"Jack Off"
Well after a draught of another week or so I got a Saturday
evening to work on this
brain storm project. I went in the garage about 7 Saturday night and went in the
house Sunday at 8a.m.
I was determined to get the new swing arm modified and mounted, jack out from
underneath it,
and have the
bike sitting on the new suspension before I quit.
So according to my buddy Joe at work, I need to weld in my
support before cutting the cross-member.
I have some 1/4" angle laying around rusty so I cut a chunk off of it and
grind the rust and junk off. I then
trim it to fit in the swing arm as shown in the next few figures.
Notice this time I am welding this thin swing arm up with the
axle and tire in place. Lets
not forget that pesky spacer I could not get back into the old set up.
I grind all the edges around my angle and spot weld allowing
it to cool before I get back
around to the starting point.
I then notch out the center for the shock and run some more
welds. Here is the new sleeved
shock mount getting ready to go in for fitment.
At one point I removed the axle and wheel AND spacer to get a
good weld in front of the tire...
Crap. The spacer wont fit back in!! I make a slit on the outside of that side
with the plazma cutter
and weld it back up...voila! Plenty of room for the spacer to go back in.
Now to strengthen the length of the swing arm, I must top it
with more box tubing...
here is what I had laying around. I cut a piece for each side and clean them up.
Making long cuts at an angle provides more surface area for teh 1/4 plate I use
to close them up...
These must be tack welded in place as well. Here is one side
done and hit with a quick
coat of gloss black. Most of this will be under the new fender when done.
Here is the drive side. Next I have to weld a piece in place
that goes to the new boxed
tube and bolts where the stock shock location is on the cast aluminum housing so
I do not
cause undo stress to this bolted on junction. Joe says this is where my failure
point is.
Following that, a piece will go under the shaft housing and bolt onto the axle
under the axle nut
to triangulate this whole mess and spare me a failure. Thanks again Joe!
For now I continue getting this thing back on its own two feet....ummm tires...
Below is a shot of the upper shock mount. I welded in a piece
of 5/16" wall DOM
between the frame under the seat. I used two 1/4" tabs on each side of the
shock
and tacked them into place, checked the ride height, cut them off and welded
them
in another place. This continued until I got them almost in line with the shock.
I like
this arrangement as there will be no twisting on the tabs or crossmember.
Here you can get an idea of the whole layout..see the gold
canister on the right?
That is the valve adjustment for the shock. I will bolt it to a tab to be welded
onto the frame later.
Here is is sitting on its own tread. It sits about 6"
higher than it did on the side stand.
Stand it up and it drops 3". Sit on it it drops back to where I usually
ride. The shock is WAY
too bouncy though. I do not think the dampener is working. I have already
ordered
another shock and may try a different mount, making the shock horizontal
as
originally planned, and also using a three point pivot bracket.
I pulled the stock seat out of the attic and placed the rear
fender in place, put a bunch of the
chrome covers back on to see what it is looking like. Almost looks like a bike
that would have
come this way! The seat sits too high, but the custom one will have a nice dip
to it. I am
thinking fringe and a removable back seat.
Once the new shock comes in I will play with that setup,
reinstall the battery box,
and then be ready to mount the fender that started this whole thing! Until then
I have decided the taillights will be some 1959 Cadillac lights. I have 4 of
them
to mount onto the fender. I still need to decide on a license plate and
taillight
solution. I may utilize the upper set of these lights as running/brake/blinkers,
and use
the bottom two for running and brakes....
Heres my new brake pedal cover and all four pegs will match.
Installing those tomorrow (5/7)
so I can ship my stock pegs off to Matthew in Iowa.
Stayed tuned...more to come!
Gonzo
02' Shadow Spirit "Vicious Cycle"