47,48,49

This weekend Dan pulled the motor out of Jerry's 49 for rebuild. This is a really cool old bike that needs some sorting out. The frame is cracked in half and the motor is a bit tired, we will sort it out this weekend. I am excited to work on it, the bike is pretty much un tampered with.

We got the wheels done for Glenn's bobber, they are very cool. We are going to run a juice brake on the back and spool hub on the front.

ooooo aaaaaa shiny

This is an out of focus picture of a nickle plated spool hub

I scored this really cool muffler tip for Gareth's 38. It is an original 37 to 40 muffler tip with the end trimmed off

This was a popular performance up grade back in the day. Guys would cut the end of the fishtail off and open it up with a pry bar for more flow. I think the only effect it had was to make the bike a little more loud , which kind of makes you feel like you are going faster. I will be working on another batch of mufflers this month, so let me know if you need one.

I spent the morning on John's 48 fender. Here it is before I started.

These are nos top horn mounting bolts with original 10-24 flex lock nuts. HD started using flex lock nuts in this application sometime in 46, before that they used normal nuts with internal tooth shake proof washers except for nine bolt horns. . . .

And after a bit of drilling and bolting. I still have to mount up the mudflap and sort out the front brake, but it should be sorted out this afternoon.

farmer stuff and fender trim

My dad spent yesterday trimming the fenders on John's 48 and Jim's 39. This is something that I have been very intimidated by for a long time. My dad does a really good job at it, so I always save it for him. The trim needs to be twisted and bent around to each individual bike, then polished and installed.

wow!

This bike looks like an entirely new bike with the fenders trimmed out. WOW. Good job dad

HEre is the front fender for Johns bike. The trim makes it look like an entirely different bike. It is so cool. Brittney and I spent yesterday helping Delmar put up electric fence at his dad's place. His dad had to have a minor surgery and needed some help. A lot of people helped me out after my crash, so I figured it would be a good idea to pay into the karma pool in case I need it again, plus it was a ton of fun to spend time with some of our favorite North Dakota friends.

Here is a picture of Brittney and a cow. This cow just kind of free grazes at Delmar's parents house. He seemed pretty nice.

Brittney wanted to take a picture of us with the cows. It was fun to play farmer for a day. I am glad that I get to work with motorcycles and not have to work with cows year round.

After we were done fencing we went and checked out Delmar's new tractor. Delmar told me he thought it was a late twenties tractor, but he isn't sure.

This is such a rugged unit.

One of the back tires was an s3 tire which means it was made out of synthetic rubber during world war two. I have seen a few mc tires like this, but never really paid much attention to other vehicles

Check out the tall knurl eaton gas cap. This has the same dimensions as a hd cap and it has a super cool gas gauge in it!!!

I would love to find one of these that was functioning, have any of you guys ever seen something like this? Please advise.

After the tractor we checked out this cool old iron that is gas powered. What a neat set up.

go buy this bike.

My friend Kevin is selling his 47 knucklehead in order to buy a house. Lee from Lee Speed shop built the motor, he does a great job on things. It is really cool. If you are looking for a good knucklehead, this is one.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/?cmd=ViewItem&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649&item=250919685852&sspagename=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT#ht_500wt_1182

46 updates

I made some progress on Wayne's 46 last night and this morning.

Oil lines are installed. The feed line and vent line fit up fairly easily, the return line took a bit of massaging, but it is all good.

I finished up the wiring under the seat post. Those are correct 46 and 47 wiring flags that we make. Notice how the positive wire loops up through the clip on the left frame tube and then wraps around the two tail light wires.

Check out all the cool details and contrasts in plating going on in this picture.

I have another set of exhaust to fit up this weekend, then I can get a batch of pipes painted up. It is neat to be working on another batch of three bikes that are red, black and Blue, the last batch were the same colors. HD didn't really offer that many options in these years.

summer time photo and new bike progress

Hre is a cool picture of my 36 and my dad's 53 somewhere in Michigan this summer. Brittney and i took a three thousand mile trip with some friends all over Ohio and Michigan. The only problem that we had was on my 36, I had built the bike two weeks before the trip and accidentally hooked the generator power wire on to the wrong terminal on my ignition switch. We got it fixed and everything worked great the rest of the trip. I guess that is what happens when you get in a rush

I routed the front brake cable for John's bike this morning.

Here is the handle and all the little clamps and oiler.

I spent the morning riveting the footboards for the 48. This always takes a while.

Tool box and kicker pedal installed

I built up a couple of kicker pedals at the same time. Here is the one for Jim's 39.

parts and parts

We got a prototype top motor mount today. Check out how the edges are radius ed in the corner. Originals have sharp corners, and always break. Hopefully this will make top motor mounts last a little longer. I am going to add a little material on the top edge of the mount. This is a part that is engineered to be the weakest link kind of like a brass gear in a lathe. If you think about it, a top motor mount is a lot easier to replace or weld up than an engine mount on your case, or the top motor mount on your frame. I have friends that have made indestructible top motor mounts and broken the top motor mount tab off of their frame.

Here is one that is not welded together yet.

We got the buddy seat for Jason's 65 today. It turned out amazing.

I wrapped it up in saran wrap and will deliver it with the bike when it is finished. 65 flhs are too tall for me, There is no way I could muscle one around with a super soft buddy seat on it. Chuck and Jo did this seat and it is amazing. Every detail is spot on and perfect! Thanks Saddle Shop

When I was in Milwaukee I was hanging out with my friend Paul, He showed me this awesome accessory. I borrowed it from him and will be making a few up. My mold making friend Dan is coming in next week to do a sculpture, so I will have him make the mold when he is in town.

Do any of you guys know what this is for? My friend Matt in South carolina has one on his 41 fl.

cool race bikes in milwaukee

My sister Lindsey, Brittney and I went to Milwaukee to hang out with some friends and talk about old motorcycles. We stopped by our friend Mike's place to look at different old board track bikes. Brittney sat on a bunch of them to get a feel for what frame configuration she likes the most.

Excelsior Big Valve!!!!!!

This is Dewey Sims bike, Matt walksler's frame is just like this one. Mike went over 104 mph on this bike which is so damn cool

This is the bike Mike has been racing lately, it is the most beautiful bike I have ever seen.

Here is a cool 11 single.

This is a crazy single cylinder cyclone in a hd frame with a merkel fork. Guys back then mixed and matched whatever parts they could get their hands on in order to go racing.

After Mikes, we went over to John's house to check out old 16 mm film that his great grandfather Walter Davidson shot back in the twenties through 41. It was an amazing experience.

This is John's 69 flh. It was his dad's favorite bike. He was riding it with the sidecar on it and the sidecar came loose and he crashed the bike. During the crash, the footboard and mount snapped off of the primary among other things. we pulled the primary off and I will weld the bracket back on for him.

John's 48 wiring

I spent the morning at the chiropractor and wiring up the fender on John's 48. There are a lot of twists and turns in the fender, so it is easier to just put one wire through at first.

With the one wire through, you can solder the tail light and brake light wire to the wire going through the fender and then pull both of them through.

Here is the finished product after a bit of pulling and pushing.