A greenhouse project

Yeah, I know...a big shift in theme. Heck, it's not even motorcycle related.

But since most of us do other things as well, I'd figured I would share.

I've been lusting after a greenhouse for quite some time. Unfortunately, the affordable aluminum/polycarbonate combos are fairly useless (small and not warm enough), and the good ones are way out of my budget.

Behold the recycled windows greenhouse idea.

There are a plenty of greenhouses made with recycled windows. A few weeks, I found some windows on CL that were not only double pane glass, but also vinyl. I guess it was meant to be. I drove to the guy's house and bought all the windows I could.

So, a pile of windows sitting in my carport, I bought some 2x4 lumber, a few sheets of polycarbonate roofing, and a whole bunch of screws (yeah, screws - if a section rots, I want to be able to replace it without damaging the rest of the structure). I worked out a basic plan with the window sizes I have available, and set to work.

The greenhouse will be 10x8ft with a 12/12 pitch roof. The walls are 2x4 and the roof rafters are 2x6, but it will be a while before I get to the roof part. Currently, I'm framing the wall sections in my garage so I have the walls ready and stained. Once the snow melts, I'll pour my concrete posts, set 4x6PT beams on the concrete, and nail the walls in place. Of course, they are now held to each other with only a couple of screws, so it will be easy to pull them apart and carry them to their final destination. The windows will be inserted on location.

The windows I'm using are 24x31, 36x31, 24x60, and 31x60. I have one more wall to frame, once I figure out the door layout.

 

WR250R fairing and winter maintenance done

I'm finally done with the pre-season maintenance, and the Britannia fairing install.

Aside from the fairing, I also installed extra LED lights, new handlebar (CR High bend Renthal), Rally Pro handguards by Acerbis, cleaned and lubed the swingarm, rebuilt front forks, changed brake pads front and rear, changed coolant, repacked wheel bearings front and rear, and got a few pieces powdercoated. Oh yes, and I got a new seat from Seat Concepts (gripper top, and blue gripper sides).

Riding the few laps around the yard surely put a smile on my face. I can't wait for the white stuff to melt.

Lynx Fairing Install WR250R - part 5

As part of the install, I wanted to add a couple of small LED lights for daytime visibility. I had a similar setup on my other bike, and it definitely made me more visible, so there was no better time to do it than when the wiring and all was exposed.

First I made some brackets out of aluminum angle piece I had laying around.

Mounted where the stock reflectors were:

And the lights:

The wiring was easy. I ran the wires inside some clear vinyl tubing, crimped a couple of connectors, and hooked them up to the switch I installed in my dash. The power comes from one of the fused extra wires in the Britannia wiring harness - switched with ignition.
Then I tidied up the wiring mess a bit:

With everything connected and the fairing in place:

And now for the idiot moment - I cannot figure out where these two came from:

I had the tank, subframe, and most of the bike apart.

Lynx Fairing Install WR250R - part 4

Finally making some progress here.

With the dashboard in place, it was time to "trim" the fender to accommodate the lower bracket. The trimming is quite substantial, as the bracket has to sit directly on top of the fender, plus you have to carve enough of the fender out to have room for the fairing itself and the two nuts. 

I trimmed and trimmed, finally reaching a point where I got a little scared - I could see the light through the fender as the plastic grew dangerously thin in spot. These spots, however, are exactly where there is a plastic brace in the fender, so it won't affect its structural integrity. Still, instead of carving more room for the nuts, I decided to turn the bolts around, and carve little channels so they could be backed out with a hex T-handle.

This way, I can set the fairing in place, screw the bolts in tight, and secure them with a nut from behind. The aluminum bracket from Britannia is threaded, but I would not trust the few threads to hold the bolt in place.

Next, I tried several locations to mount the relays so they would not interfere with the headlights. There is not much room behind the dash, so up high they had to do. The double sided tape works like magic.

 I also routed most of the wiring through the "ring" where the ignition originally resided. It keeps it somewhat tidy.

Then I set the fairing in place.

That thing looks like an alien!

I also got some Acerbis Rally Pro handguards which, as I found, would not fir on the stock bars due to the welded crossbrace. Off to get a new handlebar, Renthal RC High Bend. This, of course meant more mounting.

The handlebar is slightly wider than the stock one, so now I have the room to mount the handguards. The dashboard, however, interferes with the mounts, so I had to trim the dashboard a little.

With new bars, one needs new grips. I always liked ProGrip, so I picked up a pair.

And since I will be installing the handguards, I had to trim the throttle tube to fit in the bolt. I left the tube hanging out a bit to make sure no grip glue will find its way between the throttle tube and the handlebar itself.

New grips installed.

I plan to finish the wiring and handguard installation soon.

Lynx Fairing Install WR250R - part 3

In part three of this install, I'll talk about installing the dash and relocating the ignition.

The stock dashboard from Britannia comes with a hole drilled to allow access to the stock ignition. While many are happy with this setup, it is not ideal, as reaching the ignition is rather awkward when you have to reach over the crossbar.

Some WR owners replace their handlebars, others hack the ignition and move it elsewhere.

I wanted to move it elsewhere, but without damaging the tripples, so I was up against a challenge.

The stock ignition mounting points on the tripples get in the way of mounting it down low. I could have cut it off the tripples, but that would be ... hmm..weird.

So, I decided to move my ignition higher up, above the brake line and the instrument cluster.

Ian from Britannia sent me a blank dash (without holes) to play with, and I organized the instruments the best way I could while leaving room for the ignition.

Now, the ABS dashboard is stout, but the ignition cylinder is heavy. I wanted to make it more stout, so I got some 1/8" aluminum plate, bent it to match the angle of the dashboard, and traced the dashboard onto it.

A little while later, I had it all cut out using a scroll saw. Of course, I had the layout all figured out by then.

Next, I used some exterior double-sided tape between the dash and the aluminum backing (to dampen vibrations) and riveted the two pieces together with small, 1/8" aluminum rivets.

 After that, I made myself a spacer from a 1/2" aluminum bar. It copies the shape of the ignition cylinder mounting surface. Sure, I could have used a few washers instead, but this enlarges the contact area, making the whole connection a lot more stout, plus preventing centralized stress points on the dashboard.

The reason for the spacer - the cylinder is so tall that, without it, it would stick out too much.

I needed to make one more bracket. The stock instrument cluster bracket does more than just hold the cluster. It also keeps all the wires and the clutch cable neatly tucked away close to the tripples.

This one will do the same thing, and more (later). A simple 1/8" aluminum angle, cut and drilled. One hole is 6mm (instrument cluster mount), the other is 8mm (ignition mount).  The relief is where the cables go. 

This is where the bracket sits. Notice all the wires behind it. The added benefit is that now I have a solid, flat surface to adhere the relay to. The Britannia wiring harness has two relays with a mounting tape on them. They will stick nicely to the aluminum bracket (I will also ziptie them just in case). 

And here is the dash. I still have to make one extra hole for my waterproof outlet. It will go in the lower right hand corner, just under the instrument cluster.

The switch is for LED trail lights. The Britannia harness comes with two extra fused connections - one on all the time, the other on with ignition. I will wire the switch to one, and the outlet to the other.

Notice the 8mm stainless bolts with fender washers holding the ignition. One of the bolts is behind the instrument cluster, which, with the rubber washers supplied by Britannia, sits high enough to clear it.
I also have the RAM mount for my Nuvi 500 up there.

I only pulled the brake line out of the way to have a clear view at the dashboard. It clears everything just fine as it is.

And that's the job for the day. Perhaps more complicated than it had to be, but I like to build things to last.