Gas Tank Mount Pockets

Curvature added to the end to match ripe up to the profile of 13 gage tank tunnel that Fab Kevin hooked me up with. It will make sense when it is all mocked up and ready to be welded together.
Inside view, added R0.063 fillets to the interior corners for added strength. These will be welded into the bottom of the gas tank and sharp interior corners are a huge no no as it creates huge stress risers. Added a R0.125 to the top edge for a smooth look when in the gas tanks. Round corners are also less like to pop paint off. Same steel here, 1018, low carbon mild steel.
Gas tank mount pockets. Design these from scratch to match up with the tabs and grommets and tank so that the bottom of the gas tank will be even with the bottom of the top tube on the frame. Gives a smooth line of the frame and bodywork in the end. As a result of this i had to machine some pretty deep pockets. The thru hole and .020" deep pocket are for a threaded bung that i will weld on later. Decided to make them 2 part rather than dropping some coin on 2.5" thick steel just to machine it mostly away.

Gas Tank Mount Tabs

Tank mount tabs done. The large hole is too accomodate a rubber grommett for vibrations dampening. 2 different length tabs becuase the tank is wider at the front and the longer tabs will provided more stability and allow less tank resonance and vibration at speed. Reducing the chance of failure and getting a lap full of gasoline sitting right over a smoking hot air cooled engine.
Profile complete and the width is set. The 'fishmouthed' end of the tab will wrap the top tube of the bike. Commonly the tab is just flat stock, butt welded to the top top tube. Rigid choppers, like I am building, are vibration nightmares which like to break the welds on gas tanks. I wanted to get a wrap too the top tube that will also allow me to spread my weld over a larger area, adding a lot of strength and sending the vibration forces into the thicker radiused corner.
Op 1 complete, flip them over and finish them off. You can see below that i don't have much meat left in the vise to hold onto. I would have like a thicker piece of steel such that i could machine the profile to height, then flip it over and run a face mill to finish the overall width of the tab. Bigger pieces of steel cost more money, so i got a piece the is right to size. Just had to make sure I located it accurately so there is no mismatch when machining the same profile from 2 different sides.

Start to finish gas tank mount tab machining. Off the shelf 1018, low carbon mild steel stock. Cut to length, design set and programs loaded. Let's make some chips.

Front Axle

Entire front axle assembly in place. I need to take approx .050" off the front brake bracket to push the caliper towards the lower leg and this make it centered over the brake rotor. Check this off the list. I now have a full roller, with the spacing and brakes set. Gas tank next.
Spacer in place over newly machined axle, nut torqued down.
Here is how the nut looks on the lower leg. I am happy that it looks like it belongs. The flange of the nut matches up nicely with the boss landing.
So here is the axle I machined. Well actually Kris, the BAKER Machinist did this one. I can't run the CNC lathe like he can and I just wanted to get this part done, rather than taking the time and wasting the material (think money) while trying to learn more. Axle is made from: 4140 alloy steel, 28 rockwell C, pre-heat treated. Yields the strength and stifness that I need. This axle is different than a stock softail as my design has nuts on both ends. The stock H-D softail axle has a knob on side with a hole to place a drill through while torquing the front axle. It is a design befitting a lawnmower at Wal-Mart, not a custom bike.