Beeeeautiful work, Fab1. Not sure where those front tubes are heading.....never seen a complete wrap around the front, so I don't think that's your plan. But it's like a suspense thriller. Got me on the edge of my seat! HF (popcorn eating image...)
Thanks for the complements guys! It really does make these projects a lot funner and let's me know I am not wasting my time with these posts. It's very much appreciated! Don't spit out your popcorn guys, and I hate to end the suspense this way, but those front bars are not going anywhere or doing anything accept adding a full wrap to protect the front of the plastic. They will be capped off with rounded..ish aluminum inserts. I know they will look a little unfinished, but they will serve there purpose well. The cross bar I spoke of will cross about 2 inches above the valve cover and almost against the top of the frame. If you look under there, there is plenty of room for smaller diameter tubing and it should not interfere with anything. The crossbar will complete and solidify the assembly and take a lot of stress off the motor bolts in the event of a fall, or shall I say, the inevitable event of several falls. Ken, I took a good look at your lighting idea. I like it, but I had already made up my mind to mount them like BigDogs. I like the idea of having them higher and well protected. This location also flows well with my wind screen and will look....BAD A$$!
Dude....I like the looks of your bars soooooo much better that SW's! They just compliment the bike so much better! Do us all a favor and build a jig and find someone to mass produce those things....PLEASE
Fabio....do tell, what will this fine art weigh all together? Is that CM? Maybe I missed it earlier. HF
I think about 10 to 12 lbs.. Dunno, but I will let you know when it is all said and done. I made it out of DOM (A513-type 5). The difference is amazing between DOM and chromoly. DOM is very easy to work. Even though it is softer, it still remains rigid and strong. It is also a lot easier to nick and scrape. I learned to use aluminum jaws in the vise real quick. CM remains my tubing of choice, I just dont like paying for it, especially when I know waste is going to be involved. I could have decreased the wall thickness from .065 to .058 and saved some weight and had the same or more strength had I of used CM. It is clear to me now why so many manufacturers use DOM. Cost, ease of use, and definitely strong enough for motorcycle use. The weight difference is trivial for the Terra. We are not building race bikes and in the end would maybe save 1 or 2 lbs.. Just removing the weighted bar ends make up the difference. HF, I know that was more than you asked for, but I want to pass what I am learning along the way to everyone. Pardon....but Fabio's limo has just arrived and must go now....ta ta!
7.23 lbs! Still need to finish the inside welds and add the crossbar. The whole enchilada should be 8 lbs.. I am very surprised.
'Really nice eye for design Fab; can't wait to see the final results. Nice work! Meanwhile, the rest of us are still waiting on the SWM bars.
I'm enjoying seeing what you guys have done with your Terras. I just got mine on the 17th of Feb and have already been tearing up the trails and roads with mine (1100 miles already). I took some different approaches than you guys with the pannier racks. And pretty much everything else too: I ordered the Nelson Riggs 'waterproof' bags and hung them on the bike Unfortunately they rubbed the exhaust pretty bad so I got down to fabbing up the racks. I also cut the tail off too (that may have been alcohol related). Started framing up the racks... I decided that since my wife wouldn't drive me to the metal supply store @ 2am and I was in no shape for driving myself, I used solid square tubing. Its not much heavier than regular tubing, but I bet it will handle impact just fine. A few beers later an we arrive at this: Anyone recognize that chunk of metal on the left? Why yes, it is the old license plate mount.
Here are the mounts I made for the top. I thought that making something to mount on top of the plastic rack would be too high and in the way so I opted for something more low profile: Here is a mock up of what I did: The rack also mounts to the leftside muffler mount to offer more stability. You could lift the bike at any point with this rack and not worry about it moving/breaking.
Back to that great-looking fairing. I don't have a Terra yet, but will have to have one of these fairings when I do.
Times 1! Hmmm...red would look kind of sweet....but I'd hate to ruin my all black theme.....red would look sweet....but the black is so cool....red would be cool...I thought you were keeping it all black?....but the oil cap is red, what's wrong with a little more red. Sorry, I was thinking out loud there. RuggedExposure, way to go on the racks! I would say you are TF #6! Nice save on the tail section...it turned out super clean! I never made it back to watch your videos of the drama on that first ride. I will check em out tonight. Ken, how did you like the movie? Did you make up your mind for tires in DV?
Mounted my Rotopax 1gal today: I'll let you guys know how the plastic rack holds up with it mounted on there. I may be fabbing up a new rack if it fatigues.
Good stuff folks, I now estimate that my welding sucks 10% less than before. The .024 wire is definitely easier than the old .030 on this lighter stock. The reading glasses under the helmet, a life changing breakthrough. Can't imagine why it never occurred to me to do that. I cant see for squat without them dunno why I thought the helmet would magically make me 20 20 . My racks are painted and are just waiting for brown santa to get here with my bags. High Five had me a bit worried about the lower mounts but they don't look near as scary mounted on the bike. Say, RE, is that sketchup you used to draw your mounts?
Try switching out the lens on your welding helmet to a magnified set, those can help everyone. Yep, Google Sketchup8. A lot cheaper than Pro-E Wildfire that I learned on 10 years ago...
That plastic rack is really PITA to me. I'm trying to fit my old rack to support alu central box and I'm scatching my head heavily as it seems too weak to support that... Even so I thought about selling my alu box and getting plastic one. Still with laptop and some other stuff inside it would be heavy.
I"ve camped off my Terra quite a bit------and had an expedition small duffel on the rear rack full of all my camping gear------tent, sleeping bag, cooking stuff, food, small chair, snacks, odds and ends for camping and it held it fine. I haven't heard of one of the racks breaking yet----but I guess it could happen with enough weight.
