So I've had a little time to think about a couple of things. The first is the manifold for the carburettor and the second is the seat design. The latter is a little more complicated so I'll start on the manifold.
My idea is to the left here. That's some 35mm tube that is made up of five segments. I hope the drawing itself is plenty explanation, but here's a helper. The dotted lines are welds, and the shaded box is to be cut away to allow the final piece to be installed. Now I know this is some pretty accurate cutting that is needed, so the whole thing might be reviewed.
Overall I think the squareness (I've seen a few round ones) gives a more industrial look, and might be just what I need for a brat style bike.
Why are you worrying about a manifold for a carburettor I hear you ask. Ok, so it's not the first job on my list, but it is a job I want to do never the less. The carbs on the KZ440 have a poor reputation, so this manifold allows you to throw out the shoddy factory carbs and fit a single after-market carb. Namely, a VM34. This carb has rave reviews when fitted to this model bike, and adds another advantage in that you only have one carb to blame should things need diagnosing.
My idea is to the left here. That's some 35mm tube that is made up of five segments. I hope the drawing itself is plenty explanation, but here's a helper. The dotted lines are welds, and the shaded box is to be cut away to allow the final piece to be installed. Now I know this is some pretty accurate cutting that is needed, so the whole thing might be reviewed.
Overall I think the squareness (I've seen a few round ones) gives a more industrial look, and might be just what I need for a brat style bike.
Why are you worrying about a manifold for a carburettor I hear you ask. Ok, so it's not the first job on my list, but it is a job I want to do never the less. The carbs on the KZ440 have a poor reputation, so this manifold allows you to throw out the shoddy factory carbs and fit a single after-market carb. Namely, a VM34. This carb has rave reviews when fitted to this model bike, and adds another advantage in that you only have one carb to blame should things need diagnosing.
So that's the easy thing out the way (he says). The other thing I've been thinking of a lot is the seat design. The seat is probably one of the last things I will do on the bike, but it's one of the very first I need to design as the whole bike hinges on this design. A brat bike is 50% simplicity, 50% awesome seatness, namely that it should be flat and simple.
Now we have a problem. How do I get a flat seat on a frame with a step in it? There are two options. Option one is that the frame is cut and a flat section is welded in to place ready for the seat. This is a common job for brat bikes, but note that most of these take place in the US, and I'm sure their 'road worthy enforcement agency' is a little slacker than ours. But anyway, option one isn't off the cards yet - I'm merely leaning away from it. Option two is where a box is built to make the frame flat, as in my drawing. The reason I'm leaning towards this idea is that it does the same job, may make the seat a little higher for this tall rider, and means I'm not messing with the structure of the bike (read that as weakening it). But most importantly, it helps solve a massive design problem by giving me somewhere to store the battery and wires out of sight. And if I make it out of alloy, I could get it powder coated to match the frame and stick a badge on and it would look fantastic.
So you can see my rough design above, and this is what I'm leaning to but I would like to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment with your ideas.
Now we have a problem. How do I get a flat seat on a frame with a step in it? There are two options. Option one is that the frame is cut and a flat section is welded in to place ready for the seat. This is a common job for brat bikes, but note that most of these take place in the US, and I'm sure their 'road worthy enforcement agency' is a little slacker than ours. But anyway, option one isn't off the cards yet - I'm merely leaning away from it. Option two is where a box is built to make the frame flat, as in my drawing. The reason I'm leaning towards this idea is that it does the same job, may make the seat a little higher for this tall rider, and means I'm not messing with the structure of the bike (read that as weakening it). But most importantly, it helps solve a massive design problem by giving me somewhere to store the battery and wires out of sight. And if I make it out of alloy, I could get it powder coated to match the frame and stick a badge on and it would look fantastic.
So you can see my rough design above, and this is what I'm leaning to but I would like to hear your thoughts. Please leave a comment with your ideas.