| Author | Message | ||
     Ericz |
I have made some progress since my last post about my cush drive design. It uses a 3 bearing Buell wheel with a modified hub narrowed to a 2 bearing setup. I put in some long hours machining over the weekend. I finished the wheel machine work, cush drive adapter plate, and bearing spacers for the cush drive setup. I didn't take any pics of the spacers yet but I will soon. They are 316 Stainless. The cush drive adapter plate is 7075 aluminum (the outer holes are slightly rough because the drill bit had a turd on it--boo!). The sprocket is being made by PMP sprockets (to save me some time) out of 7075 as well. The only part I have left to make is the sprocket carrier, which will also be out of 7075. All of these components are my own design including the sprocket. Since the setup uses Ducati cush bushings, the sprocket carrier and sprocket look similar to aftermarket Ducati parts. Here are some pics of my Solidworks models and the progress:            | ||
| 08xb12xtbuellrider |
Looks amazing man. I will voice my opinion on aluminum sprockets. I have raced 4 wheelers in the past and I literally wore the teeth off the sprocket in 5 races on 1 quad, my other trail quad lasted 1 summer  The front sprocket went for over 3 years, the rear I changed for more top speed but dang it literally wore the teeth completely off | ||
| Ericz |
Aluminum can last a long time on the street as long as you keep the chain lubed well. I have made too many sprocket changes to evaluate durability on my machine but I have a friend who commutes daily on his hopped up FZ-1. He has over 80k miles on the bike and has been running aluminum rear sprockets since day 1. He lubes his chain weekly and gets about 10k miles out of a rear sprocket. I'd say that is pretty good. Off road is a lot tougher on sprockets due to all the dirt. | ||
| Loose1 |
If they are hard coated they will last even longer. The 7075 sprocket I made lasted about 6,000 miles. I could have got a few more out of it but I'm going back to a belt. It's been a ton of work. I'm hoping the cush drive will make the belt last. Did you use a boring bar to cut the od on your rim. Looks like your doing it on a manual mill. Good work Eric. Matt | ||
| Ericz |
Thanks Matt. Yes, I roughed the boss od with the end mill then finished it with a boring bar. I should have included that in the pic  . I wanted to do all the wheel work in a lathe but the only one we have that the wheel would fit in is our Mazak QT-20 that is tied up for a while. | ||
| Purpony |
looks great Eric | ||
| Firstbuell |
super detail on your upgrade - congrats!! | ||
| Ericz |
Cush drive is almost finished. I only need to choose the anodizing color for the sprocket carrier (the big silver part). Everything bolts on nicely and rear wheel install/removal is super easy. I had a 44T and a 45T (pictured) made by PMP Sprockets for this setup.        | ||
| Greg_e |
Probably try and match the wheel color. | ||
| Nobuell |
Nice work | ||
| Teeps |
Nice, I enjoy seeing/appreciating the fine machine and fab work of others. How many hours, do you estimate, is in the project so far? | ||
| Skully |
Beautiful! Does the cush drive and sprocket add any weight as compared to the OEM pulley? Keith | ||
| Ericz |
Thanks, guys! That's what I'm going to try to do, Greg! Teeps, I have about 15 hours in machine time and about 30 hours in design time. Skully, I did not weigh the setup so I can't say for sure. My guess is that it may have added 1-2 pounds at the most. The weight is very close to the center of the wheel so it shouldn't take much more torque to turn it all. On my bike, the benefits seriously outweigh any drawbacks. | ||
| Greg_e |
That should look good in black and gold. |
