White yolk, I managed to try out a colour option. I went for a durable white enamel after acid etch priming the aluminium and steel parts. Originally white was specified as the accent colour and for the triple tree heads so I went with the spec to see how it looked. Still deciding, will leave…

After refurbing the rear arm linkage. Realised that the Showa MAL-G01 shock absorber (originally from a Honda CBR 600) needs to be refitted. New needle bearing needed, slimmer than used in the shock though. Measured up the hole and 20mmID, 24mmOD, 20mm length is needed. Easy to find on eBay. Should in action very soon.

One of the essential items left on the list to refurb is the rear suspension linkage to sort out geometry before the hub motor arrives. With the extra torque I need to ensure the back is tight and secure; new bushes, seals, and covers all around. Finding the parts was a struggle. Many parts were…

Have been looking at the stanchions from the old forks while working on other things, and I have come to the conclusion that I can’t stand the pitting and dents any more. In reality these could get worst and contribute to further damage later on down the line. Found a nice place over in Crewe…

New oil & dust seals have arrived for the forks so time to open them up and see what is inside. Holy crap… the oil lock was jammed into the top of the damper rod instead of the bottom, the stop clips were crammed down the side of an oil seal, and strangely found 18mm…

The calipers that came with the forks needed some TLC to ensure the bike has some stopping power. The pistons were corroded into the calipers. A bit of heat released them easily. The pistons, bolts, and aluminium calipers were reusable. A chemical strip, clean, and polish were all that they needed. However the seals, pads,…

xj600e got some new shoes. Continental TKC80. Dual surface rubber. On trend for cafe racers and scramblers. Look cool on the on the frame. Could only mount one on the front as the hub motor still in transit from china. Need to get some tubes, common on enduro tyre apparently. Haven’t seen an inner tube…

Managed to get a some help from engineering to fabricate a hoop for the new bike seat. The radii are more uniform than the very slightly tapered appearance of the original drawing. This is due to the constraints of the available dies. However I am not disappointed with the overall appearance. I think some mocking…

Have made the first cuts on the frame today in an effort to move things on over the festive period. The tail was cut to the size specified in CAD but I have no doubt that there will be differences as the original scan was mainly visually accurate. The next phase will be to scan…

Some of my fav cafe racers, flat trackers, and scramblers examples here. Just love em.  

  Have found a new more efficient cell configuration and package: Still LiFePO4 cells; the new configuration proposes 24 units of 3.2v 100ah prismatic cells connected in series. to give an overall 76v 100ah pack, 3C continuous (5C peak). This package along with a BMS fits into a 420 x 280 x 250mm dimensional envelope….

While surfing the Interweb I bumped into an interesting simple frame building application called RattleCAD. It’s main use seems to be for bicycles but basic geometry and triangulation is similar on bike frames in general. One day I might have a go. http://rattlecad.sourceforge.net/

Bumped into a charge point today and noticed that there are many types of charge point sockets and plugs. Really should try to find out which types are the most popular in the UK to install one of those in the bike rather than having to find a domestic 13A mains plug and carry a…

Popped over to the NTDC (National Transport Design Centre) and Ryan the resident VR genius and I discussed a Keanu Reeves video that depicted him checking out some Motorbike design in his Arche studio with some wired VR glasses. He detached his desktop computer from the desk [I had no idea it was detachable], clipped…

Front caliper piston refurbishment is completed by Zed Parts. The original piston was severely corroded. Efficient stopping power is now guaranteed. Can now go ahead and refurb the rest of the caliper. Awesome!

While chatting at Zed Parts a parts list site was recommended to me by Oz. – Consolidated Motor Spares: http://www.CMSNL.com It has all parts for the my xj600 1991 with part numbers. Very useful indeed to understand the assembly of the mechanical parts designed for the bike and the order they assemble in. Pics n…

Looking at seat hoop options. The travel in the wheel is short but is close to the seat bars. All considered an angled hoop might be a sensible choice to give more room for rear wheel travel. Some examples are below. How this will work with the current seat angles is a job for a…

Battery calculator here: https://power-calculation.com/battery-storage-calculator.php

Had a very interesting conversation with a realy nice chap on an e-bike forum in the UK. He suggested that I look at Enertrac hub motors too in terms of gaining some choice for hub motors. Website is: http://www.enertrac.net/product.php Product text for the Enertrac motor is: This motor was designed to make the gas to…

As a research designer and academic of consumer automotive and transport design I have seen many trends; a very worthy trend currently being ‘sustainability’. It is one that the man on the street can contribute too as well as big industry, and the result of being sustainable is positive. We prolong the life of our…

Found a sassy Haynes manual for the XJ600 Diversion on the internet on the oxfam website. Obviously a classic that someone decided wasn’t needed any more. For £4.00 I was very happy to swipe it up. If only for the diagrams and the correct assembly for the frame components that are being carried over as…

I Contacted the DVSA (Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency) to get a better understanding of the regulatory guidelines for the design of 13kw e-motorbikes. I wanted to ensure that our prototype is of a regulatory standard from the start if there are any. Replay was as follows: Hello Dr Hutchinson, Motorcycle derived vehicles fall into…

One thing that is becoming quite clear is that there are a number of issues concerning the use of eBikes with a certain amount of power. With a speed limit of 15mph the current laws for usage on the road are quite compromising. An interesting video on youtube has been made by a guy called…

I like this video of a honda conversion: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-a-72Volt-electric-motorcycle/ Another video of an e-motorbike is by a young lad called Kimball Crawford. Clever lad. used a lightweight frame

After visiting china and seeing how easy it is to convert a bike from petrol to electric. I’m starting to think about putting together a wee electric bike project. Could be a fun little task to do when my research dies down to keep the research engine running. Could even give it the full design…

You should try an runny fried egg in between two bagel halves. If you put it together right you can make lake of yoke in the bagel’s hole. Just in case you need a hand with the mythical lake of yoke please see the picto instruction.