American Modder: Computer Bike Part V

While this may be jumping into this mod project as it nears completion, I still think that it is worth bringing up anyway. Russ Caslis of ExtrememeTech shows us some of the insanely detailed work some people will go through just to have a computer modded bike!

This is the fifth installment of articles following Russ Caslis in his pursuit of constructing the first ever “Motorcycle Mod.” He has made quite a bit of progress, while running into many challenges along the way. In the last installment, Russ continued work on the front forks of the bike, started taking measurements of the engine bay, and developed a way for the computer to play a startup sound upon first power-up. Let’s see what progress he’ll make this time around.

Motherboard Tray
The motherboard would need to be attached to the frame of the bike somehow, so I decided to use a piece of sheet metal as a motherboard tray. This tray would allow the motherboard to securely attach itself to the frame by using all of its normal mounting holes. I started this process by cutting a piece of sheet metal with my Dremel.

After the basic cutting took place, I drilled holes for the motherboard’s outer four mounting holes and attached motherboard stand-offs using nuts to secure them in place. I also drilled four holes in the center of the tray big enough to allow wood screws to hold the panel in place (eventually) to the motorcycle frame. I gained another bit of knowledge here: Apparently not all motherboard stand-offs use the same threading. The first stand-offs I purchased didn’t have the proper threading for any of the nuts I had at home, but a second bag of stand-offs (purchased from a different computer parts store) fit perfectly.