Motorcycle handlebar clamp

Jan 30, 2004 6 Replies
W

I need to make a one piece handlebar clamp to mount a steering damper. I can't use the one sold with the kit because hole placement for mounting the damper is in the wrong place for my bike.



I need a 7/8 half circle on the bottom of the clamp that extends the length of the clamp, approximately 4 inches. Technically the half circles need only be on the 2 ends, in about 1 3/8", but they must line up. I have a counterbore, but no boring bars 4" long. Also with my mill I can't tram the head so it would be hard to line up 2 cuts from opposite ends.



Does anyone know a good way to make a half circle on the edge of aluminum for this distance? Would I need to make the aluminum double wide and bore a full circle 1st, the cut it in half?


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M

ball end mill? Or make a boring bar. Use a piece of say 1/2" drill rod (most any steel will work), drill/ream a crosshole at one end, then an intersecting tapped hole for a set screw. Use a carbide or hss round bit, like a shank from a broken end mill, grind it and you have a boring bar. Silver solder a carbide insert to a piece of rod is a way also. Or buy a long one, can't be a whole lot. More fun to make stuff though.

michael

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B

If I think I understood the OP on this, he wanted a half round groove 4" long in an aluminum block? This can be accomplished by using two blocks of the same size, clamping them up, then drilling on the joint line with the

7/8" drill, getting 2 pieces at once in the process. Bore can be reduced for clamping tension by later milling, filing, or sanding the flat faces alongside the groove, depending on the equipment you have at your disposal. Hell, eons ago, back when I drag-raced motorcycles, I sanded my steel clutch plates on the concrete floor, and no one could figure out how I got a stock clutch to launch the bike so well. Redneck farmboy sanding belt.

RJ

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W

Thanks RJ & Michael.

I love the simplicity of just drilling the hole. It seems like when you have a few tools around you forget the easy way to do things. In this case I don't have a 7/8 bit, so I put together the boring bar. I tried it out on a piece of scrap and it works fine. Now for the real thing...

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W

I finally finished the handlebar clamp today. This was a particularly rewarding project for me. (Hey, I'm just an amateur.)

Pictures are posted @

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B

Good job. What method did you end up using to make it?

RJ

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W

I used a 3/4 endmill to remove most of the material.

Then I turned down a 5/8 metal rod to 1/2 on one end so I could mount it in the counterbore. (someday I'll have a lathe to do this). Then I put a 3/16 slot in the other end and added set screws. (See the last picture posted,

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The handlebar diameter without the knurling was .002 under 7/8. This was the diameter I set. When I clamp the handlebars with the new clamp I got a perfect pattern of knurls in the clamp. This was better than the part I bought which had a knurl pattern only toward the bottom of the clamp.

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