Tkat fork brace----the end

[newmaac]

Well, after almost 9 years and over 1200 of them, the end of the line
may have been reached.

My program disc has been reduced to magnetic origami. And worse than
that, my back-up files are on a broken 'puter.

As you know, these are done on a 3 axis CNC mill. Over the years, the
program has been improved and tweaked as I've learned more efficient
methods. All these changes are stored in programs on a floppy and
inserted in the machine as required. All told, I think there were 9
different programs/set-ups necessary to make a F/B for an XS1100 Spc.

Yesterday, I finally got around to working on the X-bars for the XJ
F/B's. There was one pgm I needed that was on the XS disc. I have no
idea what happened but when I installed it in the machine's drive ---
poof! ---disc error. "This disc is not readable. Please check and
make sure the disc is installed correctly". All the info was gone.

Pulled it out and tried another disc. All is fine. Then went to the
office machine. No Joy. It gave me the same "unable to read" message
and offered to reformat it for me.

Basically, I'd have to start out from ground zero to recreate the
product. The only 2 saving graces are:

1. That I have the custom ground tools already.
2. I have a few scrap parts around here that I might be able to
reverse engineer.

The bad news is that my old CAD system won't run on the newer O/S & w/
the present economy I really don't want to spend half a month's rent on
a new program.

Realistically, how many more XS11's are out there that don't have the
braces? Oh well, it was a nice run.

Could I ask that someone post this to the XS forum also?


Ciao,
Tkat


It can only be a sport if it has an engine.
Everything else is only a game.

[John]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Say it ain't so!

I don't have one yet!

[strom]

Doh! And I was saving up for one...

I'm in puters tho... not data recovery... doh!

.... and how am I gonna get one now... anyone selling theirs?

LP

[TheDjost]

Where is T-Kat located? I do (did) computer repair/data recovery. Nothing is guaranteed in that field, but I did pull off a lot of "miracles" for very important stuff for some clients. Maybe I could help. Maybe try to walk him through a couple of procedures. I still have a couple of my data recovery programs on disk.

Let me know.

-Justin

[newmaac]

Justin, he is in Santa Clara, CA.
You can get him at www.tkat.com, I believe.

[petevan]

That sounds about right. Right about the time I was going to make a request for one the disk crashes. If you get it up and running again put me on the list to get one!

[Jerry]

I've recovered many files from damaged disks, and have recovery programs on my computer. I hope someone in the area can give it a try, but if all else fails, I'll askTkat for the bad disks and give it a go.

Many times the problem is with a bad boot block or FAT problem; the files themselves are often OK.

If recovered I'll burn the files to a CD.

backup, backup, backup.....my critical files are on my hard drive, a Zip disk, and periodically written to a CD.....

[Badger]

Oh No!

No more Tkat.........it cant be..........once I got my current woes sorted, a brace of some sort was on the list, and if I couldn't find one here in Oz, a Tkat was my back stop............damn!

Come on you computer wiz's, get on to it!

[xswilly]

if your backups are on a broken computer
and the harddrive isn't the thing that is broke

pull the harddrive out of the broken computer
and put it into a working computer as a 2nd harddrive
also called a slave
you should be able to see your files then

also what type of cad system are you using
i'm using mastercam v9
and autocad 2000 & 2002

if you are unsure on how to put the harddrive into another machine
PM me and i can go into greater detail

[Jerry]

XSwilly...

Tkat's post was forwarded from another list; Tkat does not post here directly. You can contact him through his web page at www.tkat.com.

Don't think the problem is a hard drive, more like a bad floppy disk. Tkat is now, I think, in his '80s or close to it. He isn't much into computers.

[graybird78]

no brace

I still don't have one for my special either. always have to spend extra cash on something else.really wanted to get one toooooo. someone keep us posted.

[Pat Kelly]

Besides the data problems could it be that Tkat is getting tired of making them? Maybe someone else with or has access to a CNC machine could take over production? Especially if they could use the data that Tkat already has (had).

[chevy45412001]

this may sound crazy?

Could'nt a part from a tripple tree be used for a fork brace?like the top or the bottom,cut off the part that goes through the frame of coarse grind or sand smooth to look good etc. I mean they are cast iorn aren't they?(would be pretty strong etc.) Just a thought.

[John]

The triple tree won't work. The fork brace clamps to the sliders below the dust seals. The triple clamps are only big enough to fit over the upper tubes. Good idea though.

[Bill__Woods]

I hate to hear the bad news, glad I got one a few years ago. Finding someone with a CNC to make them should be no problem. The problem is they would end up being Twice as expensive. The only way anyone can make such nice fork braces for a price as low as Tkat, is by forgoing any real profit margin (Labor of Love). I was looking in to having some different parts CNC machined and the price is high, unless you want them in BULK (5,000 to 10,000 pieces).
I have two very good friends that are Machinsits (Tool & Die makers) and they were impressed that I OnlY paid $75.00 Shipped for it. They both said they could not Duplicate it for the price, let alone Design & Manufacture at that price, unless they were making Hundreds of them.
If there is anyone on the list that is a machinist and could produce them, speak up, stand up,carry the Torch!
In my opinion, I belive the fork brace I bought off TKAT was worth Double the price that he charged me for it. The improvement it made on my bike was outstanding, fits perfect & looks good. it will look great when I polish it and clearcoat it.
By the way if you want to still get a TKAT Fork Brace - I think Merriam Cycles sell TKAT braces and has them in stock. All the people that were saving for a brace from TKAT - Keep Saving cause they cost more from Merriam than buying direct from TKAT.
This could be the beginning of the end for the XS1100.