Reuse the Neck from a Motorcycle or Custom Neck?

August 7th, 2008 | Posted by Justin Kaiser in Frame Tech | Comments

I’m still in the parts gathering stage and almost ready to get the Chiffarobe out of the garage to start working on the trike. I’ve cut the old front end off the trike, cut the neck off the motorcycle and amd nearly ready to get rocking.

As soon as I get the refinishing done on the wardrobe for my wife and as soon as I get that out of the garage and the rest of her teacher supplies organized and on the shelf I’m ready to move forward…

I figure I’ll be ready by Mid-August to dig into the building… I did get the body ordered from the Glassmann and it was a great experience. More when it arrives in my driveway… it was shipped yesterday.

I’m not going to do any frame building or welding until I get the body in house. It is scheduled to arrive from GA tomorrow.

I’ve got the disc brakes and shocks for the rear end rebuild and now have the wheels and tires as well… that’s exactly where I need to be when the body arrives.

I hope to be at the rolling stage by the end of August. I asked my mentor “If I cut off the neck from my 1980 Yamaha XS850 donor, can you weld these on to the frame or will they distort? Is it better to custom make the neck to fit the bearings and races and if so how much would it cost to have you machine it?”

Bud responded… “I like making a neck that’s heavier than the stock. Motorcycle are made into the frame to make them strong.” We both determined that I can actually reuse my neck.

By the way, neck angle for a non-springer suspension should be 36 degrees 32 Inches from bottom of the Tubing and internal V of the Neck to the ground…

Topic: Frame Tech | Comments