MOPED ARMY

Yup, was liatening to moped Monday podcast and they noted people arent making build threads very often. Hopefully this info can help other people looking to take a bite out of building.

Nice frame!! I need mine to have a twitchier rake and shorter wheelbase for the track.

I can go monoshock because im running an e50, so no subframe woes.

Yep those are typically monocoque or trellis frame style. I'm keeping that in mind, I may as well model after full size street bikes since they are scaled down

I can't offer any advice to help you out, but I can't wait to see you get started based on your last build thread. Maybe copy the Kreidler Van Veen bikes, as they seemed to work?

Kids dirt bikes and tiny gp bikes dominate kart track racing. At 6' I find the ovales, metrakits, and even nsr50s pretty hard to ride but other people seem to manage them.

The kx65 is a dream though. Fresh12" grippy tires are really confidence inspiring. Doesn't even feel possible to low side (edited)

Check out the Dejager bikes from the 60's-70's. I keep thinking about building something like this.

If you have TIG access why not do some aluminum box?

Offers proper flex and rigidity if properly designed - in all honesty if you want GP style design look at the NSR and RS chassis - perimeter aluminum box frame, engine mount spars and swingarm all have millions upon millions of dollars of research and development by HRC so what you’d learn from them would put you on the correct path

first of all, its pretty great that Larry commented and hopefully he has some more tips as the build progresses. He's a humble guy but has a lot of experience in motorcycle racing, his word is the gold standard.

I'm not even close to the same league but i have done some AHRMA racing experience and modified some vintage bikes for racing, not to mention dirt stuff that is probably more topical.

For my own race moped, i chose a pinto frame because i wanted something lightweight and tube, then i welded on a custom rear seat/shock subframe out of cr-mo tubing which pitched the entire frame forward effectively tightening up the rake because i didn't want to cut the neck and weld- the stock frame is very thin wall and its professionally coped and welded, i didn't trust myself to get it right in my garage, then i used Magnum forks with a 16 inch front wheel mostly because that was stuff i had around and the magnum forks are lighter than other forks and have hydraulic damping.

the tighter rake and trail makes it turn in really nice, it rides very similar to a mini-moto like a kx65 or XR100. i have medium wide MX bars with a mid rise so they end up about 4-5 inches above seat level. Raising up the seat was huge because it lets you get your weight high and forward like a dirtbike or mini.

the thing everyone fucks up with moped racing (i haven't actually done a moped gp event, so take this with a grain of salt) but it seems like people just want to make smaller versions with the same proportions as a motoGP road racing bike. at low speeds and tight stuff, in my experience riding supermoto and dirt, you're better off getting on top of it, just because of how tight everything is on a moped, plus getting the suspension to work right with limited options for parts puts you in a very compromised window.

anyhow, my advice is- start with the rider triangle and work your way back into a design. When i did mine i took photos of the frame and made measurements on the picture to see where i would end up, then i filled in the blanks with the parts i needed to use for practical purposes (forks, wheels, shocks) then i just 'connected the dots' between those parts. My bike looks weird as shit but it works well, hopefully next summer i'll get my program sorted out and make it to a moped GP track to actually compete against people.

Continued

Hah!

Thanks man.

I see from your profile you're in Sioux Falls.

Do you know my friend Brian Klock from Klockworks? He's not too far from you in Mitchell. I only say it as he's my only reference of location in SD, haha. Really really good man that one...

Larry -

You're welcome , Larry . :)

South Dakota is our domicile state for legal purposes . We are full time RVers and live in our motor home . Currently , we're at Wappapello Lake , Missouri and leaving for Arkansas in the morning , on our way to Texas for the Winter .

I don't know Brian Klock , but Klockworks sounds familiar .

ha ha well now, we might find ourselves in a good old fashioned minnesota nice-off if we aren't careful.

I dunno if you caught it through the grapevine or what but i worked for Harley for the last two years doing powertrain design, got to meet a lot of really good folks through there, ended up quitting that gig and bought a lil' farm up north wisconsin and now i design trailer hitches, haha, little change of pace.

some of these people, you can catch for a 5 minute watercooler conversation and learn more than reading 5 books. my buddy Wes (second place in 500 at Barber this year) and my other buddy Andy (first place in the same race) gave me some really good tips for 'flat out friday' at mama tried two years ago where i built that bike to compete on a flat track concrete oval covered with sticky soda syrup.

alas, my wrist pin needle bearing didn't like 11,000 rpm on 13x45 gearing when i was doing test and tune down the block and i didn't even get a chance to run that bike.. bummer. its a shame because it was wicked fast and the handling from the little bit that i got to ride it felt damn good...

next year for moped GP i'll try to throw together this stroker athena AJH dmp clone kit that has been on my shelf for too long and see what i can do in single speed class.

Ha . We were at Carlyle Lake the week before . Went well around St Louis .

We try to stay away from big towns and freeways . A lot less stress .

Currently we're in Kensett , Arkansas . Only about 5 hours South .

Is Nick Leeflang still making VanVeen frames?