Kz1000 Carbon Fiber Fuel Tank

No pics of mold interior yet. I won't separate the mold from the tank until I I have the other half layed up. That way I don't risk the possibility of misalignment of the mold halves.
I was pulling ya'alls chain, lurkers are welcome!

I just read all 9 pages of this (yeah...I need a life! So sue me! ) and I'm super impressed with you work porchev!
Excited to see the final result!

Thank you Terry. Trust me reading all 9 pages isn't half as crazy as writing most of them :whistle: Who's the one without the life now??? :blink:

porchev914 wrote:

Thank you Terry. Trust me reading all 9 pages isn't half as crazy as writing most of them :whistle: Who's the one without the life now??? :blink:

hey all those late nights,early mornings and long days that you are working is what allows the rest of us slackers to sleep well at night.with our clear conscience's knowing that you are fighting the good fight! :laugh: :ohmy: :huh:
keep up the good work you have legions of slackers in awe of your abilities .

leon

There's nothing like an army of slackers watching my every move Leon :whistle: :laugh: I visited a friend of mine yesterday that works in the R&D dept at General Atomics; they are the company that builds the Predator UAV's for the armed forces. They are working on prototype #2 of the first jet powered UAV which is all carbonfiber, including the presurized fuel tanks. He's gonna try and snag me some of the sealant they use on the tank interiors. Hopefully it'll be up to the challenge of containing pump gas :dry:

I know I said I wouldn't post anymore pics until I had finished the mold, but there was one more thing to show

So, you see the three white circles along the top of the flange? Those are locating holes I bored with a 3/4" wood bit. The holes are only .125" deep, but they will serve to positively and correctly locate the mold haves to each other to prevent any misalignment issues. Thanks for everyones support, even if you resemble the lurker remarks

So Josh, you think I need to learn more than "Domo Arigato, Mr Roboto" to sell carbon bodies to the japanese?
:laugh:

Kinda looks like your tank has one of those helmet mohawks. That would be one way to conceal a mold line in the top of the tank. :laugh:

Maybe you can sing that song as your commercial theme song over there. I don't know how much Japanese that you really need to know. Don't they all learn English for business purposes over there?

Are you just about ready to mold one? This should be interesting.

testarossa wrote:

Kinda looks like your tank has one of those helmet mohawks. That would be one way to conceal a mold line in the top of the tank. :laugh:

Maybe you can sing that song as your commercial theme song over there. I don't know how much Japanese that you really need to know. Don't they all learn English for business purposes over there?

Are you just about ready to mold one? This should be interesting.

"Trojan Tanks....Don't GO without a Trojan!" LOL

He is in southern California. It's appropriate.

No Josh, I'm not making tank parts yet. I'm getting ready to layup the left half of the tank top mold. It seems to take about a day and a half to do a mold half, so it should be done Friday. THAT'S when this thread will start to get interesting

It does look like a mohawk, doesn't it Like the guys that put them on their helmets for better protection........ :silly: Damn, the tank looks good in that pic. I should of just painted the damn thing. It would have been WAY less work :laugh:

On my second look, I noticed that not only do you have the #1 helmet accessory (mohawk), you also have number #2 (Helmet spikes.) You just need to beef up the diameter of those spikes. I'm disappointed in your work Adam. :laugh:

I guess that your not making your goal of riding it in 2010, huh? It's worth the wait in my book. Your bike will be very unique.

Unfortunately Josh, I don't think the bike will be running this year. It's not for lack of effort or desire, but $$$. So far I have grossed only 40% of what I made last year. And last year I only grossed 65% of the year before. The resession is taking it's toll on me BIG time. Two years ago I could have bought all the parts I needed in a month or 2, now I'm lucky if I can pay the bills :pinch: The flip side is that I have more time on my hands for things like composite experiments My buddy was trying to talk me into applying for a job in the R&D dept at General Atomics prototyping their Predator UAV's, but the wife REFUSES to live in the desert, or anywhere near it :whistle:

I got the first coat of tooling gelcoat brushed on the left side of the tank, and I sanded down the bottom mold with 600 grit. I was going over the bottom mold, cleaning up the edges when i noticed a small 1/2" crack in the gelcoat right along the bottom edge of the flange. I pushed on it and it flexed in I have an air pocket! I busted it in and found a rather large, but confined and (hopely) solitary air pocket. I have a small spot I needed to patch at the back of the mold anyway, so I'll fiz them both at the same time.

I'll tell you what I'm excited to see, is the top shell sitting on my bike with the emblems screwed on, just so I can get a little reinvigorated. A small reminder that I'm still moving foward, however slowly