Hey,

I figured I'd start this now, even though it wont begin in earnest until January when I have access to a machine shop again.

I'm going to be building my own sportbike over the next 8 months. Its going to be streetfighter-esque, but with all the benefits of a modern sportbike. It all started when I got a free CBR600F2 engine off a friend, and I thought, "What can I do with this?" And so I started thinking, and here are the results:

The frame, subframe, tank, and trees are all designed by me, notice the tank in the rear subframe, approx 3.5 gallons):



And I've gathered these parts as well:

Swingarm and Rear Wheel from CBR600RR:



Engine (in pieces, waiting on gaskets from APE):



EFI Computer, AP Racing Calipers, and a box of random parts:




My forks are inverted, from a 2001 GSX-R750, and are on the way as we speak. All my aluminum and chrome moly tube is on the way to start fabrication in January. The rotors will have to be custom made, hopefully I can get EBC to do this if money permits, otherwise it will be on me and my school's trusy water jet. Front wheel will come from a CBR600RR as well, and throttle bodies from a CBR600F4i. I'm thinking Dunlop D616 tires for the aggressive look they have, and black paint/powder for everything.

Total cost should run to $4000CAD, thats with a free engine and free $1000 Electromotive ECU. Also Ffee labout by me to cut/jig up frame, as well I'll be CNC-ing my own billet pieces such as rearsets and trees.

 

This should keep you out of trouble for a while

Take lots of pics during the build and post a journal.I love these projects.

Mind if I dub it the Hondu-Cati?

 

Haha yeah, I kind of swiped their idea, but theres not much else you can do with a tubular twin sparframe with a stressed engine. Its much wider than a ducati frame though, since its not straddling a v-twin. Should have really high torsional rigidity, hopefully I dont overpower my forks, but i can always upgrade later if i dont liek the feel.

Wont be any pics for a while, I might post up a rendering of the total assembly in a few weeks when i get it all into solidowrks, but construction wont begin until Jan likeI said.

 

Looks like you got quite a start...and much more ahead....
Good Luck!
RB

 

So how come your placing the tank in the seat sub frame? There apparently isn't a great place to put a fuel storage unit on a bike (remember the NR500 with the fuel below the crankcase).

I know Buell put it there, but I think Erik was just trying to get some kind of ground clearance out of that sportster lump & that was the only place left after he shoved it that high.

Do you see an advantage over a traitionaly placed tank with weight distribution stability...full to empty?

 

Well it was really an attempt to be different, but i cant really see a problem with having my CG lowered a bit. Most of the fule weight will be under my ***, so its just like if a 200lb guy sat there instead of me.

 

Sounds like a really cool project, can't wait to see the end result, good luck to you.

 

That project looks really interesting.

I have a comment for you...

You said you basicallyused the design of a ducati frame and made it work with a honda motor.
Thats cool and everything but you alsocommented that it is much wider than a ducati, what if it doesn't have to be.I really like your idea for the gas tank I think it is a better design than the factory. But you need to take advantage of the extra space inbetween the riders chest and the handle bars.

What if you designed a frame to go over the engin instead of around it. Leave your gas tank where it is and keep th subframe. Just figure out away to eliminate the twin spar and design bars going above theengine.

Sorry, but I think if your starting from scratch you could doalot better a make a even more unique bike.

P.S. Just an idea sent your way, no disrespect.

 

Oh yes, I know what you mean. I'd really like to make a much more complicated/original frame that better utilizes my abilities to design the hell out of stuff as a mechanical engineer and make something that will be more "custom" as it were. But that kind of stuff takes time, money and most of all very expensive equipment to implement.

If I had a mandrel bender and a $100,000 CNC or even enough money to pay someone to do the work for me, it wouldn't be what you see at all. I can design something really nuts and light and come out in the end with a better than superbike spec machine, but its well beyond my means if you know where I'm coming from.

I'm just a student trying to build myself a cool bike and showcase some of my talents as an engineer. My goal is to work in superbike, MotoGP, or F1 someday, and I look at this as something I can show people, and say "Look what I can do, hire me." Theres a lot of stuff going on in my process besides what I'm talking about here, such as force analysis on that frame to make sure its not too weak or even too strong. I may be cutting back on the number of tubes if it ends up being too strong. This is my intro into the world of high performance bike design, so I'm taking the first step very cautiously.

And I basically didn't use the ducati design, just their idea of a twin spar trellis. It'll always end up looking near identical, but mine was from scratch using my suspension parameters, and designed to be a perfect fit, it isn't just a stretched out ducati.

BTW, what does a stock cbr600rr frame weigh? My frame is coming it at about 28lbs, with subframe is coming in at about 33lbs right now, just want a comparison.

 

looks like its gonna be a nice project, If you need any type of custom looking parts check out my friends shop in NY (does internet sales too) www.XPOstreetfighter.com . hes got some sick looking headlights/front fairings
good luck