Mudguard

New rear mudguard arrived today. bought it from the guys at  http://skeletonchopshop.blogspot.com it needs to be cut down the the appropriate size, as its a bit long  at the moment, but I'm well pleased with it!

Leccy box

Had another couple of hours out there tonight while the missis 
was off dancing...

I hadnt thought about the interferance between the chain and the 
electric box, as I had made up the box without the engine in (yet
another schoolboy error!)

I was aware that I also had to make room for the Carbs and air 
filter to fit in easily - so I had to do a bit of a mock up...



I couldn't really move the tank up, so I had to make chain clearance 
in another - more drastic way! Inspired by Toddy's bike - a cut-out 
was needed in my lovely tank...



I bent up a tunnel in the vice, and was able to tighten the bends up 
and flatten the bottom on the gate post!



With them both ready, it was time for MR Grinder once more!




The tunnel fitted in pretty nicely, just a slight over cut on the corners...



I cut down the tunnel to size


tacked it in place, also cleaned up the paint and crap around the
weld areas. I did it attached, so it held the shape during welding. 
I didn't want the heat affecting it and warping all out of shape.

The tank was pretty thin and made from crap rusty metal - but I
managed to do a half decent job on the welding:-





I'll clean it all up tomorrow. I'm thinking of leaving the lip on the top 
edge as in the last picture, only cleaned up a fair bit. There is still 
enough room to put the blue micro processor box on the top section.

RIP Macho Man

As any of you that you know me and Miss TC, there is a love for wrestling in Tinslecat Towers!

Sad news to hear that the Macho Man is no more!

The guy was clean off it as this interview proves!

Pipes

woke up early this morning with my head whizzing about like a maniac
 - I forgot to think about the bloody exhaust pipes!

what a div!

Just been out and had a look - looks like I'll have to chop an inch or so 
out of the down tube to get it to fit....



i know you cant see the head well, but an inch should do it, it also 
solves the problem of the rear mount, I'll just tie into the foot peg 
mount as a support.

Phew! panic over!

Was hoping to have got some done today, but its been raining the
whole time - looks like its about to blow over - so I'll try a couple of 
hours later.

Grafting

with no lessons needed any more I got a good day out on the bike. Well I say a good day - its been sunshine and showers all day - no  good when the bike is now outside. There has been plenty of rushing  to get the covers over it, and stand in the doorway with a cuppa while the rain does its thing! With renewed enthusiasm for the build I had to start the day with a  re-arrange of the 3 bikes currently outside. The 125 is going to its new  home tomorrow morning, and the stock XS just needs some work before  its out on the road. First up - seat springs. As much as i loved the look of the original springs,  when you sat of the seat the bottom springs splayed, and the connecting  rods interfered with the threaded lugs on the frame. I picked up some  chrome springs, and put them on the seat. That's a very flippant statement - it honestly took me 30 mins to get the  buggers screwed on. its like some co-ordination game you have as a kid,  flicking the spring, and hoping the nut lands the right way up. I thought  that I had cracked it and got a long magnet thing - only to be stumped  as they are stainless nuts! Anyway - there they are:- without any tooling or metal for the lathe, I re used the original spring  mounts I bought from Sumo. They should have had a profile so that they  fit over the tube, but when I cut them off, that got lost.   now I know what you may be thinking, but I'm gonna weld in some gusset  style plates in the gap, and then hopefully make them tear-drop shaped  with some filler..... Now if I'm gonna ride this bugger, I'd better have some controls. The plan  originally was for forwards, but having sat on PPTom's xs project the other  day I realised I would be fine with mids! Remember my old break pedal I etched? we I wasn't happy with the size or shape of it, so it was time for a bit of a  re-model to make it look a bit more professional! I bent up some stainless rod to make a surround for the drastically trimmed  down pad, tacked and then welded it all up nice! next I got the old foot pedal from the bike, and cut the old pad section off. The pivot was recycled from the old rear section that had been in the garden,  and with plenty of gussetting, (and lying on my side trying to tig weld in the  damp) I welded the section up as best I could. I tried the pedal on with a pair of trials style pegs I got for £6 at Stafford. (coincidently - I love the colour on the pedal from the heat - shame it wont last!) Cut the pegs to length, and made a bit of gussetting for them Cleaned and trimmed them up, and only got the one side done - but it looks  good (albeit the footpegs are welded on a bit squint!)

BSA Gearbox for the 45

done a bit of tinkering this morning - oil leak on the stock XS650, so that's gonna need a strip down, had a little play with the metal lathe, and then the gearbox i scored for this showed up with el postino

its a little bit brusied and battered, but structurally sound enough.

no movement in the cog, so thought i would have a little investigate...

took the panel off the bottom and had a nice surprise!

the gears looked to be in fine fettle! couldn't move them, so just on face value of the teeth i can see, but all seems to be good in there.

I had a look in the end section, and apart from a little clean up it all seemed in fine form.

I didn't strip it down any further, as I didn't know what I was doing. but I'm pretty pleased with it. its always a worry when you buy something and your not sure what state it'll be in.

Harley 45 Project - Next in line

I've had a plan or 5 brewing for the past couple of months as 

to what to tackle after the Relic is finished. The Indian will not 

be rushed as I want to use a lot of genuine parts, so I will need 

to be patient with getting the parts together.

The initial plan was for a custom framed XS650 - inspired in

part by the lines of a Zero Chopper Spirit bike. Due to the 

history we have had with jappers, the plan has been brewing 

up until this point over on my custom xs650 forum.

Its no coincidence that Mr Bearpaws is also posting in his new 

45 flathead project. He spied some 45 engines over here going 

for a good price, after a few calculations in my head I ended up 

buying 2 engines, one pretty much complete, and a 90-95% 

complete basket. That leaves me with this:-

engine number reads as 43 then a big gap and 4 numbers. 

a bit confusing as I would have expected either WLA or WLC 

in there..... don't know if that has a meaning to anyone?!?

as for the rest of the bike, a 1 off frame is going to be made - 

and the maker has said I can be there with them when they 

make it - so I can both learn and make decisions on how it 

should look. Luckily this is someone that loves the same style 

as me - and the various conversations we have had have lead 

me to believe that were not too far away on the ideas in our heads.

as a basic "muse" I have had this bike in the zero chopper spirit 

book in mind for quite some time:-

obviously when the 45 engine came up for grabs it fitted the bill 

perfectly!

I have been slowly squirrelling parts away for this build, and some 

of the major components are already present and correct:-

Forks are going to be this old pair of girders:-

Headlight was sent over from the states as a present (Cheers Mr 

Bearpaws!) its an old unity lamp that should fit the bill perfectly:-

Wheels will be these 18" ones i got from the states - nice twin leading 

front hub. they will be wrapped with vintage firestone 18x 4.50 tyres 

when ive shifted a few things on ebay to pay for them

The last major part is a possible tank - its pretty long and slender - 

we'll have to see when the frame is in place.

Its a t125 stinger tank that needs plenty of love!

I'm now on the hunt for a brit pre-unit gearbox and other assorted 

parts.

It goes without saying (so I don't get told off again) that the relic 

will be running and on the road before this project starts proper. 

PS - Jason (AKA Beapaws) - you've had the full blame placed on you 

for this one sorry mate - your lucky that miss TC had a large stretch 

of water between you and her!  

No holding me back now!

Wont be needing the L Plates any more - Passed my full license today!

Absolutely made up with it - I've been proper stressed out with it!

Afternoon's work

Bit of progress on the bike this afternoon.

First job was to put the Avon 16x5.00 tyre on the wheel I picked up

from Stafford. after about 30 mins of trying my hardest with the tyre

levers (and its been bloody close today) I gave up and went to a local 

bike tyre shop I was told about last week.

They put the tyre on (with loads of grumbles about how the tyre was

too big etc) and got home to try it out on the bike..

Much better than the other tyre - the front end still seems a bit high

 for me at the moment, but not as bad as I first thought.

I tried a couple of mudguards i had lying about - the one I wanted to

 use is just too wide and square on profile, so it got shelved, however

 this one seems to work alright (not perfect as the profile is still a

bit too square for my liking).

I also decided to have a small sissy bar on the back - I want to 

be able to use the bike and defo put some camping gear on there, 

so started playing around with some welding rods...

 it started evolving shape a bit

Then I made it up in 6mm stainless rod. It will probably need to 

be in a thicker gauge than this if I want to put any weight on it, 

but it'll do for now..

Next up - I've been absolutely dying to see what it looks like

with the engine in the whole......

pretty pleased!

the fakey oil tank had to come off as it is too close to the engine, 

and looks like it will interfere with the chain..

Hopefully picking some bits up from the post office tomorrow,

including a different set of springs for the seat.

I'm getting excited though - the end is in sight!