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Yep... I checked and I apparently bought only front ones. Somehow I thought I got a set of front+rear LOL All good, now I have extra for the front, I'll get back at shopping later
There won't be any difference in airflow coz rubber Y is still there underneath and unchanged. Carbon fiber part is only lightweight casing around rubber Y, only for looks. Don't tell that anyone and no one will find out that's only smoke n' mirrors...
I have a thin and lightweight outer shell now, with the ends still open rubber so I won't have trouble installing it:
But before I re-assemble my intake, I'm gonna visually "empty" the space under the tank/seat. First I re-routed starter's positive to go under the airbox:
I don't like ground wire coming down from under the seat straight down, just poking my eyes...
It'll go from engine to battery under the airbox. There's 3 ground wires are connected to main heavy ground. I cut them and will solder extension for them to go around. Next I'll tackle crankcase breather and tidy up ABS+rectifier.
Wheel covers!
Well, since I haven't found a wealthy cougar yet, Kineo spoked wheels is still a far away dream, but until then, my pimped carbon rear wheel covers will do just fine. It's not for aerodynamics, not turbofan style to cool brakes, bike will not go or accelerate faster (nor slower), not for anything but the looks. It's all for the looks
I'm well aware of unsprung mass and how it works, that the same weight in your pocket is miles apart to same weight on a rotating object due to mass vs inertia vs centrifugal force and bla bla bla, I'm still doing it! LOL My targeted weight is around 350gr but realistically I could hit up to 500gr for both covers. Michelin Road 6 rear tire is ~800gr lighter than Arrowmax that came with the bike so either way I will not loose anything.
I've been brainstorming this for a while so once everything was figured out I jumped to work on them. Started with quick sketch. Not detailed, not scaled, just to write few measurements somewhere:
I could just make 2 flat discs and bolt them on but no... If it's not overcomplicated and over engineered then it's not good enough for me And I want my covers to go right up to the tire, anyone can cut 2 flat discs.... Last year at Vancouver-Guzzi-coffee meet Tobinh offered me 3D printing help but I'm too stubborn to ask for help so I just go and make a big mess in my shop by making my mockups from MDF. I mean BIG mess, like half of my shop was left covered in MDF even with extraction fan and vacuum running...
3D printing them would've saved a ton of work, because it can be done as negative mold straight on and mold prep would take minimal effort and time, but I'm the best finishing carpenter in town and can hammer them out quicker than someone can design on a computer and 3D print them. Not self proclaimed but still sounds cocky LOL ...and that's only for mockup discs, finishing them to make negative molds will take so much time that I'll definitely loose the race against new technology... Well, I'm cheap and olds'cool so here we are
After a jigsaw/router/sander session I got a pair of MDF mockup wheel covers:
Not to loose centers/alignment/plane most of the rings were glued together while on a wheel:
So here's what they gonna look like on the bike:
I like symmetry but that's not happening here. One side is gear drive and the other has to clear brake caliper. So what I could do here is to have at least outer ring the same on both sides. Caliper side had to be a deeper dish, I have 8mm clearance from caliper to wheel cover:
And I accounted for caliper to slide left/right as well. I have 8mm clearance as well with caliper fully slid closer to wheel cover. Pads wear more or less evenly so caliper will not not go fully right but still
My mockups are 4mm thick on the edges, that's coz I have to have some meat on MDF not to break it. Finished carbon wheel covers will be nearly flush to the wheel:
To eliminate any movement or wobble of them on the rim, they'll be glued to retaining rings. Them rings need to be tight tight to the rim so I waxed well the rim and made 2 retaining rigs straight on the wheel:
Forged carbon fiber I'm using is 10-15mm chopped strands. In my eyes it looks well on a smaller parts but I believe it might blend and pattern might visually disappear on a bigger area like wheel cover. And just from a bit further away it'll look just black and that's it. So I'm gonna try something new here. I ordered a diamond flake shape chopped carbon:
These are larger flakes what will visually pop out carbon pattern, theoretically. And because they're cut from unidirectional flat strip, they're thinner compared to chop strands, so I'll need less resin to cover same area, theoretically
I also got 6061 alOOOOminum rod to make 6 standoffs on a lathe to hold both covers together. I'm not using heavy bolts there LOL I also ordered industrial grade A carbon cloth coz I wouldn't trust cheap Chinesium carbon here. On non structural parts for dressups cheap carbon works the charm, but on them wheel covers I'm not cheaping out, not cutting corners, not rushing and doing everything the right way- structurally sound, molded with vacuum. Once a while I like WOT and I can't have any failures at 200km/h...
Although I think you are certifiably nuts, the way you hack up on your motorcycle, I am simply fascinated at the way your mind works and your mad fabrication skills.
Just thinking out loud, the most important aspect of this ” project” will be balance…
it these things are out of whack ( unbalanced) you will know it…
so there needs to be some sneaky place you can attach ( stick) tire weights , just in case….
Just thinking out loud, the most important aspect of this ” project” will be balance…
it these things are out of whack ( unbalanced) you will know it…
so there needs to be some sneaky place you can attach ( stick) tire weights , just in case….
I probably won't be able to balance each cover separately but I will have the whole wheel balanced. I bet It'll take me at least half a day but I already had a plan before I even considered starting making them
1. Put the rim on balancer and find the heavy side, open a beer.
2. Mount tire's heavy side opposite to rim's heavy side.
3. Temporary balance the wheel with masking tape on wheel weights.
4. Assemble wheel covers, check for balance.
5. Disassemble and assemble wheel covers 6 times by rotating them by one bolt (I'll have 6 standoffs clamping covers together) and using temporary weights, to find assembled cover's heavy side that needs the least weight, open another beer.
6. Disassemble wheel covers to take out temporary wheel's weight.
7. Assemble covers with heavy side opposite to wheel's heavy side.
8. Balance the whole thing with masking tape on weights.
9. Disassemble covers to stick on weights permanently on the inside of the rim.
10. Assemble all for good
This way I'll have a bare minimum weight needed to balance the whole lot. I obviously won't be able to do dynamic balance (I think it's called lateral as well), but that's only computerised machines can. Left wheel cover will be a wee bit heavier than right one because caliper side needs deeper dish and hole around wheel's hub is smaller than gear drive side's one. I would not be able to grind down heavier cover to reduce the weight and I don't want to glue any weights on a lighter cover because I don't want to take any chances of it flying off due to inertia. I have faith in my composites but there's a Lithuanian saying- "even a broom stick can fire once" LOL Covers will be molded with vacuum what gives the most strength of a composite and I'm not tempering with that structure after. Every now and again I'm cutting corners there or there but definitely not on this part...
Before I start prepping cover mockups for their negative molds, I sealed MDF with a coat of resin to prevent primer and paint soaking in MDF. I gotta have an immaculate finish because whatever finish I have, my pieces will be exactly same. Any bodywork's results is 90% prep
The good news is that my covers will look awesome, or at least I think so LOL I got my diamond flakes in the mail and spread out to visualize the pattern. That carbon sparkle will tone down once I have satin finish and the size of them flakes is exactly what I was hoping for
The bad news is that I won't have enough flakes for both wheel covers. I've barely barely enough for one... That is because I've never made anything with them flakes so I had no clue what's the coverage would be and just shot from the hip when ordering them. To guess a single layer coverage by flake's weight is very tricky... I knew I was gonna be short and was ready to fill gaps in pattern with forged carbon chopped strands, but I'm waAAAy too short for that, so I ordered more and have to wait for few weeks now. I have enough for one cover anyway so no stalling, I've negative molds to make first anyway. Let's make sm mess with smooth tile leveling grout:
That was a test for me for my patience... I can spend countless hours refining a part but watching paint dry is my kryptonite... I put extra water in the mix so when it fully dries, it shrinks a tiny bit and it makes it easier to de-mold without chiseling MDF. So I had to wait for 2 days for it to cure completely not to take a chance of it cracking when de-molding. Geez... If a granny in a shopping line counts her pennies for too long, I feel the need to shank her in the carpark later, that's how much patience I have.... LOL
Well, taking extra time to wax my molds few more times paid off as well, negative molds popped out effortless!
I carry on "emptying the space". Crankcase breather instead of going up, goes back, tight to the block:
Then at the left cylinder goes up together with sparkplug wire. I think that's the spot where it will be least visible:
To get rid of the hose at the front of airbox I made a thingy:
Drilled a hole on the left side of airbox, threaded, and JB welded in place. Dunno if that's a word but it is now LOL I also cut the stubby at the front, threaded, and performed a adhesion job called JB welding
So now my breather hose will be hidden under side cover:
Installed my intake Y. It was all fun and games taking out rubber Y but when it became solid carbon with only ends still rubber, the fun became "fun" LOL I had to loosen airbox to wiggle that thing in, then wiggle intakes in, then squeeze their gaskets in, tighten everything and then clamps. Before I committed to skin it with carbon I took it in and out couple of times to make sure I will be able to install it when it becomes non flexible, but I forgot how I was meant to do it so I did the hard way
I also don't like looking at wiring mess every time I take off my seat so tidied up everything in my battery compartment. Since I have lipo, I've plenty of space there. Even Evap's valve thingy fits there, and I still have space left.
The pic will go to my phone's secret folder with the rest of "special" pics and videos
