover with removable clutch cover and water pump and governor delete. This should be super trick.
- All races and collars in the Mg Linkage is being made out of Ti. Going to be a huge weight savings compared to stock stuff. Cant wait to get it on a scale and see how much is lost in complete linkage when I have it all back.
Thanks for reading. I'm getting a lot of stuff done on it now, so hopefully another update next week
Taylor
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Wow!
You are going all out.
I love the vapor blasting...
May be it's time to invest in one 8-)
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that linkage looks sweeeeeet!...can it be done in various colors?
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thanks guys. all out is only way i know how to go. bank account is crying right now :evil:
Foxx, if it were Aluminum could choose from tons of different colors of ano, or hardcoat could go with silver, black, grey or greenish hue.
but with Mg there are only several non-decorative coatings that hold up.
all the Dow coatings are olive drab, greenish gold color.
Kephos is only black
theres a coating that Honda uses on their HRC 4 stroke ignition covers and its an off white, i tried to track down this process and they are so commercial you cant find any way to do small one offs like mine.
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thanks Jbernard....the black still has a very awesome trick look to it!
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-Engine cases are back from vapor blasting and they look AMAZING. Like brand new.
If anyone wants them done right, and no glass or sand pitted in their metal check out this guy:
http://www.vaporblasting.biz/
Pretty cheap too. I think mine was 30$ per case half.
Thank you for this - I needed this source!
Cheers!
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No doubt about it.
I need a vapor blaster...
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i asked the guy about it, and he said it was around 20k for a vapor blasting setup. says he's not making much money off it at all. as good of a job as it does you'd think there would be more people with them, only found a few and most of them were in the UK.
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$20K??...d**n, that's a hefty price if one was to use it only on personal stuff...otherwise hopefully one would have a decent list of clientele lined up to have stuff done before-hand.
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Across the pond in the US there are much cheaper setups available especially if you need a smaller cabinet size.
I'm not looking to provide a service for others based on the prices that I have seen.
I'm looking to improve the quality of some of the products I sell.
Not to mention, I'd like it for my personal use :-D
After all if you see 20 of the same parts for sale from 20 different sellers, which do you buy from?
Cheapest?
Best warranty?
Best feedback?
Best looking?
Each category is important..
Sorry for hijacking your thread...
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This is probably the best AF conversion I've ever seen...
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^ thank you! those are very kind remarks. Hoping to have this thing start looking like an mx bike and NOT a table full of parts here within the month tops.
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HI guy!
The position is the same as the original pusher. (mechanical).
In fact you must extend the rod. I leave you an email tomorrow or during the end of week.
http://www.kxriders.com/forums/index.php?topic=3304.0
an other guy who's do that
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i have a few tricks up my sleeve here shortly. Hopefully we all know what this is a profile of
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/SideCoverProfile.png)
:evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
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You printing a clutchcover?
dutchie
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machining a complete side cover with removable clutch cover. also getting rid of the water pump and governor.
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Why no waterpump??
Dutch
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going to try to go with a micro electric one and see how much parasitic loss i can save off the crank driven one, will free up some space on the side and also can route the water flow differently so no 'dent' in pipe. problem now is i dont know how much the stocker flows (LPM wise). ive got a flow meter and going to hook it up to a data logging device on my ktm 250sx to see what a 250 pushes at idle and wide open and then adjust accordingly.
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and governor (kips) will be servo based like a CR, but will be driving a servo motor from Arduino electronics thats taking rpm from a hall effect sensor on the flywheel.
this will be able to let me adjust KIPS on the fly digitally and also plot the curve at how it opens.
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I've been thinking about Arduino my self. Have tried using it with a diesel engine.
I still have 2 Uno rev3's and a MEGA. So I'm verry intressed in that Sketch. :wink:
And if your using a Arduino, it could be an idea to make that electric pump temperature controlled.
Have you maybe some pic's of the steeringdamper on the frame? Am working on one myself.
Dutchie
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awesome. the arduino stuff is so much fun to mess with. we have a few projects using it and its got a great user base and tons of code out there. and yes, the temp sensor was on my mind as well. would be very easy to implement.
i don't have the bracket thats going to be welded onto the frame for the steering dampener done yet. I have to finish polishing my triple trees and get them anodized, press the stem in, then will mock up the trees to the frame so i can get my standoff measurement. It wont be anything to crazy, going to basically mount off the flat area on the front of the headstock where the cdi is on the 4 stroke is, then just have a tapered neck coming off for the upper stabilizer mount.
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Hi try software "ConeLayout" and "pipe designer" develop sections calculated by the second...
Thx
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Got crank back today from Crankworks. they did a nice job on it. looks almost new.
Had to add a decent amount of weight to balance. I guess they use tungsten or carbide. That crap was expensive, almost used 2oz.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Crank.JPG)
searching for rest of SKF Explorer bearings for cases then shes going back together.
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Have you decided on your port timing yet?
I saw that some work had been done to the cylinder but I didn't see what your timing was gonna end up at.
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Got crank back today from Crankworks. they did a nice job on it. looks almost new.
Had to add a decent amount of weight to balance. I guess they use tungsten or carbide. That crap was expensive, almost used 2oz.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Crank.JPG)
searching for rest of SKF Explorer bearings for cases then shes going back together.
its because of that wiseco.
what percentage did we go to??
that wossener rod is a nice looking piece.
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Have you decided on your port timing yet?
I saw that some work had been done to the cylinder but I didn't see what your timing was gonna end up at.
had to email tom on that one. but his reply:
The exhaust is 92.5 degrees BBDC
The scavenge is 62.5
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few delays but making a bit of progress.
Bunch of Ti custom parts are in the works right now
All case bearings I've found in super nice SKF Explorer versions except for one in the Left case which I'm having to go OEM.
bout to start messing with some solidworks, here's a preview:
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/SideCoverPrototype.jpg)
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Have you decided on your port timing yet?
I saw that some work had been done to the cylinder but I didn't see what your timing was gonna end up at.
had to email tom on that one. but his reply:
The exhaust is 92.5 degrees BBDC
The scavenge is 62.5
Thank you.
That should make a nice power curve :-)
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(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/skfBearings.jpg)
all Explorers! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
took a while to track those down. and it wasn't cheap
missing 1 that will have to go OEM for, unfortunately.
Whats the best clutch out there guys?
I've heard
fiber plates - OEM
metal plates - moose racing
springs - white bros HD springs
what do ya'll suggest?
thanks!
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Just wanted to say this is shaping up to be a stellar build! Amazingly clean! Can't wait to see it all come together.
Just Stunning :-o
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thanks vfr, much appreciated!
here's a quick update, and iphone picture..
putting a brembo caliper on my KX A Kit forks. will have to make an adapter bracket. but 280mm Galfer tsunami ultralight + brembo caliper should slow this thing down pretty quick.
also plan on going brembo setup in the back. i have a KTM 300SX so the braking system on the ktms is kind of ok :-D
(http://i60.tinypic.com/2d8gphv.jpg)
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I want some of that too.... :lol:
Oh, clutch basket?
I'd get a Hinson if you can find it and beat me too it :wink:
If I really needed a basket right away I would get a Pro X and see how well it works.... We all need someone to step up and be a Guinea pig
(http://netmarketing-123.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Guinea-pig.jpg)
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hey mike!
i already got a brand new hinson off ebay a couple months ago. it was like 70$ still in org packing! got lucky on that one
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Oh man.... I would have snapped that up in a second...
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had been looking every day for months on ebay! then someone hooked up up with some vf2's :evil: now i'm all set on mystery parts to find.
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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!
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/RekluseSlave.jpg)
- anodized Applied 20mm clamps with HPSD mount I made. All Ti Hardware. Pic doesnt do the colors justice, better one coming soon!
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/AnoTrees1.jpg)
- 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.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TiAnoVert.jpg)
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. :-D
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Beautiful..... :-o
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thanks.
here's a few action shots of me turning the wheel spacers.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/WheelSpacerTurning1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/WheelSpacerTurning2.jpg)
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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.
(http://i62.tinypic.com/10ynhaa.jpg)
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Have you checked if the engine went out? with the fourth carrier. after being welded.
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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...
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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.
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Had to go ride some downhill mountainbikes in Colorado so sorry for the lack of updates :-D
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.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TiClutchPushrod.jpg)
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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)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/111314_SolidworksScreenshots.jpg)
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!
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/111314_BikeState_1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/111314_BikeState_2.jpg)
stay tuned!
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I'm officially jealous... :-P
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yep...it's definitely one of the best looking AF builds on here!!
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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.
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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.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/RekluseFitment1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/RekluseFitment2.jpg)
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.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/HPSDMount.jpg)
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! :evil:
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/SwingarmTabs.jpg)
-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!
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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?
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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.
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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!
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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.
(http://i46.tinypic.com/dwt8cj.jpg)
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.
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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!
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The 09+ crf chassis bikes are 5 sided tube :wink:
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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
(http://i39.tinypic.com/jafjnc.jpg)
(http://i44.tinypic.com/20tgymr.jpg)
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.
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Great headstay design! Do you still have a headstay for sale?
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Dang that is going to be one nice bike
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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/
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/G2Throttle1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/G2Throttle2.jpg)
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/
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TamerHoleshot.jpg)
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
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TiAxles1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TiAxles2.jpg)
- 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
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TiLinkageBolts.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TiSmallParts.jpg)
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!)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TiLaserCut.jpg)
Got sick and tired of looking at that hideous yellow spring on my shock.
This looks a bit better now :-D 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.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/AKitShockSpring.jpg)
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
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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.
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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.
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no, I wasn't aware of that...thanks for sharing, that's good to know!
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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.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Inconel718Stock.jpg)
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I like that.
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wow, that's perty!...are you going to make the studs yourself, or do you have someone lined up to do them?
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thanks!
having the guys that precision ground the Ti clutch pushrod to do the grinding on these as well, then my buddy will part and thread the ends. i'm not going to make the cylinder studs waisted like the stockers are.
i'm going to TRY and broach the ends with a hex head so i dont have to double-nut install them. but that may be hard to do with the quantity i have and be to much $$$.
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I use these....http://www.vehicleservicepros.com/product/10106652/goodson-tools-and-supplies-stud-removal-and-installation-tools
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long overdue update!
have some awesome new people helping with the project, their parts finally came in, so time to give them some recognition.
Ken @ ARC Levers is an oldschool Open class rider and really appreciates my build. The composite levers they offer are amazing, highest quality pieces.
After seeing these my friend called Ken up and got a set for his '14 KTM 250SX and LOVES them. I contemplated going with the ASV levers for a while, but these are a far better product, better price, and the guys at ARC are always trying to help the riders.
Ken accidentally sent me the RC-8 mechanical clutch kit for my bike (very confusing to tell people you have a 1990 KX500 engine in a new AF KXF chassis, that uses a Brembo Hydraulic Clutch) haha!
I almost want to go back to mechanical now! The whole perch, pivot, and lever combo was INSANE! It's a work of art! Sadly sent it back but mine is just as high of quality!
http://www.arclevers.com/
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/ArcLogo.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/ArcBrake.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/ArcClutch.jpg)
One thing that's been concerning me a bit is how rigid my Yoke is, and how beefy the motor mounts are, but there's a lack of strength between the two for about 3" on the downtubes.
Thought about trying to weld on some alum strips on the inside, but that wouldn't look as nice.
So ended up modeling up some easy pieces to 'extend' down the tubes between the bottom of the yoke and the bottom of the top motor mounts. this should add a lot of aluminum thickness to this area and take my mind off of any kind of stress fractures arising.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/LowerDowntubes.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/LowerTubeBraces.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/LowerTubeBracesMilled.jpg)
Have some updated parts a friend helped me get made to share as well, just some blurry phone pics for now, but once they come in this week I'll get some better ones for everyone.
The stock D Bolt that comes with the Applied triple clamps (bolt that goes thru the bottom bar clamp and mounts it to the top triple) Is a heavy ass 3" long M10 zinc coated steel bolt.
We can do better than that can't we?
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/StockDBolt.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TiTurnedParts.jpg)
Rekluse Clutch spacer is DONE! Left a lot of stock on it for precise fit and hopefully as much chain clearance as I can get.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/RekluseClutchSpacer.jpg)
Teaser of the Mg Linkage shot. those Ti bushings are for this, then I can press in the bearings and it will be DONE finally! Eager to see how much my design weighs compared to the stock. I think it will be a lot.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/LinkageOverhead.jpg)
Inconel 718 stock for cylinder and head studs is FINALLY done being precision ground. Now comes parting and threading each piece.
This stuff is crazy hard, pretty much a nightmare to turn down, so grinding is usually the way to go on this material. Makes Titanium seem like butter, and the only thing I've cut more difficult than it was Stellite 6.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/InconelGroundStock.jpg)
Next steps:
- Weld front headstay bracket on frame
- Mill engine case to fit Rekluse Clutch Spacer
- Weld on lower yoke braces
- Assemble engine!
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Very tasty work
U should start making a few of them bits for sale,that clutch hyd spacer would be a handy sell and easy to post :-D
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Couple of update photos to show finally.
peg bracket assembly finally done.
Racetech Titanium again hooked me up with some Ti peg bolts (fat shorty M12's) and M8's. dished head, just real nice stuff as usual.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/PegBracketBolts.jpg)
Now peg assembly is done. Ti everything, Bolts, Brackets, Custom Pins, Raptor Ti Pegs. looks TRICK!
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/PegBracketComplete.jpg)
Here are the lower yoke braces I posted a picture of in the last post from Solidworks. I've held them up so you can see the fitment, I matched the width of the Yoke, and used same radius, so I can just fill that in, grind the joint down, and it will look like a longer yoke, but way more strength.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/LowerDowntubesMachined.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/LowerDowntubesFitment.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/LowerDowntubesFitment2.jpg)
Headstay front bracket weld-in piece is in, I've taped the Ti uprights and the alum spacer together to show fitment. Of course, there will be 2 M8 bolts going thru it all (holes already in alum piece)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/HeadstayBracketFitment.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/HeadstayBracketFitment2.jpg)
Rekluse Clutch spacer fits crazy tight, looks great.
I'll drill the 3 holes after it's welded to the case, I'm a bit worried about heat distortion on the threads if I do it pre-weld.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/RekluseClutchSpacerFitment.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/RekluseClutchSpacerFitment2.jpg)
Everything except bearings in the linkage is either Ti or Mg
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TiLinkageParts.jpg)
And a cometic gasket kit for upper and lower.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CometicGaskets.jpg)
Hopefully getting frame and case to machine shop and welder here within a week to get the rekluse completed as well as the frame rail braces and weld in front headstay mount
Stay tuned!
Crazy the amount of response this is getting, over 18 THOUSAND page hits!
I feel bad for not getting more accomplished sometimes but there's so much on the plate it's staggering. But I think the time and effort to be meticulous is going to pay off with a one off result in the end.
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I love this thread JBernard! It's one of the main things I always check when I come to the site. I don't mind that you don't update the build daily, because when you do update it's always something really trick. Keep up the good work, I can't wait to see the finished product!
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Hey all.
Sorry for the lack of updates. Super tied up with work, but have gotten a few things done on the KX and a few parts bought. Making some more progress this week as well.
Inconel 718 Cylinder studs and 2 sized head studs done finally.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CylinderStuds_Long.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CylinderStuds_Short.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CylinderStuds.jpg)
HPSD Mount made, still need to hardcoat anodize this piece black.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/HPSD_1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/HPSD_2.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/HPSD_3.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/HPSD_4.jpg)
Linkage all together. All Ti and Mg!
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Linkage_2.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Linkage_Knuckle.jpg)
D-Bolts for Applied trees out of Ti
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Applied_DBolts.jpg)
Still working on the brake fitment adapter for the Brembo Calipers! Getting closer
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/BremboCaliper.jpg)
TM Designworks came thru with some help on a super nice Endurance slider and roller kit for my bike.
They are super cool people and have some nice products with awesome fitment!
http://www.tmdesignworks.com/
(http://fstg.motosport.com/motographics/images/logos/tm-designworks.200x100.png)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TMDSlider.jpg)
Lightspeed carbon fiber chain block and Cycra new plastic guide.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/LightspeedChainBlock.jpg)
Got a nice new set of plastics on the bike, went with the acerbis flo-green kit off a '15 450. everything fits right up except for top bolt mount on shrouds, and the thru holes on front fender are a bit to large, the bolt pattern is fine, just have to make some collars for the M6 bolts.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/BikeState_4_24_15.jpg)
Thought about getting a PWK online and slapping it on this bike and then having to mess with dialing jetting in for who knows how long. Thought I'd continue supporting awesome companies that care about its buyers instead.
I've been in contact with Kevin at Lectron Fuel Systems about putting a Lectron on this bike. We settled on a 40mm Power Jet being the best option for me.
Check this thing out. Billet bowl, 40mm.
(http://www.lectronfuelsystems.com/graphics/images/lectron_logo.png)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/LectronCarb.jpg)
Ended up going with a PowerDynamo stator and flywheel + a reg. Didn't want to struggle with power lacking while running onboard data acquisition and the electric water pump and KIPS servo motor.
Super nice craftsmanship on this part, very impressed. I also went with the lightweight flywheel version. Will have to see if it makes the bike to much of a rocketship.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/PowerDStator.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/PowerDFlywheel.jpg)
Finally nailed down an electric water pump that should work for my application.
LOTS of searching produced this. Looks like it will hit required #'s with ease, and is made by Bosch so hopefully no failures. Also its about as light as can be for the size. 12V also, so will play nice with power system.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/BoschWaterPump.jpg)
Stay tuned for some more updates! Hopefully will have the hydraulic clutch mod done to the case tomorrow, latest this week if something comes up. Then engine off to TMR.
Thanks for checking this thread out, crazy its over 22K views. That's a lot!
Taylor
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Ended up going with a PowerDynamo stator and flywheel + a reg. Didn't want to struggle with power lacking while running onboard data acquisition and the electric water pump and KIPS servo motor.
Super nice craftsmanship on this part, very impressed. I also went with the lightweight flywheel version. Will have to see if it makes the bike to much of a rocketship.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/PowerDStator.jpg)
Wow, what a build! I am in awe and a lot jealous. :-D That stator is amazing. Thanks for showing it as it is what I have been looking for to work with my build.
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MY God wish i had pride in my work like this :-D
U will need a controler unit for that water pump?
http://www.bdkraceeng.co.uk/Electric%20Water%20Pump%201.html
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Beautiful.... Simply amazing...
I wonder what the final weigh in will be?
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This build never ceases to amaze me! Such amazing fabrication and innovation. It's like watching Chip Foose build hot rods. Only problem is that it makes my builds look like amateur hour. :-D
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Beautiful.... Simply amazing...
I wonder what the final weigh in will be?
I would guess the same as a KX 500 in stock trim. The AF frame is about 7lbs heavier and with all the gram shedding it will be pretty close to th 220-225lb I would guess. I know the flywheel is almost half the weight :wink: Looking awesome. Setting the bar pretty high for the rest of us..... d**n him.
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does the seat line up with using that body work?
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Thanks for the nice words guys. Helps me keep motivated and at this thing!
I was able to get down to use a bridgeport earlier today, chopped off the side of the case to fit the Rekluse hyd. unit.
A buddy is going to help make a little adapter so everything will be perfectly centered, then I can take it to get welded
Hopefully it will clear with a 14T sprocket. but its going to be REAL close. I'm using about the most beefy chain made, a DID ERV3, this thing looks like it's off of a forklift! So the 14T and the super wide/tall chain isn't going to help my clearance issues.
If I go down to a 13T front, its going to increase wear on my chain guides, how much I dont know though.
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does the seat line up with using that body work?
I forgot to order the airbox covers with the kit. so i dont know if the '15 airbox covers are that much different. But the rear plates and the rear fender fit up fine to the older subframe surprisingly.
The shrouds fit everything but the top mount bolt. that design is different of how it overlaps the tank. But i've got a few tricks i'll do to make that part end up working.
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Amazing build!
I've done the plastic conversion, you need a 2012 och later airbox.
It fits perfect in the 2009-2011 subframe!
The shrouds can be modified to fit OK, but it looks a bit wierd since the 2012 fuel tank is not as wide as the 2009-2011 tank.
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FEAR the footpeg! :-o...d**n Mako shark's teeth aren't even that vicious.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TMDSlider.jpg)
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That foot peg makes sharks jealous :lol:
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just about have to wrap a towel around that thing in the garage, just wants to take your calf off walking by it! haha.
heres a better picture
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/PegBracketComplete.jpg)
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just about have to wrap a towel around that thing in the garage, just wants to take your calf off walking by it! haha.
heres a better picture
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/PegBracketComplete.jpg)
That foot peg makes sharks jealous :lol:
yeah, those things just scream pure evil!....you won't have any issues with your feet sliding off those....though your boot soles will hate you :-)
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Amazing build!
I've done the plastic conversion, you need a 2012 och later airbox.
It fits perfect in the 2009-2011 subframe!
The shrouds can be modified to fit OK, but it looks a bit wierd since the 2012 fuel tank is not as wide as the 2009-2011 tank.
thank you for the info on the airbox. saves me lot of research time!
planning on building a CF tank, and i'll model the look from a CRF tank (lot of tank showing vs shroud overlapping tank). then i'll re-make the shrouds as well in CF and alter that top piece to fit in perfect to the tank.
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no turning back now on the hydraulic clutch.
able to get some bridgeport help and shaved the whole manual clutch area clean off. left about .075" on the wall thickness before it gets into the bearing.
since the clutch pushrod pressure point is on a ball bearing/diaphragm on the rekluse hydraulic side, position of the adapter inline with the pushrod needs to be pretty spot on.
buddy made this little bronze puck to center-locate my adapter for me, so I can tack weld it, then pop it out, and everything be perfectly inline, no guessing. pretty smart if i say so myself :-D
possibility of being able to get to the welder tomorrow, will see if they can fit me in.
will weld the adapter on, then shave off the top to get as much clearance as i can. The thickness needs to be only about .250" , and it's .500" now. this will also let me square it back up to make sure the welding didnt heat distort and warp the face, thus leaking oil later possibly.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/ClutchCaseMod.jpg)
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That look fairly awkard to weld especially on the rear due to the steel insert for the bearing
then again i am not a welder :lol:
It also looks like the hyd cylinder going to be very close to the chain when finished?
good luck i would love to have a proper hyd clutch on my build
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Amazing build!
I've done the plastic conversion, you need a 2012 och later airbox.
It fits perfect in the 2009-2011 subframe!
The shrouds can be modified to fit OK, but it looks a bit wierd since the 2012 fuel tank is not as wide as the 2009-2011 tank.
thank you for the info on the airbox. saves me lot of research time!
planning on building a CF tank, and i'll model the look from a CRF tank (lot of tank showing vs shroud overlapping tank). then i'll re-make the shrouds as well in CF and alter that top piece to fit in perfect to the tank.
I love how casually you say that. I'm just going to redo everything in carbon fiber, no big deal. I'd be happy to make a blob in cf, much less a tank and shrouds. :-D. Please post pics, cf really fascinates me.
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Jbernard, Is it possible to get in contact with you thru e-mail?
Regards, Jimmy
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Just click on the mail icon under his name. It will allow you to send a private message to him via e-mail.
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Well figure I'd post an update, of sorts....
Finally able to get down to my welder and we were able to get that adapter bracket welded on with not much issues.
a couple spots had some of the porosity of the cast aluminum causing issues, but not to bad.
I'll hopefully get this done within the week, all that needs to happen is chop about .100" off the adapter, drill and tap the little M6 bolts, and then get a carbide burr and smooth out the welds to make it look stock.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Clutch_Welded_1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Clutch_Welded_2.jpg)
now for the bad news. real bad.
when i mocked up the engine mounts and got them welded into place, i didnt have a long engine thru-bolt (need something like a 160mm M10, so i used 4 short M10 bolts (top and bottom shock mount bolts) to mockup with. i stuck 1 in each mount and into the engine. But of course being short it only went in the engine cases about a half an inch. really stupid for me to do this.
what i should have done was got the proper bolt to make sure there were no issues, and everything was perfectly square.
now i present to you what happens when you dont think things thru....
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Engine_Mount_Alignment.jpg)
yep, that sucks.
it didnt help that when the tubing was bent it didnt make it perfectly square. the cavitation of the tubing made it so the engine mount 'shelf' was able to not sit on the rail square. so even if its off a half of a degree, 5" down the bolt its off .100"
2 options now:
1. carefully grind off the engine mounts, reposition them and try to reweld
2. chop everything below the yoke i made out (rails and engine mounts) and re-do it correctly
going with option 2. i never liked how the tubing was cavitated from the bending process. and i should have done a radiused tubing to begin with for stress relief.
but here's the upside. will be making the rails cnc'd out of solid billet, with pocket weight reliefs on the inside(hidden, towards engine) like i did on my yoke.
by doing this i'm going to not have to worry about getting it heat treated later, and having any kind of stress fracture. it will be super strong.
oh and other great news. guy that turned the threads on my inconel 718 studs messed the thread pitch up now they are all scrap! will be re-making those as well.
1 step forward, 2 steps back. just when i started to have something that looks like a bike going.
dont worry, i'll keep motivated and it will be better than before for SURE.
taylor
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Well figure I'd post an update, of sorts....
Finally able to get down to my welder and we were able to get that adapter bracket welded on with not much issues.
a couple spots had some of the porosity of the cast aluminum causing issues, but not to bad.
I'll hopefully get this done within the week, all that needs to happen is chop about .100" off the adapter, drill and tap the little M6 bolts, and then get a carbide burr and smooth out the welds to make it look stock.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Clutch_Welded_1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Clutch_Welded_2.jpg)
now for the bad news. real bad.
when i mocked up the engine mounts and got them welded into place, i didnt have a long engine thru-bolt (need something like a 160mm M10, so i used 4 short M10 bolts (top and bottom shock mount bolts) to mockup with. i stuck 1 in each mount and into the engine. But of course being short it only went in the engine cases about a half an inch. really stupid for me to do this.
what i should have done was got the proper bolt to make sure there were no issues, and everything was perfectly square.
now i present to you what happens when you dont think things thru....
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Engine_Mount_Alignment.jpg)
yep, that sucks.
it didnt help that when the tubing was bent it didnt make it perfectly square. the cavitation of the tubing made it so the engine mount 'shelf' was able to not sit on the rail square. so even if its off a half of a degree, 5" down the bolt its off .100"
2 options now:
1. carefully grind off the engine mounts, reposition them and try to reweld
2. chop everything below the yoke i made out (rails and engine mounts) and re-do it correctly
going with option 2. i never liked how the tubing was cavitated from the bending process. and i should have done a radiused tubing to begin with for stress relief.
but here's the upside. will be making the rails cnc'd out of solid billet, with pocket weight reliefs on the inside(hidden, towards engine) like i did on my yoke.
by doing this i'm going to not have to worry about getting it heat treated later, and having any kind of stress fracture. it will be super strong.
oh and other great news. guy that turned the threads on my inconel 718 studs messed the thread pitch up now they are all scrap! will be re-making those as well.
1 step forward, 2 steps back. just when i started to have something that looks like a bike going.
dont worry, i'll keep motivated and it will be better than before for SURE.
taylor
What about align boring and using some stainless or whatever bushings. Might be easier than starting all over again?
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thought about that. but pretty much impossible to get the frame square on something like a vertical mill where i could drill thru both at the same time.
anything else like a hand drill or bore, then i dont see it being able to be more accurate by hand.
other thing is that once they had been bored out (and i'd have to bore the cases as well, kinda ghetto) that the faces that mate to the nut and bolt head wouldnt be flat. holes would be straight and the material not at a perfect 90.
no big deal. the frame was one of the first fab things i did. never was super happy, knew that it could be done better. so i'll have the chance now.
+ i didnt want to pay 350$ for heat treating either.
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Bummer. Well, it's probably for the best anyway.
+ i didnt want to pay 350$ for heat treating either.
$350... ouch! Who was that through?
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Bummer. Well, it's probably for the best anyway.
+ i didnt want to pay 350$ for heat treating either.
$350... ouch! Who was that through?
the guys that do Christini's frames up in PA. sounded super high, never shopped around after that quote.
dont know how 'true' it is but the guy said that they have a specific way the hang the frames to prevent warping/distorting. *maybe* another heat treater wouldnt take as much care with that aspect and thus cheaper? dont know.
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I had a friend of mine who does powder coating heat treat my frame. He only charged $40 as the heat treating process is fairly simple!
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I had a friend of mine who does powder coating heat treat my frame. He only charged $40 as the heat treating process is fairly simple!
if he used his powdercoat oven, thats not really heat treating, more like aging.
solution heat treatment is pretty involved process. at high temps at 1000* F
"
Solution treating is typically performed in the 450 to 575°C (842 to 1067°F) range in air, followed by rapid quenching into cold water, hot water, boiling water (-T61 temper), water-polymer (glycol) solution, water spray or forced air. Natural aging to the T4 temper will occur at ambient temperature for 2XXX, 6XXX, 2XX and 3XX alloys, with most reaching a stable temper after 96 hours. Artificial aging in the 93 to 245°C (199 to 473°F) range is utilised to meet the T6 and T7X tempers.
Immediately after quenching from solution treating, all alloys are relatively soft and can be moderately formed or straightened if performed within a couple of hours. These alloys will naturally age harden at ambient temperature, with their hardness gradually increasing with time following quenching. This can be suppressed by refrigeration below about 0°C (32°F) if it is desired to form or straighten the material more than a couple of hours after quench. Cooling to below about minus 23°C (minus 10°F) or colder is required to retain the As-Quenched (AQ) temper for prolonged storage times beyond a few days.
For maximum formability prior to solution treating and aging, these alloys must be fully annealed to produce a stable dead soft O temper by heating in the 400 to 425°C (752 to 797°F) range, then slow cooling (28°C or 50°F per hour or slower) to below 235°C (455°F), formed, then solution is treated and aged.
"
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the guys that do Christini's frames up in PA. sounded super high, never shopped around after that quote.
dont know how 'true' it is but the guy said that they have a specific way the hang the frames to prevent warping/distorting. *maybe* another heat treater wouldnt take as much care with that aspect and thus cheaper? dont know.
Thanks for the info. BTW, with the pieces you are having made, how are you avoiding the heat treating? If you weld the pieces in then wouldn't you lose the temper of the aluminum in proximity of the welds so it would still need to be heat treated?
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jBernard, thanks for all of the useful information! Are there any benefits to simply aging the aluminum?
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This is the best motorcycle build I have ever seen jbernard your work is amazing mate! Thank you everyone for all the great tips I am currently doing a 2009 kx 250f frame with a kx 500 engine this chat has helped me tremendously thank you all
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Thanks for the kind words guys.
Sorry for the massive delay. The frame/engine mount alignment issue REALLY took the wind out of my sails for a bit. Very discouraging to have something that is starting to look like a complete bike then have to go back and chop it all out. A few guys said to just take a larger drill and drill out the thru holes to compensate for the misalignment. While this would probably get me going, I dont like to do things like that and decide to chop it all out (except for the yoke) and do it BETTER than I've ever seen done.
Actually took a while to find someone local that could help me out on the cheap and had some burrs and a high hp compressor to dig out all the old frame rail pieces from the yoke and bottom part of the frame without destroying it. Finally got that done.
Then I ran into the issue of how to find out the actual angle of the bent tubing. If you can imagine. being off a couple degrees on the bend, then measuring 6" down the line and its off a LOT.
Thought about getting a cheapie digital protractor/angle finder. Would cost me 100$ and not sure if it would do the job, so ended up getting the tube 3d scanned with a Faro Arm to get the angle figured out.
Here's where i am now. Have to figure out the dimenisions for the offset piece since the width between rails at the yoke is different than the width between rails at the lower frame junction. This was another cause of this crap in the first place. if the tubes are bent and 'toe'd' in to fit the angle, then when you put a motor mount on the rail thats square, it is then OFF angle to the engine.
Here's how i'm going to solve it. have 2 piece CNC rail system. 1 solid piece from yoke to right behind the bottom mount, then an offset stubby piece that does the bend into the lower frame section. Should work perfect.
I've gotten a bit done, and fixed, and bought, so I promise an update very soon. Big things on the horizon.
And a teaser pic of a trick part i got my hands on as well....
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/PrintedRails.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/BremboSXSCaliper.jpg)
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Hey all. A few more updates from this last week of getting to work on the 500 a bit...
So I had originally bought some Applied 20mm KXF clamps for the bike before I had the A kit. When I got ahold of the AKit it came with some used PC clamps. they were pretty blasted from sand and anodizing was worn off a good bit, so I sent them to get stripped and re-ano'd. Well, turns out, there were a ton of hairline cracks in the bottom clamp. So those had to end up being scrapped unfortunately.
I had that HPSD adapter welded onto the bottom of my Applied clamps by this point, so I ended up sending them back to Applied to hopefully be able to get them bored out to A Kit hole dimensions.
They were barely able to do it (way the clamp bolts are close to the hole) but pulled it off, then sent to get anodized. Got them back and have been battling ever since with the fork fitment for some reason. Both clamps by themselves slide over the tubes fine, but when going thru the stem and both clamps, it takes some forcing to get the forks to slide thru the top clamps. Knew something was up here. Thought they may have misplaced a clamp and sent back a different offset mix-matched or something. Turns out, there was a little weld on the bottom of the lower clamp when i put the HPSD adapter on, and the guy working there at the time didnt check to make sure the clamp was flat in the mill before boring. So it added another angle to the offset basically, just enough to mess things up when you tried to put it thru the top.
Figured out the issue, Applied was awesome dealing with me, super good guys. Re-made me a lower clamp and we did a different take on the HPSD design as well, pretty trick. Bolt on design vs weld on so saved me a trip to the welder.
Now after another HPSD top bracket revision, forks fit up perfectly, new bottom clamp, and HPSD is fitting perfectly with enough free play on both ends.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/HPSD_Final.jpg)
The fork tubes are weird sizes at the flange near the dust seal. Had to have Kevin @ Tamer Holeshot Devices send me a handful of tube clamps to try and test fitment. Turns out one off an older KTM fits up pretty well. Test fitment on the stock fork guards just for kicks. I'll be making some out of carbon fiber for this project.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/TamerHoleshot_1.jpg)
Looks like my measurements on the frame rails turned out to be spot on. maybe .008" off but that is PLENTY close enough for this. You can see in the overhead shot where i put the bend in to reach out to the different width near the swingarm receptacles.
This is good to go, going to put in the weight relief recesses like I did on the Yoke on the inside of the rails, then get this thing sent off to get CNC'd. I'll have to wait till i get the frame rails welded in, before I can make the new top and bottom engine mounts though, as all 4 are different 'widths' to mate up to the engine cases perfectly.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrameRailFull_1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrameRailFull_2.jpg)
Still working on getting the front and rear brake caliper adapters modeled up, as its a pretty fair amount of work, but getting closer.
Thought that just running the brembo rear caliper and using the stock nissin rear master cylinder was a bit half assed, but the issue is the bolt pattern spacing on the two master cylinders is different.
Shaved the stock mount off the frame, measured up a new one that fits the brembo, and test printed the adapter, fits perfectly. Should be pretty easy to tack on, then not use any filler on the face, and smooth it out so it looks stock.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/BremboRearMaster_1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/BremboRearMaster_2.jpg)
Playing around with an idea for the front cable stay, rather than the ghetto looking white plastic loop that comes on the bike.
Made this up real quick, Wanted a cable stay that mimic'd the lines of the front number plate, sort of like how the KTM design is done. I got close on this initial one but it needs to standoff a bit more from the clamps. Should be an easy revision. I also put a recess on the back of the part so it snaps in tight fitment to the triple clamp bolt standoff, this keeps it from twisting.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrontCableStay_1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrontCableStay_2.jpg)
Got a few new parts in. Lightspeed CF chain guide, and Yoshimura factory edition axle blocks in matte black.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/LightspeedChainguide.jpg)
And a cool Yoshimura stem nut as well in matte black.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/YoshStemNut.jpg)
CRF Killswitch
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CRFKillswitch.jpg)
Probably my most adventurous aspect of this bike may be the subframe. Wanting to do a carbon fiber design, and use the air filter style off a KTM since its so amazing and minimal.
Got in a '14 125SX airbox, and chopped out the filter/intake/boot. Plans are to mesh this design in with the CF subframe so its 1 piece, and using a KTM rubber boot design as well.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/KTMAirbox_1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/KTMAirbox_2.jpg)
Thanks for the continued support and I'll be posting more updates as soon as I can.
Taylor
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diggin that front cable stay/guide! 8-)
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ha. thanks!
when I get to a final version i'll get it printed on a high end machine in nice plastic, will look like a off the shelf part, and in black of course and not blue!
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This build it beautiful, however what are the chances of you being able to copy the mechanical drawings of the yoke and mounts so i can send them to my friend who has a CNC machine? I can send a big thumb drive if that works. I know you have put a lot of time into the project and i would be willing to send some Cheddar with the thumb drive. Thanks for you time and this bike will decimate all!
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This build it beautiful, however what are the chances of you being able to copy the mechanical drawings of the yoke and mounts so i can send them to my friend who has a CNC machine? I can send a big thumb drive if that works. I know you have put a lot of time into the project and i would be willing to send some Cheddar with the thumb drive. Thanks for you time and this bike will decimate all!
Bloudin,
Thanks for the kind words, greatly appreciated!
In regards to the files, i'm kind of on the fence about that as you could imagine.
There's a guy on ebay selling yoke and frame kits that are already made, so letting go of those raw files where someone could pretty easily sell my design, even though its not rocket science in the slightest, would be a bit hard for me to let happen.
On the upside, I'm sending these new rail designs off shortly to get made up, and since I designed the yoke a while back, I've had a number of people ask me if I had any more made up as they would like to purchase some. I will probably make up around 5+ sets of yoke and rails available to people coming up soon. If that interest you at all. Let me know what you think.
Thanks again
Taylor
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Hey guys,
Sat down in some free time I finally had and made some revisions to all the designs of the HPSD mount, rear brembo adapter, frame rails, and yoke.
GOOD NEWS though. I've had numerous people reach out and want me to make them a Yoke, rails, or other things. And its just real hard to get one single part machined up, but I'm planning on running a set of the yokes, as well as the rail system, so people can use this method and save a lot of time hopefully! So stay tuned on that, and feel free to post in here, or shoot me a PM if its something that you'd be interested in, and I can take down your email and hit you up when things start getting close to in my hands!
Here are some revised parts.
I added a few more visual changes to the yoke, so it wasn't so 'blocky' on the front side, as well as trim off some un-needed material to give me area to get a nice weld seam to the frame to.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/YokeRevision.jpg)
I revised the rear master cylinder mount, so I could use button head bolts instead of hex head, this will alloy me to mount the adapter flush with the side of the frame (like stock) yet recess the bolt heads (not like stock) so they don't wear your boots out and wear over time which in turn makes them easy to strip.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Brembo_MC_Rear.jpg)
Revised the HPSD, added a nicer looking fillet to the top so it wasn't so blocky as well.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/HPSDRevision.jpg)
Well, I ran some diagnosis tools, and a SOLID billet rail system is slightly heaver than tubing, to say the least. Since I'm wanting to shave weight on this bike, I spent a lot of time putting in some weight relief pockets in the rail system, while still having .500" wall thickness at any given area, and having no square corners for better stress distribution. Added a little meat around the engine mount areas as well, so I didnt have to worry about welding around the pockets.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrameRail_Left.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrameRail_Left2.jpg)
Same idea on the bottom offset adapter, took out the middle relief pocket so all the weld seam would be attached to solid billet and be easier to weld.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/Frame_Adapter_Right.jpg)
Really excited to have these in the works now. Should be finalizing manufacturing here within the next day or so, and then have a week or so of downtime in getting them made, then once in hand this bike will start looking like a bike again. This time, a bit better engineered!
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Hey guys, quick update!
Got my front brake master cylinder back in from Cerakote'ing.
Looks pretty awesome! Its a nice thin finish like anodizing, so it came real close to matching the brembo clutch master.
I wish i could have afforded a real Brembo factory front brake master, but they are like 700$+ and I think brembo sxs caliper + 280mm tsunami galfer rotor is going to be WAY overkill for me in the braking department.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/BremboBrakeMaster.jpg)
and color i was trying to match:
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/BremboHydMaster.jpg)
Also dont know if I posted pictures of the tank i got to fit up with a bit of persuasion. Its a '14 KX450f tank, had to modify the tail end of it, as it didn't clear the frame spar, but will easily be able to be filled in and get a nice solid mold from this.
The Acerebis Flo Green plastic kit (12-15 kxf) fits up perfect to it and surprisingly to the stock mount point behind the radiator on the frame. Got a nice year upgrade for very little work, now it looks like a '15!
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/14KX450fTank.jpg)
Note:
I'm about to pull the trigger on getting the newly revised yoke and frame rails CNC'd. I'm contemplating getting 5 sets made as some people have spoken out they'd like a kit.
I haven't set a price in stone yet, but the only other kit out there is that CP conversion guy for the CR's only and his is 310$ just for the yoke and some crappy engine mounts. Pricing wise, mine would be considerably a better deal figuring its a CNC billet yoke AND rail system.
It would be a decent amount of cash out of pocket for me, so please let me know if you'd be interested in a kit ASAP!
Please shoot me a PM or email me at:
txfrc0 +AT+ gmail dot com (replace the +AT+ with an @)
more updates soon!
Thanks
Taylor
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lookin great, as usual! 8-)
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Hey guys, quick update!
Getting there! Some sweet looking aluminum pieces being made. In hands soon and will be shipping out to all those that responded. I have a few kits and a yoke left. Please PM me or email (in red text in last post) above.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/V2YokeRailsCNC.jpg)
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Looking good Taylor. Just a quicky mate, I've just seen the brembo brake in one of your pictures. Are there any other bikes brake components that are compatible with a 07 kxf450
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Wow!
Talk about heavy duty... Sweet 8-)
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Looking good Taylor. Just a quicky mate, I've just seen the brembo brake in one of your pictures. Are there any other bikes brake components that are compatible with a 07 kxf450
not that i'm aware of. the brake caliper adaptation is taking me a LOT of work to get fitting. its a complete new custom bracket.
honestly if youre trying to 'upgrade' your brakes then the easiest route would be say a brembo or better master cylinder and braided SS line.
even the sxs caliper that i'm using is different mount location than the stock brembo caliper.
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Wow!
Talk about heavy duty... Sweet 8-)
thanks mike!
yes they are very heavy duty! as far as I know, service honda uses solid billet rails as well vs bent tubing.
its going to add a bit more weight, but its just a better system in my opinion. perfectly square, no weak points and better fitment. also dont have to worry as much about needing heat treatment.
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Parts in and they look pretty awesome! Finish is nice and everything turned out looking good.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_Parts1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_Parts2.jpg)
Mocked up a set of rails using my existing yoke and they look pretty amazing. The machined pockets saved a lot of weight vs solid rails.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_Rails1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_Rails2.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_Rails3.jpg)
Also got a few more parts in. Final version of the HPSD bracket with correct offset made up. Got this piece lightly bead blasted so it will look production after it's hard anodized black:
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_HPSD_final.jpg)
And the brembo rear master cylinder adapter fits up great figuring the complex curve I had to find some way to measure.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_BremboRearAdapter1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_BremboRearAdapter2.jpg)
lots of welding to do next. I'll weld up the rails, then after motor is in I'll go back and do the motor mounts and front headstay mount positions.
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Amazing workmanship!
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hi,
i must say what a great conversion, ive tried to pm you, i would like to buy a frame kit if possible..
regards
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He listed his e-mail in a previous post. Here it is again, if you want to contact him directly:
Please shoot me a PM or email me at:
txfrc0 +AT+ gmail dot com (replace the +AT+ with an @)
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(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/skfBearings.jpg)
all Explorers! :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil: :evil:
took a while to track those down. and it wasn't cheap
missing 1 that will have to go OEM for, unfortunately.
What is so special about these type of bearings? Just curious.......thanks!
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High quality (no Chinese junk) and can be cheaper then OEM bearings.
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High quality (no Chinese junk) and can be cheaper then OEM bearings.
Thanks!! Is there anything better like maybe ceramic for the KX500?
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Ceramics are cool but they have longevity issues and are very expensive.
I wouldn't use them for a bike I wanted to have around a while.
OEM or Quality US, Japanese, German, or Swiss bearings is all we want to use in our builds unless there is no other option.
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Ceramics are cool but they have longevity issues and are very expensive.
I wouldn't use them for a bike I wanted to have around a while.
OEM or Quality US, Japanese, German, or Swiss bearings is all we want to use in our builds unless there is no other option.
Hrrrm..! SKF was a Swedish bearing manufacturer the last time I checked. Funny thing with the above pic, a few are made in France, then there's Argentina, Indonesia, Malaysia and Argentina. But rest assured that SKF wouldn't put its brand name on any sub standard items.
Another interesting thing about engine bearings; an OEM Koyo or NSK main bearing of the same designation as a standard off the shelf quality brand counterpart, for example a 6305-C4 oftentimes have a different number of balls. I have seen main bearings for a 2005 Suzuki RM250 with 7, 8, and 9 balls in them, from KOYO (OEM), SKF and Hot Rods (probably Chinese)
I always use OEM main bearings for peace of mind. The Japanese are extremely good at what they're doing.
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Parts in and they look pretty awesome! Finish is nice and everything turned out looking good.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_Parts1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_Parts2.jpg)
Mocked up a set of rails using my existing yoke and they look pretty amazing. The machined pockets saved a lot of weight vs solid rails.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_Rails1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_Rails2.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_Rails3.jpg)
Also got a few more parts in. Final version of the HPSD bracket with correct offset made up. Got this piece lightly bead blasted so it will look production after it's hard anodized black:
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_HPSD_final.jpg)
And the brembo rear master cylinder adapter fits up great figuring the complex curve I had to find some way to measure.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_BremboRearAdapter1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/CNC_BremboRearAdapter2.jpg)
lots of welding to do next. I'll weld up the rails, then after motor is in I'll go back and do the motor mounts and front headstay mount positions.
Please contact me about your remaining parts...... hudsonexcavating@gmail.com
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Well time for an overdue update, as usual.
We are now back on track and looking better than ever. Glad I went this route vs the bent tubing, as fab fitment was way easier and looks about 1000x nicer as well.
Still took a bit of finessing on the 'adapter' pieces that go near the swingarm pivot. It seems that somehow they aren't evenly the same distance off center, Which made the right side require a bit more work on the belt sander to get it to fit in tight. But in the scheme of things, still pretty easy.
Welds turned out looking super nice and everything looks pretty factory now, the taper I put in to transition from the yoke to the 1" rails looks fantastic and seamless.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrameWelding1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrameWelding2.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrameWelding3.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/FrameWelding4.jpg)
Also, the brembo rear master mated up great and welded in easily. I sanded down the face weld to make it look as stock as possible and it turned out looking really nice. Also glad I put in the recesses for the button head allen bolts (which will be replaced with some Ti pieces don't worry the rusty bolts are going ASAP).
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/BremboRearMaster1.jpg)
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/BremboRearMaster2.jpg)
Now she is looking like a bike again! Have the '15 plastic fitting up pretty nicely, and a '13-'15 kx250f seat to tie it all together.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/SeatRetrofit.jpg)
Got a hold of one of Chad Reeds used THINK Seatfoams so I will be using this seat base as a mold and making a carbon fiber base, then the THINK seat froam on top, with a MotoSeat cover. Should be pretty trick.
(http://transfer.fleeangrybear.com/KX500AF/ThinkSeatfoam.jpg)
Next steps are to quickly get some motor mounts measured and made up, then send the engine off to Mike 'Sandblaster' and he's going to assemble the bottom end for me. In that meantime I will be finishing up the Brembo front and rear caliper bracket design, as well as a CNC ignition cover with electronics adapter in the top, and a CNC clutch side cover with all the water pump and kips removed.
Stay tuned!
Taylor
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GUTS makes carbon fiber seat pan.
So u know :wink:
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GUTS makes carbon fiber seat pan.
So u know :wink:
Yes, and if you use the code "pulpmx2016" you'll get 30% off your order at guts. :-D
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and Ti seat brackets
https://www.gutsracing.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=665-TB
(https://cdn3.volusion.com/twbgf.rqvmt/v/vspfiles/photos/665-TB-2.jpg)
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I just realized it's been a year since we've had an update from jbernard on his bike build. The suspense is killing me. Has anyone heard from him?
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I wonder if this project was ever completed? Sometimes life gets in the way :-D
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He was on the site a few weeks ago, so I know he is still around. I would love to see where he is with the bike these days; he does some really nice work.