hard_y_rd
XS650 Guru
Just wondering if anyone has done it. Can it be done? If so, lets see some pics.
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Hi hard_y_rd,
so you still trying to modify your hardtail to get it a PEI registration?
Although anything's possible, it'd take a whole bunch of welding and effort to put the swingarm pivots back on a hardtailed frame and then do the Bratstyle mods and get everything lined up correctly.
As I see it:-
1) Start over, BratStyle another frame and swap the rest of the bike into it.
This lets you sell hardtail frame out of Province to recoup some of your costs or keep it against the day you move to another Province yourself.
2) Convert your hardtail to rear plungers because it's relatively easy to do that.
This can be done real easy but plungers don't handle real well.
3) Find a Triumph Sprung Hub rear wheel and drop it into your hardtail.
Sprung Hubs are hard to find, cost a lot to buy and their handling makes plungers seem good.
hard_y_rd
XS650 Guru
Just throwing ideas out, Fred. I have been looking for a frame for like forever. Seems rare as hens teeth. The plunger mod I'm not familiar with. And the sprung hub is too much money.
Hi hard_y_rd,
Britbikes want to plungers in the late 1940s and early 1950s because it was the least costly way to get rear suspension on their existing ranges of rigid framed bikes.
(Except for Triumph who dreamed up the sprung hub instead)
Google Amen savior frame to see the best known aftermarket version.
There's even a photo-array that includes one on an XS650.
The photos show it's an OK thing for the average shade tree mechanic to attempt.
I'd certainly do one ahead of attempting to scratch-build a swingarm suspension.
Here are some pictures of items that may be of use to you, except that they are located within the blast radius of the Pickering nuker and thus expensive to ship. One is what is left of a Standard and has more meat on it for connecting, the other is what is left of a Special. I have unbolted the swing arms from each of them for use in a couple of my projects so they would be a bit lighter to send. Either one of them I would contribute for the cost of shipping, if they would be any use to you. I am assuming you have or can get a swing arm.
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hard_y_rd
XS650 Guru
That is interesting. I had tried that route before but no one willing to ship. How would you ship it? Greyhound? I'd be interested.
hard_y_rd
XS650 Guru
I've heard about the amen saviour frame but I don't really under stand how it works. Does the rear axle ride up and down with the springs on the axle plate somehow. In order for me to build something, I need to know how it works. Anyone have some close up pics?
hard_y_rd
XS650 Guru
hard_y_rd
XS650 Guru
The two top nuts adjust the tension, yes. How does the axle stay tight? How do you adjust for chain slack. It seems it is fixed in a stationary position.
Hi hard_y_rd,
here's a whole bunch of photos showing BSA plunger rear suspensions:-
https://www.google.ca/search?q=bsa+...X&ved=0CBsQsARqFQoTCKnO29ymy8gCFQgriAodOjwN1w
Click on any of the photos to blow them up bigger and see the details.
here's a whole bunch of photos showing BSA plunger rear suspensions:-
https://www.google.ca/search?q=bsa+...X&ved=0CBsQsARqFQoTCKnO29ymy8gCFQgriAodOjwN1w
Click on any of the photos to blow them up bigger and see the details.
member3480
RICH
I have owned more than one AMEN frame and they ride like a rock unless you are 250lbs or better. Very stiff springs . You can pickup a Harley soft tail swingarm cheap and just got to make three plates and you have a soft tail. I did see a picture from the OHIO show and there was one there. ASK DOG he may have the picture. This one is on EBAY for $26.00
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hard_y_rd
XS650 Guru
I've read that plunger frames are brutal. The soft tail like you ( DaddyG) and TwoMany sounds like a better route. I will look into that.
hard_y_rd
XS650 Guru
Hey DaddyG, Is there a preference to a certain year of softtail or will any year suffice.
Hi hard_y_rd,
nah, not brutal; plungers add comfort but they eff up the handling.
Well, that's how Britbike plungers worked. Only ever seen an Amen Savior frame in photos. I supposed they saviored your ass but only if you were a hardass?
My own rigid frame BSA handled good on smooth roads (try finding one of those, eh?) but the bumps and dips in ordinary roads threw it off line.
My plunger frame BSA was the same except that while the plungers softened the ride they also twitched the bike sideways.
The bigger the bike, the worse it twitched. Putting my plunger Gold Flash into a curve with the teles pogoing and the plungers twitching was like sailing a dinghy in a choppy sea with the bike's muffler going spat spat spat as it grounded on the road.
But hey! All you want is to deke your hardtail around PEI's registration rules, eh?
Go whatever way is the easiest.
BTW, I once owned a Montgomery-JAP Special. It had a backyard-built plunger conversion that slid on 5/8" steel bar posts and was suspended with used valve springs, so yeah, anyone could do it.
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hard_y_rd
XS650 Guru
Hey Fred, was wandering how the axle is tied into the set-up with the vertical springs? It looks as if there is a through bolt from the top to bottom on both sides with a nut on the bottom.
Hi hard_y_rd,
yeah, several of the drawings on the BSA site show how it works.
There's a vertical post clamped into each side of the frame and a sliding sleeve with a wheel axle lug attached to it that slides up and down on the posts each side.
Big ol' coil spring top and bottom of the sliding sleeve each side controls the suspension movement.
Damping? Yeah, right; how thick is your grease, eh?
The BSA had sheetmetal covers to hide the springs, the Amen Savior kept them naked.
The axle bolt-up through the slider lugs keeps the arrangement working (kinda) properly.
If you are interested in a really complicated way to get rear suspension without re-tooling your factory to make swingarm frames; Google Ariel's Ansty Link.
A 'Canadian Plunger' thread. Check the link to the OZ site.
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38258
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38258
