Sov's Tiger Build

[43rdRecceReg]

I first found my true passion (Sorry Jan) in the service when I learnt to ride a BSA M20,
Don't you just love the sophisticated suspension and the ease with which you just flick the Bike on to its stand
To someone whose only prior experience on two wheels was a pedal cycle, the Beezer was a dream although not Super that came later.
Oh Sov my lady is going to have trouble keeping me home this weekend,
I suspect the cravings will return and I shall be riding the Bandit around the lanes of Bucks, Herts and Beds.
I shall of course blame you.
You have a machine that never rewarded your knuckles for carrying out the most basic maintenance,
At the time it was a big bike now they really are amazingly small.
Shaun.

Shaun and Sov.,
I once rode a BSA Bombardier over an assault course at RAF Wroughton (an open day). My daily ride, at that time, was an ex-police BMW R80RT, but when I got to try out the Bomba it fitted like a glove..unlike my Beemer, and was nicely balanced where my RT was slightly top heavy, maybe because of its massive full fairing. I think the Bomba I rode was still in army service, and may have been 250cc (could be 400cc)...but I'm not sure now. It was perhaps a tad slow and underpowered, but really inspired confidence over see-saws and other obstacles..on the course I believe it would have been great fun for a despatch rider.

I'd love to have one now, as I'm also slow and underpowered these days.

Now back to that wonderful Tiger 1 build, Sov. Put the BSA back into hibernation, and show us a few new bits of ingenuity

[PainlessWolf]

Sov!
Tiger build please! *chuckles* Here is my obligatory motorcycle memory: When I was 25, I decided to ride a motorcycle back from North Carolina to Colorado. I bought a used machine and did a little fix-up. This was my first long trip on two wheels so I did some research. My 1976 Honda CB200T got me back to Boulder after a long, winding trip through the southern states and Kansas that took some 7 days to complete. Best time of my life! I rode for 30+ years and never had a trip afterwards as magical as that one ( came close a couple of times ) I still miss that machine. ;o) Ahem! Back to tanks!
regards,
Painless

[Markocaster]

Glad to see your progress on this tiger Sov


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[HERMAN BIX]

Good on you for getting back into it mate.

As for chatting with David, I agree he has the info, but at times lacks the delivery method(as do we all sometimes I suppose)
That muzzle brake is a work of art....................shame to paint it !

[Soeren]

Great update and nice idea with the muzzlebrake lock.

[SovereignZuul]

Carl, maybe we can take the tanks out someday, if I ever have a tank that I can drive!

Love the bike stories gents. I think it's an older late 70's early 80's BMW R100 in my family. My brother has it now, with the big fairing, that thing does ride weird. I'm liking the British bikes right now, though my older 82 Goldwing is a super comfy ride.

All you guys have said many nice things and certainly made me feel welcome back!

I love the interjection about anything interesting to talk about, but sure, for now back to tanks.

I feel guilty building parts from a kit instead of scratch building more, like I'm cheating somehow, lol.

I've had these aber tow cables half finished for years now so went all the way to finish them. Made them both the precise exact length. These were a major pain, even being a kit item. The holes in the brass cylinder end were not nearly big enough to fit the cables the kit came with through and I had to hand drill them wider, took me about an hour for both. Gosh my poor fingers, I forgot what it's like, lol. If that wasn't bad enough bending the cable and holding it together to solder really hurt. These cables are stiff and very elastic, they want to spring right back. The liquid solder paste saved the day as usual, these things are so heavy duty I could tow a real motorcycle with them. Gotta love the way they look, at least I do. They are one of my favorite items. I compare them with another aftermarket set I already had in these pics. The other set is copper wire and so flexible it's floppy.

I'm going to experiment on the final deck assembly if I can leave the brackets the tow cables lay in loose enough to operate, so if I desire I can remove and actually make use of the tow cables just for fun! We'll see if such a thing is reasonably possible or not at a later date.



Close up comparison, flash on and off.

[Soeren]

These cables have a kind of synthetic core. I heated mine with a torch light, but do it outside . Then they become thinner and are better in retaining their shape you bend them into. This is some kind of hardened steel too. When I tried to cut them with bolt cutters I damaged the blade. Not real hobby grade material. But they look good for sure. But the Schumos do as well and those are much more kit-like. If you know what I mean.

[c.rainford73]

These cables look excellent

[SovereignZuul]

You're right, these cables are not really hobby grade, lol.

Started making my electronics basket, hopefully to keep water out! Unless I practically submerge the upper hull I see this as being pretty good. It'll get more modifications in the future and just taped it together for now to check the fit. I'm waiting on some angled plastic to glue the whole thing together nice and strong. The larger speaker I have will probably mount near the engine grates so I don't see this as being possible right now but I must explore options. I really want to permanently fuse the hull halves so I'm going to see if removing batteries is possible through the engine deck I cut open or what I can do for this....

I'll be gluing the electronics box to the taigen battery/electronics chassis plate that screws onto the hull and cut/filed/sanded it appropriately to make it proper for this task. I'd like to construct a basic dust enclosure for the gearboxes as well that piggybacks off the electronics box or simply fits in with it.

Going to spray the tank interior a black/dark grey towards the end too, so it doesn't look too bright peering through the engine grates or anything.

[c.rainford73]

Paul I really like the interior box design. Are you sure you permanently want to fuse the two halves....

Just in case you need to access the gearboxes or such is there a better alternative like a taigen latching system or simply replace the screws with nice magnets so you can latch the top to the bottom easily

I'm just curious and just adding a little bit of insight that's all