More Framework

We've been on vacation this week so I've had some garage time to work more on the bike. At the beginning of our week off we had some family visit us. That was nice. Here's a pic of me and my Dad in the garage...

We were checkin' out the bike. Back when I was a little guy, my Dad and Uncle rebuilt an old Harley -which they later sold... also, I remember him rolling around on an old Honda CB175 when I was about 5. Between Dad and my Grandfather it was probably just a matter of time before I became interested in motorcycles...

Anyway, here is what I accomplished this week:

I finished the tube behind the engine (welded a cap on the bottom of the tube)

This is the finished piece. I filed and sanded everything smooth.

Next I started brazing in the "piercing tubes" into the down-tube. Here is a pic of the brazed tubes "in the raw"... which just means that I brazed them, let the tubing cool, then soaked off the flux in warm water.

The next step is to finish the joint. This is first done with a coarse round file, then a fine round file, then my sore fingers and sandpaper. I also welded the bottom cap on this tube. I didn't even need any filler rod on these caps. Just melted the edges into a solid joint. FUSION BABY!

And below is the finished tube:

And here it is installed:

Next is making sure everything is square and in position so I can attach the head tube to this down tube. Once that's done, I can weld in the backbone and engine head mount. That will complete the front triangle of the frame! Can't wait to get to that point. I'm still trying to have a roller by the end of the summer... hopefully I can keep the momentum up and meet that goal.


Thanks again for reading!

Happy Birthday to me!

Happy May 14th everyone!
-Otherwise known as my birthday.

We celebrated over the weekend and my awesome wife Deb planned out my whole day.

One of the places we went was the "Wheels Through Time Museum" in Maggie Valley NC.
We've been there before, but I love that place!
I try to explain to people that this is probably the largest collection of vintage American motorcycles in the world... and I'm lucky enough to have it right in my backyard.

So here's the ironic part: If you know me, I've never really warmed up to Harley Davidson. To me (and this is just MY OPINION... obviously I'm in the minority...) the folks on Juneau Avenue like selling the IDEA of a motorcycle/lifestyle/heritage/history/legend more than they like selling actual "engineered" motorcycles. For a company to have been in business as long as they have, they should be the kings of the world in regards to technology, advancement, engineering, performance, etc. They are undoubtedly the best motorcycling marketers on the planet! But for me, I need more than just "The legend of Harley Davidson" and a shiny, thick catalog full of bandanas, belt buckles, jackets, t-shirts, coffee cups... etc.

All that to say, back in the day (early 1900's) Harley was DEFINITELY a major player in the performance motorcycle biz... and within this tiny little window of Harley's history, I am a BIG fan.

Ok. Enough of my soapbox.
Check out some of my favorite bikes/parts from this past Saturday... and get to Wheels Through Time if you can!

This is one of the first bikes you see when you enter the museum. It's a Reading Standard Board Track Racer. This pic specifically is the seat. I LOVE this seat. It's a Mesinger Racer, and pretty much un-obtainable. There are folks making replacements so that's what I'll go with, but I think it's really cool.

This is a "Thor" board track racer. -As found. According to Dale (the museum's owner) this is the only Thor racer he's ever heard of. The cool thing about Wheels Through Time is that if you want to hear something run, just find Dale and he'll start it for you. -yes seriously. When was the last time you heard a 19-teens board track racer running? For me, it was 2 days ago. By the way... Thor motorcycles were made in Aurora, IL -about 20 minutes from where I grew up!

Not one, but 3 vintage, perfect Harley racers. (note the seats!) Also, more than just bikes, look at all the vintage stuff that surrounds these bikes! Original factory boxes containing engine parts, oil, chains, leathers, etc. How does someone find all this stuff and keep it in one place???

Hey Uncle Bob, last time I was up in IL you were asking if the museum had any Harley 8 valve engines? Yup.

But one of the coolest bikes there is a 1930 board tracker. This bike is kind of an anomaly in that by 1930 board track racing was pretty much done with. However, Harley made 20 of these engines in 1930. Note the 4 exhaust pipes... It's not an 8 valve engine though... It's a 4 valve, but each exhaust port split into two so it would breathe a little better. Believe it or not, this engine is capable of 130 mph! It's a 750cc engine. The motor was in one state and the chassis was in another, but they got them back together and fired it up. The History channel spent 350K filming a show that featured this bike being rebuilt. It hasn't aired yet, but we watched it at the museum. Super high quality, and a "must see" for anyone who is into this old stuff.

All in all, a great time. I took lots more photos, and got TONS of ideas for my bike.

It was a great birthday indeed.

I'm Baaaaaaaack

Hey everyone,
Sorry for being such a slug and letting all this time go by without a post. You probably thought I've given up...

Well, I haven't. In fact, I've been a little busy.

I picked up where I left off with the frame and fabbed up the cylinder head mount.

This little piece of 1 inch tubing was rolled, cross-drilled, "piercing tubes" fit, and mitered. There is more work in that one piece of tubing than all the others combined! Hand-filing the miters to be as precise as I could get them... cross-boring the piercing tube holes at exactly 90 degrees... matching the radius to my already water-jet cut mounting plates... I probably went about this piece COMPLETELY in the wrong order, but hey! Alls I gots is time. I was able to go slow and make sure it fit. It does, and for this pic, it's just being held by the mounting plates. I'll weld it in soon.

Here's more of a "full frame" pic

See? It's starting to actually resemble a motorcycle!
I also worked on the "seat post." It's going to continue the arc of the cylinder head mount tube and basically "hang" off the backbone of the frame...

Like this:

That was a fun mitering job too! LOTS of filing and skin taken off my knuckles. It's such a shallow angle so it had to be done by hand. In this pic the seat tube is being supported by a wooden block on the rear rim... when it's all welded, it'll be half the length it is now, but still just "hang" off the back. I may use a small gusset underneath, but I chose a thicker-walled piece of tubing here. That should give me more surface area for making a nice, strong weld. This piece is also 1 inch in diameter and the seat will mount to this tube using a "sliding" bracket so I can position the seat fore or aft along the tube. As my drawing sits now, the ergonomics are almost identical to a 2007 Honda CBR600RR. (as far as the relationship between the footpegs, seat, and handlebars go...) I wanted to build in a little adjustability for a final fit once everything is generally in it's place.

BUT...
Probably my favorite part of the frame so far is this little "port" where I'm going to internally run the wiring. I'll have 5 wires coming out of the engine's left (magneto) side and from there, they'll enter the frame and be hidden. I cut an oval-shaped hole in the tube behind the engine and brazed in a small, curved piece of 1/2 inch thin-wall tubing. Once it was brazed, I shaped it to this nice, flowing fillet.

Other than that, I've played around with the rear axle mount plates, rear caliper mount and location, etc. I have lots more engineering to do with the whole rear end, but you can see in this pic where I'm going with the whole thing. I'm not crazy about the shape of the axle plates, but they're doing their job for now. You can see the large, cross-drilled "piercing tube" at the rear of the main frame backbone... this is where the "seat stays" will connect from the axle plated to the backbone... and from the lower section of the axle plates, tubes will connect to the lower rear engine mount... I'm sure you get the idea.

Anyway, it's really rough right now, but this is how I figure things out.


Again, sorry for all the time that has passed without an update. It's been good to get back into the garage. My goal for this summer is to have a roller! I think I can do it.



Thanks fer watchin'!