Wednesday, March 31, 2010


Here is an ice tray full of new transmission races. Jims makes the best races, always measure everything to make sure that you have a good interference press fit.


The next step after taking the race out of the wrapper is to coat it with gel cake frosting. This will make sure that the race doesn't move once it is installed in the case.



Here it is getting ready to go into the case, The case has been heated up in the oven at 350 degrees for an hour and a half.

I got this neat little package from ups today.


Holy moly check it out!



Now I just have to spend some time spot welding the pieces together. When I was in high school I really wanted to make wheel rings and boot guards for my 36. It took a while to get done, but now I have both of them. woo hoo!

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

donnie smith show


We had a great time at the Donnie smith show last weekend, my dad bought a sidecar and we found some neat little trinkets for different bikes that we are working on.

Thursday, March 25, 2010


Some silly guy tried making clearance for a taller engine in his shovelhead frame with a hacksaw. This is what it looked like yesterday.


I cut out a rectangle and welded in a new .130 piece of metal for strength. This worked well and is a good fix



I also sorted out a tool box strap for a 38 that I am working on. For some strange reason I ended up with a couple extra og 36/37 tool box straps that didn't have a home, so I picked out the worst one to turn into a 38 strap. The spot welds are circled in this pic.




Here they are ground out.





And the finished piece. I already have it welded back on the frame, this is a good deal and will work well.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010


I spent most of the day ordering parts with my dad, but Idid get a chance to do some fun metal projects. Here is the bottom of an oil tank bracket. They have a tendency to completely wear off on the bottom. I usually like to leave as much of the og bracket as I can, so sometimes I just make up a piece to fix what is already there.
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Here is the piece roughed out, the material thickness is a hundred thousandths.



I like to leave it a little big and grind it later.




And the finished product! This is a good fix.





Then I welded up a bunch of cracks in a 42 inner primary. Usually I would have scrapped one that is this rough, but it has been with the bike since new and I like a challenge. I still have some grinding to do then it is off to the painters.

Monday, March 22, 2010

wheels and saddles!


I mounted five tires this morning, I was in a groove lol.


I tried to take a picture of the center of the rims, but it didn't really work out the way that I wanted it to. Harley didn't polish the center of their rims, and neither do we. This is a neat detail that a lot of people fail to replicate.



I also got some genny saddles in the mail today, shoot me an email if you want one. They turned out great, I used up the prototype ones and am ready to sell them to the public.

Friday, March 19, 2010

48 Assembly!


Here is a 48 frame that is for a project that we are working on. I have the rear brake backing plate, center stand and neck cups installed. All holes have been tapped and the motor mounts and transmission mounts have been cleaned off. This is the fun part that makes all of the last years hard work worth it!


The back wheel is installed in this pic. The tires on this bike are coker firestone tires mounted on original rims that are spoked to the correct hubs!

Front end---check!


The front brake backing plate is installed in this pic.



Check out the handlebars. They are speedster bars and mint!




Here is one of our 46 to 48 handlebar lock plates. They work perfectly and are indistinguishable from originals.





And this is as far as I made it. This bike is turning out really nice. I love 48s.

Here is a fork leg for a 52 that we are working on. The hex in both Drain plugs are stripped out.

A 7/16 nut kind of threads onto the sub standard plug.

Here it is after I welded them together. The heat from the weld loosens up the old siezed up plug as well.

And the finished product. Now I can send these off to get polished.




Every morning we work on training Duke and Daisy.


Daisy is not so good at catching hot dogs but she is good at dancing in circles on her back legs.



Duke is too big to dance on his back legs, but he is good at sitting.




And catching small pieces of hot dog. Click on this picture and check out my awesome camera skillz.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

pics from my friend Joe Mielke


These are my three favorite pics that joe took last summer.


I shipped them off to a friend to use in an ad. I will post it when it is done



Here is a pic of mara and I, she was a real trooper lol

Wednesday, March 17, 2010



I got an email from Michael Kneebone today stating that my Iron Butt runs this summer have been investigated and approved. It is official, i own the oldest harley Davidson to complete a saddle sore 1000 trip! Hooray. I couldn't find a picture of my bike on this computer, but I do have this dandy pic of my left tank with one of our repro 36 shift gates and arms on it! It will have to work lol.

This is to Certify that on July 26, 2009, Matt Olsen and Mara Butler rode a 1936 Harley-Davidson EL a total of 1,060 miles in less than twenty-four hours starting in Bellville, Ohio continuing on to Fort Wayne, Indiana, Madison, Wisconsin and Albert Lea, Minnesota before ending in Mitchell, South Dakota while participating in the SaddleSore 1000.


Here is a pic of my daddy's 39, I road this bike straight home from Wauseon last summer, in a day!


This is to Certify that on July 19, 2009, Matthew Nels Olsen rode a 1939 Harley-Davidson EL a total of 1,016 miles in less than twenty-four hours starting in Wauseon, Ohio continuing on to Chicago, Illinois, Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin and Austin, Minnesota before ending in Redfield, South Dakota while participating in the SaddleSore 1000.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010


I messed with my sears bottom end this weekend. It is coming along. go to www.pre1916scramble.blogspot.com to see more pictures.


Here is a bottom frame rail after grinding. The dark spots are low spots where I need to put more fill in.



Here is the same rail after a Little bit of welding and filing.




Here is Andy's 47 frame from previous posts. I still have to weld the oil tank bracket on and recheck it for straightness then it is off to the painters!

Friday, March 12, 2010

sears update


It has been a while since I did a sears update, thankfully my friend Delmar brought down a bunch of parts that he madeup for me. Here are a bunch of sears gas and oil caps and the bungs that they screw into.


And my bottom end! This is all custom made stuff and needless to say it is quite a departure from a stock bottom end, if everything goes well it should out perform the stock set up with a lot less vibration. It has been a lot of fun engineering all of this stuff out. I wish that I could say i machined the parts, but I didn't, I am very thankful to have a talented group of guys that I work with on projects like this.

frame pics!


Here is a frame that I prepped today. It is for a 47 that we are restoring for a friend.



Back bone installed!


Down Tubes and sidecar loops--check!

Here it is all welded up and in place. I have started to grind file and dress all of the welds. It is turning out really well. After the seams are dressed, I will weld the floorboard tabs, gas tank mounts and top motor mount on. The pieces are falling into place! I will post more pics sunday night.