Boxerworks.com

Vanzen,

Why did you go swingarm rather than Paralever? Weight or complexity?

Garnet wrote:Vanzen,

Why did you go swingarm rather than Paralever? Weight or complexity?

Yes.
That and the chosen design parameter of having a central-located rear shock. To accomplish that,
a Paralever would have required a rocker-link type shock arrangement (as the R12S)
and this would be problematic in a number of ways,
including increased wheel-base, weight, & complexity.

I have owned a couple of Paralever bikes and have no complaints.
However, It will be my opinion that the incentive for Horst Leitner etal
to develop a system that eliminated shaft effect
was largely due to the bad-mouthing of the motorcycle press –
These folks were accustomed to Japanese chain-driven motorcycles
and did not know how to behave given a shaft's "peculiarities".
Their writings quantified the differences and labeled them as inadequacies.
The consumer market received these rather biased results
without the proverbial grain of salt – and bought into the bad-rap.

Those of us who ride old boxers know the routine
and are able to use that shaft effect well, and, on occasion, even to "a better advantage'.

I also chose an old shaft without the "cush-drive" feature.

vanzen@rockerboxer.com wrote:
I also chose an old shaft without the "cush-drive" feature.

That's what she said.

Chuey

Some of us are a little touchy about being horizontally challenged Chuey!
Er, I mean were not horizontally challenged as such, we just have difficulty getting horizontal.
Wait, that's not right either.
Er, well it's tuff being a stick sometimes. But our bikes go faster so there!

Superb work, Vanzen - you have a very good eye for design. Very nice 'sketching' too, by the way.

Chuey wrote: That's what she said. :)

... and ain't we glad that she did !

Airbear wrote:Superb work, Vanzen - you have a very good eye for design. Very nice 'sketching' too, by the way.

Thank you for that, Airbear.

The controls brackets were developed, designed, and drawn to scale using Adobe Illustrator,
as was the X-frame.
Randy Illg used similar drawings for a successful X-frame fabrication.

Originally, the controls brackets were intended to be fabricated by my neighbor.
My first experience with his work, a fork brace, was a bit of a disappointment –
Technically fine, but lacking in design by virtue of 2x the necessary weight
and a decided lack of aerodynamic consideration.
The solution, of course, would be to take design from his hand
and to present him with specific working drawings.
Hence the "sketch".
Such as it is, I now have a milling machine in the garage
and the ability to fabricate such parts "in-house".

"Sketching" mechanical drawings on Illustrator is, at best, tedious – but it's the software what I got.
There is some really phenomenal 2D & 3D software on the market today !
I'm still looking for a MAC-compatible & FREE download !

Wouldn't this be "In House"

vanzen@rockerboxer.com wrote:

And

"Such as it is, I now have a milling machine in the garage
and the ability to fabricate such parts "in-house".


would be "IN Garage"

vanzen@rockerboxer.com wrote:
"Sketching" mechanical drawings on Illustrator is, at best, tedious – but it's the software what I got.
There is some really phenomenal 2D & 3D software on the market today !
I'm still looking for a MAC-compatible & FREE download !

Pity about the Mac-compatible requirement. Moment of Inspiration is a wonderful 3D package but Windoze only at this stage. It was free for a couple of years but it's on V2 now, at US$295. Still a bargain, and I'm saving up. Here's a little practice exercise I did when it was free. It is simple and intuitive and absolutely any shape you can imagine can be modelled accurately.



ps: People are giving away 5 year old windows machines these days. Moment of Inspiration is available as a 30 day free trial and there is a permanent free version with 'save' disabled. Fun to play with.

Airbear wrote: ps: People are giving away 5 year old windows machines these days. Moment of Inspiration is available as a 30 day free trial and there is a permanent free version with 'save' disabled. Fun to play with.

Checked it out. Cool program !
Now ... let's see what can I do about a "free" PC ...
I'll just head back out to the GARAGE and finish that bearing spacer for the front wheel, first.