A MESSAGE TO MY TWO FOLLOWERS AND...THE REST OF THE WORLD

   Dear Followers, Thank you for your generous loyalty, and your support which I consider charity, because I know how busy you are (all two of you). Thank you also to those who visit this blog, (the rest of you). I implore you to SPREAD THIS LINK like a venereal disease. Don't be shy, be shameless. Please, become a follower and tell your friends. It will make you popular and cool as well! Besides, who doesn't love to look at other people do all the work to make cool bikes, while you sit on your ass and click your mouse! I also must insist, that should I become delinquent in posting regularly, please make nasty and caustic comments to "inspire me to post more often. After all, it's not like I don't have nine billion other (better) F-n things to do! So, if I become lax, complacent, or even lazy, give me ur best Dutch, your best ball busting harassment to get me to post. Name calling will hurt, but I will understand that you're simply starved, and it is I, that am depriving you, of the next posting. Like a babe whose tit has run dry, please, cry out to me!  ok...
   Now  I would like to give you a preview of what's to come in future posts, just to wet your appetites (and entice you to become followers and spread this blog like a...well)    Coming up is;

•1967 Moto Guzzi Ambassador rat rod/bar hopper
•1981 Honda CM400 cafe ... ewwwww
•1977 BMW R75/7 cafe race bike
•1978 Kawasaki KZ400 street/tracker
•1956 BMW Rennsport replica racer
•1976 Aermacchi 350 factory race replica

 So stay tuned, stay alert, and become a follower. Its easy to do, and you can drink alcoholic beverages while doing so. Thanks again for visiting, and come back soon! Ride hard, ride often, and keep the shiny side up!

VINTAGE RACE BRAKES

 I started to re-manufacture vintage drum brakes, replicating the shop-made vented racing drums of the 1960's and 70's. I primarily have been doing Japanese drums, and of those, mostly Honda. These are great for the class racers and cafe customs. I am building a 1956 BMW Rennsport racer replica and I will be doing a Beemer drum  soon. I can vent most any drum. The process begins with cutting the brake plate bezels out of bronze sheet and indexing them with stainless steel screws. Then the openings are marked out and the plate is put on a rotary table, and the vent openings are milled out.

completed brake plate

 The drum itself is bored to receive bronze bezels with stainless steel mesh inserts. Then the spoke web is drilled and reamed for weight reduction ...and also...just because it looks so freakin' cool.

I am working on an all stainless steel linkage to replace the chrome plated stamped stock linkage. I am also casting the brake arms in aluminum, and I'm working on sets of billet brake arms too. I will be posting again with more pictures of the finished stainless linkage and the billet arms.
      I am selling these brake drums and they are priced a' la carte, choose your bezel material (stainless, bronze, aluminum), screen material (bronze, brass or stainless) brake arms, linkage, or just a base drum and plate. Front or rear drums, I do both.  If you would like information on pricing and options, please contact me at:   philippeck@earthlink.net     and just type     Q 4 RACEBRAKE       in the subject box.

CAFE VIRAGO BUILD - Some Aluminum Bits

 

The stock clutch actuator cover  is a hideous chrome job that had to go, after all, the engine is the focal point on this machine. the goal is all aluminum with black paint, so all the chromie bits MUST go. I machined an aluminum cover out of 1/2" plate with the appropriate reliefs on the reverse side and left an end mill finish on the top. The picture below shows the part installed on the engine.

 The stock Virago air box and filter are gone of course, so an air horn was the obvious way to go. The intake port enters the monocoque backbone on the left hand side, and cleverly uses ports in the frame to deliver air to each carburetor. I machined a very large velocity stack in aluminum that bolts onto the frame and will fit a filter element inside the frame port. Check out the scale with the penny next to it.  Frankly, it looks bad ass. I like it.

The stack, in place.

CAFE VIRAGO BUILD - Subframe And Tailpiece

 I torch bent some tubing and made the hoop frame, then cut some shorties and milled fish mouths in the ends to fit the mounting collars and tubing. The mounts were machined from 1" stock. I machined a set of 1" rounds and tig welded them to the frame just behind the tank. The rear mounts of the subframe use the stock mounting points on the frame.

                             With the subframe in place the bike is taking shape.  Now its starting to look cool, not a girl bike anymore.      

 Whack out an arc from some aluminum sheet and get it on the english wheel. This part took about 45 minutes to make, with one annealing.

I really hate to call it a Virago anymore, its turning into something I would ride. The lines are a bit modern as the horizon line of the tank to tailpiece is jacked up, but has a nice retro look at the same time with the little round bumstop. I'm thinking about a nice frame mount bikini fairing in aluminum to balance the aluminum tailpiece, I'm not sure of what's up yet in terms of the finish on the aluminum parts and I'll see when the tailpiece and fairing are done.

CAFE VIRAGO BUILD - Roller And Tank Mod

The swing arm painted and reinstalled. I machined a set of clipons. The new bars are nice and very telling of undesirable fork geometry. Grabbing the bars gives a flopping pull to each side indicating too much trail. The swing arm is anemic and needs bracing, so it will probably come off again for welding and more paint. I may also chop it and extend the shock mount as to gain some lift in the rear for less trail in the front.

 The tank needed to be lifted and chopped in the rear. With  the back whizzed off, i welded the tank shut and fabricated a new, repositioned, rear mount. The tank still mounts with the original frame bracket and clip.

The new look of the chopped and lifted tank. This sets up the lines for the tailpiece. Which comes next.