money vs horsepower/CHAINDRIVE

[John]

Hey Patrick

That thing looks good! Have you decided on a name for it yet? How about "Frankencycle"?

[TopCatGr58]

Dayam PGGG,

You really scared me there!!!! Had me wondering if the fabricated swingarm would work! PHEW!! I merged this new thread with the old one for continuity, so people could follow it ALL, and YES, I'm sure MANY people are following it with baited breath!

Those raptor claws look familiar, I've got the same thing on the top of my tank on Godzilla!

As for a name, I like "Fit to be Chained", a play on phrases!

"Chained Melody"... I bet it sings a beautiful note, and it's "righteous", brother

Or..."The Chain", cause it makes "bikin" fun, again paraphrased lyrics!

Can you see how music has a strong influence in my life!

Chain Gang; Unchain my heart; Chain of fools!
T.C.

[pggg]

Some people down the street probably have a few names for that bike. Unrepeatable here. The cycleworks exhaust might not be music to their ears? The ride report is all positive for handling and performance. I did think that maybe the lighter rear end and radial rear/ ply front mix could possibly upset some sort of balance or weight distribution or something, but handling has improved for some reason. It just feels better in corners and is rock solid at speed.

The 1196 motor is 78' carbed, 80' cammed and valved, and ported for low/mid torque. A lot of other motor tweaks too, so taller gearing really suits. With13/35 sprockets, 100 mph cruising is a doddle at an easy 5000 revs. A more comfortable 65 mph cruise ticks over at 3200 revs. I suppose the downside to all this is that it's too easy to speed without realising it. 2nd gear whips you to 80 mph plus in a few blinks. Need to stay extra alert for cops, and no daydreaming while riding!

[chevy45412001]

bravo!

all i can say is totalllllllyyyyy AWSOME!!!!!!! finally someone who stayed long enough to help us all in the right direction on the conversion. And having the Balls to actually do it ....i say hers a beer to you and all the riding you do...CHEERS .

[skids]

Re: Hey Patrick

There already was a "Frankencycle", if I remember correctly. One of our early members was racing it out of Alaska. Of course, that does not mean there can't be more than one...after all there certainly is more than one "Beast!"

Originally posted by John
That thing looks good! Have you decided on a name for it yet? How about "Frankencycle"?

[fredintoon]

sprocket sizes

Hi PGG,
that's a very tidy looking conversion in the photo.
However back on page 1 you said:-

"The XS650 sprockets fit the spline but are too big in diameter and are are the uncommon 530 pitch. A smaller diameter 520(common) sprocket needs machining to fit the spline. The 30 x 26 spline pattern is a rare one. 520 chains are 1/2 the price of 530 chains - also gives plenty of options on a rear sprocket."

and that is confusing.
530 chain and 520 chain are the same 5/8" pitch.
530 chain has a 3/8" roller width where 520 chain has a 1/4" roller width. Thus a 520 and a 530 sprocket of the same tooth count have the same diameter.
SAE 50 series industrial chain has the same 3/8" roller width as 530 bike chain and some cheapskates buy it at $12 a 10 foot package for bike use. As to 530 chain being uncommon, most every chain-drive bike 350ccs & up I've ever owned ran a 530 chain.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[pggg]

Fred, about bike chains and sprockets, yeah a 530 is 5/8ths" pitch - thats the 5, and the 30 is 3/8ths" width. A 520 is 5/8ths" pitch and 2/8ths"(1/4") width. 525 is 2.5/8ths" in width and so on. 530 chain and sprockets are reasonably common on bikes as are 525 and 520. The thing with 520 sprockets is that a lot of bikes have 520 conversion sprockets as well as their standard 530 or 525. It means you can use the 520 setup on a lot of differing models, even if those bike models are a different pitch as standard. As far as 520 versus 530, 530 are heavier and have more drag, but last longer. 520 is lighter, more efficient, but wears quicker. Both have the same load strength. Most race bikes use the 520. If doing a chain conversion, knowing which model wheel to use beforehand, and it's standard chain pitch, will allow you to machine the front sprocket to that wheels' rear sprocket pitch. If unsure as which model wheel would be compatible with the bike, using 520 can increase your rear wheel and sprocket choice.

[pggg]

Looking back at those posts, I should also explain that machining an 11mm plate wasn't neccassary, as when eventually setting the rear wheel to it's final position on the bike, the sprocket alignment was only 7- 8mm out. Fixed that by simply reversing the front collared sprocket to drag in 5mm, and shimmed out the rear sprocket with 2mm washers. Tweaking the swingarm pivots 1 or 2mm as well, will get the whole wheel/sprocket alignment well within tolerances. The front/rear sprockets are about 3 feet apart and the truth is, 2mm or so either way is pretty much a non-existant measurement back there anyway.

[JWSanders]

I dig that windshield you have on there pggg, what make is it?

Got a picture from the front?


Damn balsy to put a chain on one of these, too fast for me already! Looks awesome though!

[Bikeboy]

Chain drive

So pggg, when are you going to make us a parts list from top to bottom with year,make and type. Everything we will need to do the same thing you did. Rim, brake, brake rotor, rear sprocket, front sprocket, tirer, brake line, shims, axel, everything you used to complete the project. Thanks in advance. Oh by the way, GREAT JOB!

[pggg]

That screen is on this page http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread...g&pagenumber=2
don't know what actual make the fairing was though.

Bb, you could very likely transplant many different make/model rear wheels as the job is probably about 80% just figureing out measurements and it's a matter of adjusting the axle/wheel spacers to fit the modified swingarm. The crucial measurement is the sprocket to wheel centreline and on a 78' XS11 the measurement needs to be close to 110 - 115mm for the wheel to be suitable. That bike is a real mongrel mix of peices, but if you settled on a single make/model wheel and it's compatible components, you'd find everything simpler with a minimum of tweaking and altering the parts to fit together.

The swingarm on that bike is two halves welded together, but welding up some steel box-section with the original XS bearing pivot points welded on to make a whole new swingarm could be another option. Would take a bit of work though. The swingarm mods need to be done on a flat surface to get really precise measurements with no lateral error.

[JWSanders]

Man, I like that!

Nice and small, but still has a decent sized windshield. I need to hit the boneyards looking for something like that with a round leadlight.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey PGGG,

I'm trying to understand this dimension!? Are you saying that the spricket cannot stick out further to the left of the rim, than 110mm from a line drawn thru the running center of the rim as the wheel would be rolling? Is this why you said the STOCK XS11 rim would not be good to use, because the sprocket would have to be mounted on a spacer which would still put the sprocket too far away from the rim?? Thanks for clarifying this in advance!
T.C.

[chevy45412001]

swing arm

just wondering,about the swing arm thing..what about a swing arm from a bike (any brand) and put a spacer on each side of it to fill the gap of the xs frame?You stated earlier that the xs was a huge space in that area. Just kicking ideas around. That would eliminayte brake probs , sproket probs , adjustment probs etc. etc.

[pggg]

TC and Chev, with the front sprocket positioned on the drive unit spline as far to the right as possible, theres a gap where the chain will reach through to the rear sprocket. But not a big gap! If the front sprocket is positioned only a few mm's to the left, the chain's gonna hit the bikes' rear frame. If the front sprocket is positioned more to the right, there's no problem with clearance. BUT the only way to move the front sprocket more to the right, is to machine more metal off the hardened spline. Even then, you'll only gain a few mm's before running out of metal to grind off. So basically, you're stuck with only a very small gap for the chain to run through unimpeded to the rear sprocket.

To make a long story short, any sort of wheel to go on the back needs a rim centreline to rear sprocket sideways measurement of 110 - 115mm. No more and no less. This is on a 78E, on a special - I don't know, as the specials frame may have differing dimensions, maybe there is some leeway to position the front sprocket more to the left to make this small chain gap wider, therefore allowing a wheel with a larger C/L to sprocket measurement. Most probably not, but I don't know. Running a stringline, strait edge or level flush from the front sprockets' side to the rear axle, determines what C/L to sprocket measurement is required on the new back wheel. Chev, the swingarm is the tricky part, but no matter what, you're still looking at plenty of adjustments and tweaks.