Tigcraft project

[dusty350]

Fantastic work in that bracket Al - awesome !!

[alankelly]

Hi all.

Well its been a little while (My fault as said I was in no hurry ) But my frame guy is making some progress with the frame changes to accommodate the AC top end

Bike has taken a few years to get this far and progress is progress and with other stuff going on at the mo in no rush but looking forward to getting it back a some point in the near future







Catch up again soon

Best Al

[donkeychomp]

Wow. Impressive stuff Al!

Alex

[alankelly]

Hi Alex

Hope you are mobile again soon

Yes will look nice when the frame guy is finished

Its taking time as he has other stuff to do as he is treating this as a more of a part time frame mod on top of his usual stuff

Also he is a perfectionist and was not happy with the original bends in 1.6mm due to slight ripples in the bend so going to use 3mm section as don’t think weight will be an issue 😂

GWS

Best wishes Al

[alankelly]

Hi all

Quick update

Frame guy is almost done

He has removed both original front engine mount down tubes and replaced them completely with new to keep both sides of the frame looking symmetrical

Just needs to to add the original missing down tubes and all sorted





Been a while but at last the frame is suited to A/C barrels

Once back will do a light reassembly of the complete bike (so far) for some pics with the “full” engine in place

Due to other stuff I think the exhaust will be sorted after Xmas but again progress is going the right way

Best wishes Al

[alankelly]

Quick visit to my frame guy today (as he needed to fit the rear swing arm to confirm the required changes to sort out my final drive chain run)

Finally the A/C barrels fit within the modified frame 😎






He just needs to sort out my lower chain run as it is just touching the frame and then frame updates all done for now🤔



Looking good👍

Best wishes Al

[donkeychomp]

Great news! It really is looking good Al.

Alex

[sidney81]

Looking good al 😎👌👌

[alankelly]

Hi all.

At last frame and engine assembly back from my frame guy and now sitting on my work bench😎

Looks pretty awesome, but will let you guys be the final judges












Looking forward to reassembling as a dry build, then next hurdle will be sorting out an exhaust system.

But now the engine actually fits the frame, can sort out some final spacers for the front engine mounting points and sort a few other small items.

Catch up soon

Best wishes Al

[dusty350]

Looking fantastic Al👍
The aircooled top end looks great on the Lc bottom end, and solves so many problems. Look forward to your progress🙂

[alankelly]

Hi all

Now I’ve got my frame back, spent some time yesterday removing all the redundant lugs, then tidied it up with a bit of black paint before spending this morning putting her all back together.

Very happy and extremely proud and very humble of what I have achieved so far as this is really only my second bike build after restoring Yellow Peril, and as most of you know the whole build has not been straightforward to say the least.

Looks the doggies dangles, and certainly will be a “WTF is that” build when finished

Like I said next big stage is sorting out the exhausts, but now it’s back together plenty of smaller jobs to do to keep me busy over the winter like engine spacers, sort out the lower yoke stop locks and start to think how to make a one piece tank and seat hump moulding.

Here are some pics so you can see the project so far.

But lastly like to say a thank you to all those that have advised and given me positive ideas during my struggles as without guys like you no doubt this bike would have wound up a DNF like so many other peoples “dreams” and can definitely see a light at the end of a long tunnel👍

[veg]

I love the simplicity of the bike (not the problems you’ve encountered) but the look, the lines and using the ac top end. Real credit to you Al.

[dusty350]

Yep, totally agree. A very unique special. Looks awesome I think, and the aircooled top end really suits it I think.
Great work Al

Regards

Dusty

[alankelly]

Hi Dusty / Veg

Thanks for the 👍👍

Its much appreciated

Best wishes Al

[donkeychomp]

Superb. And totally unique. All of it blends so well together. Loving the Mito front end too!

Alex

[JonW]

Love this project.

What you cant really tell from the pics is that its so tiny... you have to see it to really know what i mean. It reminds me of my XT500 motard in that its like a 50, but with much more bhp.

Its coming along well and going to be a simply fantastic bike I reckon.

[alankelly]

Another little bit done👍

Front engine mount spacers all sorted and will fit the small damper part on final build👍





Next job steering stop locks, rear master cylinder mount and some bobbins for the rear swing arm so I can use the rear paddock stand

Catch up again soon Al

[alankelly]

Oct 16, 2023 1:46:21 GMT 1 JonW said:

Love this project.

What you cant really tell from the pics is that its so tiny... you have to see it to really know what i mean. It reminds me of my XT500 motard in that its like a 50, but with much more bhp.

Its coming along well and going to be a simply fantastic bike I reckon.

Regarding Jon’s comment hopefully these photos show what a petite size this project is when parked next to my 350LC





Even though it is small when compared to a standard LC it is surprising comfortable to sit on with a short reach to the bars so minimal weight on the wrists.

And as the tank and seat moulding are narrow, legs / knees tuck in with feet sat on the pegs out back.

Still would not want to do a long trip but sticking a standard 350 in it is ample cc

Sometimes think maybe just 250cc would be plenty as should be sub 100 kg when finished😎

A true pocket rocket😂

Best wishes Al

[donkeychomp]

I love this bike. Totally unique and the attention to detail is astounding.

Alex

[alankelly]

Bobbin day today!

Rear swingarm has already been drilled and tapped to allow a pair of rear paddock stand bobbins to be fitted, so today decided to start on this small job.

After a quick measure up first modelled up a design in SolidWorks



Then jumped on the 3d printer to print a prototype test part in black ASA.



Finally did a quick assembly on the bike to see is all was good and fitted both sides Ok.






Pretty pleased with the result and good enough for me to make the final version out of a bar of aluminium some time this week.

All in all a good day.

Catch up again soon.

Best wishes Al.

[dusty350]

Cracking work as always Al

[alankelly]

Oct 22, 2023 18:49:23 GMT 1 dusty350 said:

Cracking work as always Al

Thanks Dusty

Got a few jobs to do but now so looking forward to getting exhausts added hopefully over the winter period😏

Best wishes Al

[lcmarky]

An idea for you with those lovely spacers.

[lcmarky]

..Happy to help out with milling machine resource as I keep some spare holes in the drawer!!

[donkeychomp]

For one moment there I thought you were making a 44 Magnum...

Alex

[alankelly]

Hi all

The smaller “jobs to do” continues👍




Finished off the rear paddock stand swingarm mountings in aluminium




Also wanted to try and tidy up the swing arm mounting points as they originally were just a blank hole for the m8 mounting bolt and washer.

Did not want to just insert a solid plastic plug, so made a 2 part kit to both blank off the hole and have something a bit different😏

It’s a simple design with an inner part that takes the swing arm bolt and a simple cover plate that attaches to this inner part with two screws.






Looks good and much tidier than the original mounting hole, and being aluminium can later anodise a different colour.

Think next task has to be fork steering stop locks and the rear master cylinder mount

Catch up again soon.

Best wishes Al.

[dusty350]

Nice ! It's those details that make a huge difference to the overall build

Dusty

[zig]

Superb build Alan , the Devil's in the detail 

love all the little parts you have brought together to tidy things up 

really does stand out from anything i have seen built , a credit to you


ZiG

[sidney81]

Top work al 💪💪😎

[alankelly]

Hi all

Thanks to risolc got my dummy clock cases tonight

(Many thanks Dave for the freebie)

Fitted them with a spare set of Koso pods and placed them on the bike and yes really want to go old school, and think the clocks will match the overall old school look with the A/C barrels and minimal bodywork etc




This is a picture of the final Koso set up I hope to have that still looks original, but all electronic




So looks like now need to source the clock mounting bracket next 😉😉

Also before committing to the final parts in aluminium been playing with other stuff, and this week have designed and 3d printed a test / prototype rear master cylinder mounting and boot guard plus a matching boot guard plate for the other side






So things now progressing nicely.

Think that is all for now.

Catch up again soon.

Best wishes Al.