Continuation of the diary:
13. September 2007:
As
promised I'll describe the changes on the frame. At the rear most has
happened, so I'll begin here. As you can see a lot has happened!
The
tail light bracket is the small bend piece of steel over what used to
be mounting for the fender and tail light. This is now were the license
plate is mounted. The fender is cut so it follows the frame and a new
bracket for it is welded on: the bracket with the holes!
The "lock box" was conceived after much consideration. I had to
find a solution that at one time gives the possibility to lock the seat
+ fastback and the seat alone. The solution was a simple letter box
lock from Ruko. When the fastback is on the lock catch goes into the
grove on the left side of the lock box. On the right side there is a
similar grove in the box further inside - exactly the thikness of the
fibre glass further. When the fastback is off I turn the lock up
side down and the catch goes into that grove. The choice of a Ruko lock
didn't come by chance. I actually have three new locks on/for the bike.
On top of the mentioned I have simple padlock that I use as a brake
disc lock and I've also made a helmet lock from a letter box lock - you
can see the pin that the catch grabs in the top of the picture. Another
argument for the Ruko's: it's the same type we have in our house -
which minimizes the "key-inferno" that most people know of.
The last thing you can see in the first picture below are the
holders for the indicator lights: It's the to pibes that are "bored
through" and welded to frame. This makes the indicators look as if they
are natural part of the frame. The old brackets have nuts welded to
them and are now the mounting place for the pannier rack.
Next photo shows the brackets for the foot pegs: a simple piece of
steel has been welded on. This is the brake-side. As you can see I have
welded on a small pin for the pedal return spring.
I also took a photo of the old brackets, or rather the ones that
aren't there anymore. I didn't cut them completely, because they help
stiffen the frame.
In the fourth picture you can see the rear are the seat pins.
I
decided to keep them and build the seat "around" them. I possibly could
have made are more elegant solution, but early in the process I tied
myself to the solution and after all it works well in everyday life. I
still had to cut some af the rear pins to make room for both the seat
and the fastback, so they would go flush with the frame.
The seat is
mounted like this: The pins have large headed bolts are screwed in. In
the seat there are hook brackets. The seat is place over the bolts and
pushed forward. The lock is put into place and keeps the seat from
sliding back.
Last photo shows the side panel brackets. Originally there are pins
welded to them. These have been bored away. Instead I have cast pins
into the side panels that go into (a rubber plug in) the holes . This
way the panels are all smooth.
In
the photo to the right you can see where starter relay was
mounted. The bracket has been cut off and the relay is now mounted to
the battery tray.
The last change is purely optical. At the brake cylinder there is a
small dent in the frame. It's there so the brake lining can go behind
the side panel and be hidden. But because I didn't want to hide
anything the dent was of no use and looked out of the place, so I
welded a piece of a pipe to the frame to cover it up. Sorry, I don't
have a before-photo, but connoiseurs know what has happened.
That's
all the frame changes. On a list it doesn't look like much, but there
was a lot of measurements that had to be perfect and I'm also not the
best welder = a lot of work wih the angle grinder = many man hours. Oh
yeah, I also removed a lot of welding spatter (that was there
from new) and I also polished some of the worst looking weldings.
The early frame are nicer welded, I've seen!
Now that I have
described this, I probably should take some photos of the finished
features so you better can see how the details work. But first I wanted
to describe the constructional details and after that I will describe
how they work in practice.