Phat Trakka

[tz375]

I don't like the gaps I'm getting behind the front number plate, so I decided to fabricate a carbon fiber box to hide the electrics in.

I started with a sheet of cardboard and made an open box out of that. Then I covered that in Aluminum duct tape for stiffness and then waxed that a couple or 4 times. A very simple plug.

Between the cold weather and old resin, the dam thing is still soft 24 hours later. It'll cure in a month or two I'm sure, but I may need to rethink that particular decision. I could have made the same thing out of thin steel in half the time and with no stinky fumes invading the house.

Today's drama was the heater is melting the snow on the shop roof which is dripping on the front drive and then sneaking back under the door and flooding the shop floor. The problem is the mountain of snow and buried trailer outside which makes t impossible for the snow melt to flow away.

Winter is getting old...

[Suzukidave]

The CF box for the wiring should look cool , i picked me up a food vacuum packer machine with plans to play with some carbon fiber . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD1jImn5 ... 129FBCB947" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tz375]

Hopefully it will largely be invisible behind the front plate between the fork legs. I just need to make a few bits disappear into a black hole that no one should notice.

I should really just have made something in steel and welded it together, but I'm not much good at welding either..

Vacuum bagging has to be the way to go. I'll need to do that for a couple of other parts I'm thinking about.

[tz375]

The box was still too flimsy, so this afternoon I slapped another 3 layers of C/F on with way too much resin and it set up quite quickly this time.

This evening I trimmed and drilled it while it's still fairly green. Next I need to work out how to mount it. I did make a small L shaped c/f bracket but that's not going to fit so well. Something will come to me when it gets back into double digit temperatures again.



Not pretty, but it's stiff and when the trimming is finished it should work to hide the front end electrics - I hope

[oldjapanesebikes]

The CF box for the wiring should look cool , i picked me up a food vacuum packer machine with plans to play with some carbon fiber . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kD1jImn5 ... 129FBCB947" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good video - thanks ! Its always a good day when you learn something new !

[tz375]

Dave,

Do you have any idea how much vacuum, it needs to pull? Pumps seem to range from around 50 to 350 and supplies are not cheap either.

Maybe I should make the side cover molds and get someone who knows what they're doing make the parts. My shop is not set up for this sticky smelly stuff which seems to get everywhere.

[Suzukidave]

Richard , from what i have seen , 1 atmosphere is good enough http://www.jcrocket.com/kitchenbagging.shtml" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[tz375]

It's alive.....

No paint and nothing working quite right, so I worked through a few minor issues and connected up a remote tank (motion pro). Of course the center cab is leaking so I had to drain the fuel out of the tank and now I have to drain the carbs and see what is causing the float valve to stick open.

The carbs were full of fuel, fire extinguishers were positioned either side of the bike just in case and the battery was charged so I app0lied choke, kicked it over once and then flicked on the power and kicked it once to see how many kicks it would take to fire it up - if at all.

One kick. Yep. It fired on the first kick and sounds so sweet with that Straeder 3 inot 1 exhaust, Blipped the throttle and she's good to go. Now I need a video cam to prove it - after I fix that leak of course.

I was surprised to say the least. Now I have to clear the fumes from the garage and house before SWMBO gets home.

[Suzukidave]

Thats great Richard i bet it did sound wild with the 3 into 1 in a closed garage

[CJF]

I've been thinking about playing around with some carbon fiber as well. Do you have a good source for the fiber sheets?

[Suzukidave]

I've been thinking about playing around with some carbon fiber as well. Do you have a good source for the fiber sheets?

Check first for maybe a local supplier in the phone book or internet .

[tz375]

I searched on line for different suppliers and in the end I got it from an ebay supplier. It sells by the foot in 50" width or something like that and is shipped on a stiff roll so it is not bent or creased.

I used polyester resin because I had it and because I sandwiched a layer of chopped strand in the middle. Chopped strand is held together with a binding agent which is dissolved by polyester resin but not by epoxy resin, so if you are using 100% Carbon, go with epoxy, but if you have any fiberglass in the layup, you need a regular resin.

[tz375]

I now understand why there are so many crappy unedited videos out there. I grabbed a few minutes of video this evening of the bike. I used a simple digital camera with video option and it saves the file in.MOV format. Of course if I want to edit that on my Windows PC I need to convert it and then use editing software and so on and so forth.

Of course when I tried to to start the bike, I forgot the kill switch was off. The bike ran but sounded rather flat, but that's life. Then I looked at the motor and realized that I was halfway through replacing the plug caps and the right one had been removed and not replaced.

Now I know it runs, the body work and electrics can be tidied up and finished off.

So here is a very poor quality video of the Phat Trakka running on two cylinders.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRXOWegZfBw

[Suzukidave]

[ja-moo]

I have the same dash, looking good!