Not another Yamaha Road Star

[utzelu]

Hi everybody,

Being a fan of chopper/cruiser motorcycles, I got the Tamiya's Yamaha XV1600 kit a year ago and started the journey of building it. I am now at a stage where I can share something with you so decided to start this WIP thread.

From the start I decided that I won't build it box stock but will try to customize it slightly, mainly by making new wheels and brake disks, slamming the rear and cleaning some details. I am shooting for a hot rod look.

The wheels are already done, they need more polishing, but will do it in the end. They are turned on lathe in aluminum and probably you will see a minor resemblance to Harley's Fatboy rims I think they are suited to the bike pretty good.

Few photos of the bike:



Solo seat, no pillion here





Only one brake disk on the front end. Will make custom ones.

Questions, comments and suggestions are welcome.

[ChristopheB]

Interesting!

[Twowheelsrule]

Nice start! I have always thought that the Yamaha kit could make a neat custom!

[utzelu]

Indeed, the 1:1 Road Star customization is very popular among owners. The bike has a classic look and neat lines which makes it ideal candidate after HD.

Back to the kit, I want to slam the rear as low as possible, but in order to do so, the rear shock absorber and suspension arms have to be lengthen. The shock in the kit is mainly one piece so I decided to make a new one. I hacked the kit part with the plan to reuse some plastic sub-components. The rest are turned on the lathe from aluminum and stainless steel. The suspension arms and bushes are made in brass.

Here is how it looks currently. Planning to make a new spring as well. Any suggestion on what king of wire to use?

[utzelu]

Hi everybody,

This update is all about the brake disks. The original bike has two disks upfront and due to their style, they cover too much of the wheels. Being true to the custom fashion, I decided to make new ones and use only one disk on each axle.

It took me two attempts to make them, since I broke a 0.6 mm drill and couldn't get it out, so I had to scrap the part and start again. The disks are turned on the lathe from aluminum bar and should attach to the wheel hubs with 0.5 mm micro bolts.

Below some photos of the process and final result.



The bar was turned to final diameter and the whole pattern was started. After all wholes were drilled, the disk was cut-off the bar.



Front disk is not yet attached with bolts.



Rear wheel with the new disk.



Current progress on the bike. Notice the rear is lowered considerably.

[utzelu]

Hi everybody,

Last evening I was thinking about modifying the final drive and make it look more realistic. As you know, the kit part is molded as one piece, having together the drive pulleys and belt drive. It would be nice to have them as separate pieces. So I did a search on the web and found out that SDP makes miniature timing belts which should fit just fine: http://www.sdp-si.com/eStore/, part # A 6B18M145030. I think will order few of these to try them.

Do you have any other ideas for drive belts?

[cinqster]

Have a look for scanner/printer spares, or find a junk one! They have miniature toothed drive belts...nice build BTW!

[utzelu]

Hi all,

One smaller build update: the rear stop light. I decided not to use the stock part from the kit as it looks too "classic" and the light is just too big for the custom look I am aiming for. Instead, I used one of the blinkers which seems to clean the look of rear fender much better. The part in the kit is clear plastic and I used some Tamiya clear red paint to brush it from the inside. Fender was drilled for a tight fit.

What do you think of the look now?

[MarcoMoto]

I like the simplification! We have the same lathe and mill setup, very nice machining you've done, Watching with interest! Marco

[utzelu]

Today's update is not about the progress on the bike build but about one of the tools I am making - a miniature tube bending device. I intend to make a custom exhaust pipe for the Yamaha and some other parts in the future. The pipes will be made from brass tubing and I would need a way of bending them. This tool should accommodate different tube diameters (3-4 mm) and bents radius.

I was lucky to found the CAD plans on the internet and I only had to adjust the dimensions and simplify it a bit by removing parts I won't need. Here is the 3D CAD model of the tool.



And some photos of some of its constituent parts already made:





And here is just a sneak peek of the custom bike I am designing currently in 1:12 scale. Hopefully I will manage to make the model someday.

[MarcoMoto]

Great work! I saw your design earlier. I am bending some tubing now, but need to flare (widen) it at the exit end... AFTER bending it in a curve. Any ideas?
Watching with interest! Marco

[utzelu]

I know that on 1:1 scale flaring is done with specific devices, but I guess on 1:12 scale you need some cone shaped tip (e.g. from a scriber) and a way to hold the tube tight.

I would be interested to know how do you bend tubing.

[MarcoMoto]

I have a small tubing bender, it is a simple 1"piece of hexagonal brass bar stock, with a groove turned into it matching the diameter of the tubing to bend. It has a small hole drilled for a pin that holds the tubing at the end. I plan to just make one on the lathe (30 minutes) for my TZ250M exhaust tube exits.
It is not adjustable for radius, or different tubing sizes like yours is...

[Roggan]

I would be very interested in the plans or cad file for the tube bender.

[ketje]

looking great so far.

Do you have some pictures working on the rimms? How many parts are there to make one of these?