When I was young, I dreamt of being Brian May. These days I dream of being one of those blokes you see that make all their own parts and tools using their hands, lathes etc. Yes, sad but true.

The gap between the dream now and the reality is, well, like Brian May and me.

But, even though I might suck at these things, and the results are often not great - I'll give it a go.

So, you may remember this guy:



It is the 2006 CBR1000RR shock I got for free and am going to use with a Rick Oliver HRC replica linkage. Great - but this:



.. means the battery will have to be relocated. A job that is turning out to be somewhat larger than I anticipated.

Should it go here? :



.. or here? :



What about like this? :



Hmm .. the wiring needs to be redone and there needs to be space somewhere for the crankcase breather bottle. It think the last position is the go. Getting the seat back on and a few 'holding the battery in the air underneath the seat' type tests shows it should be okay. Terminal will swap sides, but that should not cause a fuss (I hope) .. and battery will not be upright ... but hopefully that doesn't cause a fuss either.

Some 'precision' measurements:





A sketch ... and then for a mock up:





Doesn't look too bad:





.. a bit dodgy, I am a bit unsure about these 'tabs':



A quick inspection by the pit crew:



Does this mean rejection? .. she didn't wee on it I guess ...



Time to get snipping on metal.

Continued ....

Is the battery gell,Acid free if not you will have to mount it upright.

hunter wrote:Is the battery gell,Acid free if not you will have to mount it upright.

Agreed - an AGM battery (Yuasa YTX, etc. - any one you add the acid to then put the caps on) needs to go vertically else it won't last long. You'll need a gel one to mount it flat.

Hi guys, thanks for the prompt not to make assumptions about these things. I figured that, as it was sealed it'd be okay.

It isn't gel but SSB say it is okay not to be vertical:

http://www.ssbpowersport.com.au/Product ... fault.aspx

Phew. :-)

Why not just get a lightweight racing battery which is a 1/4 of the size and can be mounted any which way you like.

Yes, in a perfect world, I sure would - but this rebuild is costing a fair bit, so I am sticking with what I have for now. The most important thing is it all get back together well and get it back on the track. John McGuiness is here in Oz in January for the Island classic and I want to be there with a sorted bike!

... then at some stage I might look into the RC battery thing - the bike is total loss anyways, so it seems a good fit.

WARNING WARNING WARNING WARNING

If you are a professional or seasoned metal worker then the following may turn your stomach and you may feel violent convulsions. So beware ... what follows are the actions of a metal-working moron.

Apart from some files, my complete metal-working toolset:



Here is the guy we're replacing:



Okay, measured up from my 'precision' measurements:



It seemed like a good idea to drill holes where folds would join. Note the first crap attempt of a cut ... :



And then a demonstration of true skill ...



After some cutting ...



Securing some (erm) 90 degree metal thing I got from the hardware store to the edge of the bench, I could bend the edges:





Making progress:



But I found it was better in the vice:





A first test fit with it partially done:



Then to smack out the remaining bends:



To get the 'complete' item. Note the absence of 'tabs' - too much work and too fiddly:



Continued ...

Right, this doesn't fit at all ...



So some 'on the fly' engineering ...


And it fits better .. I'll clean that up later:



I thought it might be interesting to see the weight difference between the old battery box and the new setup. Old battery box:



New setup so far:



So not an enormous difference, but there is a few more bits of aluminium to go later, so it'll be about the same.

Some bending in the middle to get it into a final shape:



And voila!



A test fit and it isn't too bad:



And with mounting holes drilled a quick test with exhaust hung:



This bit goes under the shock reservoir which might make getting the shock in and out awkward, but if that is the case, I've given myself a fair bit of wiggle room down there to shorten it:



.. and during a routine quality inspection, the pit crew makes sure no morsel of toasted sandwich goes uneaten ..

time for the battery box. I started with trying to make something elaborate, but soon found out I would not be able to create the shape using my not-very-extensive toolset. So, I've gone for something far simpler as a first go.







Cut, then bend some hooks in for the rubber latch:







and a placement. Looks okay. I didn't want to be riveting anything (which is why I started elaborate) but the simpler version will need to be riveted to the base of the tray.



Wiring still needs to be done, and importantly, the relay has to be mounted somewhere. It used to be mounted on the side of the battery box so it'll need a new home. Those are the next tasks.

I thought about doing what you've done there but was concerned that the wheel would touch under hard compression as the stock undertray is concaved to allow for the wheel. It will most likey never compress that far but it put me off the idea, im Interested to see if this works.