Showing posts with label Welding. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Welding. Show all posts

Sunday, May 19, 2013

MODIFICATION: FORK SWAP STEP 5: STEERING STOPS

The part of the fork swap that is the least "plug & play" is making it so that the triple tree bolts do not piece the gas tank in the event of a "tank slapper." Usedtobefast solved this problem in a pretty sleek way by tapping to the original triple tree stops and installing bolts that would contact a welded on tab to the ATK frame before the triples contacted the tank.

I bought some bolts and went to my local art welder with pics of usedtobefast's swap hoping to recreate the same thing. After looking at the stock 490 frame steering stop steel bar welded under the downtube, we mocked up a couple of stainless ball bearings, thereby extending the stock stops ~1 cm.

Since they were round, they wouldn't ding the cast aluminum triple tress either. You can see there is plenty of room left between the triples and the tank. Left side:

Right side:

COST: $25 to the welder for at least 1.5 hours of his time

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

REPAIRS: SIDE PLASTIC MOUNTING BRACKET

Whether it is due to excess vibration or poor welding, it is not uncommon for the ATK owner to experience some weld failures on the rear subframe where the side number plate mounting bracket resides. There is also a contingent of ATK owners who who would like to find suitable replacement plastics for their ATK, but must turn to the available UFO KTM plastics (1996 ktm 300exc) as an alternative and thus have to relocate their mounting brackets. I found myself in the previous category rather than the latter, and after finding a local art welder (with a significant understanding of TIG welding thin aluminum), I had my panels secured for beer money.



While I was getting the bracket rewelded, I took the opportunity to replace the 12 mm bolts with 5 mm Allens for easier disassembly.


Cost: $20.00