Rookie wanna-be weldor starting to make some cool things!

[kirkster70]

Originally Posted by road ranger

That part there about "Almost kill yourself with brake cleaner" Should read "How to KILL yourself with brake cleaner" Brake kleen turns to PHOSGENE Gass when heated. PHOSGENE is very deadly nerve agent. And it dont take much to take you out of the game for good.

Yeah, I read that about a year ago. Pretty scary.

All I ever use for prep is a grinder. Period.

[sailah]

Kirkster nice work man!!

In the same file as overkill, I made my JD bender full hydraulic, it was a fun project.

Still trying to get lessons in TIG, it's really hard to start from zero.



Oh and if the JD model 3 dies will work on your bender (I think the only difference between ours is the arm thickness?? Not sure) I have a 1 3/4" and a 1" die set. Easy to loan out

[TheOtherBart]

Originally Posted by kirkster70

The 4 pieces welded in are for future top case mounting. I will tack a 3/8" nut to the underside. The pieces are made out of 1 1/2" x 3/16" flat bar scrap. It also took some time to shape them to fit just so. They are only welded from the back for a clean look.

Beautiful work! You may want to consider some other mounting system for your box. When I did mine one of the requirements was that the box should be able to be mounted and unmounted without emptying it. That way if I was riding somewhere I could pop off the whole box and carry it into the house or leave it at the campsite without dumping everything out first.

I ended up with button head bolts down through the bottom of the box with locknuts on the outside. The bolts go down through holes in the rack, then I run on wing nuts to hold the box down. The wing nuts are safetied in place with R-clips through holes drilled in the ends of the bolts. Off and on fully loaded in a minute or two. Just another option!

[jar944]

Originally Posted by sailah

Kirkster nice work man!!
Oh and if the JD model 3 dies will work on your bender (I think the only difference between ours is the arm thickness?? Not sure) I have a 1 3/4" and a 1" die set. Easy to loan out

The 32 takes larger die pins 1.25. you can do it if you can machine up some bushings and spacers:

link to mods required http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/...ead.php?t=8260



.

[sailah]

Originally Posted by jar944

The 32 takes larger die pins 1.25. you can do it if you can machine up some bushings and spacers:

link to mods required http://www.offroadfabnet.com/forums/...ead.php?t=8260



.

Interesting, they do make DOM tubing in 1.25" OD and .874" ID which would use a 7/8" pin. well, anyways probably cheaper than the $300 for a die set...

[kirkster70]

Originally Posted by sailah

Kirkster nice work man!!

In the same file as overkill, I made my JD bender full hydraulic, it was a fun project.

Still trying to get lessons in TIG, it's really hard to start from zero.

Oh and if the JD model 3 dies will work on your bender (I think the only difference between ours is the arm thickness?? Not sure) I have a 1 3/4" and a 1" die set. Easy to loan out

Nice work, Sailah!!! Did you MIG or TIG the frame? Where did you get the pump/ram? Did it cost much? Very nice, indeed!

Yeah, I don't think the dies are interchangeable, too bad. I appreciate you wanting to share. Thanks for that.

[kirkster70]

Originally Posted by TheOtherBart

Beautiful work! You may want to consider some other mounting system for your box. When I did mine one of the requirements was that the box should be able to be mounted and unmounted without emptying it. That way if I was riding somewhere I could pop off the whole box and carry it into the house or leave it at the campsite without dumping everything out first.

I ended up with button head bolts down through the bottom of the box with locknuts on the outside. The bolts go down through holes in the rack, then I run on wing nuts to hold the box down. The wing nuts are safetied in place with R-clips through holes drilled in the ends of the bolts. Off and on fully loaded in a minute or two. Just another option!

Thank you!

Hmmm... didn't think about that! Live and learn!

My top case (when I make it) will probably just hold my duffel bag I use as a lunch box for work. In that scenario, I don't need to detach the top case.

But, since I used 3/8" nuts on the underside, I could probably do a quick detach like you described with 1/4" hardware, and it will pass right through the 3/8" nut. I still have room on the bottom for a wingnut.

The only downside I could see to a quick detach system with wingnuts is that your case is unsecured. Anyone can unbolt it and carry it off. Not likely to happen, but there are some real scumbags out there.

[kirkster70]

Top rack painted and reinstalled. New rear signals installed. I had to tweak the rear support a bit, so the paint on it is still drying.



Photos taken on an angle so I don't get my chops busted for something being slightly off. Just kidding, roadranger! Ha Ha!

I made the top rack so that it has a grab bar sticking out the rear when a future top case is installed. That will come in handy, I'm sure. If I like it, I'll probably do something similar on the KLR later on.



I'm having a pretty good time making things. I was just thinking today that I have probably broken even on the welder purchase. I was mentally adding things up that I've made, and it's probably pretty close to what I have in the welder, even considering material costs. Selling the V-Strom now doesn't seem like such a bad idea. It's what allowed me to move in this direction, and I'm pretty happy about that.

I have less than $120 in the KLR luggage, and I have right around $50 in the DR setup including the top rack.



I decided to go through the fender with the new signals. I also installed a rubber grommet to keep from chafing the wires over time. I soldered and used heat shrink tubing to extend and attach the factory bullet connectors to the new signal wires.

So there you have it. Two full sets for less than one set of bags. The mistakes I made on the first set were not repeated on the second set, and the mistakes I made on this set won't be repeated on the third set.

Plus, I've used the KLR for less than 1,000 miles with the original set. I want to put some miles on both sets to see what does and doesn't work. Sometimes when something gets put to use, it's a bit different that what you originally thought it should be like.

[TheOtherBart]

Originally Posted by kirkster70

Thank you!

Hmmm... didn't think about that! Live and learn!

My top case (when I make it) will probably just hold my duffel bag I use as a lunch box for work. In that scenario, I don't need to detach the top case.

But, since I used 3/8" nuts on the underside, I could probably do a quick detach like you described with 1/4" hardware, and it will pass right through the 3/8" nut. I still have room on the bottom for a wingnut.

The only downside I could see to a quick detach system with wingnuts is that your case is unsecured. Anyone can unbolt it and carry it off. Not likely to happen, but there are some real scumbags out there.

Yeah, my topbox has the advantage of being plug ugly and very cheap to replace if need be. Come to think of it, so do my bikes! I know anything's possible but someone would have to be pretty desperate. At this point I don't have any locking mechanism on the box anyway so someone making off with the whole box really isn't a concern. If I wanted to secure the box to the rack it would be fairly simple to rig up a cable and padlock system that would keep the hitch pins from being pulled.

[sailah]

Originally Posted by kirkster70

Nice work, Sailah!!! Did you MIG or TIG the frame? Where did you get the pump/ram? Did it cost much? Very nice, indeed!

Yeah, I don't think the dies are interchangeable, too bad. I appreciate you wanting to share. Thanks for that.

migged the frame from 1.5" 3/16" wall tubing.

The ram is an 8 ton harbor freight air/hydraulic

Return springs are home depot

bolts are either 3/4" or 5/8" grade 8 from fastenall

I might have $125 in the setup.

and i haven't bent one tube yet

[JimVonBaden]

Beautiful stuff man! I am inpressed and motivated!

I'll get back to you on a time to come over, looks better on weekends, but every other Friday is good too!

Jim

[kirkster70]

Originally Posted by sailah

migged the frame from 1.5" 3/16" wall tubing.

The ram is an 8 ton harbor freight air/hydraulic

Return springs are home depot

bolts are either 3/4" or 5/8" grade 8 from fastenall

I might have $125 in the setup.

and i haven't bent one tube yet

Looks good to me! To buy everything to go full hydraulic on the Model 32 is about $1,500. I'll probably go the $125 route myself when the time comes!

Nice job!

[kirkster70]

Originally Posted by JimVonBaden

Beautiful stuff man! I am inpressed and motivated!

I'll get back to you on a time to come over, looks better on weekends, but every other Friday is good too!

Jim

Thanks, Jim!

Sounds good. Shoot me a pm when you're ready to line something up. I work 4 on and 4 off, so it will eventually line up with your schedule.

- Kirk

[sailah]

Originally Posted by kirkster70

Looks good to me! To buy everything to go full hydraulic on the Model 32 is about $1,500. I'll probably go the $125 route myself when the time comes!

Nice job!

The 8 ton ram works as advertised but is pretty slow and you need to repin once to get 90 degrees. You also need a decent compressor to keep up.

The electric/hydraulics are sweet/fast/expensive.

Since I might bend a couple tubes a year I went for slow/ghetto/cheap

[jar944]

Originally Posted by sailah

The electric/hydraulics are sweet/fast/expensive.

Since I might bend a couple tubes a year I went for slow/ghetto/cheap

You can build a hydro setup on the cheap if you like to scrounge. Use a power steering pump for the hydro pump with an electric motor. You only need a std log splitter valve and hyd cylinder.

even if you buy a power pack $350, valve $80, cyl $150 and hoses $75 it's not that bad price wise.