Springfield Flyer.

[Tom Burkland]

Mike,
Two comments on the photos that i should have looked at before the first reply today.
1) Caster adjustment needs to either be welded or dowel pinned once everything is set at correct alignment. Do not rely on friction clamp up to hold this critical position under the high cyclic front wheel loading.
2) If the batteries are going to be on the driver side of any sealed cockpit boundary/firewall they need to be inside a liquid tight box to prevent any electrolyte or plates from bouncing around inside the cockpit safety envelope with your frail human body. Typical sealed aircraft lithium batteries will only survive toi about 15G before the case opens and lets the contents spread into the area, standard automotive batteries are even lower and have liquid acid and lead plates that create a large mess where the emergency staff wants to work. If you have room I would move the batteries forward of the foot bulkhead alongside the rear front wheel, or at least build a watertight box in the forward cockpit to contain them with 40G capability. Is there another one on the left side as well? Depending on the CP and CG calculations these heavy components could well be moving to the rear for better traction if the body CP is far enough aft to support this. I would prefer the batteries not even be in the cockpit, but if they are properly contained and isolated the location in the photos will be okay. Another approach to this containment and isolation might be a cockpit liner panel that runs from the upper frame rail on the right, down to the floor, across the floor, and back up to the upperf rame rail on the left to create a separate sealed foot box fo rthe driver and keep any other parts or fluids on the outboard side of this liner.
Keep up the good work.
Tom Burkland   

[tauruck]

Tom, the swing arms are similar to Ducati one sided units.
What caster angle is correct?. I can get it set up and weld it.

On the battery situation my cockpit is different from the other current liners.
I have a Carbon monocoque. That goes into the area most drivers sit on.
It's the same as any modern single seater unit save for the shape.
Not just some Carbon. It's 40 layers on Aluminium honeycomb and the battery is nowhere near.
No liquids from it will get to me. There's a number of boxes I haven't fitted yet.

I know all about battery acid and crashes. In 81 on my 1st qualifying attempt I wrote the chassis off at 170.
Unsurvivable crash. I shorted the car 3' and it took about an hour getting hundreds of Aluminium shards out of my feet which were soaked in battery acid.
Still got the boots. That was a violent wreck. Splinters got through my boots and socks. The battery was mounted in front ahead of the bulkhead and there were just the 2 terminals left.

Thank you for your advice. I drop all you guys because I've been on this build so long you all forgot what I've built already. My bad.

[tauruck]

Needle work.

Took me about 30 minutes to thread a needle.😂😂😂

Thanks Sid,

The next one I'll get in person.💪🏻👊🏻👍🏻

[floydjer]

Mike....I will buy one for you..

[tauruck]

Thanks Jer.
Get me one with a 500 Life member patch on it.🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
I think I deserve it. 500 months on a build!!!!!!.

[tauruck]

Bee super busy.
I have exactly a year to get to the dry lake.

I'm using the big roll of Basalt in the floor pans already.
Pretty stiff but the vacuum pump pulls it.

In May I built a puke tank and it's been sitting on the window sill waiting for clear.
Hopefully tomorrow.

[tauruck]

Basalt down on the foam core ready to go but I never had enough vacuum bag tape so I'm hoping to get some tomorrow.

[tauruck]

Redid some stuff on my steering wheel.
It's slowly coming good.

[tauruck]

 Oil catch tank clear coated and hardware fitted.

[tauruck]

Wheel tubs.

I have a mould for tubs but it's more of a TransAm tool.
I could have cut, reshaped or started from scratch.
I have a tub made from Kevlar I was going to modify but halfway through that joke I decided to check the pile!.
I have hundreds of custom Harley moulds for fenders, tanks and other bits.

Find something close and stretch and widen was the idea.

This big Yellow mould jumps out at me. That might be close?.
I offer it up to one of the tyres Marlo sent and it just fell on. Space on the width and OD. Lots!!!!.
Looking at this mould I can see I've used it before but on what bike???.
There's no Harley custom tyre with this OD. I can't remember what the mould was for once let alone multiple times.

When I say weird stuff happens here you guys think I'm pulling a fast one.

The gap between the rails is X and the mould is slightly wider but after making the first part it slides in between the rails with about 5mm gap.
Coincidence???. Again???. I think not.

I made a part using glass and Basalt Fibres using the high performance resin system and it's difficult to measure but right now but it's close to 1/2" and is far from finished.
It will get trimmed, get flanges and mounting plates fitted before getting beefed up. This has all worked out perfectly because PMSA has a 200m roll of 280gr/m2 Basalt twill weave en route.
By the time it arrives I'll have the "skinny" ready for reinforcement. I'm putting a huge Milspec helmet over all my rubber. Any doubts as to the viability of Basalt please check out the ballistic armour being made using this material.

Gap between tyre including growth?. I have 4". Is that enough?.

To make things even more weird I found another Harley mould that suits the front tyres Stainless sent me. It's a flat top deal wide enough for the turning radii.
Our Lord and Saviour is on this build like no other.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻✝✝✝✝✝❤❤❤❤

[tauruck]

The second floor pan is out of the mould.
This is the Basalt Fibre version.
Basalt is awesome. This part is rigid but I'll add more heat proofing later.
Thank you PMSA.

[SPARKY]

Mike you are on a roll buddy   

[tauruck]

Thanks Sparky.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Things are looking up.

I respect all you guys even more now.
This project is even bigger than I thought.
Guys go to University?.
This is the best education ever.

I'm head down, one part at a time.
Next week I'm going to get the gear cutting, axle deal going.

[tauruck]

Second floor pan in.
Unbelievable.

One guy, no help making parts that interlock???.
I got onto the creeper with the pan next to me and lifted it.
It went into the 'tongue and groove" like factory.
Lifted the back and supported it.
Drilled the mounting holes and slid in the bolts. That easy???.
NO WAY JOSE!!!!.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻✝✝✝✝✝✝✝✝

[tauruck]

I haven't trimmed or cleaned off the release agent and it's as good s it will get.

The nose pan is in the mould with Basalt mesh.
Ready for foam core.

The mould is too short but it worked out great because I'll add the extra piece to the forward section of the nose.
Short piece about 20".