Man, do you ever sleep?
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
We're slow at work right now so I had the day off. But no, I don't sleep much.
Offset ready to weld. This one took awhile to make.
Offset ready to weld. This one took awhile to make.
Yammerhead
Expert
I would hate to even guess how many hours you have put into that sled since you bought it. She's a perpetual work in progress! 
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
I would hate to guess too.
Took a quick break to make a T-top post for my buddies Pro RMK.
I welded the offset in and then added two braces on each end(four total)
Center section cut out
Finally done
Spray painted until I can get it to the powder coaters
My previous chromoly post weighed 6 lbs/10 oz including the handlebars, what was left of the steering arm, and small linkage. New one-piece post weighs 4 lbs/9 oz. A couple more pounds gone.
Took a quick break to make a T-top post for my buddies Pro RMK.
I welded the offset in and then added two braces on each end(four total)
Center section cut out
Finally done
Spray painted until I can get it to the powder coaters
My previous chromoly post weighed 6 lbs/10 oz including the handlebars, what was left of the steering arm, and small linkage. New one-piece post weighs 4 lbs/9 oz. A couple more pounds gone.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
New OFT upper bushing
Built the gauge mount into the steering column plates
Built the gauge mount into the steering column plates
I like that mount, Nice Job
here is my project for the weekend, I will post the rest of the pictures/story later.
Last sunday I broke my header riding, It broke 2 of the pipes out of the collector.
then after that one of the stubs got hit by my track and broke the flex. I was 15 miles in so I pulled off my seat, tank and heat sheild then used some filler rod I had in my underseat back as safety wire and wired it back in place to do a little more riding and make the trip out. It sounds like a monster truck with just pipes off the head lol.
So I decided to build a new header from scratch, first I had to make a tool to flair my pipe for the doughnuts.
started with 1 3/4 mild steel and turned it down to the ID of my new stainless
then I machined it to 45 degrees to flair the tube
then after that one of the stubs got hit by my track and broke the flex. I was 15 miles in so I pulled off my seat, tank and heat sheild then used some filler rod I had in my underseat back as safety wire and wired it back in place to do a little more riding and make the trip out. It sounds like a monster truck with just pipes off the head lol.
So I decided to build a new header from scratch, first I had to make a tool to flair my pipe for the doughnuts.
started with 1 3/4 mild steel and turned it down to the ID of my new stainless
then I machined it to 45 degrees to flair the tube
so then I started by flairing my pipe, found that anti seize was the ticket for getting it to flair good.
Then I took a short piece with a flair and slipped it over my stock pipe/flange to get enough sticking through for the doughnut to go on.
welded up
flange, doughnut and starter pipe
Then I took a short piece with a flair and slipped it over my stock pipe/flange to get enough sticking through for the doughnut to go on.
welded up
flange, doughnut and starter pipe
Then the spring tabs were time consuming since there was 18 of them total
all the springs on and the joints tacked, I need to get new springs monday I just used hardware store ones for building it. I had some bends but since they only had to be 5 degree bends in the pipe I decided just to cut it and angle it to save one joint.
all the springs on and the joints tacked, I need to get new springs monday I just used hardware store ones for building it. I had some bends but since they only had to be 5 degree bends in the pipe I decided just to cut it and angle it to save one joint.
pipes all welded up
then I cut off the tail pipes and it was time to fit the collector, I decided to use the one off my excell just because I had it and it would save me a couple hours.
all welded up
then I cut off the tail pipes and it was time to fit the collector, I decided to use the one off my excell just because I had it and it would save me a couple hours.
all welded up
I also had to make a new hanger for my muffler, I have had some track slap issues so I decided to make a hanger that was way overkill but it would also divert the track down below the muffler and keep it from hitting the tip. I will also be dropping my skid down in the tunnel a bit more to keep it from hitting so bad. This will take some billet drop brackets, they will be fun since I have never used a mill but today is the day to learn how.
Full system
Todays project to get the exhaust installed and get the skid dropped down.
Full system
Todays project to get the exhaust installed and get the skid dropped down.
Nikolai
TY 4 Stroke God
Looks great! The only thing I dislike about the Cat skids is that they don't maintain track tension when collapsed, I run my track pretty tight now. Are you back purging the stainless when you weld? Out of curiosity, how far below the top of the tunnel are you skid mounting holes? I'd like to see if mine are lower or higher.
Nikolai said:
Yeah here are a couple back purge set ups.
I was welding the flair on to the head flange so I used the 45 fitting just as a cap and to get the tape away from the heat then I used the jig to cap the other side.
For the collector there was no real way to back purge so I did the weld inside of a box since the argon is heavyer than air it works well.
I will measure my drop brackets in a bit, Im going to pull one bolt out of my float so I can compress the rear of the skid easily and see how bad I am. Im not sure why I am hitting so much worse than I did last year. I did have a few marks from the track on the muffler but it was not bad. This year it is really bad and the geometry or the old cat skid to the float skid is the same.
The real pain with the 4130 tunnel is that drop brackets are not easy to change like a conventional tunnel. I could do it just by adding some 1/4 to the inside of my drop bracket and take a 1/4 a side off my cross shaft but im thinking making something on the mill will be funner.
Nikolai said:
I am at 11 7/8" with your exhaust that would be fine im sure, mine not so much. I have a 3 1/2 inch muffler with a 1/2" on top so I need 4". I dont mind a track slap here and there but this is bad. The track tension actually stayed very close with bottoming just the rear.
Seems like plenty of room
The rear bottomed
Im going to drop it another 2 inches and we'll check it again.
