TOPIC:

The carbon is calling 

Watching closely, as I've toyed for years with undertaking this same task.

Davido, have you given any consideration to laying it up as one piece rather than two seperate molds, then melting the foam blank out with Xylol or something similar? I'm curious to hear anyone's take on the pros and cons of these approaches.

wrote:

Watching closely, as I've toyed for years with undertaking this same task.

Davido, have you given any consideration to laying it up as one piece rather than two seperate molds, then melting the foam blank out with Xylol or something similar? I'm curious to hear anyone's take on the pros and cons of these approaches.
 

 That's the plan Buzz. Original idea was a 2 part tank with a seam but I binned that idea in favour of the 1 piece. I will cut a panel in the bottom of the finished tank to get access to the foam and break it out. Then refit the panel and lay another layer or two over it to seal everything up. No seams. Breaking the foam out rather than dissolving as the foam wont dissolve completely. There would be a sludge left over which I don't fancy in my newly resined tank.

wrote:

The carbon is calling 

 

The carbon will have to wait until the festive season is over and life and work get back to normal. Also there is a new fridge and dishwasher ahead of it on the list!!!
 It will be done over the winter though and will be ready for fitting (along with the refurbed carbs) come spring.

 I,m also wondering if its worth to try and lower the frame cross bracing to allow the original airbox to be refitted. Bin the pod filters altogether???

wrote:

wrote:

The carbon is calling 

 

The carbon will have to wait until the festive season is over and life and work get back to normal. Also there is a new fridge and dishwasher ahead of it on the list!!!
 It will be done over the winter though and will be ready for fitting (along with the refurbed carbs) come spring.

 I,m also wondering if its worth to try and lower the frame cross bracing to allow the original airbox to be refitted. Bin the pod filters altogether???

Keep watching Davido I have a plan to do something with the stock airbox on my 82 as with the bracing and mono shock it won’t fit
 

I've read this thread twice in the last two days. Great project!! I've just purchased a 81 CSR and I'm pulling together ideas as to what to do with it.

Davido, I'm loving that seat pan and tail piece you made. Any chance you have a mold and would like to sell?

Thanks ZedZen.If I had a mold you could have it for postage but I made it from a fiberglass replica off of ebay. The link should be in the thread. It was a 900 replica which was too narrow for the CSR frame so I just cut it down the middle and widened it. The 'Seat' part was just an extension, probably by masking off the frame and fiberglassing what I wanted. Its so long ago now,I dont remember exactly what I did!
 Right now,I'm busy with the tank. Or at least busy waiting for the carbon fiber to come in. The mold is ready but the shop is out of stock. Something to do with the war affecting the carbon fiber crops, I imagine.
 As soon as I get my hands on that,I'll start posting the progress. Though real life is still slowing things down.I bought the fridge and the cooker but I have a sick Bandit 600 that I need to try and resuscitate and the weather here has been too crappy to be working outside on bikes.

Thanks, Davido.

Good luck with your patient... hopefully the 600 Bandi recovers nicely. Hopefully the weather improves and the carbon fiber crops go to harvest sooner than later!!

Wookie58 wrote:

wrote:

wrote:

The carbon is calling 

 

The carbon will have to wait until the festive season is over and life and work get back to normal. Also there is a new fridge and dishwasher ahead of it on the list!!!
 It will be done over the winter though and will be ready for fitting (along with the refurbed carbs) come spring.

 I,m also wondering if its worth to try and lower the frame cross bracing to allow the original airbox to be refitted. Bin the pod filters altogether???

Keep watching Davido I have a plan to do something with the stock airbox on my 82 as with the bracing and mono shock it won’t fit

 

If you want to bin the pods take a look at page 17 of my build thread, something like this would save you chopping into the frame bracing and flow more than stock

Part 2 of the carbon tank started today. I finally got all the materials together. I sifted through all the info that I could, talked to as many people as I could and there's no putting it off any longer.

 
 

After all the messing about with the sculpting/carving/sanding etc. I got it to the point where I'm happy with it. The raised fuel cap area where it flows to the front of the tank was a bit of a sticking point as it didn't flow. Not nicely anyway. That took a good while to sort out but I got it in the end. Looks nice. ( and almost as if it could have come from the factory).
I also spent a long time worrying about the laminating. The thickness of everything; release film,peel-ply, 3 or 4 layers of carbon,how to lay that in a way to get the hardware sitting properly and fixing properly. Well, once I decided to leave out the peel-ply, that makes things way way easier. Another problem was the resin itself. With both polyester and epoxy being unsuitable,I went for vinyl ester. Then I discovered the vinyl ester that I was looking at needs a final heat cure which is not possible. Finally I found a vinyl ester that doesn't require a heat cure so, I'm going with that.
 So,that's it. Today I glued on the release film. Got it sitting as good as I could. The underside took 2 pairs of hands,the top side 3.



 
 

Tomorrow, a bit of waxing and then the carbon!!!!!!!!!!!! Wish me luck.

With the prep and research time you have put in I'm sure you will be fine, can't wait to see the end result 

I hope you're right Wookie. My confidence got a bit of a knock once I got started. Carbon fiber is a pain in the arse to work with. Its as stinky and as messy as fiberglass but its a lot thicker and a bugger to cut and lay straight. I'm glad I ditched the peel ply. That would have added an extra layer of thickness and difficulty to the whole thing.
The plan for the lay up was/is first to get a backing layed in for all the hardware then, using the frame I made, get the hardware set in in the right position,relative to each other;

 
 
 

It was fiddley and messy but I got it done;

 




Once that was dry,I was able to fit it on the bike to re-check all the clearances.Luckily everything was fine. No problems with the handlebars on full lock either way. A nice joint with the front of the seat and plenty of room for the fuel tap. A big relief;

 

Today went better.I got on with getting the rest of the bottom of the tank layered.I was able to get around the edges with no problems.(that had been a big worry). Got the sides and rear done. Just a first layer for now. When this is dry, I'll sand the whole lot before the second layer. Next will be the edges around the front and the recess for the fuel cap (still not sure how to attack that yet.Once there's a first layer on everything,I'll feel a lot better;