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All the photos of the mold making process have been moved to a new page. Click Here
Reference Material
The parts have all been made
and the first thing is to establish layout line
We also need to make some decisions about the tail section. No mater how wide you make it, the rear still becomes narrow and to a point because of the tail light. no mater how wide it is the tire will contact the tail light area. I propose to lengthen the tail. I included a photo of that Busa dragbike model. It has an even larger tire and is lower. The model can give you an idea how much you want to lengthen the tail.
The last photo I wanted to show is the side profile of the tail in relation to the tire. Rather than making the tail wider just bring the sides straight down, and use no undertail piece. The alternative would to point it up like a stunt bike, but I don't think that is the look your after.
I made a mold of the taillight with silicone and made a duplicate of it to use in the tail. This allows me to sand and grind on it without damaging the original tail light. I can mold this directly into the tail to get perfect fit and shape.
The tail is coming together. The proportions are a little different from the drawing but the I am trying to keep the styling in line with the internal structure.
Starting the side scoops. I can only cut out one at a time because if I cut it all out it wont have any structural integrity. I take it slow and do one at a time to insure the fit. Note that the insert between the tank and side panel have been bonded together to make one piece.
I need to check the in the lower front of the fairing for clearance with the tire when the forks are turned from stop to stop. I will be doing that next.
Just for comparison.
No I didn't finish the other side of the tail I just did a little photoshop reversal. Adam said he would like to see a straight on side shot.
The scoop isn't in yet but I needed to get the parts stabilized, so I took it to the next stage.
Kind of boring at this stag, just matching up the other sides with the first. The one new thing is the start of the small scoop on the side of the tail.
Just movin right along. I am into the upper now and you can see how much of the original part I had to remove. I wanted to relocate the headlight but it keys into the back of the dash, so I have to rethink a few things.
Some initial ideas on the side scoop. Don't think I like either one. It has to be in the right location to make the inner ducts work.
The last stages of the design
Aug 1 08
The photo at the left shows that the ram air ducts only need to be located to the inside of the bracket instead of the outside of the bracket, to give the extra room needed.
This
shot shows a photo shopped version of what the tail would look like extended 6".
It would need to be extended this much to get the clearance with out widening
the whole tail. I lowered the rear so much that the turnbuckle came apart. It is
at 2 1/4" ground clearance.
Un edited version of the same photo.
Here you can see that all that would be needed is a little trimming at the arrows to make this work.
This is an area that Adam and I agreed that needed to be filled. It even makes it easier to make the parts.
Gas tank
The profile on the left follows the drawing, but also means that you will have a point sticking you right in the chest. On the right I have toned down the point to make it a bit more comfortable.
The tank also protrudes past the profile of the frame. With a cover thickness added to this it adds to the problem.
This is a first generation fiberglass part. I needed to finish this to give a platform with the final thickness to finish the dash panels, ram air scoops and the headlight mounts. I also now have a solid part to base the windshield mold.
Tail section
The Tail has been lengthened by 6 inches. It is ready for a bunch of Bondo and sanding.
Windshield
These are the photos of the mold for the windshield in progress.
Below are the photos of the final glass part made from the windshield mold and trimmed and fitted to a upper fairing.
