Motorcycle handlebar to wheel DIY

So I'm always thinking and tinkering with things but have not completed or progressed many projects, especially sim related. I have a design ethos where I plan lots but don't move forward on a project until things come together in a way that I can hold it all in my head. This is the first project I have come up with that I think has a high chance of success at being finished. I love sim racing and so have been exploring immersion options in this area.



Project:

Design and build a universal wheel adapting motorcycle handlebar mod that can operate on most wheelbases and fit into an existing sim rig with space - a complete quick release solution. I have a secondary goal of making this with as many off the shelf parts as possible to maximise chances of success and repeatability and tidy packaging.



My Equipment:

Simagic Alpha mini

Quest 3

RTX 4070



Research:

There have been many tinkering examples as well as some somewhat mainstream releases of controllers that operate in a similar way.

Examples are:

Fanatec qr with pedals mod

This crazy over engineered one

The defunct LeanGP

The Thrustmaster Freestyler which is no longer for sale

The M302

And Allan Beaton and his IA Systems https://www.youtube.com/@IASystemsComputerControls

Motorbike Sim - Good or Bad Idea? https://www.xsimulator.net/community/threads/motorbike-simulator-good-or-bad-idea.5323/

DIY Motorcycle controls https://www.xsimulator.net/community/faq/diy-motorbike-controls.237/

As well as these I've read through countless forums about the topics and the questions. A few key design choices that I've picked up and decided to follow are below.

1. The foot pedals can be somewhat badly approximated with regular sim pedals - e.g. Brake = rear brake, Clutch = shift up.

2. Making the tool feel like you're leaning is incredibly difficult to simulate without a motion control rig or hydraulic stand. I'm not worrying about that and only getting close enough with a focus on VR bike games as my testing ground to emulate some of that movement.

3. Pushing, rather than pulling or turning the handlebars is a more natural sensation. Most examples that looked effective and natural got most of the way by mounting the bars underneath the wheel, the further away the better.

4. Minimal controls required would be a twist throttle and front brake, everything else is a bonus. I'd like to mount a clutch lever as well and a few extra buttons on the wheel as a bonus and to cover shifting down.

5. Most bike games have a very limited scope for controls

First Sketches. Each Square is 2cm approximately






The Hardware Plan:

Laser cut base plate that may have a bend to push the bars out further and is pre-drilled for all mounting points

Arduino Nano Type C

HX711 amplifier and 50kg Bridge tension sensor

Mountbike Handlebars - up to 65cm

Tube brackets

E-bike throttle set (possibly with switches)

D1Spec quick release

Mechanical Disc brakes and calipers

Small spring linear potentiometer

U bracket for mounting cable to SSLP

3d printed housing for all of the electronics

Usb C cable



The Software Plan:

Arduino all the way. Libraries include: Joystick library, HX711 library (I forget the name)

The board would currently have to manage 3 analog inputs - Throttle, Brake, Clutch and potentially 2-5 digital inputs - various buttons and switches. The Nano can accomodate all of this.

Experiment with FFB and a wheel profile from within Simhub to see if its useable

In the future there might be room to integrate actual footpedals and maybe even upgrade to wireless or bluetooth as long as I can source power for the wheel easily. Additional ideas include various screen or light mods.

I'd appreciate any feedback or suggestions and will continue to update here on progress as well as release the files and plans I use if and as it progresses. Also interested if anyone finds similar projects or libraries that could speed up this process.

Images didn't work...
https://drive.google.com/file/d/11umnmOP9Xd8lQ1lvDJSHwHkbpLHHTOTB/view?usp=drive_link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10gLT3tRGCtc5lB-DPmRf4nES-TlMDInI/view?usp=drive_link

Looking forward to following your progress!
Let me know if I can help. I’ve made some mistakes

I'll definitely take you up on that.

I'm already looking at the handlebars I was considering getting for a few bucks and thinking its better and more versatile to get a set of those 3 part adjustable angle handlebars for experimentation, and because I just realised there might be a future where bike sims actually allow realistic steering of the motorcycle, which would make handlebars above the centre of rotation would actually feel more realistic.

Am also wondering about putting the handle bars on a smaller side to side rotation pivot as well... do you think there would be any value to accurate feel by adding that? I imagine there would need to be some tension to the rotation so it didn't feel floppy.

I've been rapidly exploring OpenCad and realise that I'm wanting to put a gentle cutaway probably on the right side to accomodate the mounting of the disc brake caliper directly to the frame. The code looks like this and uses the thingiverse(I think) hub quick release holes as a basis. This is the openCad code if anyone wants to open it up and take a look at the progress, you'll have to replace the location address of the quick release file and install the appropriate library:

Code:

use<Round-Anything-1.0.4/polyround.scad>;


radiiPoints=[[55,0,40],[0,-30,70],[-55,0,40],[-55,65,40],[-55,170,30],[55,170,30],
            [55,65,40]];


difference() {

linear_extrude(height = 15, center = false, convexity = 0, twist = 0)
polygon(
  polyRound(radiiPoints,60)
);
difference() {
    translate([0, 25, -5])cylinder(h=40,r=41, center = false);
    import("/BLAHBLAHBLAHBLAH/3D Printing Files/Hupske/50-8mm-to-70mm-bolt-pattern-adapter-for-steering-wheel/adapter.stl");
}
translate([-20, 150, -5]) cylinder(h=40,r=3,center = false);
translate([+20, 150, -5]) cylinder(h=40,r=3,center = false);
}

I've also been taking a run at using ChatGPT to get the basics of the code written. It's been very helpful and looks like this so far:

Code:

#include <HX711.h>

// Define pin connections for the potentiometers
const int potPin1 = A0; // First potentiometer connected to A0
const int potPin2 = A1; // Second potentiometer connected to A1

// Define pin connections for the switches
const int switchPin1 = 2; // First switch connected to D2
const int switchPin2 = 3; // Second switch connected to D3
const int switchPin3 = 4; // Third switch connected to D4

// HX711 circuit wiring
const int LOADCELL_DOUT_PIN = 5;
const int LOADCELL_SCK_PIN = 6;

// Initialize the HX711 library
HX711 scale;

void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);

// Set up the button pins, with internal pull-up resistors enabled
pinMode(switchPin1, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(switchPin2, INPUT_PULLUP);
pinMode(switchPin3, INPUT_PULLUP);

// Set up the HX711
scale.begin(LOADCELL_DOUT_PIN, LOADCELL_SCK_PIN);
}

void loop() {
// Read the values from the potentiometers
int potValue1 = analogRead(potPin1);
int potValue2 = analogRead(potPin2);

// Print potentiometer values to the serial monitor
Serial.print("Potentiometer 1: ");
Serial.println(potValue1);
Serial.print("Potentiometer 2: ");
Serial.println(potValue2);

// Read the state of the switches
bool switchState1 = digitalRead(switchPin1) == LOW; // Assuming active LOW
bool switchState2 = digitalRead(switchPin2) == LOW; // Assuming active LOW
bool switchState3 = digitalRead(switchPin3) == LOW; // Assuming active LOW

// Print switch states to the serial monitor
Serial.print("Switch 1: ");
Serial.println(switchState1 ? "ON" : "OFF");
Serial.print("Switch 2: ");
Serial.println(switchState2 ? "ON" : "OFF");
Serial.print("Switch 3: ");
Serial.println(switchState3 ? "ON" : "OFF");

// Read the value from the HX711
if (scale.is_ready()) {
long reading = scale.read();
Serial.print("Load Cell Reading: ");
Serial.println(reading);
} else {
Serial.println("HX711 not ready.");
}

delay(500); // Delay for half a second between readings
}

And now I'm just waiting on the rest of the equipment to arrive so that my measurements can be sorted out. I live in China so pricing for these types of things is stupidly cheap or stupidly expensive. Basic estimate is $80USD for all of the parts so far. I've not priced the CNC manufacture yet.

I'm looking at Aluminium for the weight savings and am abandoning needing to bend it. I think I'll get much better angle from the new handlebars being able to be adjusted. However, my experience with metalwork is less than my ability to play with electronics so I guestimated 5mm Aluminium would be thick enough. Stainless steel is another alternative I was looking at.

Any guidance on strength, thickness or weight of material to CNC for the base would be appreciated.

Not sure what you mean, but adjustability is good in the beginning. As long as it's not flimsy. Solid is good.

Like rotating where it's attached to the plate? I tried that but didn't like it at all, didn't have any resistance though. I guess it could be a matter of personal preference.

Aluminum looks nice and you don't need to worry about coating it, which is nice too.. I would probably not put a lot of weight on a 5mm sheet, you have to consider the massive amount of leverage you have on the handlebars. Watercutting a thicker sheet maybe?

Yeah I didn't know they existed! They are straight from some styles of motorbikes and so I'm pretty comfortable with their strength. Kind of similar to this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/1559561942...fKhCUnlckxKJVE4mSoIqDIB9Mw==|tkp:BFBMwtyA351j

It would also allow some rotation of the angle of the handlebars depending on different rig setups and styles of bike if I really wanna get that accuracy. Should also help me to get around the handbrake that's next to my rig.

Good to know. Yeah, I think it would need a heavy-duty self-centring pivot. Thinking more about it, I'd prefer for motorbike games to actually put more effort into the authenticity of bike steering and leaning with VR making that much more accessible... at least as an option. Will drop this down the list of priorities.

I'm not sure what process they'll use for cutting. Its the one part I'm planning to outsource. I know there are a few types of aluminum, so thinking of asking for a hardened one and can easily up the thickness to 10mm or thereabouts.

aaaand I've discovered my first big mistake. Have now ordered the Arduino Pro Micro because the Nano does not feature HID via USB so won't appear as a game controller when I plug it into windows. Hopefully the program still works so that I can move ahead with connecting it to the computer and setting it up there.

Those handlebars look great for the application!

The HX amp is quite slow out of the box (10Hz), so depending on your unit you might need to solder or cut something to get up to 80Hz. I only used INA instrumentation amps when I have load cells.
Leo Bodnar makes a great combined board, but I suspect it can be quite expensive shipping it to China. ( https://www.leobodnar.com/shop/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=183 )

In your experience was 10Hz too slow for brake pressure in current games? I'll see if there is an alternative on Taobao. The resolution of the load cell seems really good, even the cheap ones. 16000 or something. I also bought the wrong load cell. It didn't come with the metal bridge and is too tall. I'm thinking that the metal bridge will make things smaller and a small 3d printed tray for the base should give enough of a difference. Alternatively, I've bought some resin and a glue gun to experiment with giving the edge directly that way. Not sure how to mount it into the disc brake calliper yet. Might even be worth gluing it in. I've got about 5mm of space to play with if I keep the pads in.

Yeah, 10Hz is a little too slow but the HX supports 80Hz so it shouldn't be an issue.
The resolution on the HX is 12bit I believe, more than enough.

Lots of equipment got delivered today. More little things coming tomorrow. I've uploaded some images of how everything sits on the new handlebars. It all fit on perfectly.

A couple of issues I'll have to overcome - how to make sure the angles are the same on the handlebars. Will likely sort that out when I've got the plate. Also I didn't check how all of the buttons connect so will have a lot of testing and cutting ahead. I've switched the location of the brake and potentiometer around but will experiment with that.

I've also included the stl files for the plate and a potential small electronic housing for the boards and gear. I'm not really happy with the size or look of the electronics housing, especially as I think it could all be much thinner. I'll experiment with it and likely will 3d print a new one once I've figured out all the plugs and connections as well.

The main efforts today were on finalizing the CNC design and getting the load cell mounted into the disc brake housing. As you can see from the images it seems to be all working in theory. I took a file to the included disc brake pads to make some grooves that aligned with the original smallest load cell that I got. These were then connected more securely with a glue gun, not to hold it permanently but to help guide where the force should be going. The video shows how the mechanism is twisting, I'll wire it up and test that something is happening properly later today.

https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1rlGI18ZBZc2p8ARyFl55Iy84ogJIIHzq

The next steps are to actually connect the load cell, hx711 and throttle and test the code. If everything works as intended then I'll order an additional Pro Micro and hx711 (80hz) and wire things up permanently.

The final parts for the linear potentiometer arrive tomorrow including the L-bracket and cable tie. Its been a challenge to space things correctly on the board - this linear potentiometer is much longer than the previous one. I needed to get the KTRC version which has a spring included in the mechanism.

This is the curse of trying to use all off the shelf components with as little modification as possible.

Update on progress and updated pictures in the folder linked above.

First, the mistakes:
The Aluminium base is fantastic at 5mm. No twist, a little bit of flex under extreme occasions but feels very solid with handlebars and quick release mounted.

I messed up the locations of the holes and cutaway for the front brake so need to do that. I also had major issues with estimating the diameter of the holes needed. No idea how or why that happened but having a prototype in my hand saves a lot of guesswork. I've also gotten a stack of screws of different sizes and so have a better idea how to estimate the size of screws.

There were some small issues with the STL file with some holes not appearing and some inconsistencies with the quick release model. I've hacked them to an acceptable fashion and will remove the big core centre in the next version for a better look.

The linear potentiometer is too long for its current mounting place and doesn't look great on the front like I thought. This has lead me to decide to mount the pot on the rear of the base which will mean I need to widen the base a little bit to allow a clear path. The cable connector has also added to the length of that travelling part.

There's an issue with the load cell giving weird data but I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that when everything is connected I can calibrate those problems away. It may be code based.

The simagic wheel has the smallest rotation angle of 90 degrees. I contacted Simagic and asked them to add the feature to lower that angle minimum to 45 degrees. 90 is possible to work with but I need to investigate how to manage x360ce better as currently the whole range of the axis is not being used and I just don't have the space in my racing seat to move that far.

There's also a weird acceleration bug when I did some basic testing with the handlebars where the bikes in Ride 4 would not allow acceleration without playing with the rear brake pedal at the same time. No issues on the controller.

Now some wins:
The 3d printed box is small, tiny even and it looks like with some minor adjustments it can fit some small plugs around the edges for all of the controls to connect to.

The HX711 conversion to 80hz was super easy with the XFW boards that I'm using as they have a zero ohm resistor that should be moved from a '10hz' pin to an '80hz' connection.

The wiring setup is fixed but I'm not sure how to convert it into a readable circuit diagram or to make the wiring more compact and efficient if I look at making more versions of this and want to improve the quality of the soldering... I hate the soldering, its not neat and the wires I'm using are finicky and often too long. I need to look at how to improve this. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

All connections tested on the board are working as expected first time around.

The little plugs are working well, I chose to use a 6pin, 5pin, 4pin and 3pin for each controller. I actually can get away with using two 3 pins but this feels like it'll avoid problems further down the road because they are all different sizes.

I'm planning to replace the handlebar mount to the base with some actual 22mm mounts as the split ones that I have still allow the handlebars to rotate within the mount.

Next Steps:
Some small refinements with the case and base files
Soldering the small plugs onto the controllers
First test on the windows machine to see if I can calibrate it.

This update has lots of progress:

I revisited the disc brake setup. Seems like the grooves in the brake pads were too small and so damaged the wires. I've also turned the load cell over so that the space is better maintained and protected and feel a lot more confident about how long it can operate this way (picture in folder)

I really enjoyed the shrink-wrap around the cables, it goes a long way to hiding my bad soldering.

Everything is working from the hardware side, I've modified the arduino sketch to compensate for the large load cell numbers so that it converts to something within the joystick range (0-1023). I also changed the 'multiaxis_joystick' instance to just 'joystick' so that the board is now more often recognized as a game controller in windows. The linear potentiometer code is not quite finalised but needed to be inverted, I think I wired something up back to front, will need to check as it wouldn't be the first time. Am going to resolder wires to lessen the clutter and hopefully improve how neatly things are inside the box. Would appreciate some suggestions on how to channel wires.

Now the software issues:
Getting this to work effectively as a controller with many older or outdated software packages is frustrating. Especially because I'm combining Arduino Micro and the Simagic wheelbase, pedals to cover the controls.

I've tried many and they all have different issues:
x360ce (lots of crashing and bugs, easy to set up sort off)
XOutput (also crashes often, easy to setup - doesn't recognise brake, ffb is there)
AntimicroX(SP1 format output only at the moment, easy to setup),
joytokey(complicated and cumbersome - not worked out yet)
vjoy(seems to break things and cumbersome to setup)

Steam seems to interfere heavily with XInput and caused the double-button issue I was having in Ride 4. Closing 'Steam Controller Companion' has now consistently fixed those bugs and I can use most of the controls in any milestone game. VR testing this evening!

Am doing more research and would really like to get longterm ffb support so any suggestions on software that could help would be appreciated.

Am finalizing the designs for the 3d printed electronics housing (latest STL in upload folder) and have printed out some plate redesigns to make sure that I fix all the issues with the mounting plate (latest dxf in upload folder). These should both be the final versions if everything goes well.

Future improvements include:
Stable software setup found (with ffb)
Writing up the 'how to'
Photos and videos of usage
Investigate VR control lean in milestone games
Adjust the plug/connections used and style of the box/quick release

Simagic Wheel Mount Handlebars
I’ve tried to summarize all of the work I’ve done with a reasonably efficient description of each step and some instructions. Any feedback or suggestions would be really appreciated. I estimate the handlebars are about 80% where I want them to be.


I’ve still got to work on:

The clean look of the whole system – the wires, electronics box and general vibe of the aluminium

The mounting of the linear potentiometer – I messed up the measurements (now adjusted for their correct width in the file)

The handlebar mounts even at their tightest still allow the handlebars to twist a bit with some pressure.




All Files and Progress images available here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YkU08pbUXcodJXZ_9UWcvA9zXV3Dh5Pr/view?usp=drive_link


I’ve not been able to add photos to my posts yet so all have been uploaded and labelled in the above link. I’ll likely upload the code and files to some other sites as well to make them more easily accessible.


Required Equipment Shopping List:
Nuts & Screws

4 x 4mm x 7mm nuts bolts

1x 5mm x 7mm nuts bolts for lbracket

4x 3mm in design. Need 2

2x bike brake mounting nuts bolts included 5.6mm diameter

6x quick release 1 bolts included

2x bolts handlebar mount included

1x washer diameter core 1.4mm<4mm

40rmb total.


Bike Cable crimp tie off - 7rmb

L bracket 20x20x16 -3rmb

KTRC linear pot with spring 20mm travel -85rmb

2x 1k resistors -2rmb


Arduino pro micro 25rmb

XF- Hx711 with 80hz mod 10rmb

1.25mm cables and connections with female/male connectors 6pin, 5pin,4pin,3pin -10rmb

Motorbike box stl 3d printed v0.6 -10rmb

Motorbike base dxf CNC on 5mm 6061 aluminium v0.6 - 80rmb

3 part handlebars. -190rmb


22mm diameter:

2x handlebar mounts -17rmb

1 throttle with switch and additional handlebar grip -30rmb

5x switch (optional) -35rmb

Small load cell -5rmb

1x disc brake, cable and lever -68rmb

1x brake cable and lever -14rmb


1x Momo quick release v1 or alternative mount. -105rmb


Approximately 736rmb worth of things

$105 usd in parts.


Other optional: Multimeter for testing.

High quality usb cable


Files for CNC and 3D Printing:

Mounting board for all hardware as DMG

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YkU08pbUXcodJXZ_9UWcvA9zXV3Dh5Pr/view?usp=drive_link

Box for Electronics as STL

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gWj0syKul5UYiLviwSdprBLSwJ0wLE96/view?usp=drive_link


E-Throttle:
Cut off plugs that come with standard E-Throttle but take note of which ones are for the switch (2 cables) and which are for the throttle potentiometer (3 or 4)

Connect to a 5 pin cable similar to below after testing for each cable’s purpose.

5 pin - Throttle - gnd vcc and 1, Switch - gnd and 1


Brake System:
Cheap cable disc brakes are suitable, you’ll have to file down the brake pads so that the small load cell can fit between them similar to the progress photos shown in the google drive link after using some hot glue to help keep everything mostly in place.

Make sure to protect the cables that are connected to the load cell.

Connect the single load cell to the 4 pin plug. Only connect 3 cables as the 4th cable will be used on the Arduino board with the two additional 1k resistors.

4 pin - Load Cell- E+ E- (A+) A-


Clutch:
Thread the cable with a washer through the L-bracket and connect it to the KTRC potentiometer and secure with the cable crimp through the pot hole.

This can then be mounted on the right side of the mounting board on the back side

Test or use the circuit diagram to explain which wires to wire together. Some pots have an additional GND shield that can be ignored.

3 pin - Clutch - gnd vcc and 1


Button pads:
Combine the ground cables, one for each button.

6 pin - gnd & 5 separate buttons


Electronics box:
Use Arduino IDE to connect your Pro Micro and install the sketch listed in the google drive - https://drive.google.com/file/d/1hwLeQtzYrn4penaZjkBjBFWK_BTkbd_3/view?usp=drive_link

Add paper as insulator to bottom of the box.

Hot glue the vcc and gnd rail connections.

Right side of the box should hold the 5-pin and 3-pin plugs

Left side of the box should hold the 6-pin and 4-pin plugs

Mount the box on the front or back of the mounting board



Software setup:
Most straightforward way to setup your software is using x360ce found at

https://github.com/x360ce/x360ce/releases/download/4.17.0.0/x360ce.zip

There is no forcefeedback so you can experiment with another program called XOutput but this program doesn’t seem to recognise the brake system currently.


In Steam - MUST disable mouse control in controllers everywhere otherwise it interferes with the axis

The “Steam Companion App” also interferes. make sure games in x360ce are using Output 1.4 dll under the game ‘options’. No ffb yet but it doesn’t crash.


You will need to calibrate the controls in the “windows usb controller manager”-> settings-> calibrate




Possible Future steps:
Replace Handlebar Mounts with something more secure to prevent rotation?

Mount electronics on the back of the board?

Set up the gear with handlebars above the mount? Is possible but haven’t tested it

Design PCB for plugs to be mounted to? Beginnings in KiCad https://drive.google.com/file/d/1DSfTuVqLF1BBWgbzZSdhfAKoBDwNB8Ap/view?usp=drive_link

Solve x360ce ffb with Simagic software

Solve rotation amount with Simagic software – currently 90degrees

Better channelling of cables to keep everything hidden?

Gear change and rear brake attachments made on the sides of the rig from pedals?

Dependencies:
https://cults3d.com/en/3d-model/game/50-8mm-to-70mm-bolt-pattern-adapter-for-steering-wheel

I have a project of a 2 dof motorcycle simulator, share some of my project here
https://www.xsimulator.net/communit...elerator-brake-clutch-gp-bikes-project.18489/

grate build i really loved it

I'm from Mexico where are you from?

Australia but living in Shanghai