January 13, 20188 yr 15 hours ago, oldaz said: I wasn't aware of any of these frames being "nickled" from the factory. They weren't. This one had been hootched up sometime in it's life with a nickel plated frame and swingarm, the Renthal plate, MX shocks, mystery bars, etc. The frame wasn't prepped correctly for the nickel plating, resulting in a shabby crepe finish and corroding when it was left outside for years beside one of the previous owner's house. The swingarm still looks good, but the frame needs to be redone. What the heck, it'll be one of the nicest looking users I've ever assembled. BTW, yours is coming along nicely!
January 13, 20188 yr Author 6 hours ago, brewtus said: They weren't. This one had been hootched up sometime in it's life with a nickel plated frame and swingarm, the Renthal plate, MX shocks, mystery bars, etc. The frame wasn't prepped correctly for the nickel plating, resulting in a shabby crepe finish and corroding when it was left outside for years beside one of the previous owner's house. The swingarm still looks good, but the frame needs to be redone. What the heck, it'll be one of the nicest looking users I've ever assembled. BTW, yours is coming along nicely! It would be a pretty looking bike like that, all sparkling with a dash of red, you would be tempted to spend a lot of time cleaning/polishing though. Thanks for comment :-)
January 14, 20188 yr Author After all the feedback and pictures I've started making the new bash plate. Looking at the trashed side cases on my bike and the Renthal one, I understand why they designed it like that, simply to protect the leading edges of the magneto and clutch cases without compromising ground clearance - they obviously weren't concerned about damage to the lower frame tubes. I can also understand that as these bikes were built to do a task and longevity wasn't in the original plans. I decided to go similar to the bottom picture keychange posted, except I'm making the back edge a bit longer to go under the rear cross-member. I had some 4mm diamond plate aluminium left from a previous job, so using a piece of that, the diamond pattern will be topside as I didn't want anything underneath that could snag on a log or rock and it won't make any difference on the topside. Still have to figure how I'll attach it and will post a picture when it's fitted to the frame.
January 15, 20188 yr Better late than never. Here are a couple of photos of 348s. One has the loops and I think it is the final model 348 frame. The other one is my 348 ride bike and the side pieces are made of curved 3mm steel plate welded to the frame rails. It was like this when I got the bike 15 years ago and it works pretty well so I have left it as-is
January 15, 20188 yr Author Guess they learned from all the leaking clutch housings and drowned magnetos. Are the frames on the wall future projects, or spare parts??
January 15, 20188 yr 3 hours ago, oldaz said: Guess they learned from all the leaking clutch housings and drowned magnetos. Are the frames on the wall future projects, or spare parts?? Both. They take up no floor space that way. The black frame is Bultaco Campera (project). The red 348 frame came with an almost-complete 348 which I was doing up to ride, then got my "good" 348, now that other one is spares. That red 348 frame is fairly rusty but might be useful for something one day. That other frame is a Yamaha frame that is very sad but I couldn't bear to throw away (spare/project). I can only lift them up to hang them if there is no motor or wheels fitted. Edited January 15, 20188 yr by feetupfun fixing mistakes
January 16, 20188 yr Author On 15/01/2018 at 9:52 AM, oldaz said: After all the feedback and pictures I've started making the new bash plate. Looking at the trashed side cases on my bike and the Renthal one, I understand why they designed it like that, simply to protect the leading edges of the magneto and clutch cases without compromising ground clearance - they obviously weren't concerned about damage to the lower frame tubes. I can also understand that as these bikes were built to do a task and longevity wasn't in the original plans. I decided to go similar to the bottom picture keychange posted, except I'm making the back edge a bit longer to go under the rear cross-member. I had some 4mm diamond plate aluminium left from a previous job, so using a piece of that, the diamond pattern will be topside as I didn't want anything underneath that could snag on a log or rock and it won't make any difference on the topside. Still have to figure how I'll attach it and will post a picture when it's fitted to the frame. Picture of new bash plate below - I built it as I said above - looks pretty with the diamond pattern on top and is nice and smooth on the underneath "contact" surface. Got it shaped up pretty close, then fitted it and "massaged" it to be a neat fit to the bottom rails - may have to massage the edges a little more when the engine goes back in, but happy enough with it as it is for now.
January 20, 20188 yr Author Thanks wobbler. After all the effort, do you think there's a noticeable difference in the performance? I notice with this bash plate modification it puts extra tension on the engine and mounts. The plate is curved, so flexible and relies on the strength of only 2 engine mounts. Does moving the foot pegs back and down a small amount really make a difference and if so, how??
January 21, 20188 yr The smooth sumpguard doesn’t “Snag” the same on Rocks and gives a little bit more ground clearance....... The footpegs moved down and back ..along with the fitment of wider modern pegs makes it more comfortable ...... & combined with some modified yokes makes it a bit easier to turn ...... I had a new one of these in 1979 but the sections were more straight forward then ...... I’ve made it as rideable as I can..... I’m bringing it back out again this Year to use in the Kia Rounds ... Hysterically Spanish ..... re the stress - most other bikes of the era .... Bultaco , Ossa ... I think they only had 2 engine mounting points !! It owes me way more than it’s worth ..... but I’ll never sell it !!!! Ive ridden it in the Manx Classic & Highland Classic on the Hard Routes ....not an easy day out but good fun !!!
January 21, 20188 yr Author Thanks wobbler, I wasn't trying to be a smart***, I genuinely wanted to know and appreciate your feedback. That all makes sense, especially with the modified foot pegs. Did you stand the forks up a bit more vertical with the modified yokes? I had a couple of Velo's many years ago, one was better on the road than the other, but the second one was more manoeuvrable in the bush and the only real difference was the front fork angle.
January 22, 20188 yr Awesome pics and mods, Wobbler. I really dig your old Warhorse! I'm starting peg mods on mine this week (hopefully) in between finishing up a couple of customer bikes and taking delivery of a couple of new additions to the collection.
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.