Ordered me a set of these BRM raw materials today...for making my own racks too. What a great option! Well, better than starting from scratch. I went with the DOM (Drawn Over Mandrel or cold rolled steel for all you Yankees). Cause I have a little Mig welder but not a Tig. Someday when I'm all grown up....maybe I'll have a Tig....and Plasma Cutter....and Lathe....and HPV Gun....and..... I've never tried to Tig. Don't know how. I don't really know how to Mig either.....just do it anyway. FINALLY broke down and bought a Hobart 140 Handler this year. My welds don't look great. Heck, they don't even look good. BUT I'm having a freaking blast with that thingy. Got stuff welded to stuff that shouldn't even be welded....just because. IF you ever wanted one, do it! Go get one. You can't imagine what all you will use it for until you have it on hand. The Hobart cost about $450 at my local Atwoods Farm Supply. Works good enough for me. Well, until my bags fall off....on the highway....at high rate of speed. Could happen HF Can't wait to get started. Thanks for the inspiration from Colorado! Now then, Ken give us more detail on that bushing thru the fender part. Did you post all the itty bitty details on that? I've slept since then...and I'm old....and....
For this part of the project, I would have to tear down the road, put the bike into an uncontrolled skid, crash, see what tears off the bike, and design protection around that...oh wait, HARDER1 already did that for us!
Fab, now you're cookin'. On that top mount to the frame socket/engine bolt, I was thinking that a plug turned to just flush up to the frame plus a tiny bit would make a good surface to mount a flat plate connected to the guard tube. That way there is minimum projection to get in the way of your knee when sitting. Man, I wish I had some more time up in Colorado! This summer..... HighFive, here's what I can tell you. The steel bosses that we turned to go into the top rack socket are 1 3/4" overall length. The ends are just slightly chamfered to get rid of the sharp edges. The turned down part is 15/16" long, 16mm diameter. Drill for the mounting bolt which I think is 8mm. The tube from the socket to the hoop is centered 12.5cm from the tangent to the front of the hoop. That's to the outside edge of the hoop, not the centerline. We set the top of the hoop 5" below the seat, just like BRM does on his. This allows the bags to expand upward when you want to overfill them, or need to. The 90 degree top tube mounts are square with the hoop. I set my hoops 1 1/2" from the face of the mufflers, and square with the vertical. Used a framing square set just behind the bosses and resting on the tail rack to get this right. I think the hoops could be 1/2" closer if you wanted to do that. A 2x4 was handy so that's what we used. Nice clearance for heat and getting the bag attachments on and off, and also gives some clearance if something is tweaked in a fall. Once the 90 degree hangers are on, you also have the option to pivot them so that they are parallel with the bike, or aligned with the mufflers, like I did. The rear cross bar is the standard bar for the Husky TE630, so I didn't have to make one. I did have to set the hoop mounting tabs (square tabs of 1/4" bar) in toward the inside of the hoops instead of on the hoop centerline to make the hoop work, but it was easy with a slight bevel on the tabs that were welded on. That made everything line up nicely. Make your own rear cross bar and you can do it any way you want. It's pretty solid once bolted on. I really got lucky, I think, with the way it fit up right against the inside of the fender. The front mounting bracket is cut from 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 x 3/16 steel angle. I notched out the top front to clear the rise on the top foot peg mounting tube which lets the angle rest nicely on the top peg tube. I also trimmed the top of the angle so that it would not overhang the top peg tube. Then, I bent the lower front corner of the angle to let it sit flush with the stock threaded boss. I just put it in a vice and hit it a few times with a large ball peen hammer. Easy, and not much bend is needed. The steel angle is pretty soft compared to the chromoly tube. I used a second 8mm bolt thru the peg mount tubes with a fender washer and a second regular washer on the back side, and it tightens up really solid. Don't apologize for MIG. That's the way Berg does it. Fab's TIG skills let us go the extra mile and I can't imagine any of those welds ever letting go. Heck, to break a tack weld you have to grind it all the way thru! The tubing notch jig that Fab has really sped thing up, but it could be done by hand with a grinder and a rat tail file. Some time will be spend though. And some elbow grease. We used quite a bit of time trying to get the notches right and had to hand file some when tubes met at an angle. Mig will let you fill in any gaps much easier than with TIG. Any other questions, just ask away! Post up when you are done and give us some feedback! Oh yeah, I'm old too, and.........
Trying to make what is lying around work, hardly ever works for me. I'm going to do this right and ordered a 1" die and 1" tubing. Protecting the bike from a crash in the middle of nowhere is top priority. Now I can focus on what bends I need to make instead of what materials I have left and how to make them work.
Super Thanks, Ken! Great info. That will be very helpful. I figured the Mig would burn thru the Chromemoly (being too thin), so I went with the 1/16 DROM. Would have loved the lighter weight, though. Wonder what the weight difference is between them? HF Edit....I just realized the BRM website doesn't specify what material the hoop is made from. Is it DROM or Chromemoly? Uh - oh....
The hoops look like Chromoly to me, and the butt joint by Berg is TIG'd, but Fab welded a few places with MIG with no problems. Maybe he could speak up on this as he did all the welding. Well, I did TIG my first side stand attempt, but when it felt like a boat anchor I tossed it and just got rid of all that steel on the end. I am going to buy both MIG and TIG welders when and if I get a better shop put together. The TIG arc is pretty small and I initially had a difficult time seeing the joint line to be welded. After getting some reading glasses to wear under the helmet things got better. Good looking TIG not so easy to start with; takes practice!
HighFive, The tubing in the hoops is a .083 wall DOM. If it were chromoly, they would brag about it, but it just says steel tubing. Here is the link for proof where I originally saw it at the very bottom of the page. http://brmoto.com/racks/diy-side-rack-parts/br-moto-gen-2-loop-37-50-each.html It welds almost exactly the same, so no worries. I am finding that very little chromoly is used in the motorcycle world. DOM seems to be the norm, which is fine. I looked up your little Hobart welder and it will be perfect. It comes with .030 wire and you can try it. Just practice on some tubing pieces before you go to town on your rack. Something that may help is getting a .023 solid wire spool and electrode tips for your Hobart. You will also have to see if the feeder rollers will even push .023. You may need to change them too. The liner should not have to be changed. Do NOT use flux core wire of any kind. The strength just isn't there and like you said you dont want your bags to fall off....on the highway....at a high rate of speed! That entire post is just great.. You are going to be extremely satisfied after this project.
Thanks F1. Appreciate the advise. I've got some .025 wire I planned to use....and some tips. Still gotta get a smaller roller groove. I failed to scroll to the bottom of page and see that....figures. Shot Berg an email and he got right back to me. Said he uses hydraulic tubing (steel) for those hoops and confirmed the DOM will weld perfectly with a Mig. Now....I'm really excited. I get to build something else (again). Once I have tubing in hand, just no telling what else my wild eyes will scheme up. HF
Ken, what is the OD of your homemade steel boss on top half? Just curious If it's 3/4" or even larger? HF
HF, you mean you aren't a mind reader? We turned them from 3/4" solid round bar, same diameter as the tube.
I thought I would upload some pics of my finished racks as I noticed that I have not yet done so. Sorry for the fuzzy shots, but you get the idea. Maybe some help for anyone following suit. HF, we expect to see the sparks flying soon!
Risers in the rough. Still need to clean up the nicks, scratches and edges and get some paint on them. I need the correct hardware too. I was going to trim some fat off of them, but I am liking the raw look.
My wife took these shots while Ken was here and I just noticed them on the camera roll. I thought they were kinda cool and thought I would share.
Fab, how much extra rise did you put in with your new bar mounts? Looks like you changed out that motor for the mill, or else the old one had plenty of life left. Nice and warm here today; where ever I went, it was on the Terra. Tucson tomorrow. Wish I was taking the bike!
Tucson would be a great run on the Terra for you. Too bad it's staying at home! I have no doubt you will have another chance. I would love to get back down to AZ sometime this year. The saguaros are calling me! The risers are +1". I ran the old motor on the mill for half of the project, then it crapped out. Swapping the motor was a bigger chore than I expected, but it's done and working great!
