| Author | Message | ||
     Jolly |
paid the machinist today for the one off set, he has already ordered the metal, should be on hand by Monday of next week, ironically thats my birthday, so looks like I just spent $1,000.00 on my birthday present!! (ouch) if all goes well I should have the plates finished and in my hand by next Friday for mock up and photos! I am trying to convince my self not to do the math....bike cost X, motor cost X, parts for motor cost X, conversion rack for S3T bags on an S2 cost X, S3T bags cost X.... welding on the frame for replacing broken tabs cost X...a complete set of body work cost X.....custom designed side plates cost...X...and I have only ridden the bike around the neighborhood block once.... In fact, the farthest I have ever ridden an S2 is about 10 miles in the rain.... | ||
| Hootowl |
Happy birthday. When/how do you want the money? I'm assuming you'll have to pay the machinist before you can mail them to each of us. | ||
| Steveford |
Maybe I can give you a birthday surprise - will you be around this Saturday? I'll come down and we'll flip motors around and then you'll be that much closer to putting on your 11th fun filled mile on an S2. | ||
| Jolly |
Hey Steve, BRILLIANT!! I'm in upstate NY right now for work, will be home Wednesday, plates should be here by 24 Jan, so if you come down that weekend you can check out the plates swap motors and be treated to lunch or dinner, your choice!!! | ||
| Jolly |
Hootowl- let me get through the mock up, post photos and go from there! Yes though, payment first, then I can commit to machinist on order number. | ||
| Kc_zombie |
"I am trying to convince my self not to do the math" David, there's an old joke in Motorcycle Drag Racing... Q. How do you make a small fortune drag racing motorcycles? A. Start with a big one. Point being you do it for the shear joy of your chosen addiction. Let me know when you are ready for payment. | ||
| Jefc73 |
^^^^^ LOL. same goes for Roadracing Vince. | ||
| Kc_zombie |
You know the story Jeff, it's not about the money or winning, but earning the respect and admiration of your pears...  | ||
| Jefc73 |
You got that right. I would say you have earned that.  | ||
| Jolly |
I did some entry level drag racing as a hobby once on an old GS on a small strip in Kansas, it led to a custom built skinny tire chasis that I never got to race due to being deployed for too long, sold it just as it was being finished.... Ill try and find some old photos and shoot them to you Kc_zombie... | ||
| Tirebiter |
Any pics of the new side plate? | ||
| Jolly |
No photos yet, he is finishing up the spacers for the drive arm supports will mail those out then get started on the first set of plates for me to mock up. I'll get photos as soon as I have them though! | ||
| Jolly |
drive arm support/pulley covers are done so he is now working on this. he has the huge blocks of aluminum and is getting ready to start cutting. I think he was going to start yesterday. so the first pair for mock up and photos should be done soon. there is a lot of cutting so I imagine they will take some time. I will post photos as they come in. and once I get the first one done and I no longer need the ones I borrowed I will send those back! | ||
| Kc_zombie |
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| Jolly |
GREAT NEWS AND PHOTOS TO PROVE IT!! Heard from the machinist today, the first set of plates are finished, they need to be buffed then packaged up and sent to me for mock up! no, you're not seeing double, their really is two sets of plates in the photo!..one set belongs to Gilbert, the other is the new set with a few modifications. tightened up the tolerances in the kick stand design. set the correct value for the foot peg boss, set the pivot pin diameter the same as the hole in the newer tuber style kick stand, changed the "ramp" design the kick stand rests against when retracted to limit retraction distance to keep it from overhanging the rear axle and binding up during suspension travel and a few other small subtle changes. the overall external design is the same and the other design element that is the same as the Gilbert plates but different than stock is the access hole in the front of the plate is center bored to the recess of the hole for the isolators. in the stock design the front access hole is dropped to the bottom of the hole for the isolators. since none of the Gilbert plate owners seemed to have an issue with that one design element, I left it exactly as it is in the Gilbert plates. He will be mailing them out to me some time this week...!  | ||
| Jefc73 |
Lookin good Jolly. Damn Gary is good. | ||
| Jolly |
Plates will be here Monday! Photos to follow!!! | ||
| Jolly |
the plates arrived today and they are incredible!! worth every hour and dollar I spent on them! they are truly a work of art!!  one of the issues with the plates Gilbert had made was the channel the kick stand rides in is not tight enough around the kick stand so it allows for some play in the kick stand, so I tightened that up. (this is not meant to be a reflection on Gilbert who had the time, patience and means to correct the stock plates it is simply a design note from what the machinist delivered TO Gilbert.. so not throwing a rock at Gilbert!) anyway, I tightened up the tolerance on that..   the next issue I corrected was the "Gilbert plates" used a bolt with a nut, like the stock plates, however, all later plates used a pin with a circlip on the back side so I made that change to these plates. the next issue with both stock plates and the Gilbert plates was the kick stand retracted back to far and overhangs the rear axle, the Gilbert plates especially, even in talking with Gilbert he said change that if you can!. so I changed the retraction "ramp" by .25 inches to limit the arc of travel for the kickstand.  the real problem with the stock kickstand is that it doesnt extend far enough forward to over center the spring, the Gilbert plates do that which offers resistance to the retraction to keep the kickstand forward... these plates do exactly the same thing, the later model kickstand makes an audible "thump" as it is released at center and it is pulled forward into full extension point by the spring..SOLID! so...how do they fit?? PERFECTLY!!!!   here is a view fully retracted to show the travel change to keep them from over-hanging the axle and binding up under suspension loading.  so does it fix the lean angle?? yes here is the bike sitting side by side with an S1..  after 8 months and countless hours of work they are complete!! | ||
| Lynrd |
Nice job, man! | ||
| Jolly |
It was like Christmas this weekend!!! these plates are done, I got the S2 primary buttoned up ...AND I picked up an S1 to save!!!  | ||
| Jefc73 |
They look awesome. Damn Gary is good. lol | ||
| Essmjay |
Those look great! How far over can you lean the bike in a corner with the kickstand up? | ||
| Rex |
cool | ||
| Hootowl |
I'm looking forward to my Jolly plates. | ||
| Gowindward |
Excellent job! It does pays to be tenacious at times. So where are you at with production run and final ordering details? (Message edited by gowindward on March 04, 2014) | ||
| Ratbuell |
"Jolly Plates". Lordy lordy...not the best nickname, but it definitely sticks in the memory banks | ||
| Jefc73 |
LOL. Jolly Plates!  | ||
| Jolly |
you know.... I got that nickname a long time ago flying for the Air Force... | ||
| Jolly |
as far as production of the plates... lets get started taking orders.... plates are going to be more expensive than he originally estimated due to the size of the material he has to start with, and the amount of machining and multiple face angles that took a lot of tooling to hold the plates. so final cost shipped is somewhere around $1025.00 to $1050.00 per set which is what I paid for the first set that I just received. If I can get it to $1025.00 delivered I will, but I think its going to be $1,050.00 that's for the plates and the pivot pin. to me.... its worth it, I've got a lot of time building this bike and I'll never worry or have to do repairs from it falling off the kick stand. | ||
| Buelljunkie |
Ok, so granted they are a little more expensive than we thought, but a couple extra hundos won't keep me from getting a set of these beauties! I showed these pics to a couple machinists I know, and they said they wouldn't have touched this project for less than $3000 a set. So... I'm going to consider this a bargain. Jolly should be commended for his efforts in making what many thought impossible a reality. So Dave...I'm in! I'll send money as soon as you give the word. Buelljunkie - 1 full set. |
