Thumper Club Forum
Technical => Project Progress => Topic started by: guest7 on January 18, 2012, 05:50:36 PM
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Well... it's a start:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7019/6719245143_2c5f26903a_z.jpg)
F reg XBR500SJ, originally bought as a birthday present for my first wife:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7142/6721045869_895651785c.jpg)
And ended up looking like this:
(http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7159/6721059135_44a7365b43.jpg)
Needs some love now though ;)
GC
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Needs some love now though ;)
GC
[/quote]
:o It's a bit beyond love now!....there's only one man who can resuscitate that!
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Go on, rub it in ;)
GC
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Looks like i have some catching up to do :-[
Ian
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What?! You haven't reached the rusty frame on the bench stage? ;) This bike hasn't rolled a wheel for nearly ten years. Most of the original bodywork is gone or repainted in black. I noticed tonight that the starter motor is missing and I have no idea why ???
Luckily I have shelves of XBR bits so that's not the worry.
GC
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Have fun with the rebuild, its nice to have a project on the go. I want to have mine finished by April.
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I want mine finished before April :-\ ::)
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I would like to start before April! ::)
Bill.
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Hi, are you going to to do a write up and progress thread with pics, i to am almost about to start my rebuild on my xbr500 h, im sure if you do a progress thread you will give myself and others a valuable insight into this with your previous experience and knowledge of this bike, heres hoping, Jeffa
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I suspect TCers throughout the land (and further afield) are chuckling at this suggestion, given the glacial pace of previous projects of mine (with the curious exception of two builds for the Elefant rally, both of which saw bikes built from scratch in less than two weeks).
Current state of play is deciding whether to make it a chair bike or a solo. Probably going to be my chair bike. In which case I already have:
Two 16" reverse comstars (front wheel and sidecar wheel)
One 15" alloy rear wheel that accepts car tyres
Set of leading link forks
Velorex '562' sidecar and refurbished chassis.
Other thoughts include making it kick-start only and re-fitting the powerbronze fairing that I bought new in 1988.
GC
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Hi,
I am brand new to this forum.
I am thinking of building a special with an XBR500 engine in a slimline featherbed frame. I see from the pics in Gallery 1 that a Don Simpson has done this using a wideline featherbed. I would like advice from Don or anyone else who has experience or knowledge of a similar build.
matthurl
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That Featherbed (Ex-Owen Greenwood ffs!) was shortened by (I think) nearly 4" to make the engine fit and look right. He cut sections out the frame tubes to shorten the loop around the engine.
The Honda RFVC motor is derived from Honda's off-road bikes and as such is a very compact single cylinder lump. The original separate engine and gearbox combination that was fitted into a Featherbed frame is much longer, especially the distance between the cylinders vertical centre line and the gearbox sprocket. So, fit the Honda engine with the cylinder (and weight distribution) about right and the gearbox sprocket will be miles away from the ideal spot.
A better choice (if not for performance) is the Suzuki Savage lump, a company in the States was a making Savage-engined Featherbeds and they looked pretty good. The engine did seem to fill the gap better. I suspect that weight distribution was pants though.
GC
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A better choice (if not for performance) is the Suzuki Savage lump, a company in the States was a making Savage-engined Featherbeds and they looked pretty good. GC
Have a look for Project Manki on the RealClassic forum,a bloke is building a Savage engined Featherbed project on there.
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Thanks all for your prompt responses - much appreciated, will investigate your suggestions.
matthurl
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Nice idea there Matt, but you do realise that the Norton Owners Club have very specific punishments for those found guilty of cutting a featherbed frame, it's in their constitution...I quote:-
" He who shall be found guilty of the most greivious crime of taking a saw unto the featherbed frame shall be taken to the place of execution upon an hurdle or sled, where they are hanged till they be half dead, and then taken down, and quartered alive; after that, their members and bowels are cut from their bodies, and thrown into a fire, provided near hand and within their own sight, even for the same purpose."
And then they'll never speak to you again!..they get a bit touchy about that sort of thing!
;D ;D
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Nice idea there Matt, but you do realise that the Norton Owners Club have very specific punishments for those found guilty of cutting a featherbed frame, it's in their constitution...I quote:-
" He who shall be found guilty of the most greivious crime of taking a saw unto the featherbed frame shall be taken to the place of execution upon an hurdle or sled, where they are hanged till they be half dead, and then taken down, and quartered alive; after that, their members and bowels are cut from their bodies, and thrown into a fire, provided near hand and within their own sight, even for the same purpose."
And then they'll never speak to you again!..they get a bit touchy about that sort of thing!
That's just for cutting the frame up.............
What about the heinous crime of stuffing a rice burner motor into a noble British frame.....................
He'll be carted off to the boot room by the prefects, that's for sure....
Rob.
;D ;D
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Tonight's job is to check all the threads on the frame, tap out any that are corroded and note any that require further attention.
I may also assemble a full set of bodywork, with the exception of the tank which is currently at RobG's place (so needs picking up).
I've got a better wiring harness than the one fitted so I will strip off the old one.
GC
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Again, thanks for all the advice (and warnings). I still have the notion of using the XBR engine in my Featherbed (even if I swing for it). Does anyone know (on an XBR engine):
(1) Offset distance from engine centreline of gearbox output sprocket (measured to outside face of sprocket)?
(2) Overall height of engine?
This info will help me decide whether to attempt the project or not.
Matthurl
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I'll have your measurements by the end of the day.
GC
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Thanks a lot - very much appreciated
Matt
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Sorry, I got caught up with clearing out my work garage. I will do the measurements tomorrow morning.
GC
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Sorry, everything got put on hold whilst I did my tax return. I did get out and clean out all the threads the other day though. Some were pretty corroded, but my trusty Lidl tap and die set earned its £8 purchase fee once again ;)
GC
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Aahh - sure we all must pay our proper taxes, hope that the only fiddling you do is with bike engines!
Could really do with those measurements. When you get a chance, please suss them out. Your help is much appreciated.
Matt
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Please help, I urgently need these XBR measurements. Looked at a bike I might buy today but was unable to deal one way or the other without knowing if the motor wll fit into my frame.
I need:
(1) Offset distance from frame centreline to gearbox output sprocket (measured to the outside face of the sprocket)? Originally I had asked for the distance from the engine centreline but I have since been informed that on many Honda engines the vertical split between the crankcases is not necessarily the centreline of the engine.
This should (I imagine - if the rear wheel runs central in the swing arm and the swingarm is central in the frame) be the same measurement as the distance from the centre of the rear wheel to the outside face of the rear sprocket.
(2) Overall height of engine?
This info will help me decide whether to attempt the project or not.
Matthurl
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Please note that some bikes use a dished rear wheel – the rim is closer to one side than to the other side. The swingarm is then skewed to put the wheel in the bike's centreline.
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Sorry for my absence from the forum and my failure to post the measurements. Just been busy.
I got the frame nicely stripped down and the engine out with no grief. In the meantime my brother Gareth announced that he'd bought me a sidecar outfit which needs a fair amount of work. I think I will box up this bike until the sidecar is finished... although some bits of it may end up in the sidecar bike for now.
GC