Kz1000 Carbon Fiber Fuel Tank

trianglelaguna wrote:

when i was younger...i liked to trim off extra brackets and swap for lighter parts....seems...like a waste of time these days to try and trim 50-75 lbs off of the bike...

I here ya, the cheapest 20lbs I could loose would be off my ass! :laugh:

I'm glad you enjoyed the pics elfmagic If you liked the bottom, the top piece will send you over the edge :laugh:
I ordered some supplies from Applied Vehicle Technology www.avtcomposites.com/index.php3 this morning....basically resin, activator, 3 yards of carbon fiber, sealing tape and strechy bagging film. It was supposed to go out today, with 3-4 days shipping to Cali. Hopefully I'll get the supplies Wednesday. Then I might have a tank top made by Friday....that would be a monumentous milestone for me :woohoo:

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Thanks KZ250LTD, and that is a great question. The halves will be bonded with the same epoxy used to laminate, but with a high density filler added to give it body. When I drip this stuff on my driveway and forget to clean it, I have to chip it off with a hammer. It usually comes off in one piece, but it always takes a bit of my concrete driveway with it.

awesome work!
I am speechless....what a crew we have here....fantastic!

Thanks Ben, I am trying my best :laugh: I feel the same way when I look at your aluminum.

I have been watching you build this impressive carbon fiber KZ and I must admit I bow to you.

I am so impressed that I have started to wrap my 78 KZ1000 with carbon fiber, I know that it will add weight but I don't have the time or skill to build it like you. At least it will look cool like yours.

Keep up the great work.

porchev914 wrote:

Thanks Ben, I am trying my best :laugh: I feel the same way when I look at your aluminum.

well I just want to put my name on the list officially.....I WANT A SET!!!
Ive got this Idea...your body work...bst wheels....how light can we make one??

ScottyKZ1000A2 wrote:

I have been watching you build this impressive carbon fiber KZ and I must admit I bow to you.

I am so impressed that I have started to wrap my 78 KZ1000 with carbon fiber, I know that it will add weight but I don't have the time or skill to build it like you. At least it will look cool like yours.

Keep up the great work.

Thats great!! Don't worry about the weight, it won't be much. The most important part is taking that first step. Once you get a little experience with the materials, you'll start to feel more confident doing more complex parts, then move into molds if you like it. This is just the beginning

irishwill wrote:

porchev914 wrote:

Thanks Ben, I am trying my best :laugh: I feel the same way when I look at your aluminum.

well I just want to put my name on the list officially.....I WANT A SET!!!
Ive got this Idea...your body work...bst wheels....how light can we make one??

BST wheels...Drooooooooooool.... I don't quite have the facilities to make such bike candy :pinch:

How light can we make one? Well, ditch the stock mild steel frame and make a Bimota-esc carbon perimeter frame from head stock to swingarm pivot. Hang the engine like a stressed member, carbon subframe, modern lightweight monoshock rear and USD front suspension, BST wheels and a $HIT LOAD of money and time :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:
I'm not sure how to get around the Mississippi wide, boat anchor of an engine though :whistle:

well the boat load of money will be a deterent....although I have seriously thought about a spondon frame ....

im ok with the fact it will never be a modern sportbike....holding the title of COOLEST bike will have to do!!!

I think a bike with your body work ('73 colors with the carbon showing through the candy rootbeer)mono shocked rear usd front rear sets custom pipe and bst wheels would be as close to perfect as I can hope for!

That sounds like a pretty effing sweet plan to me :woohoo: :woohoo: :woohoo:
A bike like that would need to have some sac, I'm not putting my name on some poser bike :ohmy: :dry:

Who am I kidding? I'd put this stuff on anything

testarossa wrote:

porchev914 wrote:

DoubleD, EVERY aspect of the mold gets imparted to the piece being molded. Every scratch, every dip, every pinhole, every imperfection is reflected in the laminated part. That is why mold quality is of paramount importance, ESPECIALLY a piece that is designed to show the fabric weave. The square you speak of is the rear tank mount. It is a secondary patch of steel spot welded to the main underside panel to reinforce the rear mount. I took off the mount, but I left the reinforcing steel patch there because it hase locating pins for the rear mount. The patch however had a small gap, and if that gap were to fill with resin, it would have locked the mold to the tank (not my idea of fun times) so I filleted the gap around the steel panel with modeling clay. So the texture you are looking at was imparted by the modeling clay, and I was too lazy to sand it all smooth :blush: Look at me, getting lazy :S

This is why molding equipment and specifically the molds themselves are soo expensive. There is a TON of finishing work to removing tooling marks from machined molds. As porchev says, if its on the mold, then it's on every part out of the mold. I wind up machining small plastic parts almost daily because the batch size is not big enough to justify the expense of molding. Some of those batches are for 5000 pieces, and that still isn't enough.

You could not be more correct. There is more hand finish work on molds or stamping dies then most people would ever imagine. The molded part itself is not really that costly it's the upfront tooling cost that kills you. I have been in the tool and die trade for 21 years now (injection molding) And I have to tell you what Adam is doing is not an easy thing to do. I don't know much about resin transfer molds but it looks like you are doing a hell of a job, keep up the good work.