tirsdag 29. november 2011

Panhead project, get the guts out of this engine.

I would like to use the words of my since long passed granma; when it appears to be real bad, keep in mind it could always be worse!

Unconventional solutions were required during disassembly, oh my!
















lørdag 26. november 2011

Garage visit II

Still in the Western part of Norway, Tor picked me up at the hotel to take me along to another guy serious about his Harley Davidsons, Otto.
Otto bought his first Milwaukee marvel back in 1964 when with his brother he went off to a nearby town to buy a car. The bike that lit his Harley fire, a 1941 E Knucklehead is still his favorite Harley Davidson. This year his Knuck is getting a major overhaul, this means getting its first real restoration, a task easily taken care of by Otto in a garage where the level of tools added with his skills allow him to make pretty much anything mechanical.
Among Ottos bikes there is one interesting flathead that have previously been presented in "pics from yesterdaze". This bike once belonged to a friends grandpa, this is where the photo came from.
How Otto manage to keep his "indoors" Harleys in such a flawless original condition tough still being used outside, I wonder. When did you see a 100% original Super Glide with the factory stickers for tire air pressure still on the rims???


















Garage visit I

Sometimes it is good for your inspiration visiting others addicted to the same hobby as yourself, old motorcycles in general and Harley Davidsons in particular.
A few days ago I attended a work related conferense in the western parts of Norway, finnishing early ment there was time to visit my friend Tor`s place. His life is all about Harley Davidsons and if there ever is going to be a TV quiz related to "what fits where and what year is this part for" on a Harley Davidson, Tor would win, no doubt on that.
Tor is dead a dead serious collector of HD Accessories catalogs, I think he have the whole bunch of them, and he have pretty much of what is in them as well. Tor fancy all that "bling" you could fit to your Pan or Knuck, loads of it.







He is the only one I know owning a pair of Harley siblings, two original paint AMF electra glides with subsequent engine numbers, the only two sold in Norway that year, oh my!
His 1933 VL in original condition is a rare bird indeed, you have to go as far back as 1910 to find a year when Milwaukee produced less bikes than in 1933 when all markets suffered badly from the great depression.
Well, enjoy a few snaps from inside Tor`s cave.













onsdag 23. november 2011

Roadweasels badge

How did I become the first Norwegian member of the US Roadweasels Mc, a great club with a bunch of friendly people?
This all started when I bought some very well made parts for my Henderson on e-bay from Bill, a proud member of the Roadweasel`s in Michigan.
Having enjoyed corresponding by e-mail after our e-bay deal I finally got to meet Bill and friends when attending the AMCA meet at Davenport a couple of years ago, great fun and great people.

A few days ago I got a parcel from Bill, not an e-bay deal this time, no. I got my Roadweasel badge, handmade by Bill.

Thanks a lot mate, truly appreciated this one!!

Offset springer repair II


















OK, this is a pretty late update on the repair of my 48 Panhead fork. Brought my fork and the jig to Eriks forge. I really enjoy beeing in Eriks forge when he and his apprentice Odin do their work as blacksmith`s. Coal, fire, flames, heat and steel soft as butter which is allowed to be shaped of their skilled hands, these are epic moments.

Old legs had to be ground out of the main casting, not as much work as I would have believed at first. Supposedly they where to be secured by pins, didn`t find any. Then the new legs from Matt & Carl Olsen where soldered in place by Erik, this when the fork was placed in the jig to ensure it coming back together straight.
When the joints had cooled the lower part of the fork was made loose, just slightly. Then both fork legs where spot heated on the outside of the tubes just below the main casting, then again allowed to cool down. This cause the outside of the tubes where heated to shrink which in turn removed any tension that the fork legs had got towards the spacer sleeve at the bottom of the jig. Voila fork is as god as new :-), tough still partly original.

onsdag 16. november 2011

Offset springer repair

Jig is done, thanks alot Jeff aka Knucklebuster 1939 for keeping a 48 Pan springer in your kitchen ready to be measured whenever I mail stupid questions:-)
This jig is made to ensure the new legs get in place where supposed to. Off to my friend Erik the master blacksmith tomorrow, hopefully getting back home with a repaired fork!

Having finished the fork repair jig there was still time to get some more done, hmm why not fit the NOS Nation Built dash trim rail recently received from my all time hero and fellow Roadweasel Easy Russ, grand hero of e-bay!!
Turned out being a pretty time consuming job but the result was great. Thanks a lot Russ & Tracy.

A great addition to the Bling factor!











Roadster bars for the Cutdown project

A while back I recieved a piece of steel tube that I had been waiting for since plans where made at the Wauseon AMCA meet this summer. Tom Faber at Fabercycle.com (check out his web page) have made a great looking roadster handlebar for my cutdown project, whow. Tom is a super skilled craftsman, his handlebars for twenties to fourties Harleys, Hellings&Stellings or the ever popular Flanders are made as exact copies of the originals.
My bars are made to look like bars seen in early photos of cutdowns with 1" shorter grips.

These narrow bars look great together with the slim JDH fueltank, or more correct a peashooter tank with valve pockets this is and the messinger racer saddle. Damned I need to get that Pan done to spend more time working on the cutdown.

Sometimes I wonder why I keep a comfortable sofa in my workshop, I`ve never got time to sit in it anyway. Tonight Sara, a dog I`m taking care of these days kept it warm, thanks Sara!








mandag 14. november 2011

Mudflapping

Sometimes one does jobs of less importance, but they might be fun still.
Got this plain leather mudflap from e-bay, to boring to fit to a dressed up Panhead, better modify it, tada and its as bling as any flap can ever get.

OK time for more serious matters. Started working with making a jig for the springer fork leg repair. It will need to get back together as a straight piece of fork, not like the Tijuana Mexico repair as is.






tirsdag 8. november 2011

American Motorcycles Norway




Just found there have been no posting in a while. Busy at work this time, hardly had any time to spend on the www at all. Well not quite the truth as a few bits and bobs for on going projects have been secured on e-bay.
Since back shore I have been off looking at a cool Norwegian Harley IOE race bike preserved in its "as raced condition", post to follow on this soon.

Till then, an early Indian Power Plus captured at the farm where it served as transport and workhorse, this to its owners great satisfaction.