Bonneville America Forums Forums General Motorcycle Forums Vendors Only Bonneville Carbon Fibre frame and mono shock

Taimoshan Cycle Works - We are a custom bike builder in the UK, We mainly build cafe racer style bikes with a steampunk feel, using a mix of modern tech and classic racer style.

Our recent work has been on producing 2 prototype carbon fibre motorbike frames for the 1970's & 80's oil in frame Triumph Bonnevilles.

The first frame is a updated carbon mono shock frame and swingarm combo for the Triumph "Oil in frame" Bonneville, the frame will be put into production and made available to custom bike building public in the next 4-6 months. The intention is to sell the frame and swingarm kits to people wanting to build their own very special Triumph Bonne customs. There will we a couple of frame configs available on request ie std head stock to take Bonne front end or upgraded head stock to take modern front end config. The mono shock frame will weigh approx 4kgs.

The second frame config is a hard tail bobber again with std or upgrade head stock. This frame will weigh in at approx 3kgs.

Standard frames/swingarm weigh over 15kgs.

Please feel free to visit our website and add as favorite, as over the next 4-6 weeks we will start posting photos of the carbon frames .

www.taimoshancycleworks.com

Please direct any enquiries to john@taimoshancycleworks.com

We welcome you comments and feedback and interest in our carbon frame concept.

Cool stuff there, John! Good luck with your new venture.

Btw, I do have one quick question here regarding the Aprilia-powered "Super Cafe Racer": Do you think you'll get enough airflow through that "Britten-esque" under-seat mounted radiator to keep the engine within proper operating temperatures without the need of any ducting to said radiator? And, if you do, I'm going to assume those two electric fans will operate at all times, correct?!

(...btw John, don't be surprised if our site Administrator moves your thread to the "Vendors" forum)

Hi Dwight,

Thanks for the comments.

Re the super cafe racer, the rad does get a quasi ducted effect with the design, but the big things is that the rad is 50% larger than the std OEM unit, it also uses the std twin fans linked to the Microsquirt ECU, which manages the control of the cooling function.

Datalogging has shown that the cooling fans rarely come on during normal riding and only for very short period during stationary engine running ie no forced airflow.

I have not run the bike yet under prolonged high load conditions like racing but for regular road riding the cooling is more then sufficient.

Thanks also for the feedback re the vendors sections, only new to this forum as was looking for feedback and critique adn interest on the carbon frame concept rather than sales :-)

Cheers and glad you like what I have done so far, keep in touch as i do have some really cool stuff coming soon.

John

Wow! That is losing 25 pounds right off the get go, that would be pretty impressive. If I remember right I think I was told that for every 10 pounds you can trim off the old Triumphs was like adding 1 extra horsepower. That would be a great start for a Cafe Racer.

Hi 69Tri1,

You are correct, but I am using the oil in frame version for 2 reasons, first having the oil in the frame makes for a very clean looking bike and even more so when built as a mono shock frame and second is the stength and rigidity of the frame design in the rear engine mounting / swingarm pivot area, this is a requirement for the unit pro- link style mono shock swingarm config I have designed for the frame.

I think you will be pleasently surprised with the look of the frame when finished. For me form is as important as function.

Re prices, I haven't finalised the pricing yet as some of the components have not been completed, but as you can imagine anything structural in carbon fibre is pretty high tech and high end.

If anyone wants to be notified directly when pricing is available drop me an email, otherwise keep on eye on my thread on the forum.

Cheers
John
john@taimoshancycleworks.com

You have my curiosity now. I will keep an eye on your site and on this thread!

Ok fellow bikers, here is a sneak preview of the carbon Bonneville frame. Still quite a lot of work to go, rear seat hoop, joint re-inforcing and swingarm and engine mounts etc, but you can see it taking shape.

[img] http://www.taimoshancycleworks.com/wpimages/wp37ba0045_00.jpg [/img]

[img] http://www.taimoshancycleworks.com/wpimages/wp774fc360_00.jpg [/img]

Very impressive there John.

I do not know the properties of Carbon fiber and the resin or epoxy used to mold it but does oil being stored inside the frame long term have any ill effects to the structure?? Just curious. I would love to have one of those frames for my "69" project bike!!

Hi 69tri1

Before I started work on the frame, I consulted the tech guys at the resin manufacturing co and they provided a specification on the resin to be used that is not affected by the oil and just as important not affected by the heat of the oil.

I have the majority of the frame completed now and have the engine in the frame to measure up the top mount, bottom mount and rear engine plates that tie the motor to the swingarm pivot bulkhead. I will have a couple more pics available very soon for people to see the progress, I am very happy with the result so far and the look if the frame.

I have almost finished shapping the matching custom tank and seat unit, which will allow me to set up and attached the seat subframe and shock mount.

For those people that don't like the matching tank and seat and want to something more traditional, I can make a seat hoop that takes the std Bonne size seat and I have a alloy "sprint" tank that has been made to fit the frame. You could alway modify your own tank, to accommodate the oil filler being at the top of the main frame tube by the headstock and not at the bend of the tube by the seat.

I expect I should have a completed prototype and rolling frame by the summer.

I have a number of people that have already emailed me with the full contact details to register their interest in ordering a frame and swingarm when available. I will be providing these people with direct pricing.

You can email me at john@taimoshancycleworks.com if you want to be added to the list.

Cheers
John