Fantasy made of plastic and metal ... or how to make a motorcycle with your own hands? In Moscow, bikers presented their cars. Every detail matters when the footrest is skeletonized and the frame resembles a bass guitar.
Smiles on the faces of stern men in leather jackets and bandanas appear only when it comes to motorcycles. All models are made by hand, inside and out. Presenting their work, bikers get excited, like kids at a matinee in kindergarten.
Omar Volpyansky: “It turned out to be light and weightless. If you sit down on a motorcycle and look from the side, then the saddle under the driver is not visible. It looks like it's just hanging in the air."
"God knows what!" This is the first reaction of visitors when they glance at the next model. This is no longer a motorcycle and not yet a car Alexander Ermikhin's fantasy made of plastic and metal. It took almost a year to create it. Nothing on the dashboard except the speedometer.
Alexander Ermikhin: “He just needs to know how fast he is going. In general, there is nothing more interesting here, because here everything is done so correctly and competently that there is no need to show either oil pressure or temperature.
Modern Screws and Shpuntiks, who lovingly polish their motorcycles to a shine, are called customizers.
Alexander Keller: “Customizers are people who mock, mock motorcycles, giving them an unusual form and content.”
For ten years in Russia, customizing has turned from a garage hobby into an industry. But do not confuse it with tuning. Tuning improvement of the finished one, and customizers build from scratch, and every little thing is important here.
If the body of the motorcycle is decorated with skulls, then the footrest is in the form of a skeleton. But it also comes in the form of a chicken leg. It seems that this model was liked by the star of the TV channel "Discovery" (Discovery), the legend of American customizing Eddie Troth.
Eddie Troth, Jury President: “A couple of years ago I thought that Russian customizers were a bit behind the rest of the world. Now I see that this is not the case."
It is almost useless to torture customizers how they manage to come up with all this on a whim, from dreams, “sit down and draw”. One of the options sounded like this: "We once listened to the song" Do not bend under the changing world "".
As poets dedicate their poems to someone, so customizers address their works to specific people. So, one model, for example, is a dedication to musicians from the Time Machine group. Bass guitar, carrying part of the frame, real: plays when plugged in. But only musicians have the right to sit behind the wheel of this handsome man.
Customizers do not hide their motives - this is the desire to stand out. And, of course, not a single representative of the fair sex can resist a man on such a motorcycle.
Do-it-yourself chopper, or maybe buy a ready-made motorcycle? This question is asked by many motorcyclists, especially beginners, who have long decided for themselves that they will ride not on a plastic sport, but on a real iron motorcycle, in which the sound of the legendary V-twin makes a solid sound, and not the sound of a squealing coffee grinder. In this article, which is more aimed at beginners in the interesting art of customizing, we will look at what it takes to make a proper chopper with your own hands, and how to make many details for it that will make it original enough and have a cool look. .
How to build a chopper with your own hands is not so easy to write, since there are a huge number of styles of customized motorcycles (customs), and their steepness directly depends on the number of banknotes, the skillful hands of the master and the equipment he has in the garage. And when reading about the construction of a particular custom, some novice customizer may simply not be able to pull it off, due to lack of funds and the necessary equipment. Or he may simply not like the style of some kind of custom, because there are a lot of styles.
Therefore, this article will not describe the construction of a specific custom of a certain style, and my recommendations in this article will be purely conditional, but still I hope it will be useful for beginner customizers. In addition, when building any chopper, a lot of nuances can arise that cannot be described in one article.
But for a more detailed explanation, when making some parts for the chopper with my own hands, I will put the appropriate link, by clicking on which the dear reader will be able to study in more detail and in detail the manufacture of some kind of equipment or some part of the chopper, and successfully apply this knowledge at home in the garage. And so we went.
What you need before you start making a chopper with your own hands.
The first thing to do before starting work is to decide on a budget. After all, the right chopper, which, in terms of workmanship and its steepness, can easily surpass a serial factory bike, requires certain investments of money. And the more these investments, the cooler the finished custom will turn out.
Of course, with certain skills in working with metal and the availability of appropriate equipment, tools and materials, you can make a decent chopper without large investments. But many novice motorcyclists don't have the skills, the equipment, or the right materials. And a significant part of the money will be spent on high-quality tools, materials and some devices that will be described below, and without which you can’t do anything with your bare hands.
And of course, the bulk of the money will be spent on the purchase of a donor motorcycle, without it in any way. After all, you can’t make an engine and a frame with a number and relevant documents on your own, even with super expensive equipment in the workshop (you can make a frame from scratch, only it will be numberless). Moreover, it will be possible to use some parts from some donor motorcycles.
This is the same engine, a part of the frame with a number, the front wheel (not always, but often used after revision), the front fender (of course, also redone), the front fork and other parts that, with certain skills and tools, can be changed beyond recognition.
To save a significant amount of money, a donor motorcycle can be bought in poor condition or broken, the main thing is that it has the documents in order and that the motor and the number on the frame are preserved after the accident. The engine, documents and part of the frame with a nameplate or a number on it are the main things you need to build a chopper, and everything else can be made on your own, or purchased from catalogs.
And after buying a donor motorcycle, before you start disassembling it, cutting it and doing something with it, of course, you must first re-register it for yourself, register it, and I wrote how to do it correctly (the legalization of a home-made bike is also described in detail there ). This will help you avoid problems in the future.
And the serial frame itself, in addition to expanding its rear part, will also need to be finalized. For example, in the steering columns of the frames of domestic motorcycles, there are still weak bicycle-type thrust bearings that wear out very quickly and the handling of the motorcycle, to put it mildly, is lame. And the first step is to replace these bearings with more powerful conical ones (such as in the wheels of the Dnieper and Urals, but one size larger).
To do this, the cups of regular bearings are cut off from the frame, and cups of a slightly larger diameter are welded in their place, into which the outer races of tapered bearings are subsequently pressed. I wrote more about this in, as well as in an article about the geometry of motorcycle frames, and a link to this article is located below in the text.
The frames of modern imported motorcycles already have more or less normal bearings from the factory, but there are enough alterations on such frames. Since even imported stock frames are heavier and uglier than homemade frames made from scratch, and most stock frames (especially Japanese motorcycles) have to be cut off extra parts to lighten the weight.
Of course, there are a large number of types of frames (we read what frames are) and everyone chooses their own option for themselves. But now very popular choppers in the old school style, which have very light frames in the style of "hardtail" (translated as rigid), which do not have a rear suspension and because of this have beautiful classic lines of a triangular rear end. And these frames are the lightest.
And although it is quite uncomfortable to ride on such frames on our roads, beauty and style require sacrifice. Yes, and such devices are designed not for long trips, but for short trips around the city, or for moving the driver's body from bar to bar. And choppers with such frames are very popular now.
The front fork can easily transform the look of any chopper, and can change not only the silhouette, but also the ride quality of your motorcycle. Although, again, when building a chopper, most customizers usually do not pay attention to handling and comfort, the main thing is the appearance, which determines the steepness of the chopper and from which a significant revival can arise in the gray city traffic.
Of course, in addition to the fork, the silhouette and ride quality of the motorcycle is affected by the angle of the steering column, and to be precise, the trail and rake, which should be taken into account when reworking the frame or making it from scratch. This topic is worthy of a separate article that I wrote, and I advise you to read in detail about the angles and geometry of the frame. The same article describes in detail the refinement of the frames of domestic motorcycles and the replacement of bearings with tapered ones.
The most popular type of refinement of serial forks is their lengthening with special inserts and replacing the traverses with wider ones, or simply polishing the standard traverses. When lengthening the fork feathers, in order not to lift the frame relative to the ground and maintain a beautiful silhouette and low ground clearance, it should be increased. That is, to ensure that after installing a longer fork, the ground clearance (the distance from the lower tubes of the frame to the ground) remains the same as it was.
But most often, the ground clearance (clearance) is lowered by a factor of two, and in addition to a stronger fork tilt, the rear end of the frame is also affected by the lowering (the shift of the rear wheel axle is higher than it was in stock). With all these works, it is very important to maintain a clear geometry of the steering column and the entire frame, and it is only possible to carry out such alterations correctly if there is a slipway (the link to the article about the slipway is above in the list of tools and accessories).
So installing an extended fork is not so simple and will entail a number of serious alterations to the frame itself and its steering column, taking into account the correct angles (rake and trail - a link about them a little higher, about the steering column angles).
But now old-school and bobber style motorcycles have become very popular, in which the fork (usually a springer) does not lengthen, or lengthens very slightly. But changing the angle of the steering column is often used on these devices as well.
Indeed, with a greater tilt of the steering column, even with a short fork, the silhouette of the custom is significantly improved (it becomes more rapid). At the same time, the ground clearance is only a couple of centimeters, and it becomes difficult to drive on such a device on our roads. But still, for many, this is not important, because beauty requires sacrifice.
For so-called free-style choppers, a gas tank with a concave bottom, the manufacture of which I described, may be suitable. Well, for those who are interested to see how I made a more complex tank, then we watch the video below, which I published on my suvorov-custom channel as a guide for beginners and in order to fill the gap on this topic on the Russian-speaking Internet. I have no secrets and I think it will be useful for beginners to watch this video, divided into three parts.
Of course, beginners should first try to make a simpler classic tank, and as they gain some experience, move on to more complex products. But still, when making a more complex tank, in the video just below, there are some tips that I hope will be useful to novice customizers.
By the way, I have other videos on working with sheet metal on my suvorov-custom channel (on YouTube), and I hope that over time, as I have free time, I will try to publish such videos more, and in order not to miss new videos, do not forget to subscribe to channel.
As for the wings, of course, they, like the tank, should also fit in style. And for example, bobbers, or radical choppers, may not have a front wing at all, and the rear wing is usually very short. But still, it is better to make a wing for a chopper from scratch, since the alteration of some regular wing does not always coincide with the style of the future custom. In addition, an exclusive wing, made from scratch, will be one and only, and this will add to its coolness.
And if you can still do without a leather hitch, then you can’t do without a seat. But I described how to make a seat for a chopper with my own hands from scratch, and it describes two options for making seats, with a plastic base and with a metal one.
Well, under the article, I publish a useful and interesting video that proves that with skillful hands and a bright head, you can make an excellent custom even from an ancient Japanese motorcycle, and the engine of this motorcycle is not a twin at all, but an in-line four. But it does not spoil the look of the custom at all.
This video proves once again that you can make a unique custom even out of junk, and I hope that this video will be an incentive for beginners and will serve as an impetus to start their further work.
Well, I hope that this article will at least help beginners to build a chopper with their own hands, and maybe in the near future, you will take this matter more seriously and make this exciting activity your main source of income, success to everyone!
Hai! How to make a motorcycle is what interests the most fanatical motorcyclists and bikers. Why? It's not about the high cost of new factory motorcycles and not even the fashion for home-made vehicles. Such a desire is rather caused by the desire to express oneself, as well as to find the bike that is most customized for oneself.
The vse-o-moto.com team will help you with this. Below you will find a list of tips for assembling a two-wheeled do-it-yourself.
Most riders prefer riding bikes with a straight seat. Accordingly, we advise you to develop an iron horse of the classical type or a chopper. It is also desirable to take into account the fact that it is better to move the steps forward for the purpose of comfortable eating.
Creating a first-class bike from the Urals, Izh, Minsk. Sunrise and other serial iron horses, do not forget about the aesthetics of a huge steering wheel, extended over a long distance. The most attractive type of fuel tank will be "droplet". The elongated type of front fork will also add maximum beauty to your moto with your own hands.
Before you make a motorcycle, video tutorials also do not hurt to study. You need to understand what parts of the future bike you can make yourself (first of all, the frame, instrument panels, saddlebags, plastic fairings, spokes for wheels, a saddle, etc.), and what you can hardly even design in the drawings (engine , wheel rims and electronics).
How to make a homemade motorcycle?
First you need to decide on the frame, but we will talk about this below. Now let's move on to the selection of the engine. There are many motor options. Internal combustion engines are produced by factories in two types: four-stroke and two-stroke. Alternatively, an electric motor can be installed. In the latter case, it is necessary to provide a lot of space for batteries (batteries) in the frame of a two-wheeled vehicle. Of the internal combustion engines, in practice they are more valued, and 4-stroke ones are also used.
You don't have to buy a new engine. By visiting transport dumps / flea markets, searching a little on the Internet on bulletin boards, you can pick up quite good options for motors and spare parts for them. It's best to polish and tune everything you find.
It is easy these days to find ready-made drawings and diagrams of unique motorcycles with your own hands from paper, from a lighter, from Lego, from the Urals, etc. Experienced customizers from TV screens will also tell you how to make a motorcycle. To this day, the "Western" media have formed a lot of interesting TV shows on this subject. You can also order custom assembly in a professional workshop by experienced mechanics who work in almost any city in our great homeland.
Where to start assembling a motorcycle with your own hands?
Having ready-made schemes for a motorcycle project at hand, as well as materials for their practical implementation, you can safely proceed to the direct processing of pipes and sheets of metal in the process of creating a frame. Each part of the chassis can be chrome-plated or painted to give it a more aesthetic appearance. For and in order to prevent corrosion of the undercarriage, this is also undertaken.
You can also create wheel rims with your own hands. Still, why "reinvent the wheel" if many compatriots know by practice how to make a motorcycle from the Urals or the Dnieper MT. using the frame, engine and electronics of the latter. By adding the rest of the unique nodes to them, you will clearly get an iron horse unlike any other.
Having installed an elongated fork (preferably adapted for the front disc brake), home-made traverses (created using a steel sheet with a thickness of several tens of millimeters), the steering wheel of the bike is mounted using brackets. Brackets are also used to mount the rear shock absorbers. They are considered a reliable base for holding the seat back. Here you can fix various wardrobe trunks and the trunk of the bike.
How to assemble a homemade motorcycle completely
A saddle for a two-wheel custom is better to choose / create a two-level type. Before creating it, you need to find a thick sheet of steel (about 2 mm). The latter will bend along the contour from the future tank to the back panel. To give the edges of the saddle more rigidity, you need to bead its sides 1 cm down. The soft part of the seat can be made of ordinary thick foam rubber. As an upholstery for all this, leather is best suited. When installing the seat, it is necessary to install rubber pads on the frame directly under it.
Also make sure that your homemade bike in the future can be put on its leg as easily as possible when parking. For these purposes, it is better to choose a side knife, which is mounted on the left side member of the frame and gains the ability to easily recline in the presence of a spring.
Not only rear-view mirrors, levers, cables should adjoin the steering wheel, but also various electrical appliances, which can be purchased along with the body in many places. The most beautiful look devices that are placed in chrome boxes / cylinders.
You need to know how to make a motorcycle with your own hands as correctly as possible even before installing the “gas” handle on the steering wheel. The latter is made with small chiseled rubber rings.
Do not forget about installing turn indicators on a homemade bike. Their absence on the motorcycle can lead to various dangers on the road. You can complement the classic set of lighting devices (headlight, stop, turn signals) by mounting small flashlights at the headlight. Additional security will be provided by the installation of safety arcs on a homemade iron horse.
Important to remember: making a motorcycle with your own hands, make sure that in the future you can register it with the road control authorities. Any major changes in the design of the bike must be registered with the traffic police / traffic police.
How are BMW motorcycle engines assembled?
Description:
The factory assembly process of the legendary boxer motor for BMW motorcycles.
How it works (Motorcycles).
Every boy dreams of building his own motorcycle and riding it like a breeze when he grows up.
Czech writer Martin Sodomka shares the little explorer's passion for mechanisms. Especially for them, he wrote an amazing book "How to build a motorcycle."
And today we will talk about it.
New technical fairy tale
How to Build a Motorcycle is the third in a series of technical tales. The first two - "How to assemble a car" and "How to assemble an airplane" - have already won the hearts of children and parents.
In the new story, the main characters - Arnie the mouse, Bill the sparrow and Christian the frog - have a new idea. This time they decided to build a motorcycle.
The story in the book is simple and engaging. As always, together with the characters, the child will follow the entire process of assembling a motorcycle, learn what it has in common with a car, and also understand such complex mechanisms as shock absorbers, brakes, clutch, gearbox and carburetor.
And, by the way, the book is a real serious reference book. But filed so fascinating that it is perceived as a fairy tale.
Down to the screw
We are sure that if you see a book - until you scroll to the end - do not stop. Each page has bright, beautiful, lively illustrations. And all the images of the details are signed. To make it easy to understand what is at stake.
And on almost every page there are detailed diagrams that tell and show how the engine works, how the wheel, steering wheel and suspension are arranged. See how everything is detailed - right down to the screw:
Just about complex
Martin Sodomka is an engineer and designer by training, so he definitely knows a lot about mechanisms. In addition, he collects retro cars himself: from the first to the last screw. And at the same time he is very well versed in children's literature and owns his own publishing house.
He brilliantly managed to combine his technical knowledge and artistic talent and write really meaningful and simple about the complex.
The texts in the book are excellent. Both interesting and understandable:
- Look: these are shock absorbers, - Karl showed. - Just like in a car, they dampen vibrations from bumps in the road so the bike doesn't bounce around like a mountain goat through hills. From above, the shock absorbers are attached to the brackets on the frame, and from below - to the pendulum.
The laws of physics
The book is really very educational. Look, this is just one illustration. Looking at it and reading the text, the child learns:
- What is ignition and how does it work?
- What is a battery and a capacitor?
- How are the headlights arranged?
- What controls the brake light and much more.
But that is not all.
The book not only explains the operation of different parts of the motorcycle, but also reveals the operation of the laws of physics. This knowledge will definitely come in handy in school.
The book "How to Build a Motorcycle" is a truly joyful gift for little tech lovers, as well as their dads. Even adults will be delighted with the technical tales of Martin Sodomka. And they will help children develop erudition and spend many interesting evenings. Isn't it great to understand the design of a motorcycle and the laws of physics at the age of 5-7? Knowledge that will be useful for a lifetime.
What can I say - a book for "real men" from the age of 6. And if dad has a motorcycle and the son sleeps and sees how to tame it, then it’s generally a godsend. It is about three fearless friends - Arnie the mouse, Bill the sparrow and Christian the frog, who have just returned from warm countries on a plane that they themselves built. This time they decided to build a real bike and race it. The titles of the book's sections sound quite grown-up: "Mechanical Drum Brake", "Engine", "Gearbox", "Wiring Diagram", etc. Each of them intelligibly describes the stages of assembling a motorcycle and outlines the structure of its parts down to the smallest details. Moms flipping through the book are sure to get lost in a sea of unfamiliar words (at least for those like me who are used to riding my husband's motorcycle only as a passenger). But in the younger generation with a technical streak, all these ball bearings, bushings and crank mechanisms cause reverent interest and a desire to look at pictures even instead of cartoons.
The unusual design of the book deserves special attention. It looks like it was lying in the garage for a couple of months, shabby in some places, taped up in some places, and covered with oil stains in some places. But, despite the visual dilapidation, the book is made very soundly, with dense matte pages, a hard cover and beautiful illustrations made by the author of the book, Martin Sodomka, with colored pencils. Holding such a publication in your hands is a real pleasure, regardless of the type of thinking, technical or humanitarian :)
All in all, a solid five. Laskava Roksolana, www.labirint.ru/reviews/goods/513343/
Bought this book on the recommendation of a friend. Somehow it’s easier for me with girls, but for a boy I’m always tormented by which book to buy. This book, as they say, is it! My car mechanic friend looked at this book and said that all the information in the book is reliable, and the book contains a lot of detailed and useful information about the motorcycle. As for the age audience of this book, the book turned out to be interesting both for a small child of 6 years old and an adult child of 30 years old))) Alisa Sazonova, www.labirint.ru/reviews/goods/513343/
Buy on OZON.ru for 489
How to assemble a motorcycle?
A motorcycle is a means of transportation, which is perhaps already more relevant than a car. On a motorcycle, numerous and protracted traffic jams can be avoided. But keep in mind that maintaining a motorcycle is not so cheap. Repairing an "iron horse" can cost you more than repairing a car.
Stage one: developing the idea of a future motorcycle
Of course, you understand that there are a great many varieties of motorcycles. First of all, determine the class of your future motorcycle. This is what will serve as the basis for choosing a style and design.
It is possible that you are full of fresh and creative ideas that you are ready to implement right now. But the fact is that only professionals can handle this. And if you have never assembled a motorcycle, you should choose something simpler that will be easy to implement and then transform and improve. For this, choose what you will build on when assembling your “horse”.
At this stage, it is necessary to fully understand the idea of \u200b\u200bthe future motorcycle. Draw up a so-called action plan. You need to think about the design, the shape of the motorcycle, the set of parts that you will need for assembly, engine components (its power) and so on.
Stage two: draw a diagram
At this stage, you need to draw a diagram of the future motorcycle. It is not necessary to be an outstanding artist to be able to draw a motorcycle diagram. Let it all be very conditional, the main thing is that you transfer your idea to paper. In general, all ideas should be sketched and written down on paper, because, perhaps, in the process you will improve your own ideas, and in order not to forget anything, fix and sketch everything.
According to the finished scheme, you can draw up a scale drawing on which to calculate the dimensions of parts for a motorcycle (for example, frames). For this we need: 
- simple pencil;
- eraser;
- large ruler;
- paper (it is better to use scale paper for drawing);
- meter (or tape measure) for measuring motorcycle parts;
- calculator for calculations.
It will be useful to make not only a general drawing of the motorcycle, but also all the details separately. Having a visual diagram in front of you will make it easier for you to navigate during the assembly of the motorcycle, which will reduce the risk of errors. So, later, according to the finished drawing, you can check whether all the details are installed correctly, if you inadvertently forgot something.
You can also draw a finished motorcycle and paint it by color.
Stage three: set of elements
At this stage, it is necessary to purchase or possibly find all the spare parts, such as:
- engine;
- wheels;
- frame;
- metal pipes;
- suspension;
- fuel tank;
- muffler.
In addition to the basic elements, you will need additional parts and tools for 
possible improvements, such as:
- hammer, sledgehammer;
- welding (and, accordingly, electrodes);
- spanners;
- Screwdriver Set;
- various pliers (pliers, pliers);
- bolts, and to them washers and nuts;
- grinder for sawing off parts;
- putty set;
- good paint (it is better to take it in a spray can so that there are no smudges later) and acetone;
- kerosene for cleaning parts from rust;
- small wiring;
- stickers to decorate the "iron horse".
In general, you need to purchase everything that you wrote down in your list at the first stage, and, possibly, added it in the process of creating the image of a motorcycle.
Step Four: Manual Assembly
If you do not have a lot of experience, it may not be possible to collect everything the first time, 
as it should be. The main thing is not to despair. You can always ask for advice from experts, from those people who deal with assembling a motorcycle or simply know its structure. There are also many resources on the Internet that will help you understand the structure of the motorcycle.
A hand-built motorcycle is called "custom", which means "custom". This term describes the look of the motorcycle as a build, which means that all the parts were selected by hand, and the design is also a unique idea - yours or someone else's.
Motorcycle assembly procedure
Now that everything is checked, you can ride your bike outside and try to ride a certain distance. Don't try to get the most out of your bike right away. Start testing little by little. If you notice extraneous noises, the vehicle may not have been assembled correctly and require additional careful checking. Do not let everything take its course, because this is your own safety.
After successful tests, you can start designing in earnest: paint your motorcycle as you like, install additional units and “gadgets”. Now your transport is on the move, surprise people with new ideas and be proud of the result.
Now you know how to assemble a motorcycle. If you follow the suggested instructions, then there should be no problems with the assembly. Pay attention to the details, because they are no less important than the main assembly of the motorcycle.
Detailed assembly is described in the article.
Designing motorcycles is no less exciting than building any other vehicles. In addition, a motorcycle, which is, in fact, a naked concept of a self-propelled mechanism, requires more design sophistication, inventive gift and instinct of a good mechanic. I propose to the reader's court my ideas for the design of home-made motorcycles. I can say that I have some experience in this kind of work: at the Motosam-90 competition, my self-made - the eighth in a row - motorcycle was presented, a photograph of which the readers of the magazine could see in the report from the show in No. 2 for 1991 . In the photographs that are presented on these pages, there are three more motorcycles of my design. About one of them - the last and most successful - I want to tell the readers.
In thirteen years I have designed and built twelve two-wheeled machines. All of them differed significantly from each other. Moreover, two motorcycles were designed with partial use of the monocoque scheme, and three were completely frameless, with a monocoque bearing body. It is this design solution that I prefer today: it seems to me the most reliable and profitable in terms of strength, weight culture and ergonomics.
I hope that my design experience can be useful for those who are going to make a motorcycle.
So, what is a regular frame motorcycle? Simplifying the answer, we can say that this is a frame, a fuel tank, tool boxes, an air filter housing with an intake silencer, an exhaust silencer, a rear fender with a tail light bracket and numbers, a saddle base, a trunk, as well as a kilogram of all kinds of bolts, nuts, bushings , studs, washers and rubber bands, with the help of which all of the above is connected into a single structure.
If you sum up the masses of these components and assemblies, you get a very impressive value. In addition, all this put together forms a far from aesthetically looking “skeleton”, which has many secret places where absolutely indelible dirt will inevitably accumulate - you can get rid of it only by completely disassembling the motorcycle.
A year or two passes - and tool boxes begin to rattle, cracks creep along the rear wing, the number falls off along with the bracket ... And if the motorcyclist, God forbid, gets into at least a minor accident or even simply falls? In these cases, the frame bends, dents appear on the tank and tool boxes. Huge lower mufflers deliver even more trouble, clinging to corners even on smooth asphalt and significantly reducing patency on bad roads.
All these shortcomings are deprived of a two-wheeled vehicle designed according to the "monocoque" design scheme. Such a motorcycle is a monoblock welded box-shaped structure that performs the functions of all the above parts and assemblies. Interestingly, the spatial box structure is significantly more rigid and durable than the classic frame (including duplex frames). The use of the monocoque scheme in the design of the motorcycle not only reduces the weight of the two-wheeled vehicle, but also brings the center of gravity of the motorcycle closer to the ground. This happens due to the fact that in this design the tool box and battery compartment are located in the lower part of the body, and a lightweight air filter with an intake silencer is in the upper part where the fuel tank cap is located on classic motorcycles. The air intake is made above the steering column - in this area the cleanest, dust-free air. An exhaust silencer can also be located inside the monocoque, however, reliable thermal insulation from the fuel and the seat cushion must be ensured.
1 - rear-view mirror, 2 - fuel tank countersunk plug, 3 - shock absorber compensation chamber, 4 - shock absorber with 120 mm stroke, 5 - swing arm, 6 - push lever, 7 - brake rod, 8 - rear housing with exhaust silencer (left a) and oil tank (right), 9 - rear direction indicator, 10 - parking light and brake light (dual), 11 - exhaust pipe (left a), 12 - brake disc diameter 300 mm, 13 - "trap" of the chain, 14 - rear wheel sprocket (z=37), 15 - rear wheel pendulum, 16 - drive sprocket (z=15), 17 - foot brake pedal, 18 - control box lever gears, 19 - winch drum, 20 - muffler - resonator, 21 - winch cable guide bracket, 22 - front brake disc with a diameter of 300 mm.
Rice. 2. The layout of the body-monocoque. The grid cell size is 100×100 mm.
Figures 1 and 2 show my enduro bike and its monocoque body with rear suspension and engine protection frame. The mass of the monocoque is only 23 kilograms, and the useful volume of such a hull is about 56 liters, of which 41 liters fall on fuel tanks (more than that of the Zhiguli!), The remaining volume of the hull is also fully used. At the same time, the motorcycle does not look bulky. On the contrary, it has relatively small dimensions - in particular, the base of the car is only 1350 mm (less than any Izhevsk motorcycle).
I must say that making a monocoque body is no more difficult than welding a good frame and equipping it with all attachments. It is only necessary to strictly adhere to the previously developed technology, so that all the parts fit well, and it would be convenient to weld them.
When drawing the design of the body, take care to ensure a comfortable fit for the rider - this is especially important for enduro motorcycles - as well as the safety of the rider's movements, ease of movement in a sitting position, in a rack and in a quickdraw.
After choosing the optimal, in the opinion of the designer, layout solution, you should draw the entire motorcycle in full size - depict a side, top, front and rear view, and also draw the most characteristic sections. The more detailed the drawing documentation, the easier it will be for further work on the manufacture of a two-wheeled vehicle.
It is most rational to place the engine directly on the axis of the pendulum. In this case, the reaction from the tension of the drive chain closes directly to the pendulum. And it is far from small - sometimes it reaches the tensile strength of the chain, that is, almost two tons! It is necessary to fasten the powerful and not too well-balanced Izh-Planet engine (as well as all motocross motors) using silent blocks or rubber pads. It is only necessary to take into account that the chain not only pulls the engine back, but also turns it in a horizontal plane due to the asymmetrical arrangement of the chain.
In the work on creating a monocoque case, it is very convenient to use the method of volumetric prototyping. In this case, the layout of the case is assembled from cardboard blanks, which are connected using strips of paper and glue. In the process of making a layout, as a rule, changes occur in the design of the hull, since not everything can be foreseen in flat drawing projections. Simultaneously with the layout of the case, it is desirable to work out the technological map of its assembly - this will ensure the convenience of welding. In this case, it is necessary to take into account the possible warping of metal blanks when welding the body with uneven heating. Keep in mind that the parts on which the swingarm and steering column are attached are welded last. If necessary, they should be adjusted to the body so that on the finished motorcycle the planes of the wheels coincide with the plane of symmetry of the monocoque body.
The finished three-dimensional layout is cut at the gluing points, and the cardboard patterns of the monocoque elements are numbered: it is these patterns that will be used to cut blanks from a steel sheet of the appropriate thickness - from 1.2 to 1.5 mm. The easiest way to do this is with a chisel on a massive anvil.
Welding should be carried out in strict accordance with the technological map. To make the seams look neat and strong, the edges of the parts to be welded should be slightly bent, as shown in Figure 3.
To ensure sufficient strength of the monocoque body, it is advisable to introduce additional amplifiers, flanging, and stiffeners into its design. For example, the steering column on my motorcycle and the transverse stiffening beam, to which the bracket of the only rear suspension shock absorber is welded, are additionally connected with a 25 × 40 mm rectangular steel pipe. In addition, inside this pipe it is convenient to place electrical wiring and motorcycle control cables.
The design of the intake silencer significantly affects the engine power and its torque characteristics. The larger its volume, the easier the engine “breathes”, respectively, the less air pulsation in the filter, and hence the less noise. Experts recommend setting the muffler volume to at least 20 engine displacements. The path from the air filter to the carburetor should be smooth, excluding turbulence in the air flow, which significantly reduces engine power.
After welding, the monocoque body is checked for leaks - first with water and then with pure gasoline. In the absence of leakage, the welds are coated from the inside with liquid epoxy glue - it will fill the small pores, bind pieces of slag and metal drops - this is especially important for the intake silencer.
Rear suspension - pendulum type, with cantilever wheel mounting. Wheel travel - about 260 mm. The pendulum hinge is on ball bearings with gland seals. Chain tension - using an eccentric. The disc brake is mechanically driven.
The front suspension is based on the fork from the CZ-516 motocross motorcycle. Wheel - under the tire in 21 inches, a drive of brake pads of a disk brake - hydraulic.
The padded saddle pad is glued directly to the monocoque body, while the faux leather cover is flush-mounted with screws.
I would like to warn readers who do not have sufficient experience in the design of motor vehicles that the creation of home-made two-wheeled vehicles is a very complicated matter. In this article, I tried to talk about my work and those ideas that I consider promising for amateur motorcycle construction. However, I would categorically advise novice motor builders not to take up the creation of a powerful machine based on this material. Maybe it's better to start with simpler motorcycles. After all, I went to the monocoque, creating more than a dozen intermediate designs ...
Alexey GARAGASHYAN, St. Petersburg
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1. Only by creating a motorcycle with your own hands, you can make it for all your individual needs. Decide how it should look and what characteristics you would like to see in it. Make your job easier by drawing at least a schematic drawing of your future bike.2. Don't forget that you should be guided by the technical requirements that are set for motorcycles. Otherwise, neglecting these requirements, you will not be able to ride on your bike.
3. Let's try to create a moped based on a bicycle. Take a bike with a thick frame and large wheel diameters. This is what will give reliability to the future bike. You will need to add a fuel tank, engine and muffler to the bike.
4. When assembling, you can use parts from motorcycles and mopeds, but in no case from cars. Remember this rule! When all the parts are fixed, you will have a motorcycle. However, it is unlikely to look presentable. So start painting.
5. Clean and degrease all parts, and then paint over the parts with moisture and heat resistant paint. Do not forget that the engine power must be at least 60 l / s per ton of motorcycle, and the frame and other supporting structures must be made of very durable material.
Many dream because it gives a person unprecedented freedom of movement. Unlike most sportbikes and urban models, such a motorcycle is able to move quickly enough even outside good roads without threatening its owner with a fall and injury. At the same time, a cross bike is much easier to manage than enduro and other heavy types of equipment, also adapted for off-road driving. However, many people simply cannot afford a high-quality motorcycle, because cheap models of real sports SUVs with two wheels are practically not found on the Russian market. Therefore, you should learn how to make a motocross bike with your own hands - this will help save a lot of money and adapt the resulting technique to your needs.
Selection and preparation
As a basis for a motocross bike, you can choose a used bike of a small class - it is best to choose models with an engine size in the range of 125-350 cubic centimeters. The best option would be a road "Japanese" at the age of 12-15 years with a well-preserved engine and a whole frame. In addition, you can even choose a Soviet motorcycle - for example, Voskhod or Minsk. It won't take the stars from the sky in sports competitions, but it will allow you to have a lot of fun off-road adventures.
The motorcycle will have to be disassembled - you must remove all units from it, leaving only the frame. It is better to sort out the motor, transmission and drive components, diagnosing possible malfunctions and eliminating them before starting assembly. The frame and tank of the future motocross motorcycle should be cleaned of paint, and then covered with putty and applied a new coating in accordance with your wishes. After such preparation, you can begin the selection of components and gradual assembly.
Parts selection
First of all, you need to pay attention to the future cross-country motorcycle, since it will be on them that the main load will fall. It is better to immediately abandon the use of alloy wheels, since they will not be able to properly absorb strong shocks, which will lead to their rapid deformation. The best option is to buy ready-made wheels based on spokes. A budget way to get wheels for a motocross bike is to buy rims and install the spokes of the required length yourself. There is no need to think long and hard about the size of the wheels and reinvent the motorcycle, since the standard in sports is 120 / 70-17 in front and 160 / 60-17 in the rear.
If you want to make a Minsk motocross bike, you will have to tinker with converting the rear suspension to a monoshock. It is much easier to go to the dismantler and pick up the appropriate size fork from a 125 cc Japanese motorcycle. It remains only to choose the shock absorber itself - in this case it is better to choose the right model according to the mass of the vehicle itself and its rider, and then adjust after assembly. Remember that the rear wheel travel of a motocross bike should be equal to 200-280 mm - based on this value, rear suspension components are selected.
Next, you should take care of the front suspension, which is subject to the highest requirements. Unfortunately, in this case, it will not be possible to manage with compromise economical options, so it is better to buy a fork from a motocross motorcycle assembly. You can not look at the performance of the shock absorbers and the presence of high-quality oil in them - some can be changed during operation. For a motocross bike, the ability to fine-tune the front suspension is very important, so you should pay attention to the integrity of the tuning mechanisms. The travel of the fork should be approximately the same as that of the rear monoshock.
For safety reasons, it is worth taking care of installing other brake mechanisms that will effectively slow down the motocross bike if necessary. The best option is to purchase a special sports kit, consisting of other discs, calipers, hoses and fasteners. However, it can be quite expensive to buy one, so you can also buy used brakes from a larger motorcycle that will decelerate quickly without any problems. If your future motocross bike has drum brakes, you will either have to completely redesign the wheels, or put up with mediocre efficiency of their work, slightly improving deceleration through fine adjustment of the pads.
The last thing you need to take care of is the frame. After acquiring all of the above components to build a motocross bike, you will find that the standard mounting points need to be improved. Try to make the most of the standard places for fixing certain parts, if possible without resorting to welding. However, you may need to completely rebuild some parts of the frame of a motocross motorcycle, for which it is better to use high-strength steel pipes and a fairly powerful welding machine.
tuning
Once you're done with the obligatory part, you can also upgrade the motocross bike to suit your needs. First of all, this concerns the installation of modern carburetors with high performance - they will inevitably increase fuel consumption, but will allow you to achieve stable engine operation at high speeds. You can also achieve good results by adjusting the standard carburetors of the resulting motocross bike. However, if you encounter such troubles as loud pops or black exhaust, it is better to return the default settings or even contact a specialist. If you are going to make a dirt bike out of Voskhod, you will also need to replace the standard paper filter with foam rubber, increasing its throughput without sacrificing efficiency.
Most experts advise taking care of high-quality plumage when creating a motocross motorcycle. In this case, it is designed not only to improve the appearance of your bike, but also to protect its units from bumps on the road. Therefore, it is better to purchase a special tuning kit made of high-strength plastic. In addition, to save money, the necessary plumage parts can also be searched for during disassembly.
What are the results?
The resulting homemade motocross bike will not be able to compete with factory models, no matter how much you want it. However, there is a way to make it truly perfect - for this you need to select components that perfectly match with each other, as well as fine-tune them, which can take months or even years. In addition, a motocross bike with non-standard components will require more frequent maintenance - you'd be surprised how many problems can arise when riding a homemade machine. Therefore, it is worth considering the option of saving for inexpensive foreign production. Moreover, the purchase of high-quality components separately will also cost a considerable amount.
