Monday, July 16, 2012

Brace Yourself

   Everyone's been telling me since I pulled the front fender off Loudbike that I need a fork brace (and they were right, but I'll get to that later) The night before a bunch of us were to meet up for a wrench and a ride I decided to go ahead and get it done.
   I thought at first that I could make it really simply flat across the top, but after trying a few times in Pro-E I just wasn't liking the look of it so I had to bite the bullet and make it a three sided part (cut the bottom, flip, cut the side, flip, and cut the bolt holes) Fortunately I have a bunch of 6061-T6 aluminum to use for just such a project, and free is the only price I can afford at the moment.
   This is the second side running. It took me about 5 hours to get to this point (Originally I thought the whole thing might eat up 4 hours, but mucking about with the design slowed me down a lot)
   An hour and a half later (1:30 in the morning) I've got my finished part. I've just got to cross my fingers and hope that it fits.

   Bam! I can't deny the difference it made, the front end feels a lot more solid and it's not nearly as fatiguing as it used to be. 

4 comments:

  1. sure helps having the right tools ;) Nice design man, looks trick.

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  2. would you consider making one to sell?

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  3. Probably not. I've tried to do that in the past and it's never worked out. It takes the energy of another full time job to not loose at it and between my family and my actual job I don't have the time or energy. Thanks though.

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  4. i completely understand. just had to try and talk you into it.

    i saw your bike at cars and coffee... very nice. my eye went straight to that fork brace! been having a hell of a time finding one for my cb360.

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