'91 - 98 Battery Box (pod Filters, No Airbox) And Other 3d Printed Parts

I've been working on a ratty track bike for much too long, and have become obsessed with 3D printed parts for it. It started with the decision to go with pod filters, which meant the air box and all the mounting points it has went away.

The first thing I did was make a plate that blocked the path from front tire to pod filters. I realized the stock coil/ignitor box mount would fit here so I put holes in it for that. The models are on thingiverse for anyone interested.


Once that was done, I moved on to doing a battery box. This is where things really went down the rabbit hole. It started with a simple design that held just an EarthX lithium battery. Then it was modded so the started solenoid mount had a home. And then braces were added and spots for the coils were added. And if you're going to mount the coils you may as well add the ignitor boxes. The "final" version of this was also added to Thingiverse. Braces were then modded so it would work on bikes with the half fairing too. (The battery box braces use the same lug as the half fairing mounts).


While this was going on (I went through almost three spools of filament screwing around with differnt designs) I decided it'd be cool to be able to print this all in one piece, no bolt on braces. But my printer was at it's limits just printing the bolt together version. Not big enough for a one piece number.

So I bought a new printer.

Then made up a single piece battery box that held all the other stuff too. And started printing them with ASA so they would stand up to higher temperatures than the Carbon Fiber infused PETG I had been using. (ASA softens around 100C vs 80C for PETG. Batteries like to be under 60C, so maybe this was overkill?)






There are numerous additional changes I've thought about, but there comes a time you have to move on and stop changing things. I'm there. The one piece CAD models are not going to be shared on Thingiverse - I've sold a couple of my tesst parts to try to recoup some of the cost of getting to this point.

When I decided the battery box was done, this new printer was sitting on the bench taunting me... and it occured to me the stock hugger I bought doesn't fit the 180 rear tire, and I don't want to mod it to make it work. But lookie there, it almost fits inside the new printer...

Alrighty then. Printed out a hugger too. The first one needed a couple tweaks, second one was close enough for who it's for. I'll reprint it in a less glossy material (likely CF PETG) just because. Here's what that looks like. It's on Thingiverse also.




Here's a link to the Thingiverse page with the files.
https://www.thingiverse.com/desmodog/designs

If a single piece battery box interests you, send me a PM. I checked on shipping to Glasgow for someone and it wasn't outrageous. Different colors and materials are possible.

 

the battery box has taken on a life of it's own. There are now three basic versions of it. They all work with either half or full fairings.

1) The Thingiverse files. Bolt on braces. Fits EarthX only. Will not be updated except to fix any issues that get brought to my attention. Got your own printer? Knock yourself out. The rest of these? Send me a PM, shipping to the UK hasn't been outrageous so far.
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6254268


2) The "generic" version. Box size is 152 x 67 to fit a few different brands of battery but nothing specific. It uses the stock rubber mounts for the ignitors





3) The stock size. This one has been a PITA. It's sized to use the rubber insert from the stock battery box. Cut the little nibs off the bottom first.

It uses a lot more material than the others, takes twice as long to print, and is kinda ugly. The good news is you shouldn't have to remove it to adjust the valves? In theory anyway, I haven't tried it.




And with that I'm pretty much done with designs and printing out test parts. Unless I change to a different ignition... but for now it's time to bolt one of these onto my track bike and move on.

 

Update: I've moved on from dealing with battery boxes and have put the STL files for the "stock battery" size part (#3 in the post above) up on Thingiverse. I can't even find pictures of it let alone the list of fasteners needed, but the files are out there so if you want to print one yourself (and have a large enough printer) you can do it. You'll have to figure out the specifics but it's not rocket science. More details are listed on the Thingiverse page.

It will fit both fully faired and half faired bikes. Obviously I'm not repsonsible for your print so use it at your own risk - stock batteries are heavy, it can get hot under the tank, choose your material carefully. If it were ME, I'd go with a smaller/lighter lithium battery and a modern MOSFET regulator when doing this. I detest flooded lead acid batteries so for the love of Dog go with an AGM at least, but if you MUST use ancient tech, it'll fit.

Here's the link:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6819387


EDIT: What a maroon. There's a photo of one mounted on the bike at the bottom of the last post I made. That's an earlier version and the current one will look slightly different, but you get the gist.

 

I've used Acetone to smooth it. Not sure about MEK.

If you leave it exposed too long it will change the dimensions of the part also though.