Sunday, March 11, 2012

The Incredible Shrinking Frame.....

Sean brought me this frame after he mocked up his bike, and didn't like the proportions of this pro-street (I think it was an early Chopper Guys) frame. It was stretched out 2" in front, "0" up, and stretched 2 1/2" in the tail section. Sean wanted the rear section shrunk the 2 1/2", the neck rake taken from 36 degrees to 30 degrees, and the downtubes redone so they and the neck area more resembled an "oem-style" frame in those areas. Plus, he brought me a tank he wanted Frisco'd and mounted while I was into the framework. Here's how we went about it....
You can see the 36 degree rake of the neck well in this photo. The idea is to make a cut parallel and behind the neck's original welded area (stopping about 3/8" from cutting it all the way through), take about a 3/16" wide (at the bottom) wedge cut out of the backbone, heat that area, and bend the neck back in for 30 degrees - then reweld and blend in the cut.
After some quick guesstimates, it looks like an 11 degree bend in the new downtubes' lower splice areas will hit the backbone in the location we want.....
The new downtubes ready for their final trimming, fishmouthing, and beveling.......
New downtubes welded in place, and starting the "oem-style" neck area with the neck lower web support. Hey, thank God for snake welding magnets. They're pretty handy.....
Slugged, plugged, and ready for final welding. The rear section was shrunk in the seating area, and the lower legs for the rear section were shortened, then realigned with the axle plates. As a bonus, shrinking the rear section like we did also lowered the rear axle height another 1 3/4". Looks a lot different now than when it came in here, and Sean liked the proportions a lot better.
Here it is, ready to go home - shrunken, with a Frisco'd late Sporty tank we did, and an 8" fender mounted to cover a wire wheel with a 180/60-17 tire. Shawn will have a nice platform to build from as he and his son CJ start on their project together. Let's hear it for good ol' Dad.....CJ will be the recipient of the bike when it's finished.

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