Custom Billet triple clamps

[LWC82PE]

who makes them?

how much?

[YSS]

Kelvin Franks , top work but not cheap.

[LWC82PE]

ahh yes just found his website

[Lozza]

This type of thing is really a snack. Live anwhere near a Tech Collage? In there there are 50 youngsters and 5 or 6 instructors in the CAD department that could make a 3D CAD file for you(for a small fee of course) with which you can email to CNC places. There is your costs approximately halved. You just need the format that the shops computers talk such as .STL ,.STEP or .IGES.A good CNC place can run that through X Mill or Toolpath programs giving a machining time hence cost. Buy your material and take to shop. Conversely you can get that CAD youngster to also make a DXF or DWG file(2D) and email that  Laser/water jet cutters and you will just have to drill and tap some pinch bolt holes in when you get the triples cut triples back, or send me a PM with dimensioned drawings and I'll get you some prices.IIRC "Billet YZ' has a rather large CNC shop..

[LWC82PE]

good idea! so all you need is someone to draw up a CAD drawing in the right format, then pass it onto a CNC place and then they punch in the data or what ever and it all does it automatically right?

how much do think it would cost if you dont include the CAD drawing part of it? i might know someone who can do that for free

what grade of alloy is best? 6061T6 ?

[Lozza]

Depends on how complex the item is and the features, then it's tooling etc etc.I would be inclinded to go 2D with Laser or preferably water jet cutting.The drill and tap the pinch bolts yourself.That's the cheapest way, functional not bling.
No nothings automatic, what must be figured out is the way it's machined out ie machine the bores then bolt the material through the bores and then machine the outside profile(leaving the waste to fall away), or machine the bores and profile while leaving a few 'bridges' to support the item when the outside waste is held in the vise.Depends on size of billet etc etc..........
While you would probably like 6061 unless you have deep pockets you will settle for 5083T5(marine grade) or so which is what nearly all of our plate stock is. That's strong enough but material doesn't make an item strong it's more the design.

[Tahitian_Red]

What is the address of Kelvin Franks' website?  Is he still in the US or did he move back to Australia?

[LWC82PE]

what about 7075 alloy or is that not any good/too hard to get aswell?

yes Frank is is Adelaide, South Australia

www.franksracing.com.au

[Freakshow]

Last time i was at kevins he whiped me up a USD fork collar for my RGV to take a Wp steering damper, it was a few years back now and cost $45 and he had no hi tech in there, it was all big ol machines and cutters, you might want to go to the trouble of finding out what he has now otherwise all your plans on disk would be wasted.

Last i saw he cut everything, including triples by slide rule and cutters, floor awash with swarff.

[holeshot buddy]

whats the go with billet triples
are they legal on vintage
i know in the us its ok


firko

[LWC82PE]

well im not really sure but i would tend to say they are legal as you could make and buy them back then and you can make them now. why should they have to be a vintage brand name when any person with the machines could have knocked up a set in their back shed in 1978 or what ever? they are just a machined block of aluminium anyway. if i do travel down this route and they are illegal, i dont really care as my bike is not going to be raced at vintage MX events anyway.

personally i would be a little disapointed if they were illegal when all sorts of modern shocks are allowed, but as i said before its not really an issue for me.

i would prefer to actually find some White Brothers or Profab triple from back in the day but cant find any, but by all means if you have some you want to sell let me know, so next best thing is to just make some, which would be better than the WB/Profab ones anyway as they had a flimsy top clamp.

i think Lozzas idea is good, as much as i would like some from Kelvin as he has been making that stuff since 70's/80's, his price is a little high when i could save some money on the CAD drawing.

the machined bare alloy clamps are stronger and look much nicer than the painted cast alloy originals found on most bikes.

[Lozza]

Aircraft/Ergal/7075 is more expensive again(O'Brien Aluminium in NSW).
Making a damper clamp is childs play Freaky no need for 2 X3 bores all on size, correct spacing and at 90 deg to the material. Would depend on the GCR wording if  triples are classified as a 'major component'.
Here's a practice go of mine in Solidworks, has several machining issues but that's fixed with a few mouse clicks.


 
Oh I completely forgot well worth checking if there is a model steam train club in your area, most blokes in those clubs have very well equipped workshops and are competant machinists, plenty in to CNC too, not the easiest to get a long with,if you know what I mean.

[firko]

I love those clamps that Lozza shows but in my opinion, they're not legal unless they are exact copies of period items. Just because the technology was available to build them was available back then doesn't make them kosher. I know I harp on this but I passionately believe that our sport is about preserving the technology and visual image of particular eras of motocross history. Fitting modern styled billet clamps takes away a large chunk of the period integrity of the bike. I get people saying that works bikes had billet clamps back in the day so why can't their bike? My answer is that you most certainly can but the clamps you use must be based off works parts or commercially available parts. In my case I wanted to fit billet clamps to my Cheney project and noticed that ProCircuit made billet triples for Huskys back in '73/'74 and that somebody was making exact replicas of them. I bought a set because of that pre '75 provenance. Fitting clamps (or any other majot parts) with no historic precedence is the stepping stone to our bikes losing their period look and turning into vintage/modern hybrids. Look at the shitfight post classic road racing became because of the "she'll be right" attitude to allowing non period parts.

[mx250]

If that's not bling I'll eat my shorts .

[holeshot buddy]

firko so those replica pro circuit pre75 triples are ok
see a lot of huskys in states with them on
standard husky triples are shirt house
bend too easy