Interim Update
Sorry things have been a bit quiet recently – I prefer to post news when I have something important finished or want input or ideas. Although I have been busy on the project, it seems that I haven’t had any “big” news. My goal is a test ride before Easter and road legal(ish) riding before end of April.
Here is where I am at the moment. The “pedal box” is roughly finished and mounted this image shows the layout for two pedal operation.
I’ve got to mount the fluid reservoirs but once the brake lines are made, fitted and bled that’s it for the brakes.
This shot shows the normal driving position
I had to raise the footwell height to get a comfortable pedal angle and I still feel that the available leg room is not enough.
The shot below shows the stationary “foot down” position, which is very simple to reach. The side bars are angled to make easy access for feet moving in or out. The leg angle is comfortable and the vehicle is easy to support. Note that my seat height is 500mm and the part finished bike weight is over 120kg at present.
With hindsight I would have preferred another 50mm of length to make things a bit more comfortable. Originally I set my ground clearance at 150mm, now my footwell is 70mm deep so I have 220mm footwell to ground. Even though I haven’t ridden it yet, it is obvious that 150mm is unnecessarily high, so I’m contemplating a drop to 100mm.
I’ve also been working on a fuel tank, to be located behind the seat back. The capacity looks like it will be about 18 litres and I’m fitting the standard C90 fuel level sender unit, rigged up to the temp gauge on the CBR clocks. This will give exceptional range but one downside is that calculating fuel mileage form tankfill to tankfill will take too long. In order to make quick measurements of fuel mileage during the development phase, I am going to fit a 500ml “test tank”. Actually this will be a spray gun gravity pot rigged with a ball valve so that I can run on the pot or the tank. This way I can do a 30 minute (or so) run at 100kph and get instant feedback on performance.
I’ll post pictures when the welding is finished and any other news within a couple of weeks. I have been following other threads and preparing a detailed post on my aerodynamic viewpoint, which will “put the cat among the pigeons” but that can wait a bit longer.