Topic: What did you do to your bike today ?

[fire113]

...I think ~20.000 miles, never saw a plug like this before too 

[evanphi]

Installed this aluminum flyscreen and went for a ride. Believe it or not, that little thing makes a difference, a little difference, but still...

Did you  make that yourself?

[Doobie]

Installed this aluminum flyscreen and went for a ride. Believe it or not, that little thing makes a difference, a little difference, but still...

Did you  make that yourself?

Naw, bought it. https://www.omegaracer.com/parts_store/prod_5788933-Universal-aluminium-Headlight-Shield.html#sthash.LUZ85bMG.dpbs. Easy to make though if you have the tools.

[Tintop]

Naw, bought it. https://www.omegaracer.com/parts_store/prod_5788933-Universal-aluminium-Headlight-Shield.html#sthash.LUZ85bMG.dpbs. Easy to make though if you have the tools.

nice find!

[spotty]

i had a cop chuck a serious fit at me one day when he saw my alloy screen, he asked me if i wanted to slice myself in half when i fell off which was apparently inevitable given the way i was riding ( he'd just pulled me for speeding and getting airborne over some train lines )
i was just happy he didn't look on the back side of the screen and see it was a stop sign i'd stolen and cut up, that would have really pissed him off

[ekpent]

i had a cop chuck a serious fit at me one day when he saw my alloy screen, he asked me if i wanted to slice myself in half when i fell off which was apparently inevitable given the way i was riding ( he'd just pulled me for speeding and getting airborne over some train lines )
i was just happy he didn't look on the back side of the screen and see it was a stop sign i'd stolen and cut up, that would have really pissed him off

Ha ha- that's funny using a road sign and a cop stopping you. I see the link provided for the screen from the company selling it had a plastic edging wrap in the picture,maybe as a safety function somewhat.

[spotty]

yeah mine had a plastic edging, the alloy sheet bit was a straight copy of a gs125s screen off the stock mini fairing so i used the edging that came off it, the officer still seemed to think it would kill me to death and was not amused when i pointed out the barndoor like screen on his Bavarian Murder Weapon would shatter and form body piercing spikes should he be unfortunate enough to come a cropper

i ended up getting a ticket for 85kmh in a 60 zone with the usual points

i couldn't work out in the end if he was more pissed off because my ratty old honda out accelerated his BMW or the fact that the huge steaming pile of #$%* couldn't get air over the train lines

he did tell me that if he ever saw the screen again he'd have the bike impounded as a danger to the public and as i lived round the corner from his base depot i thought it best to change back to a normal headlight. no fun some of these people

[MD]

Rebuilt the oil pump.  The hard part was getting the screws out of the cover.  One broke free with the impact driver.  The other two required drilling and using an extractor. 

-MD

[DHuffman]

I 3D printed a shroud to cover the wires under my Vapor speedo!

[ekpent]

 Looks nice. I still haven't got my whole dinosaur head wrapped around this whole 3-d printing thing and as you can tell not very tech savvy. Need to get mobile phone someday that doesn't flip to open 

[DHuffman]

Looks nice. I still haven't got my whole dinosaur head wrapped around this whole 3-d printing thing and as you can tell not very tech savvy. Need to get mobile phone someday that doesn't flip to open 

Thanks! I can't blame you there. Technology is nice, but I think there's a lot of good reasons to not get sucked in.

[wolf550]

with Cali's recycling bankrupt
I needed something to do with all my beer cans piling up
viola! beer can side cover

[spotty]

seriously clever. well done

[DHuffman]

with Cali's recycling bankrupt
I needed something to do with all my beer cans piling up
viola! beer can side cover

Do you think that not stripping the paint adds any contaminants that could cause the cast to be weak in some places?

[RAFster122s]

with Cali's recycling bankrupt
I needed something to do with all my beer cans piling up
viola! beer can side cover

Do you think that not stripping the paint adds any contaminants that could cause the cast to be weak in some places?

The paint will burn off and the can liner material will as well when you melt the aluminum and the impurities form a dross you ladle off before pouring. A bit or borax will melt any oxides in the molten aluminum prior to pouring.
A cover like the points cover is not a part that carries any kind of load which would cause any weakness that might be in the casting to be exploited.

[DHuffman]

with Cali's recycling bankrupt
I needed something to do with all my beer cans piling up
viola! beer can side cover

Do you think that not stripping the paint adds any contaminants that could cause the cast to be weak in some places?

The paint will burn off and the can liner material will as well when you melt the aluminum and the impurities form a dross you ladle off before pouring. A bit or borax will melt any oxides in the molten aluminum prior to pouring.
A cover like the points cover is not a part that carries any kind of load which would cause any weakness that might be in the casting to be exploited.

well said, I was just curious for if you were to cast structural parts. Nice work!

I'll send you some 3D printed parts to cast for me, ok?

[ekpent]

 How many cans do you think it took to cast that nice piece ? Very clever indeed.

[wolf550]

The Box of had 90 crushed cans in it but I had 2 boxes.
It isn't that much aluminum in the piece itself, I think it weighs 7 or 8 oz
but the spruce and gates for the gasses to escape it took the whole 2kg crucible
I need to get a larger setup for the points cover
but right now im practicing with
finned Stator cover
finned Starter cover
and side CB500/CB550 air box side cover emblems  that will use screws like the gas tank emblems

[WhyNot2]

with Cali's recycling bankrupt
I needed something to do with all my beer cans piling up
viola! beer can side cover

This is a neat idea.

Did you make the mold and stuff yourself?

Or, is there a kit of some sort you can purchase?

Thanks for any info on this.

[wolf550]

no kit just the "make your own aluminum furnace" off Youtube. supplies bought at Home Depot
the Petrobond sand from Ebay
a few trial and errors with making the moulds to make sure the aluminum fills all the way

saw on youtube under (black bear projects) "make special parts for your motorcycle" and it looked easy enough

[RAFster122s]

Nice thing about casting your own is if the cast piece does not turn out, you can then break it up into smaller pieces and melt it down again to have another shot at the casting.  It is a dangerous hobby, but can be done safely if you take proper precautions and observe safe practices.
Too much moisture/water in the sand can cause the metal to splatter/splash/explode as the water vaporizes...that is the most common danger other than the obvious of metal at over 1200F.
(Water, liquid in the cans could cause issues as well...)
David

[Gene]

with Cali's recycling bankrupt
I needed something to do with all my beer cans piling up
viola! beer can side cover

That's so cool.

[wolf550]

practice makes perfect

[Honda3]

Changed the signal switch, cleaned up the mess that was in the headlight, then enjoyed our near 90 degree day in NYC:

[WhyNot2]

no kit just the "make your own aluminum furnace" off Youtube. supplies bought at Home Depot
the Petrobond sand from Ebay
a few trial and errors with making the moulds to make sure the aluminum fills all the way

saw on youtube under (black bear projects) "make special parts for your motorcycle" and it looked easy enough

Thanks for the info.........did look it up, seems easy enough.

I used to work in a foundry, quality control.