BungKing

How To Make an Oil Tank Looking Electrical Box for a XS650

2010-01-17T12:17:00.000-08:00

Building a custom XS650 or similar custom bobber/chopper using a motor from Japan? Most of these motors have an oiling system that is self contained or wet sump so they don't have the external oil tank used by Harley Davidson, Triumph, or other similar style bikes. We are so used to seeing a tank in a location under the seat that most custom bikes look strange if they don't have one. Here we made an oil tank looking box to contain all of the electronics on our XS650 project. This is a step by step guide to making your own or some ideas about how to go about it.

We knew we wanted to have a round tank, so we started with som 6" dia mild steel tubing for the shell. We wanted to have endcaps that were dished inward to match what we had going on the gas tank. We first cut out some 7" circles from 16ga mild steel on our pullmax with the circle cutting jig. We then set up our pullmax with some doming dies and hammered on the endcaps until the desired shape was achieved.

We next trimmed the domed endcaps to size to fit flush with the outer diameter of the tubing.

We needed to fit a coil, voltage regulator, starter selenoid and ignition module all inside the shell. To start we mounted the coil with some 1/4x20 threaded bungs that we welded to the inner shell.

Once we knew the location of the coil we drilled two holes in the tank shell to allow a clean exit for the spark plug wires.

Next we wanted to mount the ignition module and the voltage regulator. We made a sheetmetal partition to go in the center of the tank shell. We welded a set of studs to the sheetmetal partition on either side, spaced correctly to mount the ignition module and voltage regulator.

We then welded the partion into place in the center of the tank shell allowing room around all the components for enough air flow around them to keep them cool. We then made a small tab with a stud to mount the starter selenoid.

Now that all the electrical components are in place and the mounting tabs fully welded, it was time to install the endcaps, so tacked the endcaps in place.

After we were happy with the fit we fully welded the tank encaps to the shell and ground down all the welds and finished all edges with a DA sander.

We then cut another section of 6" tubing and made a cover for the access hole in top of the box. We started by predrilling the cover in the corners for a location to bolt it down to.

We then set the cover on the shell and drilled the same 1/8" pilot holes in the shell. We use some clecos to hold things in place while drilling.

We next drilled 1/2" holes in the tank shell and welded in some 1/4" x 20 threaded bung inserts in all four cornes to hold down the cover.

Shows the cover over the access hole bolted in place.

With the box all made up now, it was time to mount it to the chassis. To hold the box away from the chassis we placed some steel stock between the tubes and the box. This will give us a gap after everything is mounted a min of 1/4" of space is desired to keep parts from rubbing together when everything is vibrating going down the road. My favorite method of holding items in place for mounting is with elecrtical tape. It is stretchy enough to allow adjustment and still holds parts firmly in place.

Once everything is in place, we made up a rear and front mount for the electrical box.

How To Make a Set of 1 1/4" T-bars

2010-01-16T17:09:00.000-08:00

If you are looking for the strongest bar available without the ability to move in a riser from harsh riding conditions, then a set of T-bars is the way to go. Adding some gussets in the corners make a strong bar even stronger, and we like the looks of them too. This is a step by step how to make your own custom set of T-bars the BUNGKING way.

We start by making a cope in the two uprights. The best way we have to do this is in the bridgeport with a rotobroach cutter. The rotobraches are a high end hole saw used mostly in the steel industry. They hold very good tolerances for the best fit and consistancy. If you don't want to spring for one, you can use a standard holesaw or spend a bunch of time with a die grinder.

We then cut the uprights to our desired length. The length will be the effective rise the bars will receive. After they are cut to length, we drill two 7/16" holes 1" from the base of the upright. This will give us a place to plugweld the threaded riser spud bungs. Although we will weld the threaded bung in from the bottom, don't skip the plug weld; it adds a large amount of stregth to the welded in threaded bung.

We next fit the threaded riser spud in the bottom of the upright. It should be flush with the tubing, and weld it in place. Take your time welding from the bottom so that you don't get into the treaded section of the bung.

Next, we bend up the the upper bar for the set of t-bars. You can adjust the bend angle to fit your preferance; this bend is usually between 20-27 degrees. The less of a bend the less effective pullback you will get. Our most common angle is about 22 degrees.

This is a good time to set what width you would like. For a 29" width with a 22 degree bend, your overall length of the bar would be about 16". If you are using factory controls the stepped down 1" section of bar needs to be 7 3/4" on each side.

These bars are going to be internally wired so we next drill two 1" dia holes in the upper section of the t-bar. We drill this using a 1" rotobroach and the bridgeport again. The full 1" dia holes will make things easier for you to run wires through. Be sure to de-burr the edges of the holes now so the wires don't get chafed.

We next drill four 7/16" holes in the upper bar to plugweld the 1" tubing inside the 1.25" upper bar. Be sure you have as much overlap of the two pieces of tubing as you can get, usually we like to see at least 3" of 1" tubing inside the upright on each side.

Next, plug weld the 1" tubing inside the upper bar leaving 7 1/2"-7 3/4" hanging out of the upper bar. By plug welding instead of welding the seam between the two pieces of tubing, it allows you to seat the control perches all the way against the 1 1/4" section of tube leaving no gap and a cleaner look.

Now is a good time to grind down all of your plug welds. We like to cut the welds down first with a fine flapper disc and finish with a DA sander. We now also drill holes in the uprights and upper bar to allow a place to run the wires internally. A 5/8-3/4" hole is usually needed. One set of holes is drilled in the upright just above the threaded insert and another set is drilled in the upper bar 2" out from the seam of the two sections of tubing.

We next bolt the uprights to a jig, an aluminum block with two 1/2" holes drilled 3.5" apart, you can also bolt directly to a set of trees if needed. We then tack the upper bar to the two uprights at the desired pitch, this is usually just a few degrees up from a 90 degree angle.

After everything is tacked in place and we have checked to make sure everything is straight and to our desired angle, we fully weld the upper bar to the uprights creating the t-bar. At this point you could be done fabbing the t-bar, but we like to add a few extra steps.

We then prep a set of gussets to go in the upper corners. These are ones we have waterjetted specially for us, but you can custom make some to fit your own style.

Then when you are happy with their location, fully weld them into place. We like to take our time welding to give the welds a quality apperance. We believe a quality weld should be shown off and not need to be ground down.

Next you will need to remove some material from the face of the upper bar to allow room for the brake master cylinder to fit squarely on the T-bar.

You can then drop your newly made custom set of t-bars off to your powdercoater or local chromer. This customer chose a gloss black powdercoated finish.

How To Make a Motorcycle Oil Tank Using Our Kit

2009-11-01T18:55:00.000-08:00

This posting will give you some tips and tricks to help you make your own custom oil tank using one of our weld together kits. Much of the info shown can apply to making just about any oil tank for your custom motorcycle. Pictured above would be what would arrive to your door if you ordered a "F' Bomb Oil Tank Kit from BUNGKING.COM. This kit gives you just about everything you need to make your custom oil tank.

You should start by cleaning all the surfaces that are to be welded with Scotchbrite or a wire wheel to remove any surface rust and with acetone to remove any oily residue left from the manufacturing process. Then, align one endcap and tack it into place leaving the other side open (we like to weld on the second endcap at the very end of the process that way you can clean out any metal debris that could make it into your engine after completion).

After the endcap is tacked, fully weld the one side. You can finish sanding the weld now or wait until later. Take your time welding if you are working with thin material this can cause warpage in any flat panels. We make our endcaps from 14ga steel so warpage is rarely an issue.

You can install the three fittings for the feed, vent, and return lines two differant ways. The way we are showing you is in order to keep all the lines at the bottom of the tank so they are more hidden using internal tubes to direct the oil. You can also just weld in the return and vent fittings in the top of the tank, but the fittings coming out of the tank will be more visable. Shown we have welded 3/8 tubing to the ends of two of our 1/8" NPT bungs to direct the oil to the correct spot internally.

Next, find the locations you would like the bungs to be installed and drill 5/8 dia holes in the oil tank shell and weld the bungs in place. Shown is the relationship of the tubes internally in the tank. The feed is at the very bottom so that it is always supplied with oil. The vent tube should go to the top of the tank where there will be an air gap and it will not be submerged in oil. The return line should be at the top of the tank and directed away from the feed. This ensures the hot oil to mix with the cold before it is fed back into the motor.

Next, add the filler cap to your desired location and clean the inside of the tank. You can now weld on the other endcap and finish all of your welds. Now set the tank in the chassis and decide how you would like to mount it. Shown below is the tank we made mounted in a rigid sporty chassis.

After all your mounts are welded on, be sure to pressure test the tank so there will be no surprises after it gets painted, chromed, or powdercoated. The kits we sell are made of 14ga steel and stand up to lots of abuse and vibration for reduced chances of cracks or leaks forming over time.

We also offer similar oil tank kits with many different styles of endcaps, most are also available in either 5" or 6" Diameters.

WELCOME TO BUNGKING

2007-08-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

BUNGKING was started by a fabricator for fabricators in the custom motorcycle business. We along with other fabricators, have been making and using all the parts and pieces we sell for years and are here to help everyone else looking for those hard to find fabrication parts and bungs. We sell kits for the most commonly fabricated pieces such as fender struts, motor mounts, oil bag bung kits, and many others. Due to the high cost of precision machining tools and machine shops it is not very cost effective for small shops or home builders to make these parts themselves. We are very price conscious and try to give you no reason not to use our products.

We try to take the hardest part of the fabrication process out of your hands. All of the machined parts are made to common sizes that we have used many times over and any bar stock needed in our kits are pre bent. When using our kits you simply have to place the bungs in their designated places and fill in the gap with the bar stock included in the kit and weld the pieces together. Our products enable most anyone with a welder able to make high quality parts usually only seen on professionally built products.