Winter & snow!

Its snowing outside, white stuff from above.

I will spend time in the workshop, rather then being out riding my bikes.

Not so back in the days, snow just meant get them skies attached and put a snow chain on the back wheel!

What is the length of a rope?

What is the length of a rope?
A old saying which is commonly used when trying to describe a measurement which is uncertain.

Then it is far more easy to determine; "What is the length of a Harley cutdown front mudguard"?

The recipe is as follows:
Take one HD rear mudguard, preferably an original. Cut one piece to fit what you find is the correct length for the rear mudguard, what is left is what you have for the front.
Quite easy?

Having straightened umpteen bends and dents, it now in a brief glimpse looks like a mudguard again.
Next task is to start welding the total of 24 holes someone through time have found necessary to drill in a mudguard length of 16", hey ho work for tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the day, Merry Christmas to all!

Getting ready for Christmas

Have my grandchildren here to stay over, great fun. After they had been kicked to bed I had to sneak down in the workshop and do just a little. Narrowing the width of my Cutdown foot boards is just that little enough :-)

When I was there (in the workshop) anyway, I couldn`t resist in making a mock-up with them great Allstate Dirtman tires I received from my internet friend "Taxi" in Japan yesterday, looks so good, I cant wait to see this baby rolling.

Reading Standard Motorcycles

Another Reading Standard photo from the early Norwegian Motorcycle scene. The brothers Knut & Peder Espedal on brand new RS`s, bought the same day, hence the consecutive registration numbers.
What beauties those early RS`s was, loads of nickle plating and gold pin striping.

Christmas wishes!

To all off you, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Ready for take off!

Start no. 35 Andreas M. Bjørnestad and Nic. Lunde ready to take off on their Harley Davidson model W`s.
Check out more on Nic. Lunde`s motorcycle racing by using the link above.

Puncture!

This is a great photo showing Macke Nicolaysen (he was a Norwegian Reading Standard super user for several years) having a puncture on both wheels.

An interesting detail is the artillery wheel caps, commonly used here in the first years after the WWI on the US made bikes.

Around South Norway in 1921, back then Scandinavias longest endurance run.

Have posted several photos from Yesterdaze on various Facebook sites lately, seems like facebook and Instagram is where "everyone" stays these days. But I will continue to stay true to the AMcN blog and will repost them here for you, where they should have been presented in the first place.
I have to pull myself together!
This first post shows a couple of great photos from an endurance run around South Norway held by NMK back in 1921.
This was the longest endurance run ever held by NMK and the press focused a lot on the event. I have a bunch of great photos from this weekend, and got to make an article from this event eventually, when there is time.
For now, photos, will add the words to later.

I have posted pics from this location before in "Pics from yesterdaze", go check it out

Modifications from way back when.

Working with old molested and abused motorcycle parts sometimes make me think, why?
Why did someone cut apart, bend or weld a part to give it the shape it have when looking at it today?
There have had to be a reason for those modifications that I find, who cause me such a lot of work.
Like with the gear change lever I found among my spares that I am using for my cutdown project.
Why on earth would someone grind the lever on each side where it is run in the shifter gate? For me, the only apparent result achieved was making the lever so weak it would easily break when used, and yes I found it when still mounted on an original HD tank.

I bet I used more time with the repair, than what the guy who once modified did.

As found, someone played with a grinder.

Chopped.

One side done, one more to do still.

Front brake for Cutdown

I want my Cutdown to have front brake. Front brake was implemented in 28 to the IOE models from HD. This meant they made a brake anchor plate to wrap around the left leg of the rear front fork and "invented" a hub with a drum riveted to.
I have one of those anchor plates and a 28 front hub with drum, rare as hen teeth those hubs (well almost), unfortunately the drum on mine have issues with severe pitting, ouch.

From a friend I got an early thirties HD front wheel with brake, full of mud and grease, but behind all of this a nice part and it looks very much as the original 28/29 JD brake, except from!

There is always this except from!

The width is what makes the 28/29 so different, it is very narrow to get in between the fork legs of the IOE fork, the early thirties will not fit, unless.

Unless it get cut in two half`s, and shortened, hmm.

If someone need the early thirties one and have a 28/29 they better hurry up, I will swap!

"Halvtopp" gathering, and some beer!

Erik (Pan/WL), Rune (Pan/halvtopp) and Odd (he is the smart one as he have no old HD, or he is the bored one with no technical challenges, for you to choose).

Runes J 1927, now with DLX 45 from Sweden.

Having installed the DLX, time for refreshments in the lounge area, oops, da-boss`s Scarver in the foreground.