Looks like I'm going to have to fabricate a battery tray. The remaining space from fitting a CBR1000rr tail on my 2G SV650 does not leave me with enough space to mount the battery and ECM. I already purchased the smallest battery I feel comfortable with being reliable, (12-Cell Lithium), with the bike so it looks as though I'm making my own battery tray because I'm in need of one extra inch in depth. Question for anyone that has done it, I plan on using 5052 Aluminum sheet but I'm torn on what gauge to use.
totaled2
Aluminum can be problematic to bend unless its either very thin, or annealed, or both. 5052 is supposed to be one of the more malleable alloys, so you'll probably be okay.
I typically use 16ga mild steel sheet for battery boxes on my projects. Thin steel sheet is cheap, easy to find, easy to get laser cut (or manually cut with a band saw), very easy to bend, easy to weld (or braze). Its just an all round easy material to work with.
I add thin slots along the bend lines in the cut profile for easy and accurate bending, and generous holes to reduce weight.
My projects don't usually look this old and rusty, but only picture I could find of one of my battery boxes...
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[/url]20160611_123123 by andbike, on Flickr[/IMG]
I typically use 16ga mild steel sheet for battery boxes on my projects. Thin steel sheet is cheap, easy to find, easy to get laser cut (or manually cut with a band saw), very easy to bend, easy to weld (or braze). Its just an all round easy material to work with.
I add thin slots along the bend lines in the cut profile for easy and accurate bending, and generous holes to reduce weight.
My projects don't usually look this old and rusty, but only picture I could find of one of my battery boxes...
How thick you use would depend a lot on how you design the box and how it's both assembled and attached to the frame. One thing to remember when bending aluminum is you must be aware of the minimum bend radius: http://americanmachinetools.com/bend_radius.htm
Bigger is always going to be better as the minimum will often crack and bigger gets you more leeway. This holds true when bending across the grain...if bending with the grain you are going to have problems if anywhere near the minimums.
If you don't have a precision brake where you can dictate the bend radius being used....I'd say stick with the mild steel like Frame Maker uses. It's easy to bend and you pretty much don't need to worry about bend radius and can use a sharp die or just bend it over a clamp or whatnot. The aluminum has springback which plays hell with getting the precise bend angle and will work harden if you try to move it around too much.
With aluminum you also need to be able to calculate the bend allowance so the box will fit where you want it to unless you make it in pieces that bolt or rivet together where you can allow for some misalignment.
If you post up your box ideas we might be able to help sort them out if you're not familiar with doing such work. It can be fun....and also very frustrating depending on what you're trying to do.
Bigger is always going to be better as the minimum will often crack and bigger gets you more leeway. This holds true when bending across the grain...if bending with the grain you are going to have problems if anywhere near the minimums.
If you don't have a precision brake where you can dictate the bend radius being used....I'd say stick with the mild steel like Frame Maker uses. It's easy to bend and you pretty much don't need to worry about bend radius and can use a sharp die or just bend it over a clamp or whatnot. The aluminum has springback which plays hell with getting the precise bend angle and will work harden if you try to move it around too much.
With aluminum you also need to be able to calculate the bend allowance so the box will fit where you want it to unless you make it in pieces that bolt or rivet together where you can allow for some misalignment.
If you post up your box ideas we might be able to help sort them out if you're not familiar with doing such work. It can be fun....and also very frustrating depending on what you're trying to do.
Ok, sounds like steel it is. I started making it with 22 gauge steel but I decided to start over because I like aluminum better. Would 22 gauge work well or would anyone recommend the steel to be thicker or thinner? Also, this is more of an electronics tray versus just a battery box so it will have multiple bends. Also, to make the bends easier and more precise, could I score the inner side of the proposed bend area or is this not advisable?
Regarding the battery, I can tell you that the LFX14L2 is more than enough. I've been running one on my SV1000 since 2012 (I'm on my 2nd but only because my supermoto needed a battery and I decided I'd rather put the new battery in the electric start only bike, it didn't show any signs of age).
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