TZ 750 wooden bike finished!

Well its finished!

Numberplates, numbers, bar grips all on.

Unfortunately the wheels I got off the donor bike were a little worse for wear (well rust).  The rear one I reilaced after modifying the hub to make it narrower.  I polished up the spokes and used new black nipples so that looks pretty trick.  I did get enough black nipples to do both so I might do the front as well...

Nice shot of the engine :)

The Renthal bars ;P  Not sure what "bend" they are but I reckon Jeremy McGrath would like em

So yeah, pretty pleased with it and I am sure the little girl will be on Sunday morning

TZ 750 balance bike

Well it seems like a long road to completion!!

Truth is I only spend 10 mins here and there on it and that sometimes includes the getting out and putting away of the tools etc.

That said D-Day is upon us and its the little'uns birthday on Sunday so it has to be ready.  Here it is all bolted up.  Structurally its complete with only cosmetics to go be 100% which include painting the handlebars/risers, fitting the number plates (which are painted and drying overnight).

The number stickers are ready to go on as well so the next post will be the finished article.

Good news is that I can put my weight on it and it doesn't make any noises :)

Tz 750 tank and seat

Tank and seat shaped and painted. Tank needs clear coating

Minimalist bench

Made from old rough internal bracing timbers. Sunken bracing, hand planed and stained dark oak.

Turned out really well.

Tz 750 engine

Making the base engine shape didn't take too long. I obsessed a bit over making a hollow box but in the end I made it from solid.  It weighs next to nothing really.

Annoyingly I had no wood large enough to make out of a single piece.  The cases and barrels are seperate, just like the real thing.....  2 disks make clutch/alternator covers.  This will be sanded and stained black, apart from the "head" which will be silver.

Basic bodywork

After wondering about making and attaching the tank I decided to knock the strengthening rib off the frame.  I am making the tank from a bit of plank I have lying around, I can therefore use the tank to add strength to the frame.  I made the sides from plank and the core I laminated from the same 4mm ply I used for the frame.  This makes it a snug fit ready for glueing once painted.

I also made the seat in the same way.

Here I made a late addition to the seat rear.  Originally it looked a bit too thin in comparison to the tank so I added an additional piece.  It gives it a bit more curvature.  I am also angling the whole piece up to the rear slightly (hence the gap in themiddle) to get the lines correct with the bottom of the tank.

Frontend on!

After lining everthing up I found that the headstock was too far forward.  It was fine but I want this to look compact, almost cartoonish and keep it small for the little lady.  With that in mind we redid the headstock, moving it back about 2.5 inches.  When I say "we" I refer to the odd time I work on this at my Dads.  When working with "The Fast Fossil" you tend to stand around while he starts a flurry of activity, producing a part before you have thought about what to do...

Here you can see the shorter frame and to be honest it looks much better.  It is also in a thicker section of wood so will be stronger as well, always a plus.  You can also see the attached swingarm with basic shaping to it.  I was going to have it with small radius on the front edge but I am now thinking of rounding it down to avoid little heels hitting it when scooting around.  I need to make the "twin shock" uprights for the swingarm as thats what the TZ flattracker had and it will not be strong enough as it is.

Here is the fork/triple clamp in place.  Currently it just has two bolds going into the headstock but I will be making a single bar going through the whole lot.

It is starting to take shape and looks like a bike.

I had to scallop the bottom triple clamp as it was hitting the downtube when the steering was moved left/right.  In retrospect I should have finished and painted the forks and clamps before gluing them up (only the top clamp is glued) but it wont be too difficult to finish them off.