Working with brass

[Sarge]

Sorry if this is in the wrong spot...feel free to move as needed.

Just recently picked up an older motorcycle (1983 Shadow) for real cheap. Got it running and now it's time to fix/personalize. Stock bars are way too close for comfort. Was thinking about making a set of drag style bars out of solid brass rod. I really dig the look of brass.

Current bars are 7/8" and knurled at the bolt down area.

Thoughts/plans:

1" bars necked down for the clamps to 7/8" and knurled. The necking down will be as close as possible to the clamps so it appears that the bars are 1" all the way. Most likely will want to tip the outward ends of the bars towards the rider for comfort. Controls to be trimmed down to min.

Possible problems:

How heavy?
Will the bars be strong enough? Especially at the necking down spot?
Can a solid brass bar be consistently and/or safely bent...say 10-15 degrees?

I may end up having to add in some rise for comfort. If so I'm assuming it would be safer to cut and weld. Without measuring we're probably looking at a rise between 2-4" into brag bars. Not broomstick style but out straight for approximately 1/2 the distance and a bend of approximately 10-15 degrees. If you know motorcycles Magnas and Marauders run this style.

Sarge

 

[RichP]

Brass to me is not a good idea, steel tube, you can buy a cheap set of K&N straight bars and then cut them and use them as desired. My Yamaha 1100LH had buckhorn pull backs that were nice but I switched to drag bars for about a season till they bothered my back too much and went back to the cruiser style.
I think you can still get bars for under $20.

 

[Sarge]

Why would brass not be a good choice? Was thinking of solid brass rather than a pipe. I would think that would be stout enough but I don't really know. My experience with brass is plumbing fixtures and some of them are strong. I dislike chrome but really like brass and copper. I know I could use steel and plate it but plating is never as lasting. Specially as I ride in all weather and have no garage.

Sarge

 

[Sarge]

Why would brass not be a good choice? Was thinking of solid brass rather than a pipe. I would think that would be stout enough but I don't really know. My experience with brass is plumbing fixtures and some of them are strong. I dislike chrome but really like brass and copper. I know I could use steel and plate it but plating is never as lasting. Specially as I ride in all weather and have no garage.

You made me curious enough to get off my dead butt and do some research. Newer brass rod is made lead free. Here is one companies comment on the strength of their brass rod:

It is as strong as 303 & 304 Stainless Steel. Our new lead free brass has a tensile strength of 600 N/mm2. That is 1.4 times stronger than typical CA360 and CA377 and equivalent to that of C6782 the strongest wrought copper alloy in production today. It has the same tensile strength and a higher yield strength than 303 and 304 stainless steel.

Sarge

 

[Fish'nCarz]

I just posted and now it's gone, so if this repeats, sorry.

Brass is too soft and weak for this application. One of the bronzes would probably work (naval bronze, aluminum bronze, silicone bronze. There are a million alloys) I'd go talk to a metal plater about plating steel. They can do some pretty amazing stuff with brass or copper. Then spray the part with a high quality automotive clear lacquer, something like 3 - 4 coats. You'll get the strength you need and the looks you want.

Something else that looks sick is oxidising the brass or copper before you clear coat. If you do this with twisted or textured stock and then clean the oxidation off just the high points it looks especially sweet, IMO. Then clear, which will be as hard as your paint.

And 304 Stainless is great at not corroding, but it ain't that strong. Look here: http://www.fergusonmetals.com/304.htm

 

[Sarge]

OK, but remember I'm talking about a solid bar vice a hollow one. Still not strong enough? How strong is 304 stainless, the chart didn't really give much to understand. I know folks make footpegs from brass. As you can tell I don't know squat about this stuff.

Sarge

 

[Fish'nCarz]

OK, but remember I'm talking about a solid bar vice a hollow one. Still not strong enough? How strong is 304 stainless, the chart didn't really give much to understand. I know folks make footpegs from brass. As you can tell I don't know squat about this stuff.

Sarge

Bronze is much, much stronger than brass (brass is a component of the alloy), but when the iron age caught on in "The Old World" everybody with a bronze weapon got wasted by a guy with an iron weapon.

Brass is "free machining" meaning that it turns and forms well. It couldn't do that if it was a hard, durable metal. I don't know of any bike manufacturers or after-market parts makers that use brass, and they really check this stuff out!

Go look up metal properties on Google. If you are making purely decorative parts it won't matter. But if it's something that you might want to save yer ass one day, use steel rated for the usage. Hell, even Orange County Chopper used copper plated steel on the Statue of Liberty bike. If you're making something you are proud of and want to enjoy for a long time, form follows function, baby.

 

[Sarge]

Shit canned the idea for now for several reasons. A local metal dude showed me that the solid bar was actually softer than the pipe version. Something to do with surface area.

Sarge

 

[GSequoia]

See if you can find any nickle plated bars and see hwo you like that.

It gives a different accent than chrome.

 

[SCW]

Shit canned the idea for now for several reasons. A local metal dude showed me that the solid bar was actually softer than the pipe version. Something to do with surface area.

Sarge

I just read this thread and was about to mention that hollow sections are stronger than solid, but you got that far already.

It has more to do with the moment of inertia, the more material (percentage wise) you have away from the center the stronger it will be. Surface area is related to this-