Ian

Working out where and how to run the exhaust has been rather fun and a bit taxing on the ol brain cells.. Due to the engine being off-set to the left there's no space to run any pipes without legs getting burnt, so up the right side it has to go.. After all the curves in the frame I wanted a more industrial look to the exhaust, so I bought some rather big pipe Space on the right side is rather tight so to stop a leg getting fried or the right hand carb getting hot the pipe had to go through the frame! Thanks to Nigel's boy Karl who found me this rather big steel fitting which was welded into the frame.. It should be strong enough I'm not quite sure how the down pipes will tie into the big tube yet, but I'm working on it.

Nice T shirt mate, it will help us spot you at shows

I can understand the appeal of going for a romp on a tractor, I just couldn't bring myself to do it to one of mine.. Saying that I don't take it that easy on WN That's because I moved it

Not a great deal of progress, but I blame that on the heat as it's rather warm at the mo A couple of extra tubes have gone in the frame just in front of the fuel tank. They partly add some extra strength to the back bone, but also divert the eyes from the engine mount under the tank. We have been thinking about what to do about the exhaust and the lack of space to fit one in! There is no space to run any pipes on the N/S without legs getting burnt, there isn't that much more space on the O/S but there is space to make some.. er... space Anyway, to make the new system I needed to get some more pipe.. As the steel place is just over the road the GT came in handy Where's the best place to start an exhaust system? I trimmed down WN's 1st system till they were just stubbys sticking out the front of the engine (see the first photo) and then went straight to the back for a bit of exhaust box work.. To make them fit under the seat they needed a little trimming in length, so 2 1/2 inches came out. Both cans welded up and welded together. They will go a tad more forward so just the pipes are sticking out the back.. I looked out the workshop door yesterday to see a gent looking at WN.. It tends to happen a lot so I didn't think anything of it.. But when the said Gent said, "It looks much better in real life" with a strong Irish accent the brain thought I'd better think something of this... The said Gent was Noel who as you know is on holiday in the UK.... It was a pleasure to meet you yesterday Noel, sorry WN was not running for you to have a drive (pre book next time ). And thank you for the humbling words yesterday, when I told my Wife we both got a bit choked up.. The hooligan on the left you know.. If you hadn't guessed (or are just not awake yet) the kindly Gent on the right is Noel..

Nice work Ewan, the black frame and white side will look great

Thanks mate, it sure makes a difference when you have the right tools The Honda MadTrax now has a backbone.. Sorry about the rubbish photo, my phone camera is starting to have problems now it's getting on a bit. I'm sure all you bike folk know what these bit's of small tube are for.. These are old mounting rubber from a Ford P100 pick-up. After a bit of trimming.. They were perfect for mounting the fuel tank in the normal bike kinda way. With some cutting, shaping, welding and adding a captive nut the rear tank mount was made. The top engine mount taking shape, I just need to find a couple more bolts. To finish off here's the latest MadTrax video.. Enjoy

Hi all, before I lay out a large slab of cash on a new Mig welder I thought I'd ask if anyone has any experience of a Sealey SuperMig 180 or have heard any talk be it good or bad about them?

A bit of a Rural Pastimes nudge here, my passes have arrived and a flyer proudly displayed on my workshop door

Thanks Kev, my passes arrived the other day

The new bit of the rear frame has been sorted, I think your agree that "kick up" gives MadTrax an aggressive mean sort of look Of course as soon as the frame had enough strength put back in to take the weight of a person.. I just had to have a seat You know the saying of "A bad workman always blames he's tools".. Well in this case I can rightly blame my small Mig welder.. With the aid of a new welding mask and Nigel's 30+ year old heavy duty Mig I produced the best welds I have ever done This is the start of the lower rear engine mounts.. A couple of rear upper engine mounts.. MadTrax can now hold it's own weight up including engine

Happy birthday Nigel, I have to say your wearing your 101 years very well

Great photo's Paul, thanks for posting them Love the "Lowrider" grey Fergie

A few chassis repairs and the Easimow would be ready to go.. Of course now would be the time to stretch it a little to get a bigger engine in Great photo's guy's, John's workshop is looking a little empty now..

Hi Susie, nice to meet you She's a very nice find, I'm with the others, don't repaint her just preserve her as she is

Thanks Alan, I should be a lot further ahead than I am really, but life, looking and giggling have slowed me down It's called visualizing and working things out Well, early Monday morning my welding wire turned which was very nice of it.. Tacking tubes together with a Arc welder has not been fun.. As it happened Mig welding was not fun for long!! A word of warning chaps, always wear gloves when welding even more so if your welding something galvanized! Why?? Well a rather nasty evil big blob of molten weld decided to jump and land on my wedding ring where it most unkindly burnt a hole through it and at the same time super-heated the top half of the ring to a very "ouch" sort of temperature! Getting the ring off was interesting to say the least, it's always been a very tight fit but still turned, but once my finger started swelling!! With the help of Google, a good chap by the name of Matt, and a length of fine string we managed to get the ring off without having to cut it! This was quite bad timing as it was our 9th wedding anniversary yesterday! For those of you (Hi Nigel) who are saying I shouldn't wear the ring in the workshop, I've never taken it off as it doesn't/didn't really come off without a big fight! And now onto something tubular.. The quad frame.. A lot of new tube work has gone in to add strength and also give it a bit of style.. While my Mig welder did an "ok" job of welding the frame up, it did seam to be lacking oomph and not powerful enough to do a good job. So Nigel the good chap he is suggested we drag he's welder through and give it a whirl... Strong welds?? Ooooo yeah baby This was one of those corners with a lot of steel bar showing.. It now be filled with weld So thanks for the use of your welder mate, I now feel a lot happier about riding the quad A blurred view of the other side.. The rear or the frame is getting a re-shape to to keep the curved theme of the frame going, here's the first part of it.. 3 tubes all with slight bends to get them fitting under the seat lip. When the seat if clamped down only the bottom half of the tube will be showing. I just love this view from the back, the tank makes it look so meaty and MadMaxy

Cool photo's Doug Has the stretched Westwood got an OMC engine fitted?

A nice machine James, you just need to put some air in the rear tyre and paint the blue red

A slightly late happy birthday Mark

I didn't know tractor pulling was such a big thing in the Uk! Thanks for posting the pic's Doug

Thanks mate Don't you mean Australian Norm? With the fuel tank braced in the right place I could make a start on rebuilding the frame.. This may sound a strange way of doing it, but I want the frame to be a feature and not hidden away under bodywork. Every cut and join in the frame has some nice thick steel bar inside to make sure it's all strong enough when welded up.. Everything is only tack welded at the mo as I've run out of Mig wire. I like the "double down pipe" look, the o/s was easy.. If your thinking the n/s looks a bit close to the carb then you would be right! It's so close that I had to notch the inside of the pipe to give enough space to get a fuel pipe on the carbs! Putting some strength back in the front, roll on Monday when my welding wire should arrive and I can zap all the tubes fully together..

Certainly more than 3

Thanks mate, no idea why Farcebook thinks it's my birthday, but thanks anyway

If your ever down this way my garden could do with a make over An interesting way of moving the pole.. I like your thinking

That's a nice oops Koen

A nice find Andrew, it's screaming out for a slightly larger engine,, something "in keeping" of course.. Oh, please don't paint it, it has just the right amount of age showing