Wanting to make a rack to mount Rotopax on. I want to mount on the side of my bike. The problem I'm having is I live in a small town and finding something is not happening. I need a peice of material 12x12 that I can cut and shape easy. what material would work. Star board, steel, alum. of good quality is to expensive., I'm down to stealing a stop sign, but I don't know if they would hold up, any ideas? Something easy to get but will hold up off road riding, so i don't think anything that flexs would work. Anybody ever tried a plastic cutting board? Sounds weird but I've see some pretty tough ones.
If you go to your local County Road Dept, whatever they call themselves, they just might give you an old sign or two.....if you smile nicely. Better than explaining to the boys in blue what you're up to! :huh Chances are the one you'll get will have a bullet hole or two. Signs are about 1/8" aluminum, and great for creations, easy to cut with a bandsaw. You'll have to strip off the paint, remember. Good luck.
I'm going through the same thing trying to make a mount plate for Wolfman rack. "butchering" a cutting board into a mount is an excellent idea! I have one of those I got the racks used, ride a KLR... well you know I won't pay retail of $44 for this one :eek1
I have a cutting board in my camper that sets on the top of my stove and its made from some pretty heavy duty material. It's a lot more rigid than a street sign, the question is how well it will hold up. Seeing it's a cutting board ,you'd think real well, and lighter. Just got done making a cardboard template, think I'll head down to WM and see what they got. I know it will be less than $20.
Sometimes fab/machine shops have cutoffs or drops that they'll let you have cheap or free. Aluminum is strong enough to work for most bike stuff, but light and easy to work.
Went to WM and got a poly cutting board $5. Going to cut it and mount this morning. What was nice is they had a red one it matches the Rotopax! You know we must make a fashion statement when doing mods!
Still having problems posting pictures. Here's a album of the mount I made out of a Poly cutting board. Came out pretty good. Now lets see how it holds up off road. The only weak point I can see is where I drilled holes to mount.
Thanks so much, I can't figure it out at all and don't have any kids to show me. I'm very lo tec. Don't even use a cell except when I travel, I guess I'm kind of a Bozo
Cutting board works great for a lot of applications like this. The walmart stuff is usually pretty good quality too - can get it in a variety of sizes and thicknesses
If you are getting into making DIY projects try the Mcmaster Carr site; http://www.mcmaster.com/# . Their catalog has almost everything you need from nuts and bolts to raw materials and tools. And, There are numerous product descriptions to help you choose materials. There are many other companies to buy materials from, but, start here. Oh, I have made projects from cutting boards too.
I'd keep a close eye on your mount -- while durable and strong, that's a fair amount of weight at the end of a long lever . . .. . . .over time, I can see it stress cracking . . . . support it on one more edge, though, and it'd outlast the bike!
Ya...I'd worry about the steel. The Poly will discolor (towards pink) if it gets over-stressed. The steel will just crack. might consider a brace at the bottom running forward to one of the bolts on the tabs at the chain gaurd mount. Try to control twisting force on the upper subframe rail. It all looks more in a plane than is desirable. You need to get out of the plane for ridgidity. Could be the pics...
Thats the 1 thing I'm concerned about, stress crack at the holes. I was looking at a brace running from one of the mount bolts to the exhaust bolt on the other side. It would be far enough up and out of the way of the rear tire.......maybe! This is where I got the idea http://www.advrider.com/forums/showpost.php?p=17034742&postcount=21 On a close look both holes cracking, off it came and back to the drawing board.
