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microbike
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Feb 2, 2015 at 2:44pm
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Hello Everyone.
Welcome to the build of Tamiya’s 1:6 Yamaha Midnight Special. This build will be a little different from the norm and hopefully the end result will be proportional to the effort expended. I started the project in October last year so its been in progress fro a while. I finally painted the first few parts last night.The kit is a rather aging one that dates back to 1982. I bought this kit from a charity shop and hope to turn it into something “Special”
The plan for this model is to install a full wiring harness and replace every moulded bolt with a real scale bolt, nut and washer. The build will also add in missing detail including connectors, wiring, cables, bolts, screws, springs etc. Therefore we are going to need quite a bit of additional materials and references.
Hopefully the photos upload okay
Andrew
In terms of references the main sources are shown below and include parts catalogue a service manual and over one hundred photos downloaded from the Internet
Now a bike like the Midnight Special sure has a huge spectrum of screws, bolts nuts and washers. Sourcing scale hex bolts and screws in this scale is really hard. I have a selection of over 200 items sourced from UK, Germany, Japan, USA, and China. Parts that cannot be sourced will be made on the lathe in the workshop.
Very little glue will be used in this build and every part will be bolted together just like a real bike (hence the service manual), you will see why this is the case later in the build. The plastic parts must all be modified, often moulded detail like bolt heads or moulded nuts are emoved and replacement holes drilled and tapped to receive the replacement bolts and screws. For example the carburettors alone will consume around 61 M0.8 screws ands M0.6 screws.
Below is the bank of carbs (unpainted) but fitted together with screws (not glue) to give you an idea of the number of screws involved
So here is a look at the rear swing arm, notice the filler etc and the still to be worked on rear rim. Gives you an idea of what the added detail will look like, of course it will look much better when painted and assembled
and if you are wondering what the power plant will look like here is a sneak preview - all unpainted and only put together for fitting and test assembly purposes, it will all have to be disassembled, cleaned, painted and then reassembled
Cheers
Hi,
As a bike kit builder myself, that is quite the project you’ve got going there. It should look very impressive when it is finished. I look forward to seeing your progress on this one. keep up the good work.
Cheers
Mick
Wow! That’s like rebuilding the real thing! Looks great so far. I will be following along.
Started painting and assembling parts now that most of the dry run and modifications are finished. Below are the ignition coils. The connectors and shrink wrap are still loose as final position will be determined once the coils are mounted to the frame. The end will feed into the wiring harness. The wiring is matched as close as possible to the wiring diagram of the real bike, but with some compromise. I can’t for example find red/white striped wire this small so it’s just plain single colours
http://s1122.photobucket.com/user/MicroBike/media/image.jpg1_zps8itrc4oa.jpg.html
Below is a quick snap of the painted frame with the coils, voltage regulator, lighting unit and emergency stop switch fitted to the frame. have tried to match the colours of the wires as close to the waiting diagram as possible but some compromise is required as I simply can’t find 0.4mm red/white or blue/ yellow wire but I think the end result is a reasonable simulation of the real bike. All the electrical connectors are scratch built and everything is bolted or screwed together.
Engine top end nearing completion. The lower sump and oil filter still need to be added, but that’s a bit later in the build
In this view you can see the oil pipe between inlets 3 and 4 note the custom banjo bolts and copper washers
This is a view of the engine from the other side. The pipe sticking up between intakes 1 and 2 is for the vacuum advance and links to a complex set of pipes that go from the vacuum advance unit linking the carbs and the fuel tank. The wire running below the engine is the five core ignition cable thank goes directly to the CDI unit mounted on the rear mud guard. I made tiny plastic clips that are used to hold the wires in place. At the rear of the engine you can just see the wires for the starter motor, oil pressure unit plus the reduction box and engine breather pipes. The two breather pipes mount onto the air box. I have put short bits of plastic tubing on to the wiring bits just to keep wires together and out of the way while the engine is being built.
In this view you can also see the hose clamps mounted on the carb intakes
This is the front of the engine. The cam chain tensioner unit is in the middle and was a bit fiddly to get assembled but looks like a reasonably replica of the real thing. Bear in mind that none of thsee parts are actually glued together the bolts, hold it all together just like the real engine. Every single bolt has been replicated and there are two different size bolts that keep the crankcase halves together, this detail is also replicated
Next I put the engine in the frame, connected the wiring where appropriate and am getting ready to add the carburettors and the fuel piping
You will notice that all electrical components are wired as in the real bike and there are quite a few loose ends still to tie up. The carburettors are next including the complex fuel lines from vacumn advance, fuel taps and the carburettors themselves
Still gotta add spark plugs and connect them us, as well as engine and gearbox breathers
Below you can see near the steering head the wiring from the coils, with connectors heading into the harness and ending in the CDI module on the rear fender
I tried as much as possible to use the correct colour wires and I this case these are the right colours for these components
Good grief! Are you kidding??? That’s just nuts! I can’t wait to see more.
And where did you get all the teeny acorn nuts and bolt heads?
Just outstanding. Thanks for posting the pics!
Amazing work, very impressive.
Carburettors added now and there are even more pipes to connect later on in the build. It’s starting to get entertaining and a little bit fiddly now
