It's about time to get started on building the mock board tracker gas tank/battery boxes!
The first battery boxes will be design built for the Sixthreezero In The Barrel bikes.
Instead of going for a beach ride, I ordered a sheet metal break, and a sheet metal corner shrinker stretcher. I have no idea where I'll put them in the garage home shop but I'll figure something out. Then I went out for a couple rides to pick up other tools and supplies.
I like using the back pack for my battery because it's so inconspicuous, but some days I just don't feel like wearing it. Nobody without a sharp eye has any idea I'm riding an electric bike with the back pack battery. The mock gas tank/battery boxes will be as inconspicuous as the back pack! They will look like a custom beach cruiser built with a board tracker theme.
The pre production models will be made from heavy gauge sheet metal and aluminum. All joints will be riveted together. The side covers for the first one will be a brushed aluminum with paint details to match the center sections. I'm thinking about trying varnished wood for the side covers as well.
I've always preferred welding over riveting, but for these mock gas tank/battery boxes, I think riveting the parts together is a better option.
1. It will save on costs. I have to make them affordable or nobody will buy them!
2. If one part gets damaged, it can be replaced without having to replace the whole tank/box!
The second bike to get a gas tank/battery box will be the Firmstrong Bruiser. I really need to take some of my own photo's of the Bruiser bikes! The ones (above example) the company payed to have taken are terrible!
Early last summer I started making a hammer forging buck for the Firmstrong Bruiser models. I've changed some design elements since then, so I'll have to start all over and remake the hammer forming bucks from scratch. It sucks to do because I was almost finished before work got so busy I had no time for them, but I'll have a better box in the end than the original ones design!
The Firmstrong Bruiser battery boxes will be different than the Board Tracker style, but will have several of the same design features incorporated into them. This design is a total secret at the moment. If I let the cat out of the bag now, and show the buck I've already started, a half dozen copy cats will have them before I can get my first pre-production box in a bike!
I will need to get everything done for these two model bikes battery boxes in the next two or three months of California winter while bike sales are slow! As soon as summer is here, I won't have any time!
After the first few pre production tanks are made and in the pre order test ride bikes, I'll be able to start taking orders! At best, all I can hope to do is get the prototypes made with the templates and bucks. I'll have no work to speak off for a few months until spring sets in and people want bikes again. From January 1st until May 1st is the time to order your ebike if you want it ready for spring!
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