The weather was nice, so I got the front section made.  Each side of the front section was made out of 6 pieces of 2" x ½" x .064 box steel.  The BB shell was salvaged off an old mountain bike and the pivot shell is a piece of 1¼" dia x .125" steel tube, 2½" long.  I made some mock up bushings out of steel so I can set things up exactly how they will be once I press the bearings into the pivot shell, but I don't need to put wear and tear on the bearings by pressing them in and then driving them out for powder coating.  The chain ring is an old steel 48/38/28 Biopace set that I had.  I would like to cut down the cranks to 155 or so both to ease things for my kness and also to let me slide back a bit away from the front wheel.  Also, because the rider orientation is 90 degrees off from how the Biopace were designed to be used, I'll undo the chainrings and rotate them forward 1/5th of a rotation to get closer to the proper mechanical benefits.  I mounted the dropouts facing to the rear and on top of the frame so I could keep the seat low.  I made the drop outs out of 1/8" steel - exactly the same as the rear ones and the same as all the trike drop outs.  The front frame ended up about 1/4" wider than I planned but I squeezed it back in an eighth when I welded it, and took care of the rest with a 10mm washer on each side of the axle.  With the rear derailleur mounted underneath, there is a long section of chain between the jockey pulley and the cogs, so changing gears might be a little problematic if the chain flexes too much.  I'll see how it goes.  Chain alignment is good though and I can get all 9 gears on all three chainrings without tossing the chain off a chainring. I just put an old friction shifter on it so I can change gears for my official test ride tomorrow.

     Ok, so the good news is, the test drive was successful and the bent is most definitely rideable, unfortunately not by me.  My friend was riding around on it in under 10 minutes and is well on his way to mastering it.  Good news for him so he'll be ready to ride right away when his is finished.  Me on the other hand, I have NO clue what I'm doing on it and have no sense of balance on it at all.  Maybe riding a trike for 2 years is the reason . . . don't know, but I'm not stopping til I can ride it.

     While attempting to ride it, at some point one of my umpteen wipe-outs deformed the CroMo bike tube piece and bent the rear forks completely out of alignment.  While the thin walled rear forks weren't physically bent themselves, they were definitely out of alignment and made further test rides out of the question.  Next clone will use 1/8" wall steel tube instead of a CroMo bike tube - I doubt my less-than-narrow butt will be able to bend THAT!

     The next little "glitch" was what happened to the sides of the seat after just about each time I dumped the bike.  I totally didn't anticipate the first thing to hit was going to be the seat rails, which in turn, would very adeptly tear the seat mesh to shreds, on both sides.  I think that maybe worrying about further damaging the seat material was hampering my concentration and ability to learn to ride the thing too . . . or at least that's the excuse I'm going to use.  I was seriously thinking of adding training wheels but didn't think me, the Python, my cool shades . . . and training wheels, would be a good combination.  So, I borrowed the crash bar idea from motorcycles and put them underneath the seat.  The idea was to have them hit the ground first and prevent any part of the seat from touching unless you actually roll yourself AND the bike completely on its side.  My daughter, who appears to have graduated from my "exactly how not to ride a Python" class, demonstrated their effectiveness a few times, in very quick succession, and I'm satisfied they will save the seat mesh from further abuse.  They also give of a very nice little shower of sparks in the process.  Bonus!

     The crash bars are the same width as the seat and just slip down over the top of the backbone and a bolt squeezes 4 pieces of wide 1/8" steel together like clamps to hold it in place.  They don't seem to be in the way for normal turning but only hit when the bike is at extreme lean angles.  If need be, I can also mount them on the bottom of the backbone which means they hit even sooner.  I'll mend the seat mesh tomorrow and hopefully be back in the driver's seat by Thursday.  That gives me about 3 months til the snow melts and should almost be enough time for me to learn to ride it.

     One thing is COMPLETELY certain though, there's NO way I'm even thinking about painting this bike until I'm sure I can ride it for about 30 minutes without dumping it again.

     If after a few days I still can't get the hang of it, I'll try putting handle bars on the front half of the bike to help me steer it.

Update:  Tried that - didn't help at all.  Took them back off.  Might add some later when I put the delta rear end on it.  The pictures to the right are the bars we put on my friend's python and we found that aside from providing a mount for the brakes and shifters(which we ended up not adding) they didn't help at all.  We were hoping at the very least they would provide a little crash protection during the learning phase.  The bottom picture shows the seat extension we added to both pythons which made them much easier to handle.

     To the right is the new seat I made for my python.  It's back to the more conventional straight back, but I used 5/8" EMT instead of the thicker and heavier 3/4" to 1" tubing I used in the past.  It seems to be holding up fine so far with 220lbs riding on it.

     Details of the seat building are here.

July 26/2005

     The carbon fiber fender Larry made me was excellent.  It was a full fender, that covered the whole front wheel.  All I had to do was cut a small arc at the front right to allow the chain to pass through, and notch the rear to allow clearance for the front brake, pick up the mounting holes, and it was good to go.  I wanted it to fully cover the frnt wheel so that later I could mount things like the computer, closer to the rear, and maybe a headlight or two on the front section.  The edges and top of the fender are reinforced with an extra layer of CF and it is very stiff.  While riding, if my legs indavertently press on the sides of the fender, it doesn't move at all.  I sprayed 5 or 6 coats of clear gloss enamel and wet sanded with 320 grit between coats.  Not having to worry about my legs being rubbed raw by the front wheel makes it much easier to learn how to ride.  So far, I have about 70 km on it.  It's much easier to ride since moving the seat up about 5" and it is painted with a spray can right now just to control the rust.

Aug 9/2005

     I was riding the python around at work at lunch time, and there were a few things that I wanted to change.  I wanted to get some more ground clearance because it was very easy to scrape the bottom of it.  No big deal with the bottom being flat, but a pain none the less.  I also wanted to shorten the wheelbase some because after switching back to mine from riding my friend's python (which is shorter), it felt like it took FOREVER to turn my python.  Also, as a bonus, raising the frame and shortening it would make it a little lighter and make it easier to transport.

     So, I chopped off the rear of the frame about 2 1/2" just behind the front seat mount, and again just in front of the rear seat support.  Because of the angle of the frame at these two points, I figured I should get at least 4" worth of shortening, plus maybe 2" of extra ground clearance.  In the end I shortened it by about 3 1/2"(83.5" down to about 79.5") and raised it by about 1 1/2"(to 2.5" clearance).  At some point the pivot angle ended up at close to 65 degrees too, from the original ~69 degrees. ? Not sure how it happened aside from a little welding shrinkage, but the end result was that the python is much nicer to ride, more responsive and a little more forgiving to ride.  It handles a lot more like my friend's python, but his is still a little more responsive and it has a shorter wheelbase as well.

Aug 15/2005

      Started riding the python back and forth to work.  Only a total of 15km return, but it's a nice mixture of narrow bike paths - so I get to work on bike control, and a little riding on the roads - so I get over my paranoia of accidently swerving out and under a passing car :)

     I need some way to carry my lunch and misc items back and forth.  I tried just tying the bags under my seat - but hated it.  So, with the coroplast bought for the tail fairing, I decided to use a small part of it and make a little box under the seat.  I put a quick release on the rear seat support so I simply undo it, rotate the seat up on the front seat bolt, and load my items.  I used green zip ties to hold the panels together and made it out of 3 pieces of coroplast.  Originally, I laced the corners of the right side with the intent of unlacing it, hinging it down, and loading my items from the side.  When I decided to raise the seat, I still haven't taken the laces out and replaced them with zip ties.  A small matter, and not important to the functionality of it at this time, plus, I intend to make a full tailbox/fender/fairing later, so the little box will end up getting trashed anyway.

     In the pictures, you can sort of see the mods:

• frame shortened so the rear tire is closer to the seat support
• more ground clearance - can't really see it
• chopped an inch off the front of the seat rails, but you can see I could still take another inch off as the seat tubes are sticking out the top
• added a speedometer to the CF fender to keep track of speed and total mileage
• welded a handlebar under the seat, and further to the rear so that it was easier to reach the controls
• welded the fender nuts to the inside of the frame, instead of having to hold themwith a wrench.  This way, I only need an Allen wrench to take the fender off

      I want to add:

• some kind of kickstand
• water bottle holders
• flag holder
• steering stops (so the seat tube ends don't hit the CF fender
• and tailbox

     Once that is done, I'll take the paint off and go get it powder coated.

     I can also ride my friend's python and his is about 3 or 4" shorter than mine, and noticeably easier to control.  I might shorten the wheelbase of mine to give it a little more controllability. I was thinking at the same time I could put a fairly rigid pivot behind the front, lower seat mount so I can experiment with pivot angles as well as shorten the rear section up, and see what that makes it feel like to ride.  Mine feels a whole lot longer and slower to respond to steering inputs than my friend's python does, but that hasn't stopped 3 of us now from learning how to ride them, and a 4th is practicing with us as well.  We'll need to make a couple more.

     On the next python(s), we want to make the pivot and seat height/angles easily adjustable so we can see if there is an optimum setup to help learn to ride, and then another setup that is preferred once a person can ride them.  I also want to try making a wooden seat so that it is better able to take a beating while learning to ride.  In the pictures, you can see both pythons have seat mesh damage on the sides due to the occaisional wipe-out :)

More pictures to follow.

Sept 4/2005

     We took the pythons to a little outdoor, 1/4 mile oval track in a small local town.  We did a little track maintenance and then took them for a spin.  I put clipless pedals on them to see if that helped with control and putting power to the pedals.  I ride my trike with clipless shoes, but have never ridden a 2 wheeler with clips.  As a result, when I get into trouble on the python, I don't have the instinct to quickly un-clip when I want to/need to.  With this unfamiliarity, I had a few high speed wipeouts on the track, but I never suffered any injuries from any of them.  I have to thank the python's design for that :).  The track is actually easier to ride on than it might appear in the pictures.

      The first one was a little over 30kph and nothing major happened to the bent.  The next one was at a little over 40kph while I was cruising around corner #1 on the track.  A mounting screw for my left SPD clip came out of the pedal, my foot shifted, I lost steering, and headed straight into the infield at full speed :)  It was "gad city", and I hit the tall grass just past the 2 trees on the left of the picture at the top.  I snagged the left pedal on the ground, the python jack-knifed, drove the left handlebar end into the ground, which partially snapped the handlebar mount, then the python and I stood straight up on the chairings, with the back wheel standing up behind my head and tossing dirt on my neck, and then we fell back to earth.  All this time I couldn't get out of the damned clips! :)  After bending the handle bars straight, picking all the dirt and grass out of the chainrings, and pushing it back out on the track, nothing terminal seemed to be wrong with it.  I clipped back in, slowly took off, and the python was in good enough shape to do a few mid 30kph laps - no problem.

     Then, not paying attention about half way through corner #3, at about 35kph, and forgetting that I was clipped in and couldn't move my feet to help correct myself (like I was used to), I had my last big wipe-out of the day :)  In the 2nd picture, just around the corner, there's a little sand down near the bottom edge of the track.  I cut the corner too hard, got into the sand, and then tried to steer right to get out of it.  Between the speed, the loose sand and my over correcting, the rear end slid out to the left, then hit some bare asphalt, chattered REALLY hard, sideways, 6 or 7 times, and I clanked to a halt on the right side of the python this time.  Again, even with the clips completely loosened, I was still clipped in, and not only was it really starting to aggravate me, but it was starting to bother my ACLs from all the wiping out.  Anyway, this accident nearly finished snapping the handlebars off, but it also twisted the rear end so the top of the wheel was now about 3" to the left of center.  It was still very much rideable after bending the handlebars straight . . . again, and I didn't realize the rear end was bent until I stopped for a water break after another lap or two.  I spun the rear wheel, and it was fairly true - so no major wheel damage, which was good :)  By this time, it was nearing the end of the afternnon, I was out of water, my friends had to go, and I was tired of wiping out :)

     In the 3rd picture is a friend of mine named Larry who builds a lot of bents and wants to build a python too.  Below that one, is my friend Marcel on his python.  He's very smooth on it, rides with clips all the time, and can hit up in the mid 40kph range on his python.  Hard to take a picture of him at speed :)  When I got home, I popped the rear wheel and the storage box off, and using two steel bars for leverage, I twisted the rear end back into shape.  I took the seat mesh off, lined up the cracked handlebars, and rewelded and repainted those.  I tried to look at the frame and rear forks and see if it bent in one spot, or if there were any cracked welds or torn steel, but I couldn't see anything.  It seems that a fair amount of the frame twisted a little at a time to produce the amount of deformation that was there.  Anyway, the rear wheel was back vertical again, and I took it for a test ride - and all was good to go again :)

Sept 6/2005

     It would appear, that all was not well with my python after all.  On the way back after work, I was trying to keep up to Marcel on his python, who was cruising smoothly along in the mid to high 30s.  I was doing my best to stay with him, but I was still having a few small flash-backs of my recent crashes, so I was TRYING to use some moderation.  Oh yeah, and I WASN'T using those damn clips either :)  Anyway, the route back has a fair number of corners in it and I was hitting them in the high 20s to mid 30kph ranges.  At one point, the road was freshly paved, nice and smooth, and so I thought this would be a good opportunity to keep the heat on and maybe make up a little ground on Marcel with a high speed corner.  I just started leaning into the corner when I felt the rear end of the python get very weird.  It felt like turning in a boat at high speed where the rear end sort of slides out sideways.  Anyway, while I was musing at the weirdness of it all, the rear wheel was sliding smoothly to the left for a couple feet, and then it caught something, twisted the rear wheel and frame hard to the left, chattered 3 or 4 times REALLY hard, stood the python back upright, high sided itself and tossed me unceremoniously off the left side.  I executed some form of automatic-kung-fu-special-forces-ninja-platoon-gymnast type of shoulder roll, ended up on my feet, standing perfectly still, while I watched my python slide past, glittering in the sun and sending out a fine spray of sparks.  All I was concerned about was whether Marcel had seen me wipe out, because he'd never let me live it down :)

     So, I pulled the python over to the grass off the road.  The handlebars were fine, the seat was fine and I broke one zip tie on my coroplast box.  So far so good.  The top of the rear wheel was bent about 8 or 9 inches to the left of center now and I bent both brake pads.  ?!?!  I've NEVER bent a brake pad before, never heard of anyone bending a brake pad before and in fact, I wasn't even aware that such a feat was possible.  Additionally, the rear wheel was now also about 1 inch forward of the rear seat support so the frame had suffered some fairly major bending damage in addition to the twisting.  Anyway, I pulled the rear wheel out of the rear forks to assess the damage and see if I could make it rideable enough to limp 2 or 3 km to get to my van.  I tried to twist the forks straight using my bare hands - no go.  No big surprise there :)  So, spying a "No Crashing" . . . er "No Parking" sign with a fairly robust post, I stuck the forks on either side of it and twisted the frame to the right using the sign-post as a pry bar.  I could bend the frame fairly easily now and just as I was getting it pretty much twisted back into shape, a car drove by with two passengers looking at me with a what-the-hell-is-he-doing-to-that-poor-sign look on their faces.  I smiled and waved, and almost dropped the bent on my foot.  More paying attention, less public relations :)  So, I tried to get the rear wheel back in, and the fork legs were twisted, the drop outs were bent - it was just a bad, bad scene now.  I used the same sign post to try to twist the rear drop-outs enough to get the wheel back on and managed to jam it in enough to secure it.  The rear wheel was still having some major contact with the seat post, and I couldn't do up the V-brakes anymore because the pads were bent.  On top of that, the rear wheel had some interesting wobbles in it now.  At this point, I knew I was walking a few km to get my van :)  Marcel had made it to our vehicles, wondered if I had stopped to sign autographs again(as is my custom for interested parties), and drove back along the route looking for me.  He picked me up, tried not to laugh too hard out loud, which I appreciated, and dropped me at my van.  I went and picked up the python and took it home for some assessment.  The plan is as follows:

• cut the frame off just behind where the front seat mounts to the frame
• make a new seat suport that raises the seat another inch or two
• use a 20" rear wheel instead of a 26"
• angle the frame up to make a more direct line from the pivot to the rear wheel and fork
• triangulate the rear wheel slightly to add both support (as I obviously need it :)) and a place to mount the tailbox

Poor bent pads . . .

     I want to get on this soonest, because on the 17th I've got some more racing to do and I want to get some riding in on the python Mk II so I don't do something like . . . CRASH a lot at the velodrome :)  Pictures to follow.

Sept 14, 2005

     The old rear end has been chopped off, and a new one built.  I shortened the rear section and used a 20" wheel instead of a 26".  I reasoned there's no reason to use the same size wheels and I should be able to lighten it and definitely make it shorter for transport.  The pivot angle is back to about 68 degrees, the rear frame is straighter, I have a lot more ground clearance, and I'll be using some bottom mount U-brakes on the rear wheel.  I raised the seat another inch, moved it forward slightly, brought the handlebars and controls backwards, and will relocate the speedo to the front wheel instead of the rear.  I'll have to make a new luggage carrier but it will be easier to encorporate it now with the fender and fairing as well.

     On the test rides, it handled fine and didn't feel all that different, to be honest.  It seems easier to balance (likely due to the higher seat) and definitely more responsive (due primarily to the shortened wheelbase, I think) and the shortened length definitely makes it easier to manage and haul around when necessary.

     Pictures to follow tomorrow.  I'm going to paint it all black and need to come up with a cool name.

Sept 16, 2005

     Here is a picture of the python after its latest, greatest rebuild.  A little shorter, a little higher, a little stiffer.  I'm very happy with the way it rides.  It's more responsive on the turns, but it is definitely trickier on anything that isn't concrete or sand.  I'll have to learn how to do higher speed "flat turns" so I can recover as I hit loose sand or any loose ground conditions.  I added a new U-brake under the frame for the rear wheel.  I put it under the frame because I want to make a fender/storage/tailbox, and don't want the brakes in the way.  I just zip-tied an old plastic fender on it for the time being, and will take it off when I build the tailbox.  The 20" wheel disks are from Cabela's.

     After feverishly finishing the python, I took it to an outdoor velodrome called Windel Park.  Details are here.  As I'm not steady enough on the latest modifications yet to hit and maintain speeds up into the high 40s, I used my Mk 3 trike for the sprints, and used the python on the 5 and 10 lap races - which worked out very nicely.

Sept 18, 2005

     After the races on Saturday, I took a night off, and got onto my fender/tailbox/storage for the python.  I originally wanted it to be green, but ended up not having enough green and the store was closed today :(  So, I did it up in red instead.  I'd really like to have either green to match the seat, or black to match the rest, so maybe I'll see if I can paint the coroplast black.  There's upper and lower storage, and you access it by raising the back of the seat, just like the original under-seat storage.  I made it tight enough that it only needs to be held on with 3 zip ties on the bottom frame tube, and if you snip those, the tailbox lifts right up and off the bike when you tilt the seat forward.  It also gives clearance to remove the rear wheel if need be without having to take the tailbox off.

     I like the rounded shapes the fender and tailbox give it.  It's sort of a "retro" look. :) Details on the tailbox contruction are here.

Sept 21, 2005

     Today, I finished mounting the computer, water bottle holder, tail light, headlight T-bar, one of the headlights and my rear view mirror.  People are razzing me about the colours of the tailbox/seat/bike, and I'm tending to agree with them :)  I took a scrap piece of coroplast, wiped it off and sprayed it gloss black.  If it seems to be holding OK, I'll take the tailbox off and paint it to match the rest of the frame.  Then I think I'll christen the bent the "BHP" - "black headed python", which may or may not refer to the front fender :)  I'd still like to put a center stand on it, and make a flag holder, and then that's pretty much all for this baby.

     I'm getting anywhere from 15 to 35 km a day on it, and I'm slowly getting more confident, but I still feel a little queasy at speeds over 45kph yet.  In time that will likely pass.  I'm going to put some good Kenda or Schwalbe tires on it as there seems to be a lump in one of the tires over 40 kph.  On Friday, if weather allows, I'll be doing the 48 km commute to work on it, and Marcel will be on his python too.  It climbs hills really well too, surprisingly.  I tried the clipless pedals again, but I'm still too shakey for them so I did a ride tonight with my sandals.  I went up a couple pretty steep hills that I would have been on the granny ring with my trike, but I was on the middle ring at the front and not even in the lowest gear at the rear.  Might be able to get by with just a double up front.  Will have to see tomorrow as we're doing a 18km ride at lunch with 4 fairly nasty hills on the route

Sept 24, 2005

     On the 22nd, I decided to paint the tailbox.  The coroplast scrap I painted looked pretty good and the paint seemed to stick really well.  I wanted to use gloss black to match the rest of the bent, but I figured touch-ups might show too much, so I opted for flat instead.  Two quick coats later, and it was good to go.

     I put about 35km on it in the last couple days and am getting fairly steady with it.  I am very impressed with how easily it climbs hills that I had to use the 28 chainring and 34 tooth rear cog on with my trike.  With the python, I haven't gone lower than the middle chainring yet, and not even onto low gear on the cassette.  Once I get confident enough to go back to using my cleats, I should really be able to power up the hills.  I have about 310 km on it at this point and don't really have any fear of riding on the roads and inadvertently swerving into traffic.  Hills I'm still a little skittish on and ride the brakes to keep it under 45kph.

Oct 4, 2005

     I have about 390 km officially on it now and have been riding it a short 15km back and forth to work as often as I can, plus another 18 to 20km at lunch time.  I feel much more comfortable and for the most part can ride without "thinking" about riding it now.  I can scratch an itch, adjust my helmet or glasses, signal turns and take my water bottle out - all while riding.  Some might think "accomplishments" like these are ludicrously simple tasks, but these were all things that usually always led me straight ot the scene of a crash.  I still don't do any quick arm movements - just in case, but at the very least, it will improve my muscle/motor control in just about every part of my body :)  I can cruise comfortably in the high 30s and can push it on the flats and hold it at about 40 to 44kph with moderate winds (from any direction).  My new top speed is a little over 55 kph.  I need to remount my rear tire because it isn't mounted properly and isn't balanced at speeds over 45kph.  Sort of unsettling :)  I have been concentrating so hard on riding smooth and straight, that I sometimes have problems on corners, especially due to the fact that the python is so fast, I often come into them with waaay too much speed.  I can't even "judge" my speed, it would seem, so I rely on my computer to tell me when I can take right angle turns at 25kph or so.  The tail box is working great, no problems or rattling and it's stirring up leaves behind me - not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing from an aero point of view.  I'm going to re-adjust my front derailleur to change the amount of shift lever travel.  I simply do not need the granny gear on the triple chain ring so I'll set it up to ignore it and start with the middle.  I want to add a small T-bar to the top of one seat rail to both help in pushing it without having to bend over, and it will also have a small hole to take a safety flag.  New tires, preferably airless, are next on the agenda, especially on the rear.

Apr 5, 2006

      Been pretty busy over the last 4 months or so, especially getting ready for the ice races, but the python came in handy for that as I had it on a set of rollers and managed to put about 800km on it since the fall.  I have a total of nearly 1500km on it now, and trying to balance it on the rollers has really helped with my fine motor control, but didn't really help with learning to balance the python while riding on the road.  The reason for that is the python's design.  I have to put the python on the rollers backwards so that the front wheel is on the dual rollers while the rear wheel is sitting on the single belt driven roller.  This is the only way to set it up because the rear wheel skates out too easy on two rollers and the single roller driving the rear wheel plus two rollers is just too much drag and causes the roller's drive belt to stretch and pulse.  Even with two roller belts, it didn't cure the pulsing.  So, the reason the balance issue wasn't improved much is because with the driving wheel on two rollers, I effectively have two different trail measurements and as the front wheel sits a little lower in the rollers, the pivot angle has changed too.  At any rate, I have managed to learn to balance the python a little on the rollers and can do maybe a minute or so without hanging on to supports.  The main thing is I have been able to work on my cardio, endurance and leg strength.

     I also took the opportunity to modify the CF front fender so the air doesn't push it around like a huge sail.  I used a couple hole saws and my jig saw to open up the fender and it's still as stiff as it originally was - so I was very happy about that.  I took the opportunity to wet sand the CF again and apply two more coats of clear to clean up some of the crash scratches.  I also added the little T-bar I wanted out the top of the left hand seat tube.  I made it long enough so I can use it so steer the python when walking it, and I drilled a hole in the end so I can stick a safety flag in it.

16 Apr 2006

     I started riding the python a little more now that the weather is getting nice and using it for a short 15km commute to work.  Somehow, I managed to break three spokes, so I decided that while replacing the spokes, I'd tear it all apart, repaint it and lighten the frame a little if I could.

     I decided to drill some holes in the chain stays the same way may friend did.  Using a 1" and 1½" hole saws, I marked out the spacing on the centerline of the front section of the 2" wide frame.  After drilling out the one side, I pondered the question of frame strength based on the fact that there was only about ¼" of metal above and below the largest of the holes.  Perhaps, wisely, I would have thought about that prior to doing the first side :)  In at the deep end though . . .  Once both sides were drilled they produced a fair pile of metal discs for scrap.  Again, being of sound mind, I thought "Hey!  I should have weighed the front end section before I started drilling all the holes so I could see how much I lightened the frame!"  Hind sight has always been a strong suit of mine . . .  Anyway, after a few hours of filing and deburring, it produced the finished product in the 3rd picture.  I wanted to make sure the holes were as smooth as possible just in case overloading might be an issue on the lightened frame and I didn't want and rough surfaces propagating cracks due to road vibrations.

     So, how did it work?  Well, it definitely feels a little lighter when lifting the bike around, and it seemed fine on a 15km test ride, but the bike as pictured with the tailfairing and all, weighs 36lbs, or about 16.4kg.  I think I might have lightened the frame by a pound or so, and I also took off the 24 tooth chain ring as I never use it.  It seems to climb the same, and I like the look of it, so as far as I'm concerned, the python mods are pretty much complete on this one.  A top speed so far of 66kph and a total of about 2200km to date.