Still Messin with the Front Swing Arm

After welding the tabs for the end caps and removing the entire swing arm assembly I realized that all wasn't as straight as I'd like. its actually not that it isn't straight or square it's just that the bushings don't allow the front axle to slide as easily as I'd like. I know it can be better. So I used the fixture parts that I made for welding the swing arm together and mounted them to a plate that will then mount to the mill. with everything squared up and all the parts assembled I will ream the bores and then used a ball hone to open things up a few thou so that the bushings and axle fit nicely and are able to move freely.

Another Hub Center Design

http://www.eurospares.com/graphics/chassis/ThiersUS7887077.pdf

The Patent drawings for Michael Thiers hub center front end system. Notice there is no pivot pin and in fact the steering axis is virtual created by the linkages inside the hub.

Check out the Tier web site:

http://www.tiermotor.com/index.html

Fixing my Brilliance

Thanks to the Rabbit Shit and Raisinets technique, I realized I had to come up with a different way of securing the front axle. Unfortunately with the hub center front end your can't slide the axle out of the swing arm from the side since the center pivot point is fixed to the axle. Therefor the entire axle assembly has to come off as one unit before you can disassemble the front hub. So this means that the split end caps that hold the axle in place ideally have to come completely off, or as Bimota does it, pivot up out of the way. Thanks to my less than stellar welding and a slight bandsaw accident when cutting the ends of the axle carrying tubes off the swing arm, I was forced to come up with a better solution. So I machined these aluminum end caps and made some tabs on the water jet. The end caps were clamped in place with the axle spacers to locate the tabs for welding. Again I'm not happy with the results but it is certainly sturdy and functional. The most important part is that this hold the axle, hub and wheel assembly securely and parallel to the rear axle or rear swingarm pivot, and this it will do well. So my welding is my own private shame. At least I'm getting better.