Sorry (Agian)

I have not been posting again but not because I have been working hard on the bikes or anything. I have just been busy with work.

On the 99:
I do have all the parts to start the FI conversion to the green 99. I am just waiting on a small welding job for the ignition sensor.

On the 600DT to SM:
I also have welded the Oil cooler mounts on the 600DT frame that I will be swapping all the parts from the 95 SM to. Need to check to see if the exhaust will swap as well as make peg mounts. Then Powder coat.

On the 900SS:
The Ducati is at Frame Straight Systems to be modified for the S2R Single sided Swingarm. Stuck until the Frame gets back.

On the new Bike Hauler:
The Van has had a Computer mount installed, the Vanrug ordered, the blue and white stripe removed, and a rear seat (Stock 3 person removable) installed along with WetOkole seat covers on all seats. I will be putting in the chock mounts this week and showing how those are mounted to allow the Baxley Chocks to be removed easily. Also got some MotoCinch hold down clamps that hold the pegs and allow the bikes to ride in the Baxley chocks without any tiedown straps.

Well I got something new...

I was tired of hauling the bikes around on a open trailer or in my Express AWD van, so when I fell into a better Van then the one I had I jumped on it. It is a Quigley 4X4 van

(they build under license to Ford and GM) and will soon be taking over the Bike hauling duty's. I will have mounts in the floor to hold up to three Baxley Chocks (best chock out there IMO) and under normal use will hold two bikes on each side with one facing forward and one back. In the three bike configuration the two bikes on the outside face forward and the one in the middle faces back. I will also double as my bedroom at the five Road races that I race every year. Also As I am reducing my fleet by not only a Van but my Winter Daily driver GMC Yukon it will have a seat added to the rear to haul my to Juvenile Delinquents (I have 2) that can be removed easily.

The goal is to add some Aluminess Bumpers front and rear, Roof rack from them as well. 33in tyres. A 2in suspension lift using custom springs from National Spring. Seats will stay stock. in the rear I will add Vanrug mat on the floor and Cargo wall liners. Macs Tiedows (seat track to you avation Guys like me) will be mounted to the floor and walls.

All these things cost money and of course that takes away from my bike funds. Oh and it will get custom paint too.

http://www.aluminess.com/index.htm

http://www.macscustomtiedowns.com/

http://www.quigley4x4.com/pages/index.cfm?upID=25

http://www.baxleycompanies.com/Chocks.html

http://www.nationalsprings.com/index.cfm

Sorry

I know it has been awhile but I have been busy. I stripped the 900SS down and sent the frame to Frame Straight along with a S2R frame to meld the upper shock mount for the Single Sided conversion. I have not really been working on the 99 ATK but did get all the parts finished for the FI conversion. This involved a signal wheel for the cam gear and a few other parts. I will be starting on that soon. I also picked up a 4X4 Van to move all the bikes around. I have been working on some bikes for Customers as well so I know that some of you that are wondering what has been going on with the ATK's but work has to come first.

Look for work on the ATK next week and I will posting pics of the Ducati soon as well. So look for updates soon.

Bones

Footpegs

I have been tired of the Peg choices for ATK's (ZERO) for years and so modified mine to take another brands. I used the mounts for a XR100 as there is a wide varity of pegs for this out there. First you need to source the mounts and the Pegs you are planning to use. I have Fastways on one and Pivot Pegs on another. The mounts can be had on e-bay for as cheap as 10.00 a set or new with the PN's below:
PN 50615-GN1-000ZB $14.96
PN 50624-GN1-000ZB $20.82
You will need to remove the u-shaped part the peg mounts to.
Thats the cut bracket sitting in front of the peg post.
Use a camber/angle gauge (4.99 from Sears item# 00939830000) to find the angle of your stock pegs (up/down and front/back) then remove the stock peg and cut the stock mount at the rear of the pin hole.

Then mount you chosen pegs to the cutoff u-brackets and tack weled them at the stock angle.

You can even move them around a little to suit your leg length and riding style. Get on and check that you are happy with the position then finish the welding. This is not a job you can skimp on the welding so farm it out if needed, you don't want a mount breaking in the middle of nowhere.

Racks and Side mount tank

Many have wanted to add a larger fuel tank to the 96 and up ATK.

Lets start with the subframe Mods. In the Pic above you can see all the added brackets. The subframe had a triangle brace welded in on each side to add some strength as I was adding Pannier Racks as well. First thing is to mount the Tank using the Mount hole in the subframe just fwd and below the Seat mount hole, don't tighten the bolt just leave it snug so that you can pivot the tank on the bolt. Adjust the tank so that you have a slightly downward tilt to the outlet. Then you can make a cardboard template of the Fwd mount, You can see the "U" shaped mount in the lower left side of the pic this is the mount I am referring to. After this you can make the rear mount. Mine is made out of Aluminium Angle and is really two parts. Part one is a loop that goes from the subframe to the rear rack mounts in the rear fender. This will allow you to carry more on the Rack as well (stock this bolts to the Plastic fender in the rear and about 5 lbs is all it will hold!) and use the rack as a brace. After you do this you can add the piece of angle to the rear tank mount. This is the part with the two holes in it towards the back in the pic. after this you can mount the transfer pump (if you are using) to the bottom of the Airbox or the "U" mount or anyplace you want as long as it is at or below the outlet of the tank. The neat trick if you are using a Pump with a Regulator between your main tank and Carb you can just run a line from the outlet of the Aux tank to the Vent hole in the cap of your main tank. As you draw fuel out of the Main it will draw fuel out of the Aux tank as the only vent in the system is now in the Filler cap on the Aux tank. Works great but ONLY if you have a pump as gravity will not create enough draw. In the picture below you can see the added fitting (Pingle makes these) I am not using it yet but its there for when I need it. In the First pic you can also see how I trimmed the side panel to fit to the tank.

I rigged mine to work without the Pannier Racks but once I put them on I never got around to taking them off (but I could!) so I have not used it without.

Now for the Racks...

I wanted to use lightweight Panniers (ZEGA) as they are watertight and not to big. I chose to use 35 liter units but they also make a 29 and a 41 liter unit. These are not the cheapest but you could use 29's to get a couple more inches narrower if needed. I order direct from Touratech though Alaska Leather (see my links) and I ordered the Zega cans undrilled so that I can adjust them how I like them. I also ordered some mount hoops to use as a example. The hoops from Touratech are 18mm od and carbon steel so are heavy! I did not want to add all the extra poundage so I bent my own hoops out of 5/8 .065 wall stainless. This made the whole rack assembly weigh the same amount as the two Carbon steel hoops that I got as a example.

First thing to do is figure out where you want the Panniers to sit. To do this I used a 2x4 and hung both cans from it using straps to figure the angle and tilt as well as the overall positioning. I angled them in alittle at the front as well as gave them some tilt in at the top. I do not carry a passenger so I moved them forward as much as I could while still allowing for leg movement during riding off-road. Remember those cans are solid and in a fall you can break a leg with them (This happened to a friend) so give yourself some room to move. Also allow for at least 1/2 in. of room at the back of the hoop for the mounts on the Cans. Plan for everything. I made the loop that bolts to 2 holes in my subframe, this bolted to the subframe at 6 points (2 each side and two on the subframe extension where the top rack bolts through the fender.

Then I bent the loop that goes over the Tank on the Left and the Exhaust and side panel on the left. Next came the braces to the lower subframe to Main frame mounts on these the one on the left was sandwiched between the subframe and main and the one on the right is outside the subframe tab. only tack weld at first so that you can bend everything around. I adjusted the tilt then added the lower rear loop that controlls flex at the rear. after this you will need to drill and mount your cans BEFORE you make the second upper mount. These are not in the above pic. as I had not done this yet. In the top rack pic you can see these as well as how the two upper hoop mounts bolt through the existing holes in the frame and into nuts welded to the other section of the Pannier frame. Some were from the outside in and one on the right was from the underside out. the right side also goes through the muffler tab and the front left is a bolt for the side tank as well.

You can see the rear right upper mount in the above pic but I have not made the fwd upper for the left yet. You can also see the cans with the mounts installed in the background. After you have everything tacked and placed where you want it you can remove the whole assembly and finish weld.

Below you can see the Mounts that blot to the hoops for the Zegaflex bags. One of the nice things about these is that they lock on as well.

Oh and by the way for those that are interested:

Bike with both the main tank and side tank Full and the hard cans mounted but empty it weighs in at 330 lbs on a certified scale at the airport. I also have about 2000mi on the racks so far with no troubles. More in the next post. Peg mounts.

And yes it has studded tires in the snow pics.

Adding a Oil cooler

I had seen other people add Oil Coolers to XR650's and thought it would be a good idea to add one to my ATK as they run hot when run long distance. I used a Cooler off of a XR400 that wraps around the steering head.

I also was switching to hard lines as well so you can see the Earls Alloy fittings that I welded to the cooler. If you are not going to do this you will need the oill lines off of the XR400 as well. You will need to weld a tab in the center of the steering head and a nut on each side that the cooler will bolt to.You can see that I had The Damper pin mounted as well as the Triples to make sure there was clearance. You can also see the modified steering stop for the Ohlins lower clamp. If you are using rudder lines at this point you can bolt on the cooler and start making your new lines. you will need the cooler ends of the lines from the XR400 and have your line sweged on. The retun from the engine goes in the Smaller of the two (the one on the right) and the line to the tank goes to the one on larger (left side). I switched to hard line so all of my lines are the same size now. In the above pic you can see the modified fitting on my frame for the tank return, it had to be moved up and a inch or so forward. Here are pics of the finished install and lines.

The Start of a Dual Sport / Adventure Bike

Well I actually started this project awhile back but never did any write-ups on it. I found a couple more ATK 605's in NY. One a 99 ESDS (Electric Start Dual Sport) and the other a 02 605 DTSM. This build is based on the 99. It looked like this at the time I found it. It won't look like this for long. Plans call for Ohlins forks, Zega hard cans for distance and Zega Flex soft bags for shorter trips, Aux fuel tank as ATK's only have about a 125mi range (that tank is small!), a XR400 oil cooler, Computer mount, etc. I will be writing as I find time but it is already torn down and work is starting.

Most work will be done on Thursday's and Friday's as those are the days that I try to take off from Alaska Leather. See you next post.