damn man; you've got some mad skillz!!! Keep us posted; your write-ups are always top notch!!

 

Mike how come you didnt TIG the tree clamp together versus doing all those spot welds??

 

Thanks guys

I only tig sheetmetal. There's a big misconception of tig being better than mig. I'm not saying mig is better...with the metal at the proper temp mig is perfectly fine. Besides, the top clamp doesn't really do much structurally. It's basically a tweak bar/handlebar mount since the neck bridge is welded. Now, if it was a top triple tree I would've milled it from a solid chunk.

Also, I left the plate squared off to clamp all four corners to the table while I was welding and although they are spots, it was continuous. The metal is rather thick so I didn't have to worry about warping and the penatration was definitely there.

Since you obviously know fab, you should see people's reaction when I weld plate to cast ar steel to stainless lol.

 

I argued with a pipe fitter one time about Stainless being welded to mild and he was freakin adamit I would not work...so I whipped out my Diversion 180 and used stainless filler to join two peices of mild together and than one of each using different fillers he ended up eating his words. I'll TIG most stuff together just so I don't have to grind it. If it's 3/16 or less ill use my TIG.

Looks good though trust me I know at the right heat and speed spot welds are strong when done right. Oh and trust me I can warp a 1/2" thick piece of Plate another point I had to prove...anyway looks good man I need to move in next door to you and we can make **** for all the good fellas on here.

 

I love that you make your own parts, looks great!

 

I gotta see more of this, awesome work man!!

 

Busted shoulder requires more comfort? Damn. I just had shoulder surgery in the Spring and I was planning on a similar configuration for my Nightster as what you have now. What's uncomfortable about the current position Mike? Hands are too low? Anyway, masterful job on the top clamp and the write up. Looking forward to seeing it completed.

 

It's a little amusing, seeing all these shots of your collection of bikes and the other cars and such in your shop, that you own and ride a fairly stock Nightster.

Anyway, hey, what did you use to shape those lever perches (cut off wheel, hand files, etc), and how long did it take you to do the pair, and where there any gotchas?

Thanks...

 

I remember that bike from fender mod thread lol!!! I said it before I'll say it again YOU DA MAN!!

 

Thanks guys. I'm getting anxious to get it done. It's going to be modest but I really like this bike. I think I ride it more than the others...which is why I appreciate its simplicity. Old Faithfull is what I call it.

I think it's because I basically have to keep my head tilted back just to look forward. After a hundred miles or so I start shifting around and my shoulder starts to go numb. I'm a short dude though...maybe that plays in to my seating position.

Yeah, yeah I know lol. It serves its purpose well though. I just used hand files on the perches. They're cast aluminum so they file down quite easily. It took a few hours but I get distracted easily. A friend of mine noticed my garage tv has built in wi-fi so he set it up with Netflix and that's definitely been a major distraction. The 2 biggest tips I can give you is get a couple good file cards to clean out your files and use shorties. If you notice I also shaved down the bolt bosses. That wasn't intentional. I started with a long file and was so focused on the main flare I didn't noticed I had started taking down those bosses as well. Luckily it turned out cool but could've been a disaster.