You do the Math

Progress report on the motorbike project....
Well, while work life isnt exactly boring, it is rather unexciting... So I figured Id blog about the fun-stuff :)


Project is to modify a Single Sided Swing-Arm from a 2006 Honda VFR800 to fit onto an unmodified 2002 Suzuki SV650 frame.

I have the Suzuki bike, and I have the Honda Swing-arm... Now to bring them together!
The trick here is that the new rear whell is 20mm wider than the original, and that makes all sorts of realignment and fitting issues!

I got some tools together, and managed to take the back-end of the subject bike apart on the weekend. And once I had it all apart, I could set about trying to figure out if Ill be able to get the alternate back-end onto the bike in place of the original.

So, I got my trusty steel rule, and a straight edge and I started to measure all the components so that I could see what had to be done...

First and simplest measurement was the inside frame "opening" width of the bike at the swing-arm pivot (135mm), and the outside width of the pivot on the swing-arm (183mm).
... That means that the new swing-arm is 48mm too wide!
And that means that I have to reduce this width by an equal 24mm on each side of the swing-arm (If I dont do it equally then the rear wheel will run "off-centre"!).
... Wow, thats a lot!

Hmm... Well, my initial plan was to machine the bearing sockets deeper on each side of the swing-arm "yoke" style pivots, but there simply isnt anywhere near enough metal for that idea to work!
So, my new plan is to "cut and weld" instead.
So, Ill carefully cut-off the "free" side of the swing-arm pivot "yoke" (where it branches off the main side of the swing arm), and then remove the 24mm from the inside "cut" end of the removed piece; And then re-attach it to the swing arm by welding it (need skilled Aluminium welder to do this job). The other side of the swing-arm yoke will be used as an alignment jig by running the pivot bolt through the attached and unattached bearings :)
Then, Ill cut off the main side of the pivot "yoke" (about 100mm back from the pivot), and then reweld it back on but 24mm closer in to the centre-line of the yoke (using the same alignment jig trick with the already reattached other side of the yoke).
Then Ill have what amounts to a "majorly mis-aligned butt-joint" in the main load bearing section of the swing-arm!!
Needless to say, I will then need to add some serious "bracket" plates of Aluminium to reinforce the joint... Again, Ill need a professional to do this - Whom I have already located :)))

The old "square" and boring (but eminently effective) swing-arm above, and the new "curvy" one below.

 
 The new swing arm as it is now with "cut-lines" indicated...


And a "photo-shopped" version of how it will hopefully look after the cutts and welds :)

OK, so that will get the new swing-arm to fit into the bike frame with the rear wheel centre-line on the centre-line of the bike!
But thats just the start of the fun!... Now, I have to get the chain to align between the front and rear sprockets... And that, is gonna be really tricky and is what Ive been carefully measuring things for...

Here are all the associated measurements:

For the Motorbike and old swing-arm:
Left Side Frame Pivot Hub face to Frame inside left face - 10mm
Front Sprocket Drive-Shaft face to Pivot Hub face - 18mm
Front Sprocket width - 6mm
Chain width (SV650 525 chain) - 22mm
Chain centre-line at Old Swing-arm pivot - 10mm inside of left side pivot face

For the new swing-arm:
Chain centre-line at New Swing-arm pivot - 20mm inside of left side pivot face
Chain centre-line clearance to left edge of rear tire - 29mm
Rear sprocket width 8mm

Now, Im pretty sure that all that will mean absolutely nothing to anyone reading this, but after having drawn myself up a very careful diagram of all the bits on graph paper, the following becomes clear...

... There is not a lot of space!
... And the front chain sprocket on the bike and the rear chain sprocket on the new swing-arm, are mis-aligned by about 18mm!... Which is lots... Which is a bummer!

OK so what can I do about that...
Easiest solution is to make a "tube" extension to the front sprocket to effectively move it further "out" from the bike centre-line... But with the existing sprocket position, there is only about 13mm of clearance between the outside edge of the chain and the inside edge of the bike frame.
And there needs to be about 5mm of clearance to allow for chain slack and flex...
So, the most I can move the front sprocket is about 8-9mm... Which doesnt solve my 18mm mis-alignment!

Hmmmm

OK, so what about the rear sprocket?
Well, I could do the same "tube" extension there but its a much larger sprocket diameter and it gets harder to do (and I think less mechanically sound too)...
But, if I measured correctly, I have 29mm of available space to the edge of the tire... But the tire is a LOT more flexible than the chain and when the bike is cornering, Im sure that inside edge moves by between 10-20mm!... So, realistically, I can only move it 8-9mm before I get into trouble... And, again, that does not solve my 18mm mis-alignment problem...

Hmmmm

But, as you have likely noticed, If I make the "acceptable" modifications to both the front AND rear sprocket positions, we get pretty much exactly the required re-alignment change! :)))

... And, the rear sprocket modification can be made without the difficult "tube" extension too... The rear sprocket width is 8mm... And I need to move the alignment inward by 8-9mm...
So, the simple solution is to machine off the "teeth" of an old sprocket and mount it as normal to the rear hub. Then, machine out the centre of a new (and slightly larger diameter - more teeth) rear sprocket to "clear" the wheel hub, and then drill and bolt it to the "inside" of the old sprocket disk... This will move the new sprocket by the exact 8mm requirement, and will also be strong and simple to construct :))

So, thats the chain alignment solution.

And the only other issue remaining, should be the suspension linkage...
... There is an attachment point on the bottom side of each of the swing-arms for the rear shock-absorber.
Needless to say, the two swing-arms have different attachment points...
So, again, this will require cutting and welding, but I think its pretty straight forward since I can simply cut the mount off the old swing-arm and weld it onto the new swing-arm in the correct location (after cutting the old mount off of that swing-arm too). Note again that professional welding skills are required here since this linkage point takes the full force of all rear wheel suspension forces... And the forces are amplified by the long swing-arm lever-arm and the short shock-absorber lever-arm... hmmm Need to add some reinforcing too!

Old and new swing-arm suspension linkage points

But, after having "done the math!", I now feel that I will be able to make it all work without too much expense or "precission machining/engineering"

... So now Im gonna commit to "start cutting" and we'll see how it looks after I get the modified swing-arm back. Then Ill fit it to the bike and do another careful re-measurement to confirm exactly what I need done to each of the sprockets.

Stay tuned for the next update on my SV650 Single Sided Swing-Arm Conversion :)))

A Suitable Interval

As Im sure some of you have noticed (and Im equally sure that others of you havent too), I havent posted anything on my blog for quite a while...
But I feel that a month is a "Suitable Interval" since the end of my tour, and now Im gonna put the od post up again :)

Ive been back in a "normal" life for about a month now and thats long enough for me to "get my stuff together" and so now Im starting in on my first "Project" :)
And as I suggested while I was on my ride, Ive been wanting to work on a couple of motorbike projects.
Now, Id like to do some modification work on the big touring bike, but since its my only form of transport, and my work is a 45 minute comute away, I kinda need the bike to be working ... ie I cant pull it to pieces and leave it that way for a week or a month etc.

So, Ive decided to work on the little "sport" bike project I had in mind...
I started tracking down parts for the project.
So, while I was looking for parts for this project on the local "Craigs List" web site, I came across a bike for sale of the right model year, and with the front end modifications I wanted to do already done.... So, I went and had a look at it and after much thought, I decided to buy it as the base for the modified bike...
I had to take some more money from my loan to do it, but it wasnt too expensive because its an old bike and its been a bit scratched up... Mechanically its very good but aesthetically it could use some more work :)

So, this is the bike (2002 Suzuki SV650S, with the front wheel brakes and suspension of a 2005 GSXR750)...




And then after some more hunting around on the web, and a few phone calls here and there, I found the other major component that Im looking for...

The rear swing-arm of a Honda VFR800...




Its a "single sided swing arm", which means that the wheel is only held to the bike on one side. And that makes the bike look much nicer as far as Im concerned :)... And thats all this project is about... It wont make the bike faster or handle better... Itll just look nicer :)

... But its gonna be quite an effort to get it done.
You see, the new swing arm doesnt naturally "fit" on the bike that I want to put it. Its too wide for the bikes frame, and the suspension linkage is different, and the chain alignment will need to be changes too... Its gonna need cutting and welding and machining etc. So, its a project that will take a while for me to find people to do the work I need done at a cheap price.
And then I need to get the body work painted... And there are a couple of other things that will take time to get done...

So, its gonna take a few months, but its a project that I want to do, and thats under way and that makes me happy, so I thought Id share it with you. There will be some more posts as the project progresses.

Trip Statistics

Well, it took me a full day to enter all the fuel-log information into my computer... But, now that its done, here are some of the statistics for the trip from Vancouver to Ushuaia and back.
... I find them interesting, but other people could also use them for trip planning :)))

Total Distance :........... 76,505 Km
Total Fuel Stops:.............. 230
Total Fuel Volume: ........ 3672 Litres
Total Fuel Cost: ..............3239 $Cad
Total Days: ........................311 (10 months and 1 week)

Average fuel cost: ..............89c/Litre
Max fuel cost: ..................196c/Litre - Argentina
Min fuel cost: ....................39c/Litre - Ecuador

Average efficiency: ...........20.815 Km/Litre
Max efficiency: .................. 25.2 Km/Litre
Min efficiency: ..................15.314 Km/Litre

Rear Tires: ..............5
Front Tires: .............3
Rear Sprockets: .......0.75
Front Sprockets: ......0.75
Rear Brake Pads: .... 2
Front Brake Pads: ....2
Chains: ....................3
Oil Changes: ............8

Flat Tires: ................1
Accidents: ................1

And, I think that wrapps it up for "the long ride" :))

Whoooa There! Big Fella

And "touchdown"!
Ive made it back to Vancouver Canada... Where I set out on this little jaunt, and the others from earlier in this blog too for that matter.



So, it took pretty much 10 months to ride to Ushuaia and back, and I covered 76,000Km (same as twice around the planet at the equator!).
I had only a single "self inflicted" riding accident (I fell off on a muddy section of dirt road) and
likewise had only one flat tire... Actually, thats only a single flat tire in over 145,000Km of riding now!

But, its now time to "let the tires cool" for a while so to speak and I expect to be here in Vancouver for a fair while... There is of course nothing certain about that as the future is always a mystery, but thats how it feels at the moment :)

And the bike definitely needs a rest too...
Its really worn-out at the moment, and I spent over $700 in a single "buy" yesterday with new tires, new bearings for the swing-arm, head-set, and rear suspension, as well as a new battery (which decided to die just after I got back!).
Actually, the old tires were so bad that the guys at the bike shop where I had them changed used the description of "suicidally worn" :) ... I personally think they still had a few more Km in them though I admit they were realllly bad :)))...
I bought the rear tire "used" in Argentina and put it on the bike in Costa Rica. I figured it would make it back to Canada OK from there, but it seems it was a very old tire as well as being used and the rubber was very dry... So, when inflated, the rubber developed big "splits" in the tread due to the stretching... And then, the really hot desert conditions for a few days meant they "melted away" quickly on the asphalt too! But, they got me back home safely, so Im happy :))


Split in the rear tire tread... Through to the belts!




Front tire went on in Colombia, but is now also virtually without tread :)


Apart from the splits, the rear tire had absolutely no tread left either.

So, Im back where I started and the trip is now over!
Actually, after just a day here in Vancouver, I already have that strange sort of sensation that the trip "never happened" if you know what I mean :)
I was expecting it, but its still a bit sad to have it all "in the past" rather than in the present and the future :)

There will be a couple more blog posts on fuel consumption etc, but thats about it for this trip, and future posts will be on my more mundane and domestic life here in the city...
So, my blogging will likely get much less interesting now... Though people are of course welcome to keep reading if it amuses you :)

Not sure what or when the next "long ride" will be, but if I manage to get the money together, and my butt forgets the discomfort then I guess the "dream" would be to ride North from South Africa, through western Europe, then East across northern Russia/Mongolia, and then South down through Asia...
But thats for the future!

... For the time being, Im spending my time trying to "re-assimilate" myself into the West Coast culture of Vancouver... Really Weird!" :)))

So, I guess Id like to say thanks for peoples supportive comments during my trip, and Im glad to have shared "me" with you...
If anyone wants to write me an email, then I have a hotmail account in my name "grant_else.
Other than that, I wish you all well and good luck in your own "voyages"... Whatever they may be and where ever they may lead you :)))

A Cautionary Tail

This posting is brought to you by Grant's butt!

Yes, I think its time I said my piece...
Now Grant has been gallivanting around on his motorbike for about three years now, and he has clearly been having a wonderful time going places and seeing things and meeting people etc. Hes clearly also been spending lots of time on introspection and has written about all his marvellous little "insights" etc...

But I have to say that for all his inner searchings he seems to have completely overlooked me!
Now, Ive never been particularly large or demanded much of his attention Ill admit, but I would have thought that that would make him pay all the more attention when I did speak up... But No, It seems he has been completely ignoring me for pretty much all of his motorbike touring...

Cos, Ive been complaining quite loudly, and almost continually since he started riding!

You see, I have very little padding at the best of times, and motorbike touring involves a great many hours sitting on the motorbike. Now, initially its not too bad of course, but after a week or so it starts to get to you, and after about three months the pain becomes positively diabolical!
You see, what happens is that with all the sitting down and not much walking around, combined with tropical climates (eating less, and the body seems to naturally lose weight), I have atrophied away quite a bit... And that means that there is even less padding and the seat is even more uncomfortable!

Now every three months or so its true, Grant did stop for a while in some place or other for a week or two... But that was just enough to start recovering rather than fully recover... But, then he'd ride on again for another month or so and do it again.
Then there were several larger breaks of several months too. But in the end these were just taunting me... It all seemed like some elaborate torture... No sooner would I think that the riding was over than it would start yet again!!
And it just went on and on, and on... For three years!!

But, It seems that its over now... At least for a while anyway.

It seems that there is nothing I can do about Grants motorbike riding habits, despite my complainings... But, let this be a warning to any others out there considering long "adventure tours"...

Do your butt a favour and invest in a REALLY comfortable seat upgrade for your bike BEFORE you set off!

... and now, I guess Ill "Butt Out" and leave you all alone again :))