Rat Bike Project

[willedoo]

First a disclaimer: at this stage this thread is very speculative, but from time to time I can post on any (if any) progress. The thinking is to convert some of my junk into a rideable non road registered rat bike. What brought this on is that I've recently been doing a complete workshop renovation, and when that's up and functional, a build project like this would be a bit of fun for the rainy days.

 

The plan at this stage is:  1. Finish the workshop renovation. The 6x6 metre space has been mainly cleaned out, so at least I'm able to walk around in there and do some work in the shed at the present time. There's still a lot of structural changes to do - relocating diagonal braces, walling in one whole side, building more benches and shelving etc. and finally get the lathe, mill, presses and other gear set up. 

                                            2. Start mustering up parts and bits and pieces.

 

As a basic starting point for the design, number one priority is to build it as a sidecar outfit as I no longer have the physical ability to ride a heavy weight solo bike. Secondly, I prefer the more moderate style rat bikes rather than the extreme steampunk types where the builder has added every contraption known to mankind including the kitchen sink. Those types are a bit amusing, but not my cup of tea. As an explanation, the first of the attached photos I would describe as a fairly moderate Mad Max style,  the second is way too bizzarre for my liking.

 

[Litespeed]

Cool go Willie go...

 

Full build log please.

 

Phil

[willedoo]

With actual building and design, the first place to start is with a motor then design the rest around it. A big decision to make there. A motorcycle motor gives less design headaches compared to the physical dimensions of car motors. With bike motors, Harley motors are good but too expensive. Virago engines and the Honda V4 are solid and cheap, but I'd rather not have a Japanese motor.

 

Another possibility is to try and fit this V6 3800 Buick into it. Width is no issue, the big issue is height if you want to incorporate a traditional motorcycle type fuel tank on top which I prefer. At least this older model has a fairly low profile intake plenium. The later models have a much bigger plenium which gives them more torque and grunt but increases the height quite a bit.

 

[willedoo]

I wish I still had some of the five truckloads of stuff I sent off to to the scrap metal yard in 2021 when I had plans to sell up and move. Those plans changed due to some health issues, and now I'm here for the long run minus a lot of really good junk. The things I really miss are the various gears, axles, diffs, gearboxes and transfer cases. I had a variety of Nissan, Toyota and Suzuki LJ 80 stuff. The Suzuki LJ 80 drive train gear is particularly handy due to it's small size and the thing about them I really like is that they have a stand alone transfer case independant of the main gearbox.

[willedoo]

The fun part is hunting around the place for the components. This afternoon I did a trip down to the bottom shed in the hope that I might have kept a full set of 16" lugged skinny tyres that were originally part of the Suzuki LJ 80 gear that I once had. Fortunately I'd kept them and one of them would make a good front tyre on a spoked rim. The second attached photo is a pic from the net showing one on a front wheel. It gives it a chunky, military look.

 

 

These two photos are of an old copper hot water system tank that I was hoping to use as the main body section of the sidecar. At this stage I'm not so sure about it. If it was 20% bigger in dimension it would be perfect. It's a bit small, around 600mm at it's widest point and at the point where the opening would be cut, it would have an opening of around 500mm. 

 

 

 

Edited 10 hours ago by willedoo

[Marty_d]

Jeez, how do you corner with a square section tyre like that?

[willedoo]

10 minutes ago, Marty_d said:

Jeez, how do you corner with a square section tyre like that?

Combined with those high narrow handlebars it would be very interesting.

[Litespeed]

Love the idea of the copper tank, maybe hunt for a bigger version?

Or you could modify the shape with some fillets of copper or even stainless to make it more oval shaped.

 

I once had a Stieb Zeppelin sidecar, a thing of beauty. With a bit of imagination you could make the tank like that style as a chair.

 

If you got a hold of another tank or two, you would have plenty to make as you desire and also the 3 wheel guards from the copper. Old copper pipes are also very useful for hand hold rails etc.

 

Metal shaping copper is extremely easy compared to steel , alloy or god damned hard stainless.

 

Would be very cool 😎 with a hand formed copper tank.

 

Any worries on shaping me Metal with simple home tools and I can help, it's not rocket science- guards are surprisingly easy.

 

I would favour a registered motorbike to heavily mod, then you can ride it to the pub etc and have the fun of riding beyond the farm.

Pick a BMW k1000 from 1984-1986 and it's club rego, sidecars are common so no rego hassles and they are extremely tough with shaft drive and car strong dry clutch.

 

Pick up a ratty looking one cheap and you can easy modify to your hearts desire. The motor is called the brick and renowned as almost unkillable.

 

Just some thoughts.

[willedoo]

It would be good to have an English wheel, but I've never used one. A bit of skill involved with them I think.

[willedoo]

Back in the early 70's I had a 741 Indian. I also had a Dusting sidecar I intended to put on it but sold them both before that happened. Sold the Indian for $50 and the sidecar for $30. Not one of my wiser decisions.

[onetrack]

A bathtub would make a great steampunk sidecar! 😄

 

 

Oh, wait! - the Americans have beaten you!  😄 

 

 

Edited 7 hours ago by onetrack

[willedoo]

30 minutes ago, Litespeed said:

I would favour a registered motorbike to heavily mod, then you can ride it to the pub etc and have the fun of riding beyond the farm.

Pick a BMW k1000 from 1984-1986 and it's club rego, sidecars are common so no rego hassles and they are extremely tough with shaft drive and car strong dry clutch.

 

Pick up a ratty looking one cheap and you can easy modify to your hearts desire. The motor is called the brick and renowned as almost unkillable.

I've put some thought into sourcing an old BMW engine to use as they would be ideal. As far as the other aspects, it's good advice and I appreciate it but it's outside the original intentions. The idea is to build a bike, not modify an existing one, and by being a non registered bike not for the road, it gives me the freedom to do whatever I want without having to worry about legalities and compliance and basically bending to the rules of others. If the bike got a bit lonely at home I could always load it on the trailer and cart it off to one of the local custom bike and rod days. Road riding is not so much fun around here these days with all the traffic; it's now mainly just an exercise in staying alive.

[willedoo]

18 minutes ago, onetrack said:

A bathtub would make a great steampunk sidecar! 😄

 

 

Oh, wait! - the Americans have beaten you!  😄 

 

 

Looks like good clean fun (if you've got the soap).

 

[Marty_d]

28 minutes ago, willedoo said:

...Road riding is not so much fun around here these days with all the traffic; it's now mainly just an exercise in staying alive.

It has its bonuses. Funnily enough, I had this conversation with my wife a couple of months back, without using the "mindful" term which I hate.

https://theconversation.com/finding-stillness-in-motion-how-riding-a-motorcycle-can-teach-us-mindfulness-272396

[Litespeed]

49 minutes ago, willedoo said:

It would be good to have an English wheel, but I've never used one. A bit of skill involved with them I think.

I had a english wheel, great machine but not needed to do guards or any other part to a good quality.

 

A basic stump ground into a dish and some basic hammers will do lots.

A leather bag of sand or lead is also useful.

A guard can be done on a old curved steam pipe or cast large diameter curved water pipe etc. just grind smooth and hammer away.

 

If you have a angle grinder you can modify almost anything to shape metal on, custom hammers are easy.

 

YouTube can basically teach you everything you need.

 

It does not require big bucks and lots of tooling.

 

Given you intend on building a sidecar, you obviously have tools, skills and lots of possible shaping tools hiding as scrape.

 

 

[Litespeed]

57 minutes ago, willedoo said:

I've put some thought into sourcing an old BMW engine to use as they would be ideal. As far as the other aspects, it's good advice and I appreciate it but it's outside the original intentions. The idea is to build a bike, not modify an existing one, and by being a non registered bike not for the road, it gives me the freedom to do whatever I want without having to worry about legalities and compliance and basically bending to the rules of others. If the bike got a bit lonely at home I could always load it on the trailer and cart it off to one of the local custom bike and rod days. Road riding is not so much fun around here these days with all the traffic; it's now mainly just an exercise in staying alive.

Sweet Mad Willie the beast. 

A friend did the bikes from the latest Mad Max movie, he is a chair specialist.

Edited 6 hours ago by Litespeed

[willedoo]

47 minutes ago, Litespeed said:

I had a english wheel, great machine but not needed to do guards or any other part to a good quality.

 

A basic stump ground into a dish and some basic hammers will do lots.

A leather bag of sand or lead is also useful.

A guard can be done on a old curved steam pipe or cast large diameter curved water pipe etc. just grind smooth and hammer away.

 

If you have a angle grinder you can modify almost anything to shape metal on, custom hammers are easy.

 

YouTube can basically teach you everything you need.

 

It does not require big bucks and lots of tooling.

 

Given you intend on building a sidecar, you obviously have tools, skills and lots of possible shaping tools hiding as scrape.

 

 

Thanks Litespeed, that's good info. Luckily the advantage of rat bike builds in the context of guards and panels is that the more imperfect it is, the better it is. Rust, oxidisation and generally worn patina is the order of the day. The main thing I don't have is a proper fair dinkum, original old anvil. It's hard to get a good second hand one under $1,500 to $2,000 these days, crazy prices. I've just got the usual stand-ins for smaller anvil work, eg: railway track and a piece of UB for flat work. One thing I do have is a lot of old aeroplane parts, so I might be able to find a few handy bits and pieces there. For the sidecar seat, there's the option of an old cast steel plow seat like the bike will have, or a Martin Baker, or an Antonov 2 seat. The issue with the aircraft seats is that they might be too wide for the copper boiler ; I'll have to measure them up.

[Litespeed]

Sounds good, a Aero themed bike sounds cool.

 

A Ejector seat is a great gag, when racing a sidecar it certainly felt like you would be ejected if not hanging on for life as the monkey.

 

A good anvil is valuable, the cheap Chinese cast ones suck and crack easily.