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Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:03 pm
by russelllowe
Hi Guys,

Well, it works ... but put up a bit of a fight! Would have been easier if I actually knew how hydraulics worked.

The first thing I tried was simply welding on a "fitting" to the end nut that holds the reservoir on as well as guiding the end of the ram. It wasn't very nice steel to weld, but I got it by using a lot of heat and jambing the welding rod in there as fast as I could:

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And all plumbed in;

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But that didn't work, I could hear it leaking internally ... I welded up a hole that seemed designed to lube the top end of the shaft from the low pressure reservoir, which didn't help so I tried some plumbers thread tape and then some insulation tape where I figured it was squeezing through the threads:

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Nope, it built some pressure which quickly dissipated. Then it occured to me I could put the ram back in to seal the high pressure cylinder but drill a hole right through the center and tap it to M10x1.25 to suite the banjo bolt ... no going back now!:

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And after making and annealing some aluminium washers it's all sealed up and works pretty well (copper ones leaked even after annealing them). I've left the ram floating which actually helps to bleed the system ... which would be a real pain otherwise ... it just jams when it reaches its internal limit:

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7 to 10 pumps and it fully releases the clutch ... which takes a bit less than 5 seconds. In the reverse direction it's pretty quick to engage, which might be too aggressive off the line ... so I'll keep all the existing mounts in place just in case I have to go back to the foot operated setup.

Next up is creating a new lever for the top that works with a normal cable operated clutch lever/cable and then a wee lever for the release. If that all works I'll mount this part up the front somewhere, and depending where that is I might weld on a -3AN fitting to replace this banjo setup.

Any thoughts/feedback much appreciated.

Cheers!

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 2:05 pm
by Y.B.
G' Day Russell,

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 2:29 pm
by Y.B.
Take 2 , G'Day Russell, you certainly have a unique situation going on there , but nothing you can't handle ! My only concern is that dash 3 fittings,(3/16 ths. hard line diam.) are normally used for brake applications, whilst clutch actuation uses dash 4, ( 4/16 ths. hard line diam. ) The hydraulic motion in brake application is one of sustained pressure, whilst the clutch is operated by the transfer of a far greater volume of fluid. Both systems can be fine tuned by different cylinder sizes, but the clutch will require more fluid relative to the two different applications.

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Mon Apr 13, 2020 7:31 pm
by tyrant
Hi,
Another idea, My mate has an old Boss Hoss running just a clutch like your setup. His runs a hand lever and vac assist foot lever, Foot lever and hand lever to disengage clutch and release's with hand lever. Seems more user friendly maybe.
Cheers,Al.

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2020 7:06 pm
by russelllowe
Hi Y.B.

Thanks for the info, I chose -3AN guided by the fitting that came with the hydraulic slave cylinder from Quartermaster. The advantage of my new hydraulic jack master cylinder is that it can move as much fluid as the jacks fluid reservoir can hold ... which is quite a bit more than usual ... just a bit at a time.

Hi Al,

Be great to take a look at it ... any chance of him taking a few pics? If you or he emails them to me i can upload them: russell.lowe@unsw.edu.au

Cheers!

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Fri Jan 15, 2021 4:43 pm
by russelllowe
Hi Guys,

Been a while between drinks ... not much to do on the racebike for 2021; finishing off the clutch actuation system was critical, and I'll probably remake the upper fairing because it looks a little rough now I've had a year to look at it and improve my skills ...

Actuating the clutch was one of those "wicked' problems, every solution seemed to throw up other problems that made the end result worse rather than better. Long story short, I'm onto version 4.

Finished today, here it is:

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Not sure it's obvious from the picture and notes, but what's happening is that the clutch is disengaged is via the hydraulic lever at the bottom and it is engaged (so I move forward) by a cable clutch lever out of the picture to the left. I've essentially made my own version of the jack you may have seen earlier in the thread ... stepping through it, it goes:

1. Push down on the lever about 3 times with my left foot.
2. The 14mm master cylinder pushes fluid through the steel block (inside the red circle in the picture) and can't come back because there is a one way valve in there (which I made from a spring, ball bearing and an o-ring). The 14mm master cylinder reduces the lever pressure significantly over the 19mm master cylinder the clutch slave cylinder is expecting, but doesn't move enough fluid to disengage the clutch with a single push.
3. About 3 pushes later and the clutch is disengaged, so I can start the motor with the rear wheel on the ground and it won't go anywhere (direct drive).
4. When ready to set off I pull the clutch lever in, which is a normal motorcycle one from a GSXR1000 mounted on the left handlebar. That releases the fluid from the clutch slave cylinder side of the one way valve back into the reservoir (top right in the pic above) and lets the clutch plates bite.
5. Twist throttle in the normal direction, go over 200mph, job done.

Make sense?

Cheers!

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Wed Jan 27, 2021 4:26 pm
by russelllowe
Hi All,

Six weeks to go aye! It's all a bit surreal, but like Greg says, if we don't plan for the best we might end up under prepared ... so with that in mind, I've started the new fairing ...

It's really just an update to the nose part to address aerodynamic (imagined) and quality (obvious as I've gotten better) issues. Making it out of less surfaces equals less parts and less joins which should help with both issues mentioned above.

I'm trying a new method to make the buck, using cold rolled round bar. Because I'm tigging rather than migging each joint it can be a bit of a pain to clamp/hold but otherwise it's gone quite well. I made up a bending jig/tool to make the sweeping curves; if anyone wants to see that let me know.

So, in profile:

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You can see, rather than being flat across the bottom it will now swoop down to meet the lower fairing. Initially I was going for the lowest possible frontal area (inspired a bit by John Britten's v1000) but the more i looked at it the more it looked like a wing.

From the front three quarter you can see some more shape:

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And from the front:

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I've tried to have about the same surface area above and below the centerline, to make it aerodynamically neutral in terms of lift and, hopefully, be less susceptible to side winds as well (by presenting them with less oblique faces).

So now I'll make a paper pattern, maybe from strips of tape so it gets to "proto flexible shape pattern stage" and then form up this side. Step 3 will be taking a true flexible shape pattern off the left hand surface, turning it inside out and shaping up the right side from that. I'll also have to take some profiles because, as you've probably noticed, I only made half the fairing buck.

If I get time I'll have another go at the front saltguard cos what I'm doing here won't let the original fit.

Looking forward to seeing you all out on the salt soon.

Cheers!

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2021 8:41 pm
by russelllowe
Hi Guys,

Fairing update. I tried making a paper pattern from the wire buck, but it wasnt really that helpful ... and I ended up over developing the shape (it's amazing how little curvature there is in some seemingly quite curvy looking designs).

So I used masking tape and fibreglass reinforced tape to create a sort of "proto" flexible shape pattern. I think the thinner pattern helps with determining how much shape needs to be put in the panel ... and because it essentially makes each "segment" of the buck flat it gives you a little leeway to add more shape in the english wheel.

Here it is:

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I found cornflower works brilliantly to take the tack out of the masking tape layer.

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I annealed the aluminium using a gas torch, heating it until the black texter/vivid/marker disapeared, then hosed it with the garden hose. Recently Bone's confirmed that the texter does disappear at the same time as the acetylene soot burns off. For 5005 Aluminium annealing occurs at 345 degrees centigrade so texter and soot must disappear about then.

After a bit of bashing over a depression in a stump, and then some finessing on a sand bag it looked like this:

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Then after some wheeling, and quite a bit of stuffing around setting the arrangement it fits the buck quite nicely, with no real need for the clamps; if it was the other way around it would just sit there happily.

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Each side will be in three pieces.

Hope everyone else's preparations are going well.

Cheers!

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Wed Feb 03, 2021 5:40 pm
by russelllowe
Hey Guys,

Apart from some triming and detail work the left side is done ... well, done enough to take a pattern off it to make the right hand side.

She fought me a bit, and is a bit different from the buck (I think there were some shape transitions implied by the buck that wouldnt actually work in reality. I'll be back to blue foam for the next big project.

From the left side:

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And the front, bit smoother than what was there, with a bit more protection for my shoulders and not a great deal of frontal area added.

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It does look a bit like a Frill Necked Lizzard ... but so do I at 195mph so I guess it'll work out.

Getting the right side to match may be tricky, so please wish me luck.

Cheers!

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2021 8:56 am
by russelllowe
Hi All,

The right side is going remarkibly well ... in part because practice makes perfect, but mainly because Wray Schelin's Flexible Shape Pattern technique is so intuitive. Where the upper left side took all day to make the upper right took a couple of hours, with most of that making the pattern and the cardboard station's to help set the arrangement.

If you are interested you can see a short clip where I describe the process here: https://youtu.be/Fjlxgua19d0

And the 95% finished result:

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There is extra material around the windshield so I can trim that to fit later.

The lines and symbols marked on the surface help with aligning the cardboard stations (which, like the flexible shape pattern itself, flip from left to right).

I recon it's looking pretty slippery, but we'll see in ... woah! (just saw the date!) ... one month from now!

Cheers

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2021 10:52 am
by Stayt`ie
Lookin good mate ,,

You are going to have company on the lake,, yesterday I went and checked out a V8 bike that's almost ready to ride,, carburated 302, conventuial situp style 8)

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2021 12:49 pm
by russelllowe
Hey Stayt'ie,

Awesome! Is that the one by Walkingpace? His looks a lot like the old Widowmaker's by E.J.Potter.

Be brilliant seeing both near the start line at the same time.

Cheers

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Fri Feb 05, 2021 9:18 pm
by Stayt`ie
Walkingpace ?? no,,

#880 in this years entry list 8)

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Sat Feb 13, 2021 10:56 pm
by russelllowe
Hey Guys,

Another fairing update ...

This first image might be disturbing, if you see an icecream truck thats fine, but if you see a robot bunny rabbit kissing a shark you should probably reach out to professional help ...

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Turned out surprisingly symmetrical.

I'm trying a new welding technique; first pass on the back side with filler, then fusion weld only on the front side. If you know aluminium welding fusion only has issues with cold cracking. With the filler material from the back to draw through this works well, and means far less cleanup on the side that needs to be smooth.

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And after a day messing about with brackets and a floppy 3d fairing it's all mounted up firmly and, again, surprisingly symmetrical (I really dislike mounting fairings so happy it's on there at all).

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Now onto fitting the windscreen ... which would have been easier if I had have thought about it before now ... you can see how far from being tangential to any of the curves it is here ...

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Rather than cutting it down I really wanted to keep it standard (Honda Blackbird) so I could easily replace it if necessary. It's also a good height to hide behind. So I made a rough flexible shape pattern and managed to knock this up in about an hour or so. You can see from the highlights thats there's actually quite a bit of shape in this little bit, and it changes a lot down it's length. A year ago I wouldn't have had a clue how to start, happy I'm improving bit by bit.

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I'll weld that on and do the other side tomorrow, then it's just a few small jobs and I'm ready to go ... crossing fingers, toes and everything else I can that there is something to go to. Sending good thoughts to everyone in lockdown.

Cheers!

Re: theTRUTH

Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2021 7:08 pm
by russelllowe
Hey Guys,

Yet another fairing update ... hopefully the last ...

Finished from the front:

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And from the right side:

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Kind of looks like one of those old 60's jet fighter noses/cockpits if you squint your eyes just right.

Hopefully it goes half as good.

Feel free to tell me I'm dreaming ...

Cheers!