Tigcraft project

[alankelly]

While recovering from Covid decided what small jobs could be completed on the Tigcraft project.

Started to look around for an original chain guard for the Honda NSR swingarm and only found a tatty one on eBay.

I know Tyga make one too




But decided to see if I could 3d model a bespoke one instead using the eBay photos for inspiration for the “original shape”



First printed test piece to prove the general profile against the chain run and does not look too bad, and the model still needs a tweak here and there But once finished in black ABS and then smoothed and painted, should look the biz.

[JonW]

great use of time!

Would that need to be printed in two parts Al?

[alankelly]

Hi Jon

No it will be a single piece print when finished like the model

The printed part was just “half the model” test part to see if the vertical profile looks ok without the time it would take to make a complete unit.

Good job it is nice and small as it was the maximum length I could print on my new printer as it’s go a length of only 230mm

Best wishes Al

[donkeychomp]

That looks spot on as it is Al. Great work.

Alex

[JonW]

Dec 9, 2022 23:11:28 GMT 1 alankelly said:

Hi Jon

No it will be a single piece print when finished like the model

The printed part was just “half the model” test part to see if the vertical profile looks ok without the time it would take to make a complete unit.

Good job is is nice and small as it was the maximum length I could print on my new printer as it’s go a length of only 230mm

Best wishes Al

Thats great to hear. I was just thinking how you would print it as its a Z shape so one of the planes would be unsupported in every orientation etc.

{whistles and looks at feet} I reckon you'll make a killing with an RGV version for us RGVers... Shame i dont still live round the corner...

[alankelly]

Yes you can print it as one piece but will
need to introduce a internal lattice structure to support any overhangs that you remove after

You can see this supporting structure in the second picture for these parts I did recently for a friend






Trouble is the support does leave rough surface that will need some extra work to finish off to get a nice cosmetic finish 👍

[JonW]

Ahha! funnily enough today i was surrounded my 3D printers and saw this for myself. We have a great Maker Center in one of the shops in the city.

[midlifecrisisrd]

Dec 10, 2022 0:18:33 GMT 1 alankelly said:

Yes you can print it as one piece but will
need to introduce a internal lattice structure to support any overhangs that you remove after

You can see this supporting structure in the second picture for these parts I did recently for a friend






Trouble is the support does leave rough surface that will need some extra work to finish off to get a nice cosmetic finish 👍

Oh feckity feck 😖

I recently paid £60 for a repro moulded pair of those rad corners 😭

Steve

[alankelly]

Cool😎😎

Just will need a smooth down and paint in satin black at some point or vinyl wrap in carbon effect?

[dusty350]

Thats brilliant Al😉

🙂

[alankelly]

Dec 10, 2022 20:54:39 GMT 1 dusty350 said:

Thats brilliant Al😉

🙂

Thanks Dusty

Can see a few other 3d printed parts required for this bike

Now managed to source two engine side cases and got the correct kTM front wheel coming so with the planned visit by my frame guy once I am well again the project should start to develop

Best wishes Al

[JonW]

Looks great!

Covid defo helped you on this one

[lcmarky]

Superb work!

[alankelly]

Hi all

Had to pick up a Xmas present for my son in Bristol this weekend. And while there collect a side case another member kindly donated to my build (many thanks Doddy)

I know is a long way off but wanted to come up with a final theme for the bike

Planning it to be a naked bike as it would be a shame to hide away the trellis frame and engine

Always loved “the punisher” series so this weekend had a play on the pc and 3d printer and have designed some one off side case badges for the final build rather than fit the standard plastic Yamaha covers.



So far happy with the result, and most likely will have the same logo on the tank top if I go this way.

Catch up again soon and have a great Xmas and new year Al

[donkeychomp]

Haha! Brilliant. I liked that too. I thought the film was rather good.

Alex

[framemaker]

Hi Al,

My name is Julian and this is my first post to this forum. I came across your project while searching for other owners of RD/RZ powered Tigcraft bikes. Yours truly has an interesting story with many different engines having been fit into that frame. Also an amazing amount of work you've done adapting all of the suspension bits to work. Well done!

The first thing I'd like to ask is what tank and tail do you have mounted? My Tigcraft has also not been completed and has gone through a few mock-up phases with previous owners trying different combinations of body work. None I felt were very appealing. However, I do like the tank and tail on yours.

I then have a technical question. When you made the swap from the YPVS engine to the AC RD400 did you account for the difference in chain offset? I believe there is 10mm difference between the two engines. Perhaps you are using an offset C/S sprocket, or you moved the AC engine farther to the left side? Anyway, just curious how you decided to resolve the difference?

Nice work and I hope to follow your build progress.

Cheers!

[lolly]

Dec 18, 2022 23:05:05 GMT 1 alankelly said:

Hi all

Had to pick up a Xmas present for my son in Bristol this weekend. And while there collect a side case another member kindly donated to my build (many thanks Doddy)

I know is a long way off but wanted to come up with a final theme for the bike

Planning it to be a naked bike as it would be a shame to hide away the trellis frame and engine

Always loved “the punisher” series so this weekend had a play on the pc and 3d printer and have designed some one off side case badges for the final build rather than fit the standard plastic Yamaha covers.



So far happy with the result, and most likely will have the same logo on the tank top if I go this way.

Catch up again soon and have a great Xmas and new year Al

your welcome

[alankelly]

Dec 19, 2022 4:55:12 GMT 1 framemaker said:

Hi Al,

My name is Julian and this is my first post to this forum. I came across your project while searching for other owners of RD/RZ powered Tigcraft bikes. Yours truly has an interesting story with many different engines having been fit into that frame. Also an amazing amount of work you've done adapting all of the suspension bits to work. Well done!

The first thing I'd like to ask is what tank and tail do you have mounted? My Tigcraft has also not been completed and has gone through a few mock-up phases with previous owners trying different combinations of body work. None I felt were very appealing. However, I do like the tank and tail on yours.

I then have a technical question. When you made the swap from the YPVS engine to the AC RD400 did you account for the difference in chain offset? I believe there is 10mm difference between the two engines. Perhaps you are using an offset C/S sprocket, or you moved the AC engine farther to the left side? Anyway, just curious how you decided to resolve the difference?

Nice work and I hope to follow your build progress.

Cheers!

Hi Julian.

Thanks for the kind comments, and yes so far it been quite a journey (and not always been an easy one) to get all the parts to fit together, and turn what was just collection of individual parts (Tigcraft frame, Honda NRS swing arm, KTM wheels, and Cagiva Mito yokes and front forks etc into an actual rolling motorbike.

In answer to your questions on the tank and seat, the tank and seat are at the moment just glassfibre shell, so are not actually a tank as such. And at some point in the project I will need to fabricate up a an aluminum two section "tank" to carry both fuel and 2T oil, that will be located under this glassfibre moulding. And as for where I got them they came as part of the project when I originally purchases it from another forum member.

As for the history of the frame itself, the frame was I believe was originally made for the racing series "Sound of singles" so should have been fitted out with I believe a 500cc single? And then the PO then had the frame modified by Tigcraft to take a YPVS engine. But as you can see from the previous posts and photos, the engine itself is a very snug fit in the frame and there is no space for a radiator, due to the petite size of the bike. But as the current frame engine mounts are the same for both a YPVS and a LC bottom, rather that rejig the frame again to take an complete A/C engine, the current plan as you can see in the pics is to use an LC bottom end, but with 350A/C top end (once the frame has been tweaked to ensure we have enough space for the finned barrels). 

Lastly still need to do an offset front sprocket, but have already taken 7mm of the rear Cush drive to move the rear sprocket inboard, and it look's like to finally sort the chain run I will need to off set the front sprocket outwards by about another 7mm fully to correct the chain run completely.

Also done a bit more tonight and now have the correct KTM 390 Duke wheel fitted in the Cagiva Mito forks


Still go a very long way to go. But I think once I have the frame tweaked and a set of exhaust made (which is planned for 2023) The project should move forward a little better, as like I have said on earlier posts, the two main issues that stalled the project (engine cooling and the fitment of exhausts) will have been solved.

If you have any other questions just ask away.

Very best and kindest regards Al.

[alankelly]

Hi Julian.

Thanks for the kind comments, and yes so far it been quite a journey (and not always been an easy one) to get all the parts to fit together, and turn what was just collection of individual parts (Tigcraft frame, Honda NSR swing arm, KTM wheels, and Cagiva Mito yokes and front forks etc into an actual rolling motorbike.

In answer to your questions on the tank and seat, the tank and seat are at the moment just glassfibre mouldings, so are not actually a tank as such. And at some point in the project I will need to fabricate up a an aluminum two section "tank" to carry both fuel and 2T oil, that will be located under this glassfibre moulding. And as for where I got them they came as part of the project when I originally purchases it from another forum member.

As for the history of the frame itself, the frame was I believe was originally made for the racing series "Sound of singles" so should have been fitted out with I believe a 500cc single? And then the PO then had the frame modified by Tigcraft to take a YPVS engine. But as you can see from the previous posts and photos, a YPVS or LC engine is a very snug fit in the frame and there is no space for a radiator, due to the petite size of the bike. But as the current frame engine mounts are the same for both a YPVS and a LC bottom, rather that rejig the frame again to take an complete A/C engine, the current plan as you can see in the pics is to use an LC bottom end, but with 350A/C top end (once the frame has been tweaked to ensure we have enough space for the finned barrels).

Lastly still need to do an offset front sprocket, but have already taken 7mm of the rear Cush drive to move the rear sprocket inboard, and it look's like to finally sort the chain run I will need to off set the front sprocket outwards by about another 7mm fully to correct the chain run completely.

Also done a bit more tonight and now have the correct KTM 390 Duke wheel fitted in the Cagiva Mito forks





Still go a very long way to go. But I think once I have the frame tweaked and a set of exhausts made (which is planned for 2023) The project should move forward a little better, as like I have said on earlier posts, the two main issues that stalled the project (engine cooling and the fitment of exhausts) will have been solved.

If you have any other questions just ask away.

Very best and kindest regards Al.

[framemaker]

Dec 19, 2022 21:53:50 GMT 1 alankelly said:

Hi Julian.

Thanks for the kind comments, and yes so far it been quite a journey (and not always been an easy one) to get all the parts to fit together, and turn what was just collection of individual parts (Tigcraft frame, Honda NSR swing arm, KTM wheels, and Cagiva Mito yokes and front forks etc into an actual rolling motorbike.

In answer to your questions on the tank and seat, the tank and seat are at the moment just glassfibre mouldings, so are not actually a tank as such. And at some point in the project I will need to fabricate up a an aluminum two section "tank" to carry both fuel and 2T oil, that will be located under this glassfibre moulding. And as for where I got them they came as part of the project when I originally purchases it from another forum member.

As for the history of the frame itself, the frame was I believe was originally made for the racing series "Sound of singles" so should have been fitted out with I believe a 500cc single? And then the PO then had the frame modified by Tigcraft to take a YPVS engine. But as you can see from the previous posts and photos, a YPVS or LC engine is a very snug fit in the frame and there is no space for a radiator, due to the petite size of the bike. But as the current frame engine mounts are the same for both a YPVS and a LC bottom, rather that rejig the frame again to take an complete A/C engine, the current plan as you can see in the pics is to use an LC bottom end, but with 350A/C top end (once the frame has been tweaked to ensure we have enough space for the finned barrels).

Lastly still need to do an offset front sprocket, but have already taken 7mm of the rear Cush drive to move the rear sprocket inboard, and it look's like to finally sort the chain run I will need to off set the front sprocket outwards by about another 7mm fully to correct the chain run completely.

Also done a bit more tonight and now have the correct KTM 390 Duke wheel fitted in the Cagiva Mito forks





Still go a very long way to go. But I think once I have the frame tweaked and a set of exhausts made (which is planned for 2023) The project should move forward a little better, as like I have said on earlier posts, the two main issues that stalled the project (engine cooling and the fitment of exhausts) will have been solved.

If you have any other questions just ask away.

Very best and kindest regards Al.

Al, thanks for the detailed reply! I was going through the thread rather quickly, so I must have missed where you mentioned using LC bottom... but that seems a good choice. I understand that the space in front of the engine was very tight and reason why you abandoned the YPVS engine. Just curious if you considered having a custom radiator made (short, but wide) to fit into the confined space? I know you've made a decision to go air cooled, so only curious.

I am also curious if you are aware of any other Tigcraft bikes with RD/LC/YPVS engines? As mentioned, that is how I found your project. I'd like to connect with other Tigcraft 2-stroke owners.

Thanks!

[alankelly]

Hi Julian.

I did ponder for a long time if I could fit a radiator while I had a PV engine in the frame. But as well a no space, I also wanted a naked bike without a fairing (where I could maybe hide a radiator / Radiators) So the most simple/ elegant solution for me was to go the A/C route for the top end.

As for other Tigcraft 2T owners, I guess there must be others, but do not personally know of any.

Best and kindest wishes Al.

[framemaker]

Hi Al,

Thanks for the conversation about your bike. Its an amazing project and I hope to follow your progress. In the next day or so, I plan to post an introduction about myself and possibly start a thread following my own Tigcraft project.

Cheers,
Julian

[alankelly]

Dec 20, 2022 19:07:45 GMT 1 framemaker said:

Hi Al,

Thanks for the conversation about your bike. Its an amazing project and I hope to follow your progress. In the next day or so, I plan to post an introduction about myself and possibly start a thread following my own Tigcraft project.

Cheers,
Julian

Hi Julian

Will look forward to seeing your project and don’t forget lots of pictures please as everybody here loves pics of unusual projects👍

Best wishes Al

[alankelly]

Hi all

Hope you all had a good Xmas.

Just started a couple of small jobs to progress the project.

Spent some time modelling up and 3d printing a rear caliper hanger design.

Took a couple of attempts to get the shape right but the final result looks good to allow me to to be confident to make the final concept out of an aluminium billet in the spring




Also started to reshape the engine side case to match the frame

Did not feel right cutting out the rear section but needs to be done to get it fit the frame shape😔



Just a couple of small jobs but progress is progress.

Catch again soon and hope you all have a happy new year.

Best wishes Al

[donkeychomp]

That is so clever. Can't wait to see it in ally.

Alex

[alankelly]

Dec 26, 2022 22:35:18 GMT 1 donkeychomp said:

That is so clever. Can't wait to see it in ally.

Alex

Hi Alex

Hope you had a good Xmas

Yes it’s a good way of checking out the design and saves expensive mistakes

Followed the same process when I converted the CB400F to a rear disc where I modelled up an test fitted the caliper before committing to a final part in aluminium

Also CNC mill accept the 3d model as a machine file so no need for and drawings 👍

Best wishes and happy new year Al

[donkeychomp]

Yep. I remember that!

Alex

[alankelly]

Hi all

Just a quick update

Still waiting to catch up with my frame guy so in the meantime ticked off a couple of more things to do on the project.

Received the rear caliper the other day and on fitting was not happy with its position so tweaked the model and printed off another test part and much happier now.




Also as running Cagiva Mito front forks so had to source a Mito front mudguard.

This arrived today and with my 3d printed fork clamps (As this part is NLA and eBay is charging £10 each for scrappy 2nd hand ones) the mudguard fits a treat.

These fork clamp are currently I made from grey ABS,but the final ones I will try to make in a black nylon so the clamp is more flexible and stronger.




Project is so much more looking like a motorcycle now, rather than just a collection of parts.







Now need to chase up my frame guy so the engine fits correctly in the frame with the required clearance for the AC barrels and side cases, then I can then sort out with 2t engineering over at Banbury a one off set of pipes to suit the engine frame layout.

(Thinking GP style with two pipes exiting up on the rear R/H side but will be guided by Andy (2T) on what we can actually do)

Catch up again soon.

Best wishes Al

[dusty350]

Great work Al, this will be a unique bike for sure

Dusty

[donkeychomp]

Looks fab mate! Those 3D printers are amazing things.

Alex