Yes, Rock Shox units with 60mm of travel. To be honest they do look a little long, but after the harsh ride of the first bike I felt I had to make a bit more of an effort towards some modicum of "comfort". The problem with building this style of bike is they are built to look right, which doesn't convert to good/comfortable/excellent handling/etc !! This is why bikes have evolved into what they are these days !! The problem with a hardtail bike is you have to be an expert at spotting holes in the road & taking avoiding action. The first bike I built "looked" right, but the two push-bike suspension units I used only had 25mm of travel, at most. With this bike I'd put some more thought into the comfort side & was hoping Maxton were going to make a suitable unit up for me, which I intended to lie across the frame, in a very similar fashion to the suspension on the Vyrus motorcycles. However, I don't think their heart was really in the job & I gave up in the end after more than a year. I'd tried air suspension units on the other bike, but they (a) didn't look right & (b) were no better than the two units I stuck with, at least I'd had suitable springs made for them to support my weight. The units currently fitted to the new bike seem to provide some comfort, a lot more than the other bike although I won't really know for sure until it hits the road under it's own power. The gap under the seat looks a bit big though, but it only looks like that when nobody is sat on it !! What I might do once it's on the road is look at similar units, but with a shorter, uncompressed length. These two are about 230mm eye to eye. Ones with an eye to eye length of maybe 190mm might look better & still give some comfort. I can also alter or re-make the seat front mount to lower the seat a bit without having to make big frame changes, which would result in paintwork problems. However, I won't buy new ones, they are far too expensive, I'll just keep an eye on Ebay for some suitable units going cheap like I did to get these two !! Ultimately though, like I said, this sort of bike is built to "look" right so compromises have to be made !
Well if it rides as good as it looks, it'll be a cracker. I had a 30s Harley single a few years back and that had a spring in the 'seat tube' , with a single leaf spring attached from the front of saddle to the tank. And not only did potholes need planning for, so did everything else. Virtually non-existent brakes, foot clutch, hand shift, you name it! To be fair it wasn't really built for (or safe on) modern roads!
Who do you use for custom-bike insurance? I'm having a hard time trying to get someone sensible to talk to about insuring my custom project...
I know exactly what you mean !! When I started looking I rang a few insurer's who claimed to specialise in custom bikes, one being Carole Nash. I explained to the girl that it was "highly modified" from the original bikes V5 I am using. When I gave her the registration & engine cc she told me that the bike has a 1200cc engine, I explained it was a "custom" bike & I'd changed the engine to a larger cc one. She told me she couldn't give me a quote as the engine didn't match what that model of Harley came back as having !! But I said to her it was a "custom" bike, so not standard/different. It fell on deaf ears ! Carole Nash were not alone in being completely useless either !! While I'm moaning about insurance companies, I recently changed my 50cc Honda moped for a new 125cc Honda PCX twist & go as my new runaround ! My insurer wouldn't even quote me, not even a ridiculous quote !! I'd been with them for years with a multi-bike policy with three other bikes, the smallest of which is a 750 ! All I want is a single multi-bike policy, but I now have three different policies & I'm expecting when this latest bike is finished I'll end up having to get another separate policy for that one ! I'm going to try & get them all on one policy threatening to only deal with someone who will do that, it'll be a "you insure them all or none" type conversation. Anyway, back to your question Keith, I currently use Allstyles, 8 Abington Street, Northampton. NN1 2AJ. Telephone 01206-821330. However, maybe not for much longer ! Although in fairness they were really good with the first bike & it has an agreed value too. It is on a separate policy though as, for whatever reason, they couldn't just add it to my Classic, Multi-bike policy !! You would think that if insurers advertise "multi-bike" policies it would mean you could have multiple bikes on that one policy of various engine sizes/styles/values, but it appears not to be the case. I've been with Allstyles for a good few years, switching from Carole Nash after being with them for many years because they wouldn't add the first custom bike to my policy ! I mean, if you've been with an insurer for many years & NEVER once claimed you'd think they would be keen to keep taking your money ! Good luck & let me know if you have any joy
I have 7 bikes all on separate policies and I’ve tried a few times over the years to get them on a multi bike policy but it always works out so much more expensive than having separate policies, it’s just a bit of a ball ache juggling that many.
Thanks for all the info - I'll give those peeps a call. At present, Carole Nash are giving the best deal and your experience sounds exactly like my current situation. I fully expect to have to go on a separate policy for the custom, with the other two 'normal' ones on the existing multibike. Every broker I've talked to hasn't got a clue what custom really means (as you say) - they just think you've customised a normal bike with some farkles! Oh well, first-world problems and all that... Cheers
I went with Footman James in the end for the custom Bonny - a stand-alone classic bike policy with a long list of the modifications + agreed value. They, at least, understood the difference between adding farkles and a complete custom. Frustration with them is that they can't do a multi-bike for anything less than about 10years old, so I'm sticking with my existing people for the 2 modern bikes. BeMoto could do 3-bike multibike policy to include the custom, but were 50% more expensive in total. Hey ho...
I've got the regulator mounted now. I had a mounting bracket that I'd made for the first bike, but never used it, so it got used on this build ! I also changed the mounting position slightly over the last bike too. This was mainly to get a good flow of cooling air over the regulator, not that I'd had any issues with the other bike, but I figured it wouldn't hurt ! The downside is it doesn't look quite as good, but without extending the cables to the stator you're a bit limited as to how far apart the stator & regulator can be from each other. Also, because it's going to be rubber mounted I'll need to fit some bonding leads between the regulator body & the bike frame, or to be more exact, the battery negative !
Got the rear brake operating rod done today, just waiting for a M6 left-hand die to arrive so I can finish the rod length adjuster. Had to make a couple of formers too, to bend the front half of the rod around as the brake pedal & master cylinder are not in-line. The only other thing to make will be a metal "grommet" to hold the rubber dust boot in position, which fits on the master cylinder & rod, to keep road grime out of the piston area. Just fitted this sleeve to hold the operating rod in place until I can finish the adjuster. Once the left-hand die turns up I can cut the remaining thread on the adjuster & get it fitted.
The left-hand die I was waiting for arrived today together with the rear brake hose & brake light switch. So, I got the thread cut on the pedal adjuster. I started by using the lathe tail-stock chuck to hold the die square while I started the thread, once the die was fully threaded onto the adjuster the chuck can be moved out of the way & the threading completed by hand. And hey-presto, a finished adjuster. With the adjuster fitted to the two halves of the operating rod I could fit the rod between the pedal & master cylinder. Now turning the central threaded nut the brake pedal can be lowered or lifted as required. Once a comfortable position is achieved the two lock nuts can be tightened. The postman also brought the modified hose & brake light switch so they were fitted too. The rear brake now just needs bleeding up once the final build is being done. The dry-break coupling on the caliper end will make rear wheel removals a lot easier, I can just disconnect the coupling with a 1/4 turn & then remove the calliper on its own. Once re-connected no bleeding is needed.
I managed to get the engine/primary/gearbox lined up today. I made some temporary spacers to use while I checked the alignment & now I can get the spacer machined down to suit. The white clutch cover is just a 3D print at the moment, once I know how thick the engine pulley cover needs to be I'll get the two covers machine from aluminium. To do that though I need the alternator & flywheel, which I don't have yet. Te next job will be the side stand. I'm going to use a Triumph Daytona stand as it worked quite well on the first bike & folds up out of sight.
Spent the day today in the garage getting the engine/gearbox/primary drive/rear wheel aligned. Needed some hole "fettling" doing, but everything is bolted, tight in place now so the next main job is to get the exhausts made. Hopefully I'll be using OJZ Engineering to carry that job out as Lance did the first build & is welding is something to behold. In some ways it's a bit dis-heartening, you spend all day in the garage doing something & the bike looks no different to how it looked this morning before I started !! The remaining jobs that need doing will be all jobs that I will be doing except the painting.
