Métis 2 Bobber Build

CAT3

CAT3

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I started this thread on a certain other forum & it was suggested I should put it up here too, so for anybody that is interested & has been blocked from that other forum, please enjoy.
Also, feel free to slag it off, I have broad shoulders & was subjected to ten years of abuse from a mate when I was building the last one so I doubt there's anything anybody can say that hasn't already been said. I won't be offended, espicially after said mate went out & bought a Fat Boy when Métis 1 was finished !!

Here's a couple of pictures of the first one so you have an idea of what is to come as the second will be in a similar style.
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Quick catch-up to get you up to where I am as of today .....
Leafer front forks arrived around January 2019,
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Added some grease nipples to the lower linkages & locking tabs to stop the front wheel axle coming loose,
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Front wheel rim & drilling/welding jig ready for welding the front disc mounting posts,
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Front caliper with 3D print of the mounting arm to check alignment prior to machining the final part. I made the one for the first bike on a manual milling machine & had it drawn on CAD in case I ever needed another making. That way I could have it easily made on a CNC machine rather than manually,
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Forming some mounts for the fuel tanks. The first bike had a single fuel tank that fitted between the two top frame tubes. This looked good, but limited capacity & hence range ! It held 9 litres, which is good for around 50 miles when you really need to be looking for fuel !
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Fuel tank mounts ready,
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Torque arm for the front brake,
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Front end ready for the frame,
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Rear wheel finished & ready for the frame,
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3D print of the rear caliper mounting bracket,
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Alignment of the rear caliper & bracket checked today,
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The two white plastic spacers will not be on the final version. The 3D printer bed was not wide enough to fit the mounting bracket on so we had to trim it down to fit on the bed. The posts on the finished alloy bracket will be the full height.

So, that's where I'm up to at the moment.
 
Exige said:
10 years you say :unsure: I might beat that @Creamy :whistle:
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When I'm working it is nearly always away from home. The long build period was mainly due to this, but it does have the advantage that when you are thinking about making a part, by the time you get home you've come up with a better way to do that job ! It also stops you rushing things !
Exige said:
I see you have a matching helicopter 🚁 very cool :cool:(y)
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Yes, I was into radio controlled helicopters at one point in the past. I built that scale model of the Cornwall air ambulance after working down at St.Mawgan for a while. I sold it to the Staffordshire air ambulance people who wanted it for fund raising apparantly.
 
I'll bet you could up-scale those to use on a motor bike ! They'd look good on an olde style flat tracker. ;)(y)
 
Noobie said:
What did you do at Mclaren sev, I bet you saw some fantastic engineering advances?
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I started there as a composite laminator in the building where the F1 composite parts were made, and then moved on to be part of the team who pioneered the bodywork technology on SLR, and then found myself in Formula 1 as a windtunnel modelmaker before ending up back at automotive as a design engineer in the bespoke pimp my ride department of special ops.

I wish I'd have spent more tome in Formula 1 but the resource restriction culling of 2010 say paid to that, and in truth when her ladyship got diagnosed with Lewy Bodies they would have just tossed me to one side anyway unless I could work around their demands.
I worked a weekend shift - 40 hours in 3 days, so it was 6 - 20:30 friday through sunday - but hell, 4 days off either side. Take two weeks off pro rata and you weren't in work for 21 days. When dad died I used those four days to go back and forth to italy to sort all the stuff out and not have to worry about using holiday up.

It was good Noobie, Automotive and the direction they've ended up in was a bit shit to be fair with accounts and marketing pretty much running the show, but formula one was a very intoxicating enviroment due to the designed today - made tommorrow - tested and on the car for the weekend mentality, that and the facilities at your disposal.

The carbon work on my original SS and all the one off bit of turning and machining on it were all done by me- in the modelshop we had a machineshop, trimming bay, sprayshop, autoclave and harness shop.
If I'd have known the true worth of a deutche AS connector or a Lemo connector at the time I'd have never followed my orders and thrown whole cabinet drawers of them away because it was cheaper to buy one new than spend time pissing around cutting the boots off them and fr pinning them ready for re-use!

It was a good gig that ran for two and a half decades and I'll be honest, I do miss it.

But electric glueing... I could watch those boys for hours - proper time served aerospace fabricators - I saw my first jaw dropping episode of man doing cobra welding in that fab shop.
 
sev said:
I really wish I'd have learnt myself some electric glueing.
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Me too !
The guy who made the exhaust pipes, (OJZ Engineering) on the first one was a brilliant welder, his welds looked like a machine had done them, they were so neat. He rekoned he could teach a monkey to weld & was a bit upset none of his three daughters showed any interest in learning, if he'd been closer to me I'd have taken him up on his offer ! ;)
Anyway, maybe Santa will bring me a TIG this Christmas ! :unsure: Then all I need to do is practice :ROFLMAO:
 
The lightweight, (because every little helps on anything H****y based :ROFLMAO:) titanium mounting bolts for the rear caliper arrived today. Trial fitted & wirelocked, (anything bolted to anything H****y based needs to be either wirelocked or loctited :ROFLMAO:) to check length of bolt & that the wirelocking clears the pad securing pins.
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And before any hawk eyed members say the caliper is mounted the wrong way round for a clockwise spinning wheel, (as you look at it in the picture) I figured it doesn't matter with that particular caliper as both the pistons are the same size.
 
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Slow progress at the moment, but the frame is ordered, should be ready in August & today I picked up the rear caliper mounting bracket that I've had a local engineering shop make for me. Very pleased with that.
Checked it all lines up correctly, which it does, so all it needs now is anodising, but that'll have to wait until all the alloy parts are ready & the anodisers have a minimum charge & that would make one-offs very expensive.
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CAT3 said:
Yes, one 10mm titanium bolt for the torque arm. It's the rear brake as well so I can't see it being a problem.
I can always increase the bolt diameter if it plays on my mind !! :unsure:
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It will be fine 👍
 
BobTheBounder said:
I'm sure it will mate, just thinking of the forces from braking combined with swing arm travel! 🤷‍♂️
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:ROFLMAO: Swing arm travel ? No such luxury, it's going to be a rigid rear end like the first build, bikes for real men, (or idiots) !! ;), see pic below. The small suspension units under the seat in this picture have been changed for slightly longer units now, but even so any comfort they might provide is minimal.
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Below is a better picture of the first build's rear brake set-up, four pot PM caliper & torque arm with 10mm bolts, standard A2 stainless in this case. This bike has now done over 2000 miles, weighs 256 kgs. & without any issues so hopefully the new bike will fair the same.
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Noobie said:
What shocks are you using under the seats chap?
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I can't remember exactly what make they are. Just cheap units off Ebay. I got the longest I could get that also looked right.
The look of the bike has to be right & that overrides how good they might perform. I can live with the first bike & accept it for what it is.
Cheap push bike suspension units seem to come with very strong springs fitted, far too strong to expect two to work with just my weight acting on them. I did think about air suspension units, but again they just do not look right for the style of the bike.
I did dis-assemble them, dumped the high pressure nitrogen they were charged with & replaced the oil with thinner oil & put lighter springs on them. Because they have to "look" right they are what they are & no amount of messing is really going to improve them beyond where they are now.
While building the first bike though I did speak with Maxton about making some one-off units, but Richard said it was just not possible to get enough travel for the length the unit had to be to look right. Basically they were too short to have enough travel.

However, with this second build I am going to put a little more time & effort into trying to sort this issue out. It will never be perfect, or even very good, but I am sure I can get it much better than it is on the first bike.
Currently I'm thinking if I can get a unit made by Maxton as short as possible, (one of their T260 units maybe) that has enough travel I might be able to come up with some linkages that will give a ratio that can use that travel & remain good to look at ? That remains to be seen & really I need the frame first to see what room I might have, what position the shock could be mounted in & where it could be mounted. This is bearing in mind I really want the oil tank & battery to be in the area under the seat, which is really where the seat shock needs to be mounted too !!
Like the first bike it will end up being a compromise & looks will take priority.
 
Have you thought of mountain bike shocks? This is just an example and many can be had by uk bicycle shocks suppliers to the length and weight limit

www.ebay.co.uk

1* - Bike Rear Shocks 165/190mm Bicycle Aluminum Alloy Spring Shock Absorber | eBay

Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for 1* - Bike Rear Shocks 165/190mm Bicycle Aluminum Alloy Spring Shock Absorber at the best online prices at eBay! Free delivery for many products!
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