Pinstrip Design

Working on a design for a pinstripe piece.

Joke

- My girlfriend invited me to her house. I found her sister alone in the house, she was unbelievably sexy and whispered in my ear, “I have feelings for you, shall we have sex?”, I immediately turned around and walked to the front door to go to my car. I found my girlfriend standing there, she hugged me and said: “You’ve won my trust”




 - Moral of the story: always keep your condoms in the car.

Gas Cap

Well my balls have much less chance of becoming great balls of fire!   It used to be when I rode up a steep hill gas would flow out of the tank down into my crotch.  Looking at the condition of the old seal is it any wonder it leaked.  The new seal is also much taller.

Monster Monkey Pinstrip

Alexia, Myself, & Doug with our Pinstrip Piece

Given it some Gas…...

Playing in illustrator, created some type GAS for possible engraving into the petrol cap.   I know we use petrol over here and gas is LPG.  Petrol is just a bit long for size of the cap. 

Dating……..Biker Style

VETERAN

A veteran motor cycle is one constructed up to and including 31^st December, 1918.

VINTAGE

A vintage motor cycle is one constructed between and including 1^st January, 1919 and 31^st December 1930.

POST-VINTAGE

A post-vintage motor cycle is one constructed between and including 1^st January, 1931 and 31^st December 1945.

POST-WAR

A post-war motor cycle is one constructed between and including 1^st January, 1946 and 31^st December 1960.

HISTORIC

•   A historic motorcycle is one constructed between and including 1st January 1961 and  31st December of the year 30 years prior to the current year
•   Until 2010, an historic motorcycle is one constructed prior to 31st December 1980. In 2011 and in subsequent years; the above clause shall be the test for a historic motorcycle

Doug DoRr

Met Doug from Orange County, last night. He is in australia for an exhibition tour around Oz, promoted by Tony & Co. over at Kustom Lane Gallery. I suggest you get on down and check it out.

Here are my  first attempts at pinstriping. All done freehand, no grids, or predrawing.

1,2,3, are mine and the last one is Doug showing me how it should look.

Surprisingly the consistency of the different colors of the paint was inconsistent and thinning them is not so easy to get the correct flow when pulling lines.  For me this was the biggest factor in a good line and a bad line.

Some tips I picked up from Doug.

• Beginners should never pinstripe on primer, it's too rough and difficult
• Never use Oneshot and clear coat over it.  The oneshot will crinkle, always use on top.
• Practice with the paint you will work with, so you learn how it pulls
• House of Kolor can be painted over with clear coat. But it is very different to paint with and expensive.
• If you do a gas tank, especially a motorcycle. Get a signed waiver that it was done right. Cos after they spill petrol all over the fresh pinstripe they tend to blame you.
• Practise, Practise, Practise.

Here is some samples of Doug's work

 

Sticking Around

The Good people at Bensh Mark sent me some lovely stickers today to add to the collection!

Will add the Bench Mark ones to this little collection.

Feel Free to send some in!! :-)

Two Standing

Cut up some steel today to get a start on some engine stands for the XS motors. One of the middle upright pieces is to long but was tto short to cut the last inch off with the cut off saw. Couldn't clamp it safely.  Will cut it down with a cut off wheel in the grinder.

Black Stripper…...

My Little Black one decided to do a strip tease for me today and get naked for her now frame.

Just need to find out if the Engineer needs the motor in.  He doesn't need the front end or wheels but thought it is easier to move around as a roller and to take the forks and rear wheel off is quick enough.

I just realised my bikes are Special!

On the special the are a few slight dimensional differences but the quickest way to tell is the pillion peg mounts, here they are just a 'J' shape. On the standard thet are a full loop or 'U' shape. Standard also has two hand holds coming out at the sides behind the seat.

Most Famous Choppers..Built by Unknown Black

Easy Rider's "Captain America" - Mother of All Choppers

Ask anybody who knows a little bit about motorcycles to tell you what a Chopper looks like, and they will very soon refer to that one particular motorcycle that Peter Fonda rode in the classic road movie "Easy Rider".

In the movie, Peter Fonda plays the cool character of "Captain America" Wyatt. As a result, the bike he rides in the movie is also named Captain America.

With its Star Spangled Banner tank, sissy bar, apes, forward controls, chrome frame, chromed out Panhead engine, and the really, really long front fork, Captain America is THE big example of the classic Chopper.

Look at that bike:

Ben Hardy, legendary Master Bike Builder from Los Angeles, had the original Harley Panhead cradle frame raked to 45 degrees. To compensate for the increased rake he increased the length of the front fork by 12 inches.

Ben Hardy - Master Chopper Builder

Both the Captain America Chopper and the Billy Bike Short Chop were built by the legendary yet unknown bike builder Ben Hardy from Los Angeles, CA.

Check this out:

Motorcycle Hand Signals

Rake & Trail

So I am thinking I like my design but need to reduce the trial for a safe amount of cornering, long trail make a very stable bike in a straight line but also very hard to get off that straight course.

Typical trail 4-6" , stock XS650 is 4.47"

Stock XS Specs can't remember which model I go this from.

• Tire Size 26.1"
• Rake 27 Deg
• Offset 1.938 "
• Tree Rake 0.0 Deg
• Calculated Trail 4.47"

My Options To Reduce the Trail,  

• Increase OFFSET DISTANCE - Alternate trees with greater offset?
• Increase Angle Between Neck & Fork
•  Offset Neck Cups - Possibly make these but think they add trail same as increasing neck angle, opposite of what I want.
• Raked Tripple Trees - Expensive option to buy & only for HD front ends.

How Does it all work??

Often mentioned in the main stats when looking at a new motorbike, but what do motorcycle rake and trail actually mean and why would you need to know this? Firstly, these terms refer to steering geometry and so rake, trail and offset effect handling and are directly linked to each other, altering one will effect the other. So if you want to alter the handling, cornering ability or straight line stability, rake, trail and offset are some of the first things that you should look at.

Motorcycle rake

Rake can be described as an angle at which the headstock of the motorcycle is inclined when compared against a vertical line drawn perpendicular to the ground. The rake angle effects steering ability, the smaller the rake angle then the easier the bike is to corner but will be less stable in a straight line.

Motorcycle trail

The distance on the ground between a straight line drawn through the center of the front wheel spindle and a line drawn through the center of the headstock axis. The greater the trail distance, then the greated the straight line stability but the harder it is to make the bike corner.

Motorcycle offset

The distance between a line drawn through the centre of the steering stem/ headstock axis and the centre line of the front fork tubes. Typically the offset inversely affects trail, if offset increases then the trail will decrease.

The diagram below illustrates each of the measurements and how they are calculated:

Basic measurements

A bit more in depth look, when neck & forks are nor parallel.  

Your front suspension geometry is defined by the following six variables which are defined as

Offset-- Centerline of top of steering neck to centerline of top of fork tubes. Rake-- The angle in degrees of the steering neck from the vertical. Fork Length-- The distance between the top of the fork tubes to the centerline of the axle. Diameter of the front tire. Trail: Distance defined by vertical line from axle to ground and intersect of centerline of steering neck and ground. Raked Triple Trees-- In order to bring trail figures back into line, triple trees with raked steering stems can be used. Expressed in degrees. Usually adjustable in 3, 5, and 7 degrees of rake. Tire Diameter:

Tire Diameter Formula: If you do not know a certain tire diameter use the following formula:

Diam Inches = Rim Diam Inches + [ (2 x Aspect Ratio x Section Width) / 25.4] Example: 200/55R18 Tire: 26.7" = 18 + [(2 x 0.55 x 200)/25.4]

Front Tire	inches	Diameter of front tire. 21" front typically 27.60". 19" front typically 26.10". 16" front typically 25.30". Hayabusa front 120/70x17 23.61".
Rake	degrees	Steering Neck Rake: Softail 31 to33 deg. FXRS models 29 deg. FXLR 31 deg. Evo Dyna FXD/DX/DXT 28 deg. Evo Dyna FXDL/DWG 32 deg. Evo FLH 26 deg. Sportster 29.6 deg. Choppers 36 deg to 45 deg. FLH series 26 deg. V-Rod 34 deg. Early Hayabusa 24.1 deg.
Triple Clamp Offset	inches	Distance from center of top of steering neck to centerline of top of fork tubes. Typically in the range of 2.4". V-Rod 2.0". FLH series have a negative offset ( Enter -2.455")
Fork Length	inches	Length from to top of the fork tubes to the centerline of the axle. Harley forks are in the 30", 32", 34" or longer range. Length will not change trail if the triple trees are not raked. FLH Series 27.75". V-Rod 30". Hayabusa forks are 28.5".
Triple Tree Rake	degrees	For standard triple trees enter 0 degrees: The FXDWG uses 3 degree trees; V-Rod uses 4 degree trees; FLH series use 5 degree trees. For chassis that have been raked to 40 degrees or more, and too much trail is present, Raked Triple Trees are necessary. Enter the degrees of rake, typically 3, 5, or 7 degrees.

For the functioning calculator go here:


Trail & Rake Calculator

Note: Trail cannot be a negative number as this will adversely affect handling unless you are building a shopping cart. 
Typical trail figures are between 4 and 6 inches. 
Various Harley models have the following trail figures: 

• FXR 4.22". Softail 5.0" to 5.8". 
• Dyna Models 4.1" to 5.1". 
• Sportster 4.6". 
• FLH models 6.2".
• V-Rod 3.87". 
• Early Hayabusa 3.8".

The relationship between rake, trail and offset

• If you increase the rake, the trail increases
• If you increase the trail, the rake increases
• If you increase the offset for both yokes then the trail decreases
• If you increase the offset for only the top yoke/ triple tree then the trail will increase
• If you increase the offset for the bottom yoke/ triple tree independently then the trail will decrease

How to alter a motorcycles rake, trail or offset

So why would you want to alter these values? Well if you plan to cruise mainly straight roads then you don’t want your arms getting tired by constantly correcting and holding the bike in a straight line, so you would want to increase the trail and decrease the rake. Which is why the American choppers have such long front forks to give great straight line stability. If you wanted handling around corners you would do the opposite to allow you to throw the bike around the corners and of course there is a fine balance to get the best of both. Also such inventions like steering dampers allow you to have a very low rake but keep the bike stable by stiffening the steering movement which you can buy as an after market part. So, love the look of the bike and the performance of the engine but hate the handling? Alter these values.

You don’t need to be a mechanic or an expert to be able to alter the steering geometry and it can be done in a variety of very easy ways, just remember that you’re the one who has to ride it, so you take your life in your own hands. So for instance with my Yamaha XS750 the front forks were originally quite long, which is pretty useless for a cafe racer, so new shorter forks were put in to lower the rake and to improve the handling around corners.

Motorbike rake and trail are also not only affected by the frame construction but by a myriad of other factors (which you can alter) such as:

• Rear suspension – lowering it will increase rake and trail
• Front forks – shorter forks will decrease rake and trail, also you can alter their position in the yokes to help shorten their distance
• Aftermarket yokes/ triple trees – alter the offset to then alter the trail without affecting rake
• Wheel diameter – smaller front wheel will decrease rake and trail, smaller rear wheel will increase rake and trail
• Tyre thickness – same as the wheel diameter

More importantly when riding the bike, braking and suspension travel will also dynamically alter the rake and trail, for instance, as you brake hard on the front, suspension will compress under dive thus decreasing trail and rake potentially inducing wobble in the bike. Bare that in mind if you make any alterations as you could end up with negative figures under extreme braking conditions. Additionally heavy luggage or pillion on the rear may also effect your rake and trail measurements slightly – which is why you should always alter your rear suspension preload.

Also remember that while any alterations may seem small and un-noticeable at slow speed at higher speeds their effect will be magnified, such as reduced straight line stability!






Data collated from Bikearama & RB Racing, amongst  others.

Design Concept II

This is where I am at trying to factor in all the functional elements to rough scale.

1. 40 Deg Rake.
2. 21" Front rim with standard tyre size.
3. 18"  Rear rim with standard/200mm tyre size.
4. 4" Ground Clearance
5. Engine mounts in stock position.
6. 0 deg Adjustment in triple trees
7. Stock offset distance

Need to transfer this into CAD and work it some more.

The Trail looks to be about 14" I'm estimating which I think is a concern.

Axle Plates

Many variations on axle plates out there.

I like the idea of hidden axle plates though.

You can get em in different shapes and styles or even cut in a picture, like a ace of spades, or a skull, even flames.

Inside hidden axle. Not a fan of the point personally.

Nicely finished with the end caps below.

David Bird Loop

Not bad

Cole Foster Salinas boys

Chrome plates which are bolt in….Thought I liked these ...

Looks weird on the bike one painted.

Bog Round.

Stockers

Now this is what I want. Nicely finished.

It's all in the details,…You can't beat a nicely finished tail end