Weight Watchers

My first attempt at a bending jig (can't really call it a brake), was barely able to bend a two inch wide strip of 3/16" aluminum. No way it is going to handle the nearly 12" required on the tray pattern. Granted the jig was only made of wood (oak I had laying around) and I was bending 6061-T6, but I was amazed and how much the clamping mechanism flexed during the bending process. The radius was pretty clean though, and there was only a minimal amount of micro-cracking, so I'm on the right track with the size of the bending radius.

In the absence of any real progress on the lower battery tray, I decided to start putting pieces back on the bike. While cleaning the rear Foot Peg Brackets, I noticed the large amount of material devoted to supporting the muffler and the seat lock. I really don't need the muffler mount and I never liked the seat lock setup. Time for a little weight losss surgery.

Like any good surgeon, I outline the sections to be removed with a sharpie. Armed with only a butter knife and ignoring the patient's requests for anethesia, I got to work reforming the brackets.

Ahhh... trim and sexy. Now about that butt lift Mr. Gixxer....