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Thread: Louis's trx400ex to atc400ex conversion build

  1. #46
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Maryland
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    Sorry for the dark pics. The next step was to work out the attachment of the upper spars. I really want to cut into the square tube on the back of the head tube and 'sink' the ends of the spars into the sides of the square tubing but the more I looked at it and contemplated it I felt I was over thinking it and mated the diagonal up with the flat sides of the square tubing. The fit wasn't cut absolutely perfect mainly because of the next peice of the puzzle.



    I wanted to put a cross tube between the two spars to tie them directly together. Don't ask me why, I'm not an engineer, I just felt it would add strength so I did it.
    It involved cutting a hole through the protuding square tube. I wrecked my hole saw doing it but I got it done.



    Then I took another piece of round tubing and fish mouthed it to fit snug up against the backside of the spar. This took almost an hour honestly. I started over at least once, it was a combination of two fish mount cuts and it was hard to place them in just the right place to get a good fit up. Later I repeated the fish mount cuts on the other end of the tube so the other spar would fit up snug.





    I basically lost track of the pictures i was taking but at a certain I tacked the spars and cross tube in place with really heavy tacks and then used my ballpeen to form the ends of the cross tube tighter to top and bottom of the spars.

    Here you can see the side gusset after I made cut out for it to fit snug up against the bottom of the spar.



    Going to have to use some internet time lapse magic as I stopped taking pictures at one point so here it is welded up. A lot of what you see on top is multiple repasses to try to level out the top for aesthetics.





    I also went ahead and seemed in the back of the spars. More gusset work to be done back here in the next post.

    And that's the rest of the story. ~ Paul Harvey

    "Yes its broken, but does that really surprise you?."
    "What happened? What does it look like happened?!?!"

  2. #47
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Maryland
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    Gussets for the back of the spars and the rear vertical. Is it strong enough without them? Maybe...but hey I've been told I overkill everything so why stop now? Made some paper templates, transferred them to 1/8th" sheet metal and cut them out with the jigsaw again. I usually cut this kind of stuff out with a plasma cutter but honestly with the right blade I've found drilled holes and my jig saw are doing a really good job of cutting these things out. The lower gusset was put in the vice and shaped to contoured



    Here we are laid out on the frame. I made some small adjustments to them before welding them in place but this was pretty close.



    And internet time lapse magic, all welded in. The beads on these turned out a bit better, I was able to get real comfortable and prop better than many of the other welds. Sadly I ran out of argon on the other side and burnt and small hole in the tubing. That was no fun.





    And that's the rest of the story. ~ Paul Harvey

    "Yes its broken, but does that really surprise you?."
    "What happened? What does it look like happened?!?!"

  3. #48
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Maryland
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    I finished the welding on the lower cradle while I have it on the bench. This included a gusset reinforcing the joints between the down tube and the frame rails. Once again...overkill.

    This particular gusset was cut with a hole saw and the jig saw.







    I welded in the rounded edges and then used by ball peen to fold the 'wings' over into place and welded them in.
    And that's the rest of the story. ~ Paul Harvey

    "Yes its broken, but does that really surprise you?."
    "What happened? What does it look like happened?!?!"

  4. #49
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Maryland
    --
    3,077
    Well, if you've been following along closely you probably realize we're getting real close to seeing some assembly. I need to build an oil tank next and to do that I really needed to get some basic assembly done so I can do some mock up and fitment so I'm just going to dump some pictures and that'll wrap up my update for this evening. Please keep in mind, things are subject to change so what you see is only a rough representation of the final build. It's all subject to change.

    Here's how the tank sits in the frame. I already made some changes to the tank mount that bolts to the front of the tank, it was too long and interfered with the triples.

    And that's the rest of the story. ~ Paul Harvey

    "Yes its broken, but does that really surprise you?."
    "What happened? What does it look like happened?!?!"

  5. #50
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Maryland
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    3,077
    Here's the first rough assembly.





    Switched out the seat to get a lower seat height. from 32.5" seat height to 31" just with a seat change.

    And that's the rest of the story. ~ Paul Harvey

    "Yes its broken, but does that really surprise you?."
    "What happened? What does it look like happened?!?!"

  6. #51
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Maryland
    --
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    Hung the engine and exhaust and through a head light on it. Definitely have some suspension adjustments to make.

    And that's the rest of the story. ~ Paul Harvey

    "Yes its broken, but does that really surprise you?."
    "What happened? What does it look like happened?!?!"

  7. #52
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Maryland
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    Here's some comparison shots with a stock 400ex quad. Trike wheelbase is 52" on the button.









    And that's the rest of the story. ~ Paul Harvey

    "Yes its broken, but does that really surprise you?."
    "What happened? What does it look like happened?!?!"

  8. #53
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Maryland
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    Last picture, put some junk bars on it and made some more adjustments.



    More work to do, next big hurtle is getting the oil tank built. More than likely I'll have a running rid-able bike by the next time I update.
    And that's the rest of the story. ~ Paul Harvey

    "Yes its broken, but does that really surprise you?."
    "What happened? What does it look like happened?!?!"

  9. #54
    Join Date
    Jul 2007
    Location
    OHIO
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    2,858
    Nice work Louis. Lookin awesome! The 3trax!
    HEY YOU WORM PICKERS..QUIT PICKIN' MY WORMS!
    Owner of the world' widest atc plow
    Builder of 3 wheeler accessories such as Big Red suspension sidecars,Big red's with full roofs, 3 wheeler elevators, and NOS powered 2 speed tri zingers

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  10. #55
    Join Date
    Jan 2014
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    Massachusetts USA
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    Looks great! A custom seatcover with "Threetrax" printed in the OEM font would be the icing on the cake.
    1985 Tri-Z 250
    1985 ATC250R

  11. #56
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Maryland
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    I like the sound of that!


    Quote Originally Posted by YTZ drew View Post
    Looks great! A custom seatcover with "Threetrax" printed in the OEM font would be the icing on the cake.
    And that's the rest of the story. ~ Paul Harvey

    "Yes its broken, but does that really surprise you?."
    "What happened? What does it look like happened?!?!"

  12. #57
    fabiodriven's Avatar
    fabiodriven is offline Aspiring romance novel cover model, and the Official 3WW slayer of thieves and swindlers. Catch me if you can
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    What a beautiful bike Louis, looks absolutely phenomenal! Whoever told you that you go a bit overboard with the gussets and such, I'd have to agree with them. However if it gives you peace of mind then it doesn't matter what anyone else says. I think you've done a fantastic job, I really like how that frame looks.
    85 Tri-Zinger 60
    85 ATC250SX
    86 ATC250SX
    87 ATC250SX
    02 XR650L conversion
    84 ATC 480R

  13. #58
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    Maryland
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    Thanks man, much appreciated! It's definitely a peace of mind thing. maybe when I have more welding time under my belt I'll ease up on the gussets. haha!

    In truth there's some minor fitment issues on a few things but I should be able to iron that stuff out.

    Quote Originally Posted by fabiodriven View Post
    What a beautiful bike Louis, looks absolutely phenomenal! Whoever told you that you go a bit overboard with the gussets and such, I'd have to agree with them. However if it gives you peace of mind then it doesn't matter what anyone else says. I think you've done a fantastic job, I really like how that frame looks.
    And that's the rest of the story. ~ Paul Harvey

    "Yes its broken, but does that really surprise you?."
    "What happened? What does it look like happened?!?!"

  14. #59
    fire1 is offline At The Back Of The Pack Arm chair racerAt the back of the pack
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    Nice work!

  15. #60
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    Dec 2014
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    Hoffman Minnesota
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    Wow well tig is really hard compared to mig or even arc and you actually have some good welds for not being experienced with tig
    Last edited by thcowboy; 02-27-2016 at 04:40 PM. Reason: Spelling
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