Building an electric motorbike by hand from scratch is not an easy undertaking as it turns out...
And yet we persist.
Its now September at the time if writing this and there are many things till to be buttoned up on the frame but here is a snapshot of what has occurred and what we have next up on the list.
The most recent major milestone is that the frame began to take shape with the first and second attempt at tacking the head tube to the downtube. The first downtube was at a bit of a reduced angle from what I had set in the mock ups and CAD model. So I ordered another few head tubes from @ParagonMachieneWorks and set off up to fix my @RegueFab Metal bender which I had recently broken when I neglected to pull the locking pin from causing the bend wheels to be majorly deformed by the hydraulic ram. The best part of living near to the guys in Sandy Oregon who make the incredibly versatile M600 bender is that I can jet up to their shop a couple hours north and pick up a new set of bend wheels from them. These come as a weld together kit and I had my machine fixed and a new coat of paint laid down to make it all look like new again. The new bend wheels also have the benefit of being the updated design that includes a new set of holes to be able to add a 2.5" CLR bending die to my arsenal.
So I fit up the 1.5" Chromoly tubing and bend a new down tube and fit it up in the milling machine and dialed in my miter cut using a deep hole saw (also acquired from the fine gents at Rogue Fab)
Check out How Sweaty I am in the first video update to the project.
After this I was able to fabricate the seat rails and have begun flushing out the motor mounting section that will also hold the rear jackshaft concentric with the jackshaft. Its a busy area, so getting it dialed in just right is going to be crucial to how this bike handles and how sturdy it will feel when ripping down the road.
I am super excited to share the journey with you all here, follow us on our IG for more behind the scenes content as we fabricate our first electric motorcycle here at Turner Motorbikes!
Cheers,
-Clayton Williams