XS Manx

I spent the better part of an afternoon making a hanger for the new brake caliper, to adapt it to a 320mm rotor and the fork tube from the 1100.  I also machined a spacer for the rotor because the caliper was very close to the spokes.  Seems to have all gone well, though we discovered that the rotor is actually warped, and since the setup is all done, we'll have to replace it with the same type.

Toby and I worked Monday to get a lot done on the bike, starting with getting the engine back in the frame.  That took some bubble wrap and wrestling, but it went in and mounted up well.  The wheels are back on for now, so we can check the swingarm and neck angle, and see what kind of offset to build into the fork yokes.  

Some $5 angle finders come in really handy.

With the length of the xs1100 forks, the swingarm angle came in about 11 degrees and rake was about 26, which is pretty good for a stable but agile bike without much squat under power.  The swingarm will be replaced with a box section steel arm, though the length will likely be kept the same.  The offset on the stock yokes is probably too high, and will be decreased by about 20mm when the new yokes are machined. 

I spent a good amount of time getting the riding position set before starting to design the tank, I first machined plates to bolt to the frame, and accept the bolt for the footpeg, then moved and moved it around until it was right, and matched well with the position of the handlebars, which also got moved a lot.  Right now the position is very good, no weight on the bars and feet under the rider c/g.  I'm using some of my adjustable stainless rearsets on the project as well, along with my adjustable clipons.  Good combo in my opinion.  

While Toby was machining a part for a special kickstart relocating mechanism, I decided that I could go ahead and work on the front fender, since the front end won't change from here on out.  This took me a couple hours and draws on vintage racing fenders for the look.  The masking tape will hold things in place until I can screw the bracket into the fender.