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Mindis V7-850 Mods

Made latch pin for my seat from some bolt, epoxied in.



No more updates on my seat for now but I started something else, I usually have few things on the go at the same time :)
Belly pan/front lower fairing thingy. Covered front of the engine with masking tape and cling film (or Ceram wrap lol), taped rigid insulation foam and sprayed with expandable foam:



Some cutting, shaping, sanding, more foam, more shaping...



Once I was happy with the looks, I put some paper mashe using tinted resin and kitchen towel. That does few things. First, bondo is corrosive to the foam and will prevent bondo from eating the foam. Second, just bondo on the foam will cave in when sanding so it needs a little rigidity. Just a little is enough, that's why I used kitchen towel instead of fiberglass. It's obviously cheaper but nevermind that, it'll sand easier then fiberglass. Last thing, I tinted the resin black because bondo is light gray, it'll be easier to see if I'm sanding my mold too thin.

 
DeadEye said:
Towel, like a no-name J-cloth ?
( thin and less fuzz/lint )
Is this going to be a form for some more CF :)
Click to expand...
Yes and yes :)

While I'm waiting on resin to cure, I jump back on my seat. In order for me to have my seats interchangeable, my new taillight unit has to be removable. This time I didn't want it to be attached to my bumstop as I found it a wee bit inconvenient unplugging taillight connector every time I want to remove my seat. And as it didn't fit in the place I want I chopped of some rear section after seat latch:



Secured my taillight in the place and glued with quick set epoxy...





... and then reinforced with fiberglass strips:



For the front to slide in I made fiberglass "L" bracket, punched through the top and hotglued so...



...so it won't move while I'm reinforcing with fiberglass at the bottom:



Also I made fiberglass tube, cut in half lengthwise and epoxied in place. That's where the most weight of my skinny a$$ will be, on the frame rails. And that, along with "L" bracket that slides under the tank, will stop any seat movement. Latch pin turned out really good as well, much tighter with less play then original, seat clicks in nice and tight :)
 
Carry on with my seat, few passes of expandable foam:



Shaping:



Instead of resin paper mashe I tried something else that works the charm as well. Stretched over the foam masking tape and Tyvek tape on top:



And 2 layers of fiberglass is on:



Only 2 layers doesn't have that much structural rigidity, but I'll have carbon fiber shopped strands on top and latch support underneath. If it'll feel too thin I can always add another layer on the inside later. Now I'll have to wait few days for it to cure... It's +5C in my tent, same as outside, bondo and resin takes forever to cure LOL
Speaking of which, my bondo/sanding marathon is on for belly pan mold. As it is not a negative mold it doesn't have to be super perfect but still, it'll be days till I can start forming

 
DeadEye said:
I don’t know if anyone here is familiar with the TV show Goblin Garage ?
In one épisode they used thick Yoga mat to build a bikes seat cushion, just thought I’d mention it, don’t know what you had in mind…
Click to expand...
I stitched a cafe racer style seat for my Honda CT70 and used layers of carpet underlay foam LOL Turned out pretty good for an offroad minibike but for this I'll leave it to professionals. I learned to sew when I was 7 but haven't done it that much, don't want to butcher it...
There's a guy on FB that does seats, I like his work, check him out- "ph.mototrim". I think he's based in UK, dunno yet. When I'll have my seating part formed then I'll start searching and pricing around:)
 
Belly pan mold sanded and painted. Waxed and PVA release agent is on, ready for fiberglass:





Back to my seat, bumstop shell is sanded, glued to main seat and I could start carbon chop strands:





and.... other than few empty bottles of beer I've nothing more to show, for now... lol
 
I've been slacking lately on my mods... Spring is coming, I better get a grip and get stuff done, my riding season is nearly open:)

Seat is getting coats of resin between sanding and curing in my kitchen, still too cold in my workshop:


When ya think ya know it nearly all, there's still more to discover! I've been working with composites non stop since I built my first fiberglass model boat 38-ish years ago, and only now discovered how to achieve a semi-satin carbon fiber finish without using clear coat spray. After wet sanding with 1K grit, apply lean diluted resin and wipe it off dry. Jeez, I should've known that decades ago... LOL So now I'm fixing my other parts, here's my fixed flyscreen:



Belly pan needs exhaust on first, which needs a center stand before that:



Your screen is not crooked, my center stand bracket is!:D Well, it's not crooked, it's just 2 bars are not parallel to each other. Back bar is square to the frame, the one where evap can used to sit. Originally I wanted my center stand to pivot on that one but my center stand was sticking out way past my exhaust when folded up. So I thought I'll utilize 2 eyelets on the frame but hey, they're not square to each other!!! One is further forward than other... Oh well, I ran out of patience by keep on remaking my center stand and tied it as it is. Legs are strong and stiff, square to the bike, parallel and level when folded, so screw this, it stays on for this season...
And as yas can see, my exhaust is bolted on for good. I'll button up few things till weekend and she'll be ready for upMap and test ride:)







And yes, my pads are from real 10mm wrenches. If ya are a wrench monkey, ya know that struggle is real...

 
DeadEye said:
So if I get this right, you made a bracket to move the pivot for the stand further forward, so the legs don’t stick out past the exhaust tips . 👍

Can’t wait to see the cowel finished ;)
Click to expand...
Yes, correct! I kinda thought that kickstand is more safer/sturdier overall on bikes but I'm happy to be wrong here :)
 
Belly pan coming along as well. Sanded fiberglass part, figuring out mounting brackets under the engine:



While doing that I had a "squirrel!" moment and realized that I can ride without belly pan but can't without number plates... It was my plan to make behind the wheel bracket for a long time but somehow it was postponed all the time LOL
First I thought I'll make a solid mold from sheet metal so I can make the bracket entirely from carbon fiber, honeycomb style:



But then I change my mind... It'd be a lot of work, lots of carbon and resin that would add quite some weight. And I think it would look too big and bulky and wouldn't suit my vision. So instead I welded a frame from 3/16 rod:





3/16 rod is a bit too thin but I used it coz I'll be encasing it in carbon fiber to have a solid structure that doesn't flex. As I've seen in videos when people had only rod welded frame, sometimes it resonates at a certain speeds/RPMs. For the same reason I also wanted to have a 3 point mounting system. At the middle of swingarm it'll bolt through swingarm and brake caliper holder arm- existing 6mm hole, second point will be instead of shock mount washer, and it wraps around caliper's holder arm at at the axle:



 
Sorry, but that wire “wrap” between the swing arm and brake caliper bracket makes me feel uncomfortable- :envy:
A big fat, flat washer with the wire welded to the edge would seem sturdier and remove any chance of that 3/16 wearing , coming out and leaving some “FREE play “ back there !!

2 cents from the concerned armchair :(
 
Seems to be on the very flimsy side, even if you add carbon...being unsprung mass... lots of stress and vibration on that part..
I would hate to see the whole thing with the license plate makes a trip around the wheel...
 
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I hear your concerns lads, much appreciated👊
By "wrapping" I'm planning to make it a rectangular frame, basically 12mmX20mm thickness carbon fiber frame with that 3/16 rod embedded inside. And while forming, use carbon fiber cloth between the layers of chop strands, what would give torsional and overall extra strength, compared to just chop strands for forged carbon looks. I think just just carbon fiber part would be too bulky and too heavy coz I'd have to make it bigger. I'm not forming it with vacuum in a negative mold coz it's only one-off piece, therefore the part becomes heavier and less rigid. So to have my guessed strength I'd have to make it bigger. So the rod inside will give me the strength and carbon box on the outside will eliminate'ish torsional flex... allegedly... hopefully...:D
And about that loop- it's job is just to prevent bottom part of the bracket moving left and right, which I think should be more then enough of that 3/16 rod, barring in mind that the section between 2 mounting bolts will have no flex at all. That of I'm very sure. My major concern is just that torsional flex after shock mount point.
On things like that I "shoot from the hip", based on knowledge and experience I've gain since starting DIYing just after I was out of diapers:D (sorry, too cocky here LOL) I sure do fail once a while but most of the time my aim is good'ish or I'm not too far off.
I'm prepared to fail on this one as well, that's how I learn :) I left enough space between number plate and the wheel incase I'll have to beef it up, so I can do it on inside of the bracket not to disturb exterior looks.
Resonance is a mysterious force that is hard to predict, sometimes it works in a complete opposite way that you think it should, I learned that from my UAV and drones hobby. Metal resonates well, composites barely do, so I hope my mix of two will work...
 
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