Hello Glen, Any chance you can give us those details, I've had to fit touring bars to my bikes, Getting old and bad back !! Good Luck with your first ride, Bill.
Centre of flywheels and lateral centre of weight for a twin engine.
- Thread starter Monkeypants
- Start date
thanks Bill
The new dimensions are:
ground to seat (at midpoint of seat length) - 31 inches
seat to footpeg at midpoint of seat length - 17 3/4 inches
midpoint of seat length to a lateral line drawn thru the fork tube cap centres, measured horizontally - 31 inches
The footpeg centres are one inch ahead of a vertical line down from the midpoint of seat length.
The clip ons are up as high as they will go, right against the underside of the fork crown at 34 inches from the ground, then pivoted back until they are in a comfortable position.
The Solo seat is only 14 inches long. It is made for a 98- 2002 Triumph Daytona. Because of the curved shape of the seat and the fact that I raised it up a bit for comfort, the seat overlays the tank by 1 and a half inches. This means the seat midpoint is 5 and one half inches behind the tank.
All of the changes helped mostly to unlock the legs from a very cramped position but also rolled my body back some so that the weight on the wrists is reduced.
I find that I can now sit on the bike while making motor noises for an entire evening, whereas with the previous arrangement I could only make it thru one or two songs on the radio. My back and legs feel fine afterward, but my larnyx gets quite sore.
Glen
The new dimensions are:
ground to seat (at midpoint of seat length) - 31 inches
seat to footpeg at midpoint of seat length - 17 3/4 inches
midpoint of seat length to a lateral line drawn thru the fork tube cap centres, measured horizontally - 31 inches
The footpeg centres are one inch ahead of a vertical line down from the midpoint of seat length.
The clip ons are up as high as they will go, right against the underside of the fork crown at 34 inches from the ground, then pivoted back until they are in a comfortable position.
The Solo seat is only 14 inches long. It is made for a 98- 2002 Triumph Daytona. Because of the curved shape of the seat and the fact that I raised it up a bit for comfort, the seat overlays the tank by 1 and a half inches. This means the seat midpoint is 5 and one half inches behind the tank.
All of the changes helped mostly to unlock the legs from a very cramped position but also rolled my body back some so that the weight on the wrists is reduced.
I find that I can now sit on the bike while making motor noises for an entire evening, whereas with the previous arrangement I could only make it thru one or two songs on the radio. My back and legs feel fine afterward, but my larnyx gets quite sore.
Glen
I've taken the bike apart for final welds and then polishing.
Here is what it looked like just before disassembly:
The electrics fit easily under the rear cowl which had to be fairly wide to fit the wide tire and the solo seat.
This leaves good room under there, possibly enough left after the electrics for a small tool kit and maybe a candy bar. I still need to add a small microprocessor for the run/brake/self cancel turn setup and one more relay. This .063 plate slides into the cowl area. There is a little clip at the back of the seat/cowl base plate. This clip locates the electric plate and holds it down. At the front of the electric plate the seat studs pass thru, so those can be used to hold the plate down onto the base at that point.
I made up some 1/4" al. weld ons for mounting things to the electric plate
Here is what it looked like just before disassembly:
The electrics fit easily under the rear cowl which had to be fairly wide to fit the wide tire and the solo seat.
This leaves good room under there, possibly enough left after the electrics for a small tool kit and maybe a candy bar. I still need to add a small microprocessor for the run/brake/self cancel turn setup and one more relay. This .063 plate slides into the cowl area. There is a little clip at the back of the seat/cowl base plate. This clip locates the electric plate and holds it down. At the front of the electric plate the seat studs pass thru, so those can be used to hold the plate down onto the base at that point.
I made up some 1/4" al. weld ons for mounting things to the electric plate
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more pics
and here is what the brake light looks like. With 140 LEDs it is extremely bright
the brake light is divided in two so that it is also used as the rear turn indicator lights The microprocessor understands this and overrides the brake light function on one side when the indicators are called for during braking. The microprocessor also modulates the lights so that the same light runs at half brightness as a running light when neither indicators or brakes are on.
The timed self cancel feature of the unit is also pretty clever. A one second push of the turn button gives 8 flashes (lane change) 2 seconds gives 20 flashes, (turning without the need to stop, ie green light or off a highway onto a secondary road)
3 seconds gives 60 flashes (waiting at an intersection with traffic lights) In addition, holding the brake down delays all of the timed self cancel modes, so sitting at a very long light, the signal stays on as long as the brake is on. Finally, pushing left and right momentary switches at same time gives 4 way flashers until the switches are pushed again for off.
and here is what the brake light looks like. With 140 LEDs it is extremely bright
the brake light is divided in two so that it is also used as the rear turn indicator lights The microprocessor understands this and overrides the brake light function on one side when the indicators are called for during braking. The microprocessor also modulates the lights so that the same light runs at half brightness as a running light when neither indicators or brakes are on.
The timed self cancel feature of the unit is also pretty clever. A one second push of the turn button gives 8 flashes (lane change) 2 seconds gives 20 flashes, (turning without the need to stop, ie green light or off a highway onto a secondary road)
3 seconds gives 60 flashes (waiting at an intersection with traffic lights) In addition, holding the brake down delays all of the timed self cancel modes, so sitting at a very long light, the signal stays on as long as the brake is on. Finally, pushing left and right momentary switches at same time gives 4 way flashers until the switches are pushed again for off.
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Blinking heck Glen! I've seen a few neat specials over the years (and I've built one) but that looks about the meanest thing I've seen. It looks like it's doing 70 just parked by the garage.
Tim
Tim
Thanks Tim
I might have to get a toupee or at least a good dye job in order to look the part when riding it!
Glen
I might have to get a toupee or at least a good dye job in order to look the part when riding it!
Glen
Hi Howard
We need flashy lights in Canada, the car drivers do not see motorcyclists. Sometimes they don't see the other cars either.
It's as tho they go in the box, point it straight down a nice wide road, then go into a Yoga trance. Maybe its all the Yoga pants that cause this, I'm not sure.
Before heading over to the UK for the IOM in 07, Robert Watson's wife Kathy told me that I would find the drivers in England to be much better than in Canada. She was right!
They might be a bit hyper and fast, but they are much more tuned in to their surroundings and almost always take notice of motorcycles.
I made adjusters in the Egli style, aluminium blocks shaped into ovals then threaded at back for the adjusters which pull on a little oval plate that fits to the swing arm tube profile. I did make the adjuster bolts one size larger at 5/16"
There wasn't enough extra length in the GSXR axle to fit external adjusters. The GSXR axle is a nice piece and it seemed a shame to throw it away, so the Egli style adjusters will have to do.
The kickstart is off a Honda CB 750, bored out and resplined to fit the Vincent kickstart shaft. The standard Vincent Kickstart wouldn't work on there, its position was right across the inside of the right knee and about two inches too far out (holding knee out)
Glen
We need flashy lights in Canada, the car drivers do not see motorcyclists. Sometimes they don't see the other cars either.
It's as tho they go in the box, point it straight down a nice wide road, then go into a Yoga trance. Maybe its all the Yoga pants that cause this, I'm not sure.
Before heading over to the UK for the IOM in 07, Robert Watson's wife Kathy told me that I would find the drivers in England to be much better than in Canada. She was right!
They might be a bit hyper and fast, but they are much more tuned in to their surroundings and almost always take notice of motorcycles.
I made adjusters in the Egli style, aluminium blocks shaped into ovals then threaded at back for the adjusters which pull on a little oval plate that fits to the swing arm tube profile. I did make the adjuster bolts one size larger at 5/16"
There wasn't enough extra length in the GSXR axle to fit external adjusters. The GSXR axle is a nice piece and it seemed a shame to throw it away, so the Egli style adjusters will have to do.
The kickstart is off a Honda CB 750, bored out and resplined to fit the Vincent kickstart shaft. The standard Vincent Kickstart wouldn't work on there, its position was right across the inside of the right knee and about two inches too far out (holding knee out)
Glen
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Hi Howard
Before heading over to the UK for the IOM in 07, Robert Watson's wife Kathy told me that I would find the drivers in England to be much better than in Canada. She was right!
They might be a bit hyper and fast, but they are much more tuned in to their surroundings and almost always take notice of motorcycles.
Are you sure you came to the UK? I don't recognise our car drivers from your description.
Egli adjusters work fine on mine, and stop over-enthusiastic tightening from crushing the swinging arm.
Buga! I thought you'd found a kickstart that went straight on - might have known you wouldn't do anything easy.
H
I spent most of yesterday with a Stripper named Poly. Together we were able to remove the white paint from the back wheel and the Purple from the front. The back wheel had this nice shine on the flats without any need for buffing, just the way it came off the lathe I suppose. Must be good tooling at the factory!
The front wheel would have been similar except one of my Barn cats marked it about a year ago. That went unnoticed for awhile, so there is some nasty surface corrosion to remove.
The plan is to powder coat the wheel centres black, leave the flats polished and apply a narrow red stripe where the black meets the polished. There is a natural cut line and little radiused edge there where the beadblasted? or as cast centre material meets the machined flats.
I know that most of the members of this forum prefer their wheels with more than 3 spokes, and I generally do as well, but this treatment will at least be a bit of a nod to the real Vincent.
Hard to beat the light weight and rigidity of these alloy wheels.
Glen
The front wheel would have been similar except one of my Barn cats marked it about a year ago. That went unnoticed for awhile, so there is some nasty surface corrosion to remove.
The plan is to powder coat the wheel centres black, leave the flats polished and apply a narrow red stripe where the black meets the polished. There is a natural cut line and little radiused edge there where the beadblasted? or as cast centre material meets the machined flats.
I know that most of the members of this forum prefer their wheels with more than 3 spokes, and I generally do as well, but this treatment will at least be a bit of a nod to the real Vincent.
Hard to beat the light weight and rigidity of these alloy wheels.
Glen