Monster (build thread, Lots of pics, Bike Porn included)

[Drunkskunk]

The eventual plan is carbon fiber. Right now I'm making wood templates out of 3/32" Aircraft plywood. The CF panels will take me 3-4 days each panel for all 13 of them. the wood took me 2 days total for all of them. they don't look like wood right now. The CF panels are going to be a winter project to finnish.

I've got them secured in a few different ways. from bolts to velcro to magnets to glue. the side panels are glued on in such a way that a major pressure change will blow them off, such as Lipo about to go boom. I'll be carrying nearly 20lbs of Lipo just below my balls. I'm nuts, but I want to keep my nuts.

I'm at an impasse right now. I wired it up and had hoped to ride this Monster on Halloween, but hit electrical troubles. I know the Cycle Analyst is blown, and the motor doesn't turn. what I don't know is if the controller took out the CA, or if is working at all, or if my motor even works. I have at least 2 electrical problems, and no known good working point to start diagnosing from.

 

[hillzofvalp]

Is the separation of seat post tube from shock mount just for looks I take it?

 

[Farfle]

Is the separation of seat post tube from shock mount just for looks I take it?

I was wondering about that, is there a reason there isn't a brace there?

 

[Philistine]

I don't know how I ever missed this thread, the opening post was magic (I haven't got past the first page yet) - the panties on the X54 had me crying with laughter.

Totally agree with your views on Barrymore Drunkskunk. That is just how I like them, short, chunky, sassy, and hopefully has seen more cocks than a Palenques carnival.

Did you know Anthony Keidis of Red Hot Chilli Peppers once said "Drew Barrymore has the prettiest face I have ever come across"......

I am so jealous of Anthony Keidis....

EDIT: Just saw the frame on this page, hat's off, that is some seriously great work.

 

[Drunkskunk]

Is the separation of seat post tube from shock mount just for looks I take it?

I was wondering about that, is there a reason there isn't a brace there?

Aesthetics. it looked pretty ugly when I layed it out for a brace there. But originaly, the shock was suppose to go between the seat stays, connecting to a multi-link rear suspension. That was all designed before I had the motor in hand and the wheels built. After I got a good look at it, I decided to extend the swing arm and use a single link, so the shock got moved. I went from a 48" wheelbase design to a 55" wheelbase design mid build.

The second version of the design had the controller filling that space ahead of the shock. But for various reasons, I'm mounting it more like the Stealth on the underside now.

 

[Drunkskunk]

It Lives!


I took it for a ride tonight! Too dark for any great photos, and I will be at work all hours of sunlight for the next few days so good pics may have to wait. But here's a teaser.

ok, Not the bike. But who can resist Drew?

ok, seriously,

Not the greatest shot, but If you're not happy with it, go look at Drew more.

Riding the bike is Simply Amazing. It floats over speed bumps, curbs, stairs, small Hondas, The screaming fleeing Masses. Its a Monster.

Riding it in the dark is confidence inspiring. Its massive, and goes down the road more like my motorbike, but smoother. The Cycle Analyst burned up before it got used, so I have no hard data on it's performance, and I was riding on the streets with no lights in traffic, so I have no real idea how it was doing. But it was keeping up with traffic so well I had no fear of blending in. I would guess 30+mph conservatively, and I am in No Way running this at full power yet.

Half the battery is still being shipped, so right now I have 6 of 12 packs. good enough for 66.6 volts at 10 Ah. the controller is an 80 Ah unit but without the CA, I have no idea what kind of power I was putting out. Clearly it wasn't full power, but it was plenty for now.

I've Christened it with beer. It has a name now.
Killer Tomato.
I mean really, If you're going to have a Ridiculous Red Monster Bike, there is no other name for it, right?



And for the record: (Old School Crystalyte Motors > everything else).
This 5404 motor at full power, which is at least 6500 watts at its ultra conservative first run settings, is quieter, and starts off smoother than any 9C or MXUS I have at just 1000 watts. 1 Ride in the dark has totally made the last year and a half of effort worth it!

 

[Trackman417]

Sorry to hear about your CA. Hope you get another one soon enough to tell us the kind of numbers you are pulling. The way you are describing the ride makes it sound more like a cadillac then a bike .
Glad you are enjoying everything! Don't burn out the motor too soon.

 

[iovaykind]

We want more pictures and videos! Looks like she's gonna be a champ. Might want to cover those holes next to the seat stem so water doesn't get in. What kinds of speeds are you getting? And what caused the CA to burn up?

 

[Farfle]

Big bikes are awesome! What fork are you running to clear that tire? the manitou dorado I was running barely clears the 110/70R17 sportbike tire, and its barely 4" wide squeezed onto a skinny little rim.

 

[Drunkskunk]

No idea why the CA died. I need to get with Justin and see if it's a compatability issue with the newer controllers. So I can't tell what my speed is, but other's running 26" normal tires with this motor and voltage hit 32. My huge tires are moving an extra 6 inches per revolution. So I should be doing 33-34mph, roughly. I have the Battery and setup to eventualy run 100 volts, so it should do well over 40-45mph.


The fork is a 2003 Marzocchi Monster. Its 40mm stantions, set 175mm apart. I think it's 125mm between lower stantions, and 110mm at it's most narrow point. The wheel is 100mm wide and is a tight fit, but not too tight. The stock bridge will only handle up to a 3 inch tire, so I'm building a custom one. Its running without one for now.

 

[ohzee]

I really love this bike.. it just screams sexy.

Been waiting for a full on boobs hanging out pic of her.

Great work really a piece of art.

 

[nicobie]

Looking good!

Are you serious about selling frames? I might be interested in one unpainted, without the panels and without the welds ground.

Nick

 

[iovaykind]

Seriously. I am thinking about ordering steel for my build, thinking about how much it will cost to fabricate everything.. getting a tig welder guy to do it, cutting angles to make sure everything fits.. seems daunting. I'm sure I could do it, just not sure if I'd rather pay for it at this point though.

 

[agniusm]

This is brilliant. I always enjoy people doing custom builds. Far, far better than conversion. You can dedicate spaces for bits, route wires and cables which makes it most of the time clean build. Congrats mate, bad ass tomato

 

[iovaykind]

Can you show us some pics of the jig and how the frame was put together?

 

[Kent]

And most importantly, what was the GF's reaction when she discovered the Bike Porn?

You know, it gets cold in the doghouse this time of the year....

Great bike
Kent

 

[Scruffoid]

So can we see how you have the batteries configured inside the frame.

Thanks

Wayne

 

[Hyena]

Sweet build mate!
I haven't been online much lately but have been planning a build quite similar to this and have amassed most of the parts except for the frame. I came online to browse through the pics and builds thread and find you've done almost exactly what I had planned in my head!
So a big +1 on the GWs from me

 

[Drunkskunk]

This is the first chance I've had to get out in the sun since finishing the bike. Thanks to... No, make that Huge Thanks to Justin, he diagnosed the CA problem. seems I had one of the batch with the inrush resister issue. I replaced it this morning and the CA is also alive.

And I got a few surprises from it. Seems my tire Diameter is 91 inches, exactly. And the CA, using 12 poles, says I'm going 39.7mph top speed at 75 volts. No wonder I was keeping up with traffic. I want to confirm that, though. I need to find a radar sign or something.

No idea what my amp draw is. I haven't calibrated it yet. and blah blah blah, you want to see pics, not read this crap. So here's a few.

Just for reference, I'm exactly 6 foot tall. 183cm for the rest of the world. This bike makes me look small

And since someone asked for the frame jig. here. I think it's the only pic I had of it. It wasn't much of a jig. I basicly clamped or bolted things to it as i needed. That thing It's sitting on actually got used more. it's a 12X12X0.25 piece of iron I built into a portable welding table. Then covered it in cooking oil and stuck it in the oven and seasoned it the way you season a cast iron skillet. It gave me a flat surface to weld on, and the seasoning kept the welding splatter from sticking. Most of the bike got built clamped to that thing. The frame jig got scrapped for parts of my next project, but the welding table I'm keeping. That thing is just too usefull.

 

[Thud]

I love it!
congrats on a great build..
fat bikes are great.

 

[iovaykind]

It's so beautiful there's nothing I can even complain about. Just to nitpick (and I mean REALLY nitpick) you could think about a chain guide to help with the slack of the chain there.. other than that, WOW.

Now you gotta tell us.. was it all worth it making it on your own from the frame up? The time and effort spent into it, was it all worth it?!

 

[ohzee]

Wait What no more DREW pics ?"??

haha J/K

that's exactly what I wanted.. holy shit she's big and she's pretty.. plenty of meat on that bone.

kick ass work m8 now I want to see some videos of her in action.

 

[kudos]

Love your work.Very inspiring.

It's this kind of thing that could be a real game changer.

I'd like to do something similar but with way more battery space.

Nice one.

Kudos

 

[Tommy L]

Awesome work here!

I just received my TIG Welding Certification

Now it's time to do a scratch build too!

I've noticed that builders are placing their controllers right in the SPRAY path of the front tire.

Although my controllers say they are Water Proof on Resistant.......after opening them up, I'm no so sure about that.
Have you beefed up the water proofing? Or choose not to ride in the rain?
On my Hoolagan build, my controller is placed up by the Triple Tree and gets sprayed if the pavement is wet. I guess it's time for fenders

My daughters boyfriend has a Silk-Screen/Embroidery business and is embroidering this on my Welding Jacket as we speak!

 

[Drunkskunk]

To answer a few questions I missed. Yeah, the GF was pissed. But she also found it funny, she just didn't admit it for a while.

I'd love to sell some frames. But I have to get better at welding first. I wouldn't risk anyone else's neck on my welding skills yet.

Idler gear. it has a chain tensioner already where a derailer would go. But an idler at the mid point might be useful. I've already got some chain slap there. A chain slide might be a simpler Idea, though.

The side pannels are made of wood, but I coated them with truck bed liner. That stuff will take some abuse, and you can't tell they're wood now.

The controller Is where it is because of airflow. 4 years ago I did some tests to find the best airflow spot on my Kona, and found it was just ahead of the cranks on the downtube. Spray might be an issue, but I don't ride in the rain or the wet normaly, and it's never been an issue on the Kona.

Tommy, congrats on your certification!

I can pop some panels off to show how the batteries fit once the other half arrives. Its built for 18S 4p, (Or 24s 3p.) but I'm only 18S 2p in it right now. Hobbyking's tracking shows the other half are sitting in customs.

If you have the time and patience. Building your own frame is totally worth it.