Post by dusty350 on Jul 12, 2020 20:06:12 GMT 1
Metmachex 
My Rd400 build was always going to have a Metmachex swingarm in it. After having had a few now on my hybrids, I always try and find the funds for a Metmachex arm. The last one I got went in the Café Racer build - an Lc arm to take an Rgv wheel - an arm they have made a few of now. The 400 arm shared the same dimensions as the Lc/Rgv arm, but without the top suspension loop, and with the twin shock mounts as per standard ac suspension set up instead. They have not made one of these before, and Garry rightly asked for the frame and shocks so he could accurately build the swingarm. Thanks to Covid, it became difficult for me to get the frame up to Alfreton, so the initial plan was for Garry (Mr Metmachex) to make the arm but leave the twin shock mounts loose. I would then mock the frame and swingarm at my end and then get my local engineering guys to weld them on. Covid is still affecting my local engineering guys, and they are rarely open at the mo. The easing of lockdown travel restrictions has worked in my favour though, so an email was sent to Tamsyn (Mrs Metmachex), asking if I could bring the frame and shocks to them after all, once the basic swingarm was ready. "Of course, no problem" was the answer, and today - a sunny Sunday, was the day I made the 144 mile trip up the M1 to Derbyshire to meet Garry and Tamsyn
First and foremost, what a lovely couple - very friendly and welcoming, with nothing too much bother. I didn't want to intrude on their Sunday - they have a young family - but they made me feel really welcome, and nothing was too much bother
Garry clamped the Rd400 frame to his bench and offered up the swingarm he had made for me. Garry has hundreds of drawings and dimensions for different bikes, but he's not done one of these combos before, so we didn't know how it would line up, regards shock mounts. The width across the wheel pivot is 230mm, quite a bit more than standard, and we guessed that it may cause a problem with the siting of the bottom mounts, and it did ! With the shocks mounted to the frame, the bottom shock mounts would have needed to be welded on the inside edge of the swingarm, in the way of the chain on the left side, and certainly not doable with the design of shock mount. 1 option was to mount the shock on the inside edge of the mount, with the mount moved to the outer edge of the swingarm which would have required wheel removal to undo the shock bolt, so not ideal. Garry's engineering mind had already left me miles behind, and he had a redesigned top mount figured out in his head ! So, to mount the bottom shock mounts flush with the inner edges of the swingarm, he needed to make a longer top shock mount to weld to the frame. With some careful measuring, the hacksaw was employed to lop a bit of the top mounts;
20200712_113001 by dusty miller, on Flickr
Garry was keen to leave as much of the original mount in place as possible, to make a solid foundation to weld to. Next, the CNC lathe was fired up, and the first new mount was produced;
20200712_112736 by dusty miller, on Flickr
A snug fit over the old mount, on the right, original on the left;
20200712_113220 by dusty miller, on Flickr
A perfect fit, first time ! The second one was duly made, and then both welded in place;
20200712_121338 by dusty miller, on Flickr
20200712_120700 by dusty miller, on Flickr
I never really thought about the possible issue we may have had, but Garry was awesome, and took it all in his stride and sorted the problem with no fuss at all !
Next, after measuring the ride height from a datum on the frame against the standard swingarm I had taken with me, Garry determined where the new bottom mounts needed to be, and welded them in place;
20200712_124039 by dusty miller, on Flickr
20200712_123446 by dusty miller, on Flickr
He also added the paddock stand bobbins. Due to the nature of specials, it's hard to determine just where a chain slipper needs to be fixed. Garry will supply a slipper with an arm, but obviously cant guess where it needs to be fitted. I took a pattern I used on my Café racer swingarm, and Garry then drilled and fixed 2 Rivnuts so I could fit my slipper exactly where I wanted it. With all the engineering work done, Garry took the arm out back for a final machine polishing, and then back into the workshop and onto a jig for final finishing by hand;
20200712_135157 by dusty miller, on Flickr
A couple of stickers, and the finished swingarm is just beautiful;
20200712_174246 by dusty miller, on Flickr
We often hear stories about poor customer service and shoddy goods - the bike world has it's fair share of rogues, but I feel it important to "big up" the good guys that produce stunning work, and who make dealing with them a delight. Garry is an artist with metal ! I spent 4 hours watching him produced a work of art, and nothing was too much trouble. And Tamsyn is lovely, makes a great cup of coffee, and handles the day to day stuff whilst running a home and 3 kids ! Amazing ! And all on a Sunday when they could have been out enjoying family time.
Garry has a portfolio of some pretty amazing work - exhausts, frames, yokes, and of course, swingarms, and I've asked him to make me a couple of catch tanks in ali for the Cafe racer, to replace the plastic ones that are on it at the mo, so I will post the pics in due course
Dusty
My Rd400 build was always going to have a Metmachex swingarm in it. After having had a few now on my hybrids, I always try and find the funds for a Metmachex arm. The last one I got went in the Café Racer build - an Lc arm to take an Rgv wheel - an arm they have made a few of now. The 400 arm shared the same dimensions as the Lc/Rgv arm, but without the top suspension loop, and with the twin shock mounts as per standard ac suspension set up instead. They have not made one of these before, and Garry rightly asked for the frame and shocks so he could accurately build the swingarm. Thanks to Covid, it became difficult for me to get the frame up to Alfreton, so the initial plan was for Garry (Mr Metmachex) to make the arm but leave the twin shock mounts loose. I would then mock the frame and swingarm at my end and then get my local engineering guys to weld them on. Covid is still affecting my local engineering guys, and they are rarely open at the mo. The easing of lockdown travel restrictions has worked in my favour though, so an email was sent to Tamsyn (Mrs Metmachex), asking if I could bring the frame and shocks to them after all, once the basic swingarm was ready. "Of course, no problem" was the answer, and today - a sunny Sunday, was the day I made the 144 mile trip up the M1 to Derbyshire to meet Garry and Tamsyn
First and foremost, what a lovely couple - very friendly and welcoming, with nothing too much bother. I didn't want to intrude on their Sunday - they have a young family - but they made me feel really welcome, and nothing was too much bother
Garry clamped the Rd400 frame to his bench and offered up the swingarm he had made for me. Garry has hundreds of drawings and dimensions for different bikes, but he's not done one of these combos before, so we didn't know how it would line up, regards shock mounts. The width across the wheel pivot is 230mm, quite a bit more than standard, and we guessed that it may cause a problem with the siting of the bottom mounts, and it did ! With the shocks mounted to the frame, the bottom shock mounts would have needed to be welded on the inside edge of the swingarm, in the way of the chain on the left side, and certainly not doable with the design of shock mount. 1 option was to mount the shock on the inside edge of the mount, with the mount moved to the outer edge of the swingarm which would have required wheel removal to undo the shock bolt, so not ideal. Garry's engineering mind had already left me miles behind, and he had a redesigned top mount figured out in his head ! So, to mount the bottom shock mounts flush with the inner edges of the swingarm, he needed to make a longer top shock mount to weld to the frame. With some careful measuring, the hacksaw was employed to lop a bit of the top mounts;
20200712_113001 by dusty miller, on FlickrGarry was keen to leave as much of the original mount in place as possible, to make a solid foundation to weld to. Next, the CNC lathe was fired up, and the first new mount was produced;
20200712_112736 by dusty miller, on FlickrA snug fit over the old mount, on the right, original on the left;
20200712_113220 by dusty miller, on FlickrA perfect fit, first time ! The second one was duly made, and then both welded in place;
20200712_121338 by dusty miller, on Flickr20200712_120700 by dusty miller, on FlickrI never really thought about the possible issue we may have had, but Garry was awesome, and took it all in his stride and sorted the problem with no fuss at all !
Next, after measuring the ride height from a datum on the frame against the standard swingarm I had taken with me, Garry determined where the new bottom mounts needed to be, and welded them in place;
20200712_124039 by dusty miller, on Flickr20200712_123446 by dusty miller, on FlickrHe also added the paddock stand bobbins. Due to the nature of specials, it's hard to determine just where a chain slipper needs to be fixed. Garry will supply a slipper with an arm, but obviously cant guess where it needs to be fitted. I took a pattern I used on my Café racer swingarm, and Garry then drilled and fixed 2 Rivnuts so I could fit my slipper exactly where I wanted it. With all the engineering work done, Garry took the arm out back for a final machine polishing, and then back into the workshop and onto a jig for final finishing by hand;
20200712_135157 by dusty miller, on FlickrA couple of stickers, and the finished swingarm is just beautiful;
20200712_174246 by dusty miller, on FlickrWe often hear stories about poor customer service and shoddy goods - the bike world has it's fair share of rogues, but I feel it important to "big up" the good guys that produce stunning work, and who make dealing with them a delight. Garry is an artist with metal ! I spent 4 hours watching him produced a work of art, and nothing was too much trouble. And Tamsyn is lovely, makes a great cup of coffee, and handles the day to day stuff whilst running a home and 3 kids ! Amazing ! And all on a Sunday when they could have been out enjoying family time.
Garry has a portfolio of some pretty amazing work - exhausts, frames, yokes, and of course, swingarms, and I've asked him to make me a couple of catch tanks in ali for the Cafe racer, to replace the plastic ones that are on it at the mo, so I will post the pics in due course
Dusty
