My Tube Bender - Fully Hydraulic - Pro Tools 105 HD

[Travis]

I posted this over on XS650.com but thought I'd share here too. Here's the thread over there: http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=13198. This is what I've been using to make the universal hardtail kits.

I built this last year. I spent a lot of time doing the math and researching hydraulic systems and benders to make sure everything I used would work well together and give me the speed and power I wanted. It's probably overkill for what I need but I enjoyed building it and doing the research. It's a different design than any of the other hyrdo benders I've seen in that the the cylinder starts at 90 degrees to the bender swing arm and pivots as is extends. This gives maximum power right from the start the of bend and not half way through it. Another unique thing is that it uses all SAE O-ring and JIC fittings for the hydraulics. This made finding the control valve, pressure gauge, in-tank filter, and tank bungs a little more difficult, but now I don't have to worry about leaks.

This thing is a beast. When bending 1-1/8" .120" wall tube it shows just a couple hundred PSI in the cylinder. If I did my math correctly this should have no problem bending 2" .135" wall chromoly. It will bend to over 100 degrees in one stroke in about 10 seconds.

Sorry the video sucks. This was filmed on my old crappy camera before I got my GoPro HD Hero.

Some pic's of the build process:

Parts drawn in CAD and laser cut

Laying out the base for the frame. Wish I had my welding table at the time.

Starting to look like something

Welding up the hydraulic oil tank.

Tray

Water testing the tank

95% complete, usable, and about how it looks now.

Piston rod extended

 

[bcware]

Very cool. I really like this kind of fabrication. It makes me want to go back to school for engineering

 

[drewpy]

that is some cool kit there Trav

 

[frwinks]

that is one slick set up

 

[Charles]

Wow! That's bad ass.

So uh...if you just so happen to have some test 180* bends of 3/4" tube laying around. Something that can be used as...perhaps a seat hoop?? I'll take them off your hands.

Also, I've been wanting to replace my intake boots and wanted to get something abit more reliable than the rubber boots that come stock. Have you ever considered cutting/welding out some alum replacements? Looks like you have the means to. Thoughts?

 

[bcware]

How many sets of carb boots have you gone through? I'd probably be interested in some just for the bling factor.

 

[Charles]

Exactly. New ones cost $30+, but if I could get something that would probably last the life of the bike for $20-30 more, why not?

 

[bcware]

The life of the bike and 6 more when it gets parted out one day!

 

[Travis]

Thanks for the compliments guys.

I've never thought of making intake/carb holders and don't think I'd take on that project right now. Too much going on. I might look into it later if it's something you guys think people would really want. You probably wouldn't be able to use them with your stock airbox. Is this the type of thing you're talking about? but for the XS400 and the stock carbs? http://www.tcbroschoppers.com/store/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=25&products_id=3

 

[Charles]

Exactly! Of course those won't fit the XS400, soooo when you get some free time.

What about frame/seat hoops?

 

[Shaun Chandler]

I think I'm going to make my own carb boots some time soon.I think I'll wait till I have a bunch of other laser cutting to do though so I can do it all at the same time. I'll draw up the flang in autocad and send it to my laser cutter to use a standard size piece of tubing that would just be a easy socket weld on one side. I'd share the drawings if anyone wanted to use them and laser cut your own flanges.

Shaun

 

[bcware]

I think the issue was that because the stock boots support the carbs an aluminum one requires the use of tubing to fit over the "boot" and carb (as opposed to carb fitting in boot). This setup would push the entire intake assembly away from the engine and therefore prevent the use of the stock air box and tubes. I am not sure if it would be possible to simply create a thinner aluminum "boot" to compensate for this.

There is a fair amount of interest in custom intakes, but I think a lot of people get scared away when they realize they need to tune the bike for them. Most serious modders on here seem to be interested in bobbers over cafes or other high performance builds.

 

[Charles]

I've thought about that and haven't had to the time to do any measurements, but I am aware of that issue. Doesn't concern me cause I'm not using stock airboxes.

We should probably stop hijacking Travis' thread.

Travis, tell us more about your tools! wink, wink.

 

[Travis]

Yeah you bastards! Just kidding. Not a big deal.

Charles, PM me about the seat/frame hoop. If I have the right die for the job I'm sure we can work something out.

 

[Shaun Chandler]

Hey Travis I think you will need to get a custom die to make the frame hoop the right width I looked into in abit not long ago and talked to a retired guy who ran a mandrel bending shop in waterloo ontario. He was good enough to spend some time with me and explain the math and standard rad's used. If I were you with that setup I'd look into having a die made you could probably pay for it right quick. I ended up changing my mind and decided to go with a plate because my cowl shape won't work with the frame hoop. I'll post a picture of mine when its done. Sorry for hijacking

BC- I think I could make something that was the correct distance for the stock air box, I would have to go draw everything up to see though. Although I would like to push mine out abit as I'm not using the stock boxes. They wouldn't be the same price as the rubber replacments but they would look cool and the hose would be easy to replace in the future if it did rot.

Charles I sent you a PM

You really have done a great job on that Travis, thats one piece of equipment I don't have and I would love, I'll have to check out. I didn't see the kit for fab yourself on the site though. I'm probably just blind I'll look out for it. I wish I could just get my hands on the files and have it laser cut myself.

Shaun

 

[frwinks]

I had my seat hoop bent on a mandrel bender by a local shop. The compound angles were no match for my buddy's modified pipe bender
It's a 3" radius with a couple of compound angles by the shock mounts.

With the streetracker scene gaining ground, wouldn't be a bad idea to pop a few out Mule charges over 4bills for this set up

 

[Shaun Chandler]

frwinks- I see how your buddy did it. It looks like its under a 180 degree bend right so either side isn't parallel. That works. I was only saying if you wanted to have a 180 hoop with parallel sides you would need a custom die (well most likely unless you got lucky and found a die with the same inside rad as your frame rails).

Your Hoop looks nice. I'm still going to go with a plate on the back. I did abit of surgery last week on my frame I'll start up a new post and show some pics once its complete.

Shaun

 

[FlyingAnvil]

That is one fine looking machine and your fab work on it was topnotch. Hope it works as good as it looks and it makes you a ton of money. Very impressive.

 

[Travis]

frwinks, nice looking hoop. Is that 7/8" or 1"?

FlyingAnvil, thanks for the kind words!

Shaun, I send you a PM.

 

[frwinks]

it's 1". Lemme know if you want me to pull some angles off it The bike will be getting stripped again soon