GRABENRATTE the story so far.... Part 4

That exhaust's been kicking around the garden for ages and I really like it. So I just welded a bit of pipe in the end (shown above in green) which was the right size to fit onto the GrabenRatte's downpipe. Then shoved it onto the downpipe and jubilee clipped the whole mess to the underside of the seat:

So now when you stand at the side of the bike it looks like there's no exhaust at all, it keeps the arse end looking short, it's nice and quiet and it keeps your arse nice'n warm too!

BUT this in itself caused a problem, and so we go on to the wiring loom.
Not only is the arse-end uber minimal it's now got a roasting hot exhaust in there too.........................SO, where the f#cks the cdi, rec/reg and all that other shite gonna go???
The easiest place would be under the tank on the left hand side, but it would need to be in some sort of sturdy metal container, reakon it's time for a rummage in the basement.................... VOILA!

And the CDI's a perfect fit! (obviously the reg/rec won't be going in the tin as it needs to cool). Couple of carrier bags in the tin to keep everything snug and cosy, and shove all the wires and everything in:

bung on the lid, which I trimmed a bit out of with the grinder to allow the wires to come out, ok so not everything fitted in the tin....but....well...
I'm too f#cking lazy to fasten it to the bike properly so I'm just going to shove a strap round the whole lot, it'll help hold the tank on too. Can you see the wire with the spade terminal hanging out the at the bottom of the pic? it's the kill switch - a quick dab on the frame kills the engine dead:

AND FINALLY, THE LAST MOD: This was easily the simplest modification, the tank had two brackets, one on each side which I welded on so that they bolted to the top engine mount.
This was sh!te as not only did it leave a huge gap between the tank and headstock at the front, but the old rear tank mounts were still in place on the top tube which caused the back of the tank to be raised up by a couple of inches. Which in turn caused the mounting plate on the tank itself to stick right into the riders bollocks. I realise that this may indeed sound appealing to some of you reading this, but unfortunately I'm not that much of a pervert.

The front bracket I bodged by simply cutting it in half and welding it back on at an angle, with the addition of an extension plate to bridge the gap and to make the holes line up with the engine mount bolts.
Old bracket shown in red, and seeing as my welding skills are so utterly flawless I have added a couple of green lines to help you spot the area of the repair.

And lastly I cut the old brackets off the frame so the tank sits lower and in doing so removed the constant fear of genital mutilation.

and that's it! (yes really) - time for the obligitory before and after shots then.... BEFORE:

AFTER:

Text and pictures by Nate. Look out for Grabenratte at Ratbike events all over Europe - but by the time you see it, it's probably changed again!