Well, after having a 10 email back/back conversation with someone (that was mainly one or 2 sentences), and one phone call, he "cuts me off". This guy, who will remain unnamed, is a very high end builder that is known by almost all ducati people. Has build some ridiculous bikes in the past, been part of a high end parts place, etc. Apparently he's one of the ducati "elite", and asking a few question about spending 1200 with him was too much. (Custom triples). I guess I was just supposed to say how much and where do I send the money to? Sorry, I don't care who you are. If I havn't done business with you before, I don't roll that way.
Piece of shit elitist mothermake the beast with two backser.
Now that I got that out :)
I need to find a machinist out there who is capable of fabricating me a steering stem to work with some magnesium triple clamps intended for a SBK.
Quote from: TAftonomos on February 20, 2009, 08:34:31 PM
Well, after having a 10 email back/back conversation with someone (that was mainly one or 2 sentences), and one phone call, he "cuts me off". This guy, who will remain unnamed, is a very high end builder that is known by almost all ducati people. Has build some ridiculous bikes in the past, been part of a high end parts place, etc. Apparently he's one of the ducati "elite", and asking a few question about spending 1200 with him was too much. (Custom triples). I guess I was just supposed to say how much and where do I send the money to? Sorry, I don't care who you are. If I havn't done business with you before, I don't roll that way.
Piece of shit elitist mothermake the beast with two backser.
Now that I got that out :)
I need to find a machinist out there who is capable of fabricating me a steering stem to work with some magnesium triple clamps intended for a SBK.
pm HooliganMachinist...
Howard is more than capable if he has time.
The person you are obviously referring to has done work for myself (and numerous other folks in the industry I know of) in the past without problems when I had a time crunch and couldn't facilitate doing the work myself. Highly recommended for the regular non-mechanical Ducatista who have no clue what they need other than a set of "custom triple clamps" for a certain model and the forks being used and want them anodized and to look "cool". They will get something that will work, is safe and easily installed and delivered asap -- and have a track record of long term durability.
Best recommendation (and cheapest solution) as this point to get what you need made is to just get out Solidworks and draw up exactly what you desire w/specs, press fit requirements, bearing mounting, threaded sections, exact dimensions and allowable tolerance deviations and put it out to bid amongst various machine shops. (ie: they don't have to "design" it nor have the motorcycle/Ducati expertise to do so) You then press the stem into the lower triple assembly yourself. Cavaet of course is you just need to make sure what you designed is correct and will work dimensionally -- else it was a design problem and you eat the mistake. (Remember that if you want someone to "design" a custom part, it's billable time and is added into the cost of the part of whomever is making it.)
As for the cost of one-off machined triple clamps -- material costs (aluminum or magnesium?), design time, machining time (manual or CNC?), "soft jaws" to hold part while machining itself, anodizing thereof when finished and press fitting of stem/lower triple. It's easy to get into the $1000-$1400 dollar range or higher fairly fast.
I'm sure there are others out there that I can send a set of stock triples to (with the stem), and the new triples, and say....make that go in there.
$1200 for triples isn't unreasonable...... simply asking someone to pay for them upfront without any kind of idea how they might be finished, machined, design, etc. is.
Anyway, I need a stem made :)
I know EXACTLY who you are referring to - shhh, wouldn't want to tarnish his "sterling" reputation. I don't know anyone who machines the stem part (including the guy you refer to), they just use a stock one. If you know anyone with a good machine shop, they should be able to make what you need. If you make the stems, let me know, I'd like to buy a few of them. There are LOT'S of pics of custom triples out there, I'd just pick one you like and have it made to fit. I haved made lot's off triples from tubing and can give you all the specs including some offset options depending on the performance your leaning towards.
Quote from: TAftonomos on February 21, 2009, 06:45:05 AM
I'm sure there are others out there that I can send a set of stock triples to (with the stem), and the new triples, and say....make that go in there.
$1200 for triples isn't unreasonable...... simply asking someone to pay for them upfront without any kind of idea how they might be finished, machined, design, etc. is.
Anyway, I need a stem made :)
No you don't as long as you have the superbike stem. IIRC it's too long by 1/2". Use 1/4" spacers outside each bearing to make up the difference. You can use the money you just saved to buy me some beer! [beer]
Mine has this setup for 3 years now with no problems. [thumbsup]
Material options I've used in the past to make new stems for my DesmoDevil series of bikes are:
1) 7076-T6 (and then hard anodized)
2) chromoly 4130 (de-normalized for machining and then normalized)
No long-term durability problems with any for five years and way over a hundred thousand miles+ of riding combined with "raked" forks and headsets.
In the HD world, I've seen DOM steel tubing utilized as well for the material itself. (though a bit heavier than the above)
Another option than the regular CNC machine shop is to find a "Screw Machining" shop -- either "Conventional" or "Swiss" (ie: they only do turned items on lathes -- usually quite a bit cheaper)
Welp, the above guy said it.....stem is same diameter as teh SBK. Just confirmed it (buddy measured 33mm on the SBK stem, I just checked...monster stem is 33mm as well).
Awesome, love this place. [thumbsup]
oh, i've got the perfect guy in mind to handle this... he used to be affiliated with cycle cat, what the heck was his name...
Check these guys out. http://www.emachineshop.com/
You download their CAD program. Design the part yourself, then get a quote based on your design and material choice. They do lots of one-off parts. By letting you design the part, they keep their cost down and you get stuff cheaper...check it out. [beer]
Quote from: Magnus on February 21, 2009, 08:07:28 PM
oh, i've got the perfect guy in mind to handle this... he used to be affiliated with cycle cat, what the heck was his name...
[laugh]
I are a machinist. 28 years or so. Been working the job shops forever. Work in the top fuel industry now, building cylinder heads. This coming friday I'm buying my own mill and lathe, I've already got a TIG welder. So in the next week or month or so, as soon as I can hire an electrician to wire my garage so it doesn't burn down when I fire up my stuff, I'll be up and running. I should have done this years ago, but I'm doing it now. I've worked for an AMA Crew Chief of the year, I've worked in a NASCAR support shop, and in a shop rebuilding McClaren Mk 6's from the ground up. Not counting the tractor work. But, we'll be coming soon.
I hope you will give me a chance to do some work for you.
And I'm kind of partial to cheeseburgers, will work for food.
Robert
PM me your address, I'll send you a few magnesium ingots, some ideas, and you tell me what we can do [thumbsup]
Quote from: corndog67 on February 23, 2009, 07:14:09 PM
I are a machinist. 28 years or so. Been working the job shops forever. Work in the top fuel industry now, building cylinder heads. This coming friday I'm buying my own mill and lathe, I've already got a TIG welder. So in the next week or month or so, as soon as I can hire an electrician to wire my garage so it doesn't burn down when I fire up my stuff, I'll be up and running. I should have done this years ago, but I'm doing it now. I've worked for an AMA Crew Chief of the year, I've worked in a NASCAR support shop, and in a shop rebuilding McClaren Mk 6's from the ground up. Not counting the tractor work. But, we'll be coming soon.
I hope you will give me a chance to do some work for you.
And I'm kind of partial to cheeseburgers, will work for food.
Robert
Do you need a new best friend? ;D
Quote from: Magnus on February 21, 2009, 08:07:28 PM
oh, i've got the perfect guy in mind to handle this... he used to be affiliated with cycle cat, what the heck was his name...
[laugh] [laugh] [laugh] [laugh]
magnesium triple clamps ?
Damn Theo, what's your target weight for that bike?
Piece of shit elitist mothermake the beast with two backser.?
And don't be holding back like that - let it out. What do you really think? ;D ;D
Gotta love this place. Looks like you got a good offer after all. [thumbsup] And he may not work for peanuts, but cheezeburgers is pretty close. [laugh]
LA