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I started with .190" steel. The fullers at the root measure .130" using pin micrometers.

No. Look at all the Star Yamaha bikes. Cut airbuses are pretty common for race bikes.

I'm pretty sure Amazon!

Yes. 304 Stainless mesh on Amazon.

I don’t think high grit and high buff to the point you can see yourself in the metal is normally classified as a satin finish. It is normal to have to go back and forth a few times between hand finishing and buffing. Satin is usually 600 grit as the final step. What would counts as mirror finish to you? Love to check out your work! Thanks!

@@lewismadeknifeandtool Just use more aggressive polishing compound and the scratches will be gone,,,on such small blade in 2min

Thank you!

Thanks Andrew. I am not an ABS smith, and I too am passionate about craftsmanship and the old methods. Which is why my machine shop is manual machines. No button pushing in my shop! Haha I do believe manual machining is a skilled trade of craftsmanship. But I understand my method may not be the most skilled way of doing it as a smith. I certainly wasn't trying to demonstrate the most skilled way to do it, just they way I was able to do it to meet my needs. Thanks for the engagement! Rob

Thankfully many others have tested the results on a dyno, which is what inspired me to do mine. Look at all the Star bikes. 😊 But you don’t need a dyno to feel a difference. You can tell these bikes are starved for air, and cutting the air cover makes a noticeable difference you can feel even if you can’t see it on a Hp graph.

Trash tire stop being cheap

@chrisvillarreal2752 there is no tire on the market that performs better than the Hoosier IMX25'S. Especially the front. It's the only tire that sells race compounds to the amateur. The race teams Cut the lugs on thier Factory Race Spec Tires. To try to gain more traction. We all seen them do it to the new 34 during the outdoor season.

@@dennismillus4581 bro stop it… the tire is trash it’s expensive, chunks go flying off with low hours, and if it was that fuckin good you would think that manufactures spending millions of r&d would sell their bikes with the best possible tire to make their bike the better option over others and it’s not Hoosier. It’s Dunlop. Period.

It is! I’ll be in TX again this week and probably ride there again.

Might help when calculating the air flow of that motor. From what I googled you take the displacement which in this case is 449cc convert to Cubic inches, which is 27.39ci and then multiply by 11,000/3456. Comes out to 87.17 cfm.

120/90/19

Thank you so much! I’ve had that maple a while and it was the right choice for this build.

Thank you! The client was happy with the build! I enjoyed the process.

Thank you!

Thank you!

Thank you for the comment. I really like how high of a finish you can get on 154CM. It’s a beautiful steel!

Nothing happened to my face... lol Sounds like that works! I have changed up my process a little since this video, but the concept is the same. I really like how stainless polishes up!

I’m 5, 10”/180. We went one stiffer on forks. Stock I think is .51 so think we went .52. MXA recommends .5. But for me one stiffer from stock up front with new valving and a softer low speed circuit helped get plushness and still keeping the fork up in stroke was the answer.

I don’t know if you saw I edited my first reply with actual numbers. I couldn’t remember, but edited my reply after checking.

@@lewismadeknifeandtool yea no worries! I actually thought I made a mistake myself according to Race Tech and deleted my previous comment lol! I appreciate all the insight and your reply’s! I really want to get this bike comfy, one Saturday it feels great, the next I cant get anything right.

Everyone I’ve been talking to been running 106 sag and forks pretty much flush. I felt sketchy before getting my suspension dialed. But softer on top of stroke, front and back, one spring rate stiffer up front, and stiffer valving for bottom resistance on shock got me feeling good… we also lowered my back shock for 6MM overall height reduction, which helped me because the 23 is taller than 21/22.

One of my songs. It is a sketch built from a couple of my own riffs.

​@@lewismadeknifeandtool I am new to this thing, learned some chords, power chords, major scale now I am stuck. I mean how do someone makes a music, how do you make music?

I hear you man! I remember that feeling too. Honestly, I’ve been playing a little over 20 years and in my opinion, making music is as simple as building skills slowly and doing anything creative with those skills. Three chords and you can make a song… play around with different rhythms and strum patterns… pretty sure that’s how all of us start. Keep going man! Just make sounds you think are fun… and learning and make what you learn your own.

@@lewismadeknifeandtool this is so inspiring, thank you so much. Wish i can learn from you. Keep doing what you are doing.

It is the same as the 2021 for the slip on.

Stock I had 100mm sag. But too much on soft front made the bike dance a bit too much. I had tried 103 before going to 100. I did drop forks a little. Was at @10 and now @ 5mm.

@@lewismadeknifeandtool thanks. It's coming from yamaha at 7mm. I was wondering where i should start between all those numbers 90 to 106, i may try at 100 with 7mm when the track will be open in Canada. Thanks a lot.

@@mxriderdakar You bet! After getting stiffer front springs, and revalving, I am finding 106 sag to be pretty nice with 5MM fork height. Bike feels pretty balanced. I am 180lbs and A/B Vet just for reference.

@@lewismadeknifeandtool strangely, 106 was where i found my comfort on my 2020. I’ll start at 100 then 103 then 106 i think with 7mm then 5mm. Thanks again for the intel.

I only have the slip on silencer so I didn’t remove anything from the left side of the bike. And it wasn’t bad getting the shield back on the right side because it is sized for stock system, which also meant might have gone past closed to get it snug over the FMF. :)

Yes i did exactly the same. But i am not sure i am comfortable with how close the bolt end is to the head. A local pro is running similar, said he he just dumped the heat sheild. Hasn’t had any leak issues

Good point. I don’t think you need it. My thoughts were to reduce vibration a little at the connection point and to provide some protection in the event of a crash and the bike wants to brand me. Haha

I have ridden the bike on rough fast stuff, hard packed slick, and tacky clay with fast chop now. I left the sag at about 99-100 and just tried to log laps to get used to the frame and motor. I do agree, the bike overall feels stiff, and therefore twitchy. But for me the spring rate and valving is too soft. I am 180lb without gear, and pretty aggressive rider. Kind of getting the worst of both worlds in that case with a stiff feel on top and bottoming out when charging deep stuff and fast sandy rollers or jumping to flat. Admittedly, I have my clickers pretty much all the way in resulting in stiffer on top trying to fight bottoming so hard. I just sent my suspension out today to get it dialed in. The bike turns very well, and I love that I can make new lines in turns by just leaning a little and trusting the bike to go where you point it. I love the power delivery! I find myself going faster without feeling like or sounding like Justin Barcia. Kind of an overall calmer but faster feel to it... I don't like that my front end has felt like it wants to slide out more on some surfaces, mainly in sweeping fast turns with chop, and the back end tends to be more active than I am used to, but not bad. Once I get my suspension set for me I plan to do more testing to get the bike to handle better, but honestly it really does handle well considering I know stock suspension just ins't right for me.

@@lewismadeknifeandtool thanks for your incite , both settings work good enough at my local sand tracks ,but at the race track its deep heavy loam turning to hardpack .thats were im bouncing & around ,feels like im back on my hondas! a few more testing days &ill get it , yes the engine is great! enjoy the ride!

@@48ona2006 ive like 105 sag. forks 14 on compression, and 5mm on smooth tracks. anything rough or fast drop the forks to flush.

The front brake did start working better at the end of the day. I rode it last night around after washing it and it felt pretty good, like what I would expect instead of a gentle slow down it was that nice hard instant front fork compression. I agree on the shootout stuff. They only ride the bikes a short time, and there is no way they can really get totally dialed in such a short time. It really is better bike than previous years. I can't say how much I loved the way it turns... that was the biggest game changer for me.

Thank you!

Thank you, Gary! I did consider casting them. I looked into model casting resin etc. but I chose to machine them for two reasons: 1. I didn't have much time to get them done and I am confident in my ability to machine them but not confident in my ability to cast them. I didn't have time to experiment and learn the process even though I would love to one day! 2. I wanted to change the design slightly to make them stronger. This plastic and this design will be stronger than resin parts of the original top design. Thanks for watching! Rob

Thank you, David! It worked nicely and the builder was pleased.

You bet! It's great to see there are still people out there who appreciate the craft!

Boiler up! Are you a fellow boilermaker?

@@lewismadeknifeandtool Yeah buddy! I went to high school in West Lafayette, then came back for a PhD at Purdue (2005-09).

@@andrewneilson227 nice!

Thanks Joel! I made these for somebody and unfortunately didn’t have the opportunity to film the install. I do know they worked great and looked nice installed. Thanks for watching!

Thank you! I should have put some music to the intro. It was a quick edit on my phone so forgive the amateur hour editing. Haha

Thank you, Toby! Afzelia is a beautiful hardwood I don't see often either. It has been one of my favorites over the last year. I chose 440C because it is a great stainless steel very common in kitchen knives and cutlery. It is great for both wear resistance and will handle getting wet often very well. It is also not impossible for the common person to sharpen, unlike say a 154CM which is an amazing steel, but very hard for the average person to resharpen. I also like the way 440C polishes up! It takes a bit to hand finish, but it really does produce a great surface finish. - Rob

@@lewismadeknifeandtool Thanks for the info. I am just about to order a few pieces of stock to get started. I will be going the 1x30 and angle grinder route, in the beginning, to get started to see how I enjoy it before dumping too much money into the hobby. I have a lot of woodworking tools but not much in the way of steelwork.

@@tobymaples7646 you will have a blast if you have wood working background. I would recommend starting with 1095 or 52100 if you don't have a heat treat oven. You can heat treat 1095 and 52100 with a basic propane setup (I started with fire brick and brush burning wand). But getting 440C up to 1925F and holding it for 30 minutes is a real challenge without an oven/kiln.

@@lewismadeknifeandtool i placed an order right before you replied for a few pieces of 80crv2 after watching the video from larrin thomas on it. I also ordered a single piece of magnacut for a special chefs knife after i get some practice on cheaper steel. I found a few templates I liked and got them cut out and ready for when my steel shows up in a couple days. I am going to send most of these off for heat treating by a professional and practice on a couple small pieces and scraps before i really dive in.

@@tobymaples7646 80crv2 is good stuff too! Just have to take better care of it as it will rust, unlike stainless. Going hard with Magnacut! Let me know how it works. I'm just now getting into CPM stuff. I have a lot to learn myself as it relates to making knives with it and the pros and cons of it over easier to sharpen high quality stainless like 440C.

Yea, the higher grits you are right. I personally have no trouble seeing whether or not the scratches are out with the lower grits. I have found that the same direction works for me and reduces risk of ruining crisp lines. Thanks

Thanks for your reply, George. My videos are less instructional and more sharing my process as a participant in the community rather than as an authority on the matter. Yet I appreciate constructive feed back. It makes me better. I don't know about a buffer going the other direction. I have never seen another maker ever use a buffer the way you describe. It is far safer to have the knife heading towards the ground rather than up towards your face. The old great like Loveless added boards to the back of their buffers to keep the knife from coming around. I have thought about adding those to mine as well. But never heard of anyone running a buffer backwards or standing behind it.

That would be nice! Better than having the belt come at you! I'll look into that!

Thank you! You totally can!

I did! Thank you!

Thanks! I had tried a few compounds that came in a kit. Still learning. Lately I’ve been using the white compound. Not sure on the grit, but it works better than the blue. I don’t know, I still like the dry wheel to finish. I haven’t seen anyone else do it, so it’s probably wrong... but I like that it cleans the blade up well and removes compound residue.

At this point in time all of the stick buffing compounds are incorrect in terms of knowing exactly what you are actually using. So no consistency, especially on unique steels. Secondly all of not , most buffing bars or sticks are not healthy to use, because they use petroleum products that vaporize when using them on the application to the cotton wheels.

Hi may I ask some additional details about the aluminum oxide compound you used? Did you make it or is a product available off the top shelf? For safety i use a drill with variable speed Thank you an kind regards Gino

@@gino3286 I never sourced the abrasives at either of the labs where I have done that level of work(2 different labs on the same university campus). I assume that any abrasives meant to prepare metallography samples would be similar. There is a chance I misremembered, the final step, it might have actually been .03 micron it was suspended in a fluid that had a different viscosity from the fluid that suspended the diamond abrasives used for most of the polishing after the sandpaper, and it used a different backing material. Whatever the grit progression was it was basically a mirror a few steps before the end.

@@garethbaus5471 hi thank you very much for the very kind and valuable advice I will do some research on metallography analysis I understand well that you reached a mirror finish only by sanding? Very interesting With which grit?

@@gino3286 The sanding was just to create a smooth consistent surface, and stopped at 1200 grit which is pretty far from mirror. The visually mirror finish was mostly reaching using a series of diamond compounds on soft backings.

@@garethbaus5471 hi thank you very much again I will follow your advice i have to study better about compounds The choice is endless and I still quite confused For sand paper grit grade is always available Not so for different compounds Unfortunately diamond pastes are not cheap Kind regards gino