Bike build: air gas hybrid

[jeremy_nash]

hard to tell from the pic, but what are you going to do for the gas lid? doesnt appear to be inset like on the stock tank?

[saxman]

hard to tell from the pic, but what are you going to do for the gas lid? doesnt appear to be inset like on the stock tank?

I have a low profile gas lid in the mail. When I pull the carbon part out, I'll bond it directly to the tank. It will stick up a little tiny bit.

[jeremy_nash]

cool, surely as detail oriented as you seem to be you didnt forget, was just curious what you were gonna use

[saxman]

cool, surely as detail oriented as you seem to be you didnt forget, was just curious what you were gonna use

I'll post up pictures when I get to that step.


Popped the mold from the bottom of the tank just now. Easiest mold I've ever had release. Loving this new wax I'm using.

[saxman]

First mold piece. Needs trimmed and cleaned still.

[saxman]

Bottom mold is out, cleaned up, and ready to go



Started working on the top half.

A layer of plaster goes down and is allowed to dry. When I pull it off, it's perfectly shaped to the contour of the tank. I can then trace that onto a piece of wood and cut out the piece that will act as a parting line between the two halves of the top mold.




Also, gas cap showed up from Hong Kong today. Not bad for $20.

[saxman]

molds are coming along nicely

[saxman]

Today's work meant popping off the two top halves of my molds.

Before popping


Fresh off the plug. Came out beautifully


All three molds fresh from the plug, almost ready to lay up carbon

[Paulcet]

[GI_JO_NATHAN]

Nice! That looks like a lot of work.

[saxman]

Nice! That looks like a lot of work.

That's an understatement.

[saxman]

And this is how we make the bottom of a tank...



Going to get 4 layers of 2x2 twill carbon, cut at 60 degree angles for maximum strength. Extra layer of carbon added where the mounts will go, and a layer of unidirectional carbon where the fuel pump will mount for a little extra strength.

Everything gets laid up on the mold, then a layer of peel ply added on top, followed by the red mesh to allow channels for air flow, then a cheap towel on top to soak up any extra resin.

Everything in the bag under vacuum...



The bottom of the tank should weigh in at under 200 grams.

[saxman]

Fresh from the mold



Trimmed up

[redhenracing2]

So if one were to want to learn to do this, would you have any good informational sources for this procedure? And where do you get the actual carbon fiber and resin from?

[dohabee]

That looks pretty cool so far.

How do you plan to join the pieces of the tank together?

[saxman]

That looks pretty cool so far.

How do you plan to join the pieces of the tank together?

The molds were designed so that there's about a 2" overlap between the top piece and the bottom piece. I'll literally glue it together.


redhen... the forums over at fibreglast.com have some good information. I wouldn't recommend buying anything from them, their prices have always been highway robbery. I order most of my stuff through uscomposities.com

[badguy]

Wow, I forgot about this thread...great to see you're making progress

[saxman]

Wasn't happy with how the bottom of the tank turned out. It had some wrinkles in it that would cause problems when I join the tank halves...

so I made another one


New one on the right... used a different weave carbon, and added a layer of fiberglass to the top and bottom so there's no chance of reaction between the cf and the aluminum in the fuel pump. Just being overly cautious.



Also, worked on the throttle bodies for while. This is mocked up using an 01-03 gsxr 600 throttle body. I have a set of sv650 throttle bodies in the mail as well. We'll see if they work better.

[redhenracing2]

The new one looks much better, keep up the good work.

[saxman]

The new one looks much better, keep up the good work.

Yup. I lost vacuum while the first one was curing. Caused it to pull up. The second one was actually laid up without the vacuum bag. Ordered some new sealant tape for my vacuum bags. Hopefully it'll work better when I do the top half of the tank.

Top part of the tank will have 2-3 layers of kevlar. Maybe I should name the bike bulletproof.