Hello all,
I thought I would post up a few pics of a build I got to do over the past couple of months on a bike built right here in the states, a CANNONDALE!! I think it turned out pretty badass. It's definitely one of a kind!
( I tried to get all the pics the same size, but photobucket is freaking out. Sorry if some of the pics are huge! )
I started out taking lots of pictures to document the build, but I forgot my camera for a few days and started just using my iPhone for pics. So bear with me! I'll do my best to remember what all was done.
First off, we needed some wheels. No one has any idea what will fit a Cannondale of course, so I used my CRF wheels and tires for mock up. Needless to say, the Honda wheels looked close enough and I was confident that we could have some spacers machined to get everything to work. So we ordered a set of 17's from Joe at Motostrano (Black Excels with silver talon hubs).
The front wheel was fairly simple because the Cannondale's front axle is the same diameter as the Honda's. So, all we had to do from there is machine up two spacers to get it centered because the forks are about 15mm wider at the wheel than the CRFs.
The next challenge was the front brake set up. The customer is a Magura rep, he does a lot of their bicycle brakes and suspension work. So obviously he wanted a Magura radial set up on the tard. This immediately seemed like it was going to be a headache, but as I got moving on it, everything just kind of fell into place. :bannana:
After doing some measuring and parts swapping with an old YZ426 tard, I came to the conclusion that a YZ 450 radial addapter might just work. I figured, even if we had to do some machining it would be better than starting with nothing. After mounting up the adapter I could see that everything lined up, we just needed to make some spacers to get the caliper in the right spot to grab the disc. After some rummaging around in our hardware inventory I found some old Ducati brake pedal pivot spacer things, and low and behold, they were the EXACT thickness I needed (the gold things in the pic above). So they went on to test fitment, and then they got painted black. Here they are after I painted them. (And before I get flamed for this, I painted them with a high temperature engine enamel, so they shouldn't flake from the heat.)
Also made a little braket for his speedo. You can see one of the wheel spacers in there too.
Now onto the rear wheel. This is where I had to get creative. He wanted to be able to swap wheels and ride the bike on the dirt, so everything had to be removable and I couldn't modify the axle or the swingarm. Because I was using Honda hubs the rear axle diameter was 5mm larger than the Cdale's. At first I thought I would just get some bearings that where the right size and be done with it. But, no one makes a bearing with a 20mm I.D. and the correct O.D. that I needed. :headshake So, to the machine shop I went. This is what we came up with:
From left to right: Stock Cdale spacer, aluminum sleeve, talon/Honda spacer, and an aluminum sleeve for the talon spacer. I know, I know, it looks like a lot of crap to deal with when taking the wheel on and off. What I did to make it all a little easier is flair the ends of the center colar just a hair, that way you can pop it into the wheel and it's not going to just slide out with the axle. And the outer spacers stay in the dust seals just fine, so changing the wheel isn't any harder than your average tard. :thumbup:
For the taillight/brake light set up I wanted it to be as minimal as posible but still put out good light. L.E.D.'s where the obvious choice, so we went with a six inch led bar. All I hade to do was drill and tap the end of the subframe, open up the mounting holes a little on the light bar, and it mounted right up. I mounted the license plate up on the battery box using some existing bolts that hold the ECU in, and then put a small L.E.D. license plate light right above it. After all of it was installed, I got everything wired up (DRZDude would've been proud) and wallah it's road legal. Pics:
Mock up stage.
Installed. (Didn't have the plate light on at this point)
Brake light. It is VERY visible when going down the road. (We went for a ride when he came to pick it up. :bannana
Put some new hand guards on it.
We are still waiting on a rear sprocket to show up from sprocket specialists, once that's in it'll be getting a gold chain installed. And the front fender is temporary for now (I think). We couldn't find a silver fender that we thought looked good, so I just chopped one of his old beat up fenders for now. I had to cut it shorter than I wanted because of all the scratches and fold marks that where in it (it's a dirt bike!), but it turned out ok for what I had to work with.
I want all of you to realize something. This bike is close to TEN YEARS OLD, and it's advanced even by todays standards (IMO). Aluminum frame, fuel injected, reverse cylinder, ohlins front and rear!!! :clap: Anyways, here are some pics of the bike as it stands now. I'm sure there will be more modifications in the future.
Before we got the decals on it.
License plate location.
Got the decals on.
Couple shots sitting outside.
Loaded up and going home!
It was a fun project! Nobody knew anything about the bike and of course there aren't any off the shelf supermoto kits for the thing. So I enjoyed trying to figure everything out and making different parts work! Now I just need to make it down to Austin so we can rip it up!!
I thought I would post up a few pics of a build I got to do over the past couple of months on a bike built right here in the states, a CANNONDALE!! I think it turned out pretty badass. It's definitely one of a kind!
( I tried to get all the pics the same size, but photobucket is freaking out. Sorry if some of the pics are huge! )
I started out taking lots of pictures to document the build, but I forgot my camera for a few days and started just using my iPhone for pics. So bear with me! I'll do my best to remember what all was done.
First off, we needed some wheels. No one has any idea what will fit a Cannondale of course, so I used my CRF wheels and tires for mock up. Needless to say, the Honda wheels looked close enough and I was confident that we could have some spacers machined to get everything to work. So we ordered a set of 17's from Joe at Motostrano (Black Excels with silver talon hubs).
The front wheel was fairly simple because the Cannondale's front axle is the same diameter as the Honda's. So, all we had to do from there is machine up two spacers to get it centered because the forks are about 15mm wider at the wheel than the CRFs.
The next challenge was the front brake set up. The customer is a Magura rep, he does a lot of their bicycle brakes and suspension work. So obviously he wanted a Magura radial set up on the tard. This immediately seemed like it was going to be a headache, but as I got moving on it, everything just kind of fell into place. :bannana:
After doing some measuring and parts swapping with an old YZ426 tard, I came to the conclusion that a YZ 450 radial addapter might just work. I figured, even if we had to do some machining it would be better than starting with nothing. After mounting up the adapter I could see that everything lined up, we just needed to make some spacers to get the caliper in the right spot to grab the disc. After some rummaging around in our hardware inventory I found some old Ducati brake pedal pivot spacer things, and low and behold, they were the EXACT thickness I needed (the gold things in the pic above). So they went on to test fitment, and then they got painted black. Here they are after I painted them. (And before I get flamed for this, I painted them with a high temperature engine enamel, so they shouldn't flake from the heat.)
Also made a little braket for his speedo. You can see one of the wheel spacers in there too.
Now onto the rear wheel. This is where I had to get creative. He wanted to be able to swap wheels and ride the bike on the dirt, so everything had to be removable and I couldn't modify the axle or the swingarm. Because I was using Honda hubs the rear axle diameter was 5mm larger than the Cdale's. At first I thought I would just get some bearings that where the right size and be done with it. But, no one makes a bearing with a 20mm I.D. and the correct O.D. that I needed. :headshake So, to the machine shop I went. This is what we came up with:
From left to right: Stock Cdale spacer, aluminum sleeve, talon/Honda spacer, and an aluminum sleeve for the talon spacer. I know, I know, it looks like a lot of crap to deal with when taking the wheel on and off. What I did to make it all a little easier is flair the ends of the center colar just a hair, that way you can pop it into the wheel and it's not going to just slide out with the axle. And the outer spacers stay in the dust seals just fine, so changing the wheel isn't any harder than your average tard. :thumbup:
For the taillight/brake light set up I wanted it to be as minimal as posible but still put out good light. L.E.D.'s where the obvious choice, so we went with a six inch led bar. All I hade to do was drill and tap the end of the subframe, open up the mounting holes a little on the light bar, and it mounted right up. I mounted the license plate up on the battery box using some existing bolts that hold the ECU in, and then put a small L.E.D. license plate light right above it. After all of it was installed, I got everything wired up (DRZDude would've been proud) and wallah it's road legal. Pics:
Mock up stage.
Installed. (Didn't have the plate light on at this point)
Brake light. It is VERY visible when going down the road. (We went for a ride when he came to pick it up. :bannana
Put some new hand guards on it.
We are still waiting on a rear sprocket to show up from sprocket specialists, once that's in it'll be getting a gold chain installed. And the front fender is temporary for now (I think). We couldn't find a silver fender that we thought looked good, so I just chopped one of his old beat up fenders for now. I had to cut it shorter than I wanted because of all the scratches and fold marks that where in it (it's a dirt bike!), but it turned out ok for what I had to work with.
I want all of you to realize something. This bike is close to TEN YEARS OLD, and it's advanced even by todays standards (IMO). Aluminum frame, fuel injected, reverse cylinder, ohlins front and rear!!! :clap: Anyways, here are some pics of the bike as it stands now. I'm sure there will be more modifications in the future.
Before we got the decals on it.
License plate location.
Got the decals on.
Couple shots sitting outside.
Loaded up and going home!
It was a fun project! Nobody knew anything about the bike and of course there aren't any off the shelf supermoto kits for the thing. So I enjoyed trying to figure everything out and making different parts work! Now I just need to make it down to Austin so we can rip it up!!