Finally got busy with the angle grinder and chopped of the rear of my frame to accommodate a scrambler seat from Tex Avina. I can't decide how to close these holes in the rear bracket. A fabricator suggested pinching and welding them but I'm not sure how to go about that. I've seen some other weld caps on there. Any thoughts? I've searched the forum for pics but I thought I'd reach out as this is a big haystack
I ground down the welds and painted over using the the VHT chassis paint. I don't have any close-up pictures at the moment but I can take a couple tomorrow after work to show you how it came out, and the idea I have for how to mount the seat if you're interested!
You may want to use studs here, too. If a nut comes off, at least the stud will remain to give some lateral stability to the seat. A missing bolt can't do that.
If you're concerned about the studs protruding toward the tire, you could use a clip at the rear mount, like the stock seat has at the front. Either way, you'll need some other means to limit wheel travel than the tire rubbing on the frame.
this type of welding doesn't need to be pretty. I bought a $98 cable feed welder. You can afford to weld fat and ugly and then grind smooth for these types of welds being non structural. I bought a $5 paddle sander attachment for my angle grinder that knocks these welds down in seconds.
Mech, Thanks for that! I have the same exact plans except I think I may plug these LEDs into each "plug" Seems straightforward. Famous last words right? I took a MIG welding class last night just to get the basics down. That was after my TIG welding class was a failure. Whole new respect for those guys.
"and welding another spacer here (in red) and having two bolts come up through the cross bar here."
I was planning to weld my cross bar to the top (flanges) rather than in the recessed area so that my seat pan wouls sit flush with the cross bar. Is there any reason you didn't do that?
"this is how the rear end came out. I plan on creating a piece of metal on the bottom as a electronics tray/fender eliminator as well"
I have the same plan. Instead of welding it to the bike, I planned to bolt the front of that to the bottom of the CDI mounts and the back of it to the cross bar. Thoughts?
yea for all of the electric pan stuff I was going to do nuts and bolts in the same those same mounting places, so if need be I can pull it off and fix thinks as needed.
"this is how the rear end came out. I plan on creating a piece of metal on the bottom as a electronics tray/fender eliminator as well"
I have the same plan. Instead of welding it to the bike, I planned to bolt the front of that to the bottom of the CDI mounts and the back of it to the cross bar. Thoughts?
So I made a few modifications to my original plan and I got to use my friends welder yesterday so I guess I'm committed. I have the bolts in the front like I Planned but in the back I welded these L brackets they will keep the side to side movement to a min and I think I am going to drill and tap the frame so I can use a bolt to hold it down. than I will be able to use the cross rail to mount a rear fender if I choose to do that. I may just do a tire hugger and use the electronics tray as a "fender"
Mech,
Cool to see a fellow mechanical engineer. I too am working on my CX, but not as far along as you. I have a question about the metal seat pans, how are you planning to attach foam and then leather to the metal? Rivets?
I too crossed the rubicon this weekend. Man I'm a crappy MIG welder but I enjoy weiding an angle grinder. Happy with everything except for the length of the frame. I fear I've cut it too short for riding two up. I think i'll porbably weld a tab that runs from the cross bracket out to the rear of the seat for added support.
your welds looks good! amazing what an angle grinder can do. I agree for that seat you may have cut off too much the frame, you'll have to do something to support it but I don't this that welding a tab to the cross bar will be effective unfortunately. I may be overthinking the problem but the tab that you would weld on the cross bar may deflect down under any significant load due to the low moment of inertia of the tab (the thickness of the tab in the direction the of the force applied), plus the weight applied may even twist and bend the cross bar if its only in the center. I think the safest bet would be to add to the frame extending it out further so you can make the piece "taller" without running into the tire. I would hate for your seat pan to bend or something worse to happen.
A tab certainly isn't the most sound way to go but I doubt it will ever have such force that it causes the cross-bracket to twist.
A hoop makes more sense than extending out the frame. Does everyone "plug" hoops into the frame or is there precedent for welding a hoop along the inside of the frame?
Made an example in wood. When it is what i like, I will draw it in CAD and have it milled in metal and get it welded to the frame. It has a hole for the led indicator as well.
When grinding rough welds in thin materials be sure you don't grind the weld down to a foil thin situation. After grinding the only way I can think of to check it is to tap all around the weld with a hammer and listen for dull sounds and also to make sure it doesn't crumple on you.
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