XS Manx

I started carving the tank from a built up block of insulating foam over the weekend, and when I was happy with the shape, I cut the pattern at intervals and used it to build a plywood buck for the final tank.  The pieces are interlocking so it's very strong for clamping your pieces as you fit and form the next section of metal. 

This shows the beginning of the forming process, the pattern is broken down into workable segments which are then cut from aluminum and formed to fit the pattern, then clamped so the next section can be formed and fit, the two kneewells have been formed in this picture and will be finished up and tacked to the main section before moving on to the tank sides.  I tend to form both the left and right parts for tanks before tacking, as this keeps things more symmetrical.

Toby spent the day on the lathe working on our elegant solution to the interference problem caused by the kickstart lever and the rearset controls.  I didn't have room to take pictures of this, but the finished mechanism will be documented.