| Author | Message | ||
     M1combat |
This first pic is the plate that I welded to the back of the front mount. I made sure that there is clearance between the pipe and plate all around the pipe so that it will not rub a hole in the pipe. This stiffened the entire structure quite a lot.  This second pic... I welded a triangular piece along side the original. I made sure that there is some clearance between this piece and the pipe. I don't know WTF force was thinking when they made the top of the original brace stop at the WEAKEST POINT ON THE ENTIRE FREAKIN' STRUCTURE! Right at the narrowest spot in between the hole for the pipe and the "extra" hole... WTF?  The third pic is of the brace that was welded to the bottom of the forward spoiler mounts. I did it this way because it now has to stretch or compress that piece of metal (or break the welds of course), but this piece and the brace from the second pic work together. You can almost see that this brace is an "L" shap of less than 90 degrees. It lays flat against each wall as opposed to welding the edge of it to the original spoiler mount.  I'm really sorry about the quality of the fourth pic... This is, I believe, the most important peice. This is a small (about 1.5"X1"  square of mild steel that was welded onto both the oval shaped surface (the part that the strap goes around) and the left side spoiler bracket. This eliminates flexing of the oval shaped mounting structure. The strap runs over the top of the brace and the weld, but I used a grinder to take out the sharp edges that would have caused stress risers in the strap. The force transferred into the left side spoiler mount is in a direction parralel to the welds, so it will need to sheer those welds as opposed to just vibrate perpendicular to them. Not gunna happen (I hope  ).  So far, this has held together for about three weeks with no signs of any further cracking or breaking at all. None. Total weight added is probably less than a pound. I'll go see if I can't get a better fourth pic... | ||
| M1combat |
OK.. A better fourth pic...  | ||
| Koz5150 |
Very nice! I was asking questions about the force pipe on another thread but maybe you can answer this. If there is no baffleing in the Force exhaust what keeps the valves from burning up? Does it have to do with the shape of the cone at the end??? | ||
| Hogs |
M1Combat, I wish you took them pictures before you put it on your ride , hard to see where all the welds were done in them pictures , oh well They will help just the same ..Thanks alot.... (Message edited by hogs on March 15, 2005) | ||
| M1combat |
    Better? | ||
| M1combat |
I don't think straight pipes burn valves. I think SHORT pipes burn valves... I could be wrong... | ||
| Noface |
"no pipes" burn valves. there's thousands of bikes out there with short, straight, unbaffled pipes running around. The Force system makes it's power with the header and collector design, along with the reverse megaphone. Interesting way to go about it M1. Sure looks like it's gonna be good to go. I gotta ask though. Is that weld spatter all over the pipe or have you been doing some dirt bikin'? What weld process did you use? | ||
| M1combat |
Dirt bikin'... We used a torch for the welding. Not much splatter . Oh... I used a Die-grinder to remove the Jet-Hot coating. DAMN that stuff is tough. You can tell when you've gotten down to the metal when it starts throwing sparks. Be CERTAIN to get to the metal or the weld won't hold worth beans. I haven't washed the bike in a while due to the rain. We've gotten more rain/snow here this winter than we had in the past four years combined... I finally just gave up on keeping it clean. I do wash the rims and bodywork about once a week anyway though. As soon as summer really hits I'll be picking up various brushes and stuff to do a real detailing... |
