"Blackbird" Apocalypse bike project

**Steam** · 21st March 2007, 21:53

Just waiting for someone to react to my last post...
LOL! Anyway, time for sleep.
I'll attach the wheel discs tomorrow.

**Ixion** · 21st March 2007, 23:00

" or... I dunno, do you have any ideas for the tank?"

Corrogated iron ?

**Hans** · 21st March 2007, 23:07

How 'bout an ammo box put onto it's side for a tank?

**Lorax** · 21st March 2007, 23:21

Or how 'bout you stop buying bikes and cluttering up our only car port space eh big brother? Hmmmm?

Nah but really, looks cool in real life people, better than in photos.

Tank: Empty bulet casings, the kind you find on the side of the road in Wainuiamata on a Saturday morning. Hundreds, all glued on there somehow.

**Ixion** · 21st March 2007, 23:23

What would be incredibly cool would be to put the real fuel tank out of sight somewhere (like in an ammo box pannier!) and put a perspex fish tank (with fish) where the fuel tank was. Or use the original tank and put perspex inserts in the side and fish!

Or if fish is too hard, put flower pots, with flowers and cactuses where the tank was.

Just needs a steel can in the ammo box . And maybe a small electric fuel pump if the box is too low. But you could mount an ammo box behind the seat for iut, that would be above the carb.

**Hans** · 21st March 2007, 23:25

Originally Posted by Ixion

What would be incredibly cool would be to put the real fuel tank out of sight somewhere (like in an ammo box pannier!) and put a perspex fish tank (with fish) where the fuel tank was. Or use the original tank and put perspex inserts in the side and fish!

Or if fish is too hard, put flower pots, with flowers and cactuses where the tank was.

Just needs a steel can in the ammo box . And maybe a small electric fuel pump if the box is too low. But you could mount an ammo box behind the seat for iut, that would be above the carb.

And can you imagine what would happen to a fuel tank like that in even a minor ding?

**Lorax** · 21st March 2007, 23:28

Originally Posted by Hans

And can you imagine what would happen to a fuel tank like that in even a minor ding?

Steam's so hardcore he doesn't mind. Running down the street on fire would look sweeeeeet.

**Ixion** · 21st March 2007, 23:32

Originally Posted by Hans

And can you imagine what would happen to a fuel tank like that in even a minor ding?

No prob. Use a proper steel fuel can, put it inside a box, get them from Supercheap. Prolly stronger than the origianl tank. Legal too.

(Obviously , you don't put fuel in the fish tank!)

**Hans** · 21st March 2007, 23:33

No probs with the material, just with the position.

**Ixion** · 21st March 2007, 23:37

? Behind seat. Pretty much the same position as the standard tank, just behind the rider instead of in front. Safer actually, most smashes are from the front, a rear mounted tank has a better chance of being undamaged. After all , almost all cages have the fuel tank in rear.

**Hans** · 21st March 2007, 23:42

Aaaah. I thought you mean beside the rear wheel. My bad. Thought "pannier" is any box behind the rider. Not just above wheel. Anyways, off to bed with me.
But the ammo box is ceratinly a nice touch.

**Steam** · 22nd March 2007, 22:34

I still can't decide whether to name it "Apocalypse" or "Blackbird" after the jet SR71. Yamaha SR, you know, eh, eh?

Anyway, today I put on the front wheel disc and then wired a knobbly tyre on the mudguard.
TSS provided the tyre from their rubbish stack, thanks guys!

The wheel disc is made of a sheet of very light yet tough and rigid foam used for signwriting. It's fixed to the wheel with cable ties rated at 30kgs each, and there are 10 or so ties on each disc, I doubt the forces on a spinning 100g piece of foam will reach 300kgs! So it's well fixed.
Apparently wheel discs are up to the discretion of the Wof tester whether they pass, the manual says they "have to be of solid build and good quality" or something like that. These are not really.
I'd like to have some made up from good sheet aluminium and fixed with bolts, then balanced, but that'll have to wait until I get some money and a permanent bike.
There's going to be some hellish windage, but being ultra-cool comes at a price I suppose.

The photo of the knobbly tyre shows it to be greenish, but it's jet black. That was just the camera doing funny colour things.
The pics are dialup friendly, so click away!

**Eurodave** · 23rd March 2007, 12:54

You need mesh over all the lights & louvres/netting on the sidecovers & lots of graffiti!!! Heres some old pix of my CX500 survival sidecar, some with my then 12 year old son Matt riding...., inspired by too much reading AWOL magazine & the then current Y2K bug/disaster scenario