mandag 31. mars 2014

Pics from Yesterdaze!

Got a very cool photo a while back from my friend Ronald who in his turn got it from one of his riding buddies, Petter who still ride his HD 45" at age 80+. The image show Petters father on one of his Hendersons, captured on this photo in the early twenties.
I find from the photo Petters father is well aware of being a cool guy on a Henderson.


søndag 30. mars 2014

Good luck bell!

Good luck bell!
A while back I got a present from my better half, Øyunn. This was a present I truly appreciated and might very well need, in for example the great endurance run Trondhjems ridtet coming up not to far into the future.
A good luck bell to keep all mechanical evilness and road demons off from my bike (and hopefully me too).

This is not just a bell from the Wallmart, nope it is a piece of true art from Toshi at Bell45.

Thanks to Øyunn for wishing me all the best on the road and Toshi for making the bell.




onsdag 26. mars 2014

Rune`s 27 J, progressing!

Still plenty to do in getting Runes 27 J ready for the roads ahead.


New 1/4" inch hinge bolts made as well as repairing the clutch pedal friction brake. Threads where fucked on the frame cross bar. Replaced studs with bolts, simple work.


Rear hub internals,dry as Sahara, no good if your going to ride.


Replacing most band brake bolts with 1/4 " ST52 bolts.


Done deal!


Making new felt washers and retainers to keep the grease INSIDE the hub rather than outside.

Stay tuned more to follow.

Bessie, some more bling.

Its getting closer to the riding season, better get Bessie`s make up done.

Got her oils changed, a dressed up 48 Pan is by no means as easy to work with as a J or a 45" (750), I admit to have become tempered at times.
Got the front bumper mounted, finally, think she looks good with that front bumper and dont regret.

Did also redo a V-Twin finned aluminum oil filter housing to become a sleeve for the original sheet metal canister, looks cool and dont leak any oil.

Now its only to tighten the primary chain and we are ready to hit the roads, maybe we meet?


fredag 21. mars 2014

Scout from Åseral

12-14 years ago I was out hunting for ol iron when I ended up in a rather remote valley, named Åseral. Spent several hours knocking on doors and talking to old folks when suddenly one old gentleman mentions this Indian.
Alarm bells ringing in my head, better pay some attention now.
Long story short, I get directed into a barn where the cows are Moooohing, next to the hay is a disassembled and pretty rusty Indian Scout that soon was mine.
Hey what a great day, bringing back home an old Injun.

A week ago I got this photo from a former colleague living in Åseral, its the same Scout, just some years earlier, quite a few actually.

Will try to find one "pre digital camera" photo of the Scout "as found" and add this to this post.


tirsdag 18. mars 2014

Cut down progress!

Today have been a day that I have looked forward to in a long time, and it became very exciting to see my cut down project`s frame get altered from a boring standard to what will become a brisk easy handling sports bike (perfect for young lads in their late forties).
The steering head angle is raked inwards two degree according to my initial plan, and the rear frame is cut to lower it an inch, as well as bringing the wheel forward with 3/4 of an inch.
Its so cool to see how my friend Erik played with the flame of his torch to curve the front down-tube, just as they did back in the days to make Harley dirt track bikes.

My modification to the steering geometry does NOT cause any problem to fit an ordinary fuel tank, and the gently modified front down-tube will be hard to recognize for those that do not know.
Stay tuned and eventually the back bones will get attached to the frame again!










99% done?

Percentage calculations for some seems to be based on floating values. What I am trying to express is that 99% done does not necessarily give you a 1% off work remaining.
Like my buddy Runes "halvtopper", oh man does the 1% remaining work give us some long hours, as the other day when we worked from 0800 in the morning to 2300 at night, all in one go.
And tomorrow will be another such day when Runes scooter will get attention, seems more true than ever; "A bikers work is never done" or was the phrase " A bikers work will never end if he plays with old hog`s"?

What did we do this day you might ask:
Lapped both fuel petcocks, nickle plating on the cones did not work very well. Made a new seat T-bar from one I had in my parts stash. Made new bolts and distances as well as plug cable support below the fuel tank. Made new most bolts for gear lever and rods, removed rear wheel and rear brake to grease bearings and secure all pivot bolts on the brakes.

Stay tuned, next up is to get the carb working OK and ignition breaker point modifications.


Started!


Top one is original 27, middle is what was on the bike, bottom is one from the local parts files.


Rune trying out the prefabbed new seat T bar.


Voila, some TIG welding and seat is back where it belongs, riders weight straight on top of the seat post!


Had to drill out the original but stuck gear lever pivot bolt, made a new in the lathe and here it is all tightened up and working as when once rolling out from the brick building in Milwaukee.

fredag 14. mars 2014

First ride!

 Yesterday we woke up to sunshine, but 4 degree below zero. During the morning temperature rose to 6-7 degree C, and still sun.
Hmmm, pulled my "not so dirty nine" out of its hibernation, filled some gas, prime on, two kicks, ignition on and third kick - fire in the hole, engine running.
As always the clutch have got stuck during the long sleep, front wheel towards the wall and smack in first and back, problem solved.







Dressed in wool underwear and my modern goretex I pointed my nose towards "up the valley", what a relief, back on two wheels.
Spent the next hours cruising country roads, though no gravel roads as they are still just heaps of slippery mud due to the snow melting.
Reached home just in time to see the sun drop down behind the hills.

A big grin on my face, a new riding season have just started!

tirsdag 11. mars 2014

Archaeology in another man's basement!

I have never had any problem in fantasizing how it must have been for Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon when they finally found Tutankhamons grave, I do have the same feeling every now and then.
As I did a week ago when I was lucky enough to be allowed to clear a cellar where there was some interesting pieces of scrap metal.
Any gear head into old bikes loves cellars with this type of metal, is there any cure to this?

Doubt it!







Various progress with cut down project!

It has been pretty busy lately, hence lack of blogging, apologize for anyone who cared.

Have been some progress with the cutdown motor, would have loved to see more of it though.

See below some pics from various work done.

One cylinder had some damage to the threads for the inlet valve cage nut. Initially I bought new nuts of great quality from Thunman in Sweden, he supplies special nuts with shallower threads.To overcome the thread issue I finally ended up with making my own special nut where the thread OD was 0,3 mm over sized. Some work, but well worth the effort.



Milling the special valve cage nut.


Fitting the home made valve cage nut.


From right; Thunman shallow thread, home made now, and home made" then".


Fixing exhaust threads in the Myford lathe.


Thunman exhaust nut fitted.


Lapping to ensure no air leaks.


Sigh!