Born Free 4, pan head motors and seat posts

Here is a picture of the bike that we are building for born free 4. We are going to run narrowed Indian tanks and a sectioned fender on the back. All of the frame tubing was made on Delmar's MX it is tapered from 1.125 to 1.00 over 13 to 18 inch sections. A lot of early bikes used tapered tubing and it makes for a real classy and finished look. This bike belongs to a fellow in PA that we built a 48 panhead for a few years ago.

It is always important to check to make sure the head doesn't hit the seat post. This is Sean's frame, it is just about finished up, I have to fix the tool box bracket and metal finish the welds still, but the hard part of welding the bottom rails in is completed.

Here is a picture of the 55 motor that my dad is just about done with for Jim in Texas. Sorry about it being off 90 degrees. It looks faster, kind of like it's shooting towards the heavens.

Dan is crating up a pair of 52 motors today, We had these crates made up years ago and have shipped tons of motors in them.

Here is the other 52 in a customer supplied crate. This is a nice motor and should last for a very long time.

knuckleheads from outer space starting up some 46s and frame photos

My friend Doug sent me this picture of a 30 foot banner at theEiteljorg museum in Indiana, he owns the bike on the banner. My dad and I built it for him a couple years ago. Larry Medwig did the body work and paint job. He did such a good job that they blew a picture of the bike up to giant size and you still can't find a flaw.



I started up both 46s yesterday, I have to shim the generator up on Wayne's 46, but it only takes five minutes. They both started up really easily, and sound good.

Dan and I spent the rest of the day prepping Sean's 47 fram

Here it is bolted in the jig. The axle plates were a little off.

Here is Brittney with the LASER!!! and appropriate eye wear.

Making slugs for the bottom rails.

The pads on the motor mounts were really worn, so I surface ground both sides, it took .020 to clean them up, but now they are perfectly flat and ready to go.

laser checking center line on motor and neck fixture. These things are so damn handy

All ready for welding the main parts together

fremont booty

Here is the booty that we got at fremont. Every AMCA swapmeet has it's own personality, some are just for shopping while others are just for getting together with your friends and talking about old bikes and shooting the breeze. Fremont is some where in between. There are a few vendors with a huge variety of parts for sale. I saw parts for German, English and a four different American brands at the meet. We are always working on all sorts of different bikes so we have a big shopping list and can usually find something to use on different bikes. Here are some of the parts we scored. I also got a 41 to 46 tank that I forgot to take pictures of.

Check out the neat riser set up and 65 to 67 pump and all sorts of other consumable parts.

We found a 49 right case for dan's bike. It has had the front motor mount worked on and the really mount was shaved off, but it is a workable case and should serve his purposes well. There is also a nice 38 to 57 brake backing plate, duo glide center stand and a 39/40 oil pump in this picture.

Here is a later 46 shock that my dad picked up.

Miss Brittney Found a front fork for her 23 j race bike too. This front end is for 1919 and 1920 excelsior military bikes and sidecar bikes. They were also used on some old race bikes back in the day too. Check out the extra reinforcements on the front end. This fork is wild. I have wanted one for years, and was very happy to find one in fixable condition.

Here is the intake manifold she found and the side view of the fork. It is so cool.

If Brittney is happy, we are all happy.

my dad found an early fender in workable condition too. It has the typical extra holes and a little bit of rot, but over all it's a pretty nice usable piece.

This fender had the little bags that hung on towel hangers early on, but the owner realized that he needed bags bigger than a purse and upgraded to something with more room. I did the same thing on my 36 too haha

It is pretty common to find rot in this area, there isn't any on this fender, but it does have a huge dent in it which is pretty hard to photograph. I am in no way complaining, these fenders are 70 to 80 years old, and they all need loving in one area or another.

some fremont pictures

Fremont was a blast. We got to meet up with a bunch of old friends, talk about bikes, projects and parts. The 39 and 48 both got junior firsts, so that is good. There were 35 bikes for judging which seemed like a really big turn out. Everyone had a great time. Here is a photo of a nice 46 that my friend Rusty took. This bike was really spot on.

Rich Shultz inducted my dad into the knights of the Brown Cotton Glove club, so now I can't give him a hard time about not being a member. My dad said "I have to respectfully decline", to which Rich replied-- " you don't have any respect" Rich is pretty sharp at the comebacks. haha.

Here is a neat jd that my friend Scott built.

Here is Gene's 1919 excelsior, This bike is primo.

The company that owned the rights to internal cable system leased the rights to use them. Excelsior and Indian didn't want to pay the licensing fees, so they just used these crazy linkage set ups for a while, but eventually came around and started using inner and outer cables.

This was a pretty neat bike. Most of it is original pain, but some of it was faked to match the other parts.

This was a pretty crazy bike built by the late Herb Ottoway for his son Jerry in 1949. Jerry used to race it around in the 125cc outlaw class when he was a teenager. Check out the dual exhaust ports, magnesium cylinder fins, huge amal carb and custom made dual plug head. The frame and fork are made out of 4130 aircraft tubing and is light enough to lift with one finger. Herb made a six cylinder four cylinder which i got to ride when I was 18, it ran perfectly. He was a genius and showed world war two mechanics how to weld. He could weld seven different types of metal.

Jerry said that this bike would run 80 miles an hour and that he won 75 percent of the races he entered with it. There was some European race bike that beat him back then. He offered to let Brittney race it at Davenport and Wauseon, she wants too, but we have to check to see if they allow bikes that run on fuel in the two stroke race class.

This was a wild cut down pair of Hollywood bars that were for sale.

Check out this primo original paint 12 single.

This is a 20 or 21 blanked off racing excelsior that just got the motor rebuilt. Gene told me that this was a prototype that Maldwyn Jones raced. After the factory saw how well it worked, they made two more bikes the following year. The cases are special as is the cylinder, mag and carb. It has big valve flywheels and a special piston.

Here are two pictures of Maldwyn with the bike. It is pretty amazing. Very short coupled and dangerous looking. Gene fired it up at the meet. It was very loud and sounded mean as hell

fremont bound

My dad, Brittney and I spent the day getting ready for the first AMCA National Meet in Fremont Nebraska this weekend. We are taking Jim's 39 and John's 48 and a few parts orders!!!!. I am so excited to see all of my friends. AMCA people are the best. Hope to see you guys there!

HEre is the detailed out 48, man this bike is spot on. Miss Brittney did an amazing job detailing it out. My dad signed up to help the AMCA out and be the chief judge for a one year trial basis. He will be doing a judging seminar with Assistant Chief Judge Don D on friday. They are going to use this bike. It is the perfect bike, if you would like to learn more about old bikes and are attending fremont, come and hang out, it is going to be a blast.

our work area looks like a pack of life savers

Here is a fuzzy picture of the 39 and the 38, these bikes look so good together.

Happy President's Day

I heard about Andrew Jackson on the radio today during a President's day special. He was a tough cookie. I don't think something like this would happen in today's world because people can't even get close enough to the president to touch him. Andrew Jackson beat the guy down with a cane, in front of dozens of on lookers. AMERICA!!!!!!!

January 30, 1835: Just outside the Capitol Building, a house painter named Richard Lawrence aimed two percussion pistols at the President, but both misfired, one while Lawrence stood within 13 feet (4 m) of Jackson, and the other at point-blank range. Lawrence was apprehended after Jackson beat him down with a cane. Lawrence was found not guilty by reason of insanity and confined to a mental institution until his death in 1861. Authorities determined that the percussion caps in Lawrence's pistols exploded creating, in each case, the sound of a blast but with each bullet failing to discharge from its gun barrel. When later tested by police, both pistols fired perfectly.[7]






Dash mounted up for the last time on Wayne's 46. The seat is just for looks until we get it back from the upholsterer.

I

Here is a picture of my dad the dog whisperer.

Wow, what a sleek looking bike. This thing is going to be a blast to ride.

Well the bee hive/ boat tail tail lights use a great bulb. It is an 1176 which is a dual filament straight pin twelve volt bulb. This is handy for wiring, because if you get the black wire switched around with the red wire, you just flip the bulb 180 degrees. The 76 in the 1176 made me feel a little patriotic, along with the fact that it is presidents day.

Here is the tail light all mounted up. Notice the red white and blue license plate reflector. I have been putting it on every bike that I wire up lately, it seems to be good luck and it makes all the wires, horns, and lights work on the bikes.

46, 38, cat poop and gas valves

I hooked up the front brake on Vern's 46 this morning. It works really nice. I love seeing bikes down on the ground and off of the lift, they look like real bikes. There is still a bit of work to do, but it is in striking distance. I love how this bike turned out and can't wait to ride it.

My dad installed one of the peak tips onto our new gas valves. They work really well. You barely have to turn them in and they seal up.

You always have to do the suck test on valves, or any type of needle and seats.

Here is close up shot of the shutoff assembly hanging from my top lip. The only thing holding it on is suction.

Tim stopped by today to check stuff out. We were looking at the thirty eight and decided to mount the front fender. I am amazed at how long 37s and 38s look because of the pinstriping on the sides of the fenders. WOO hoo for hollywood green 38s.

I noticed that my dad has been smoking lately, so I raided his fresh pack of cigarettes while he was in the bathroom today. Here they are. I hate it when my dad smokes, so I try to sabotage his efforts when ever I get the chance.

I made a trip over to the shop cat's litter box and replaced the cigarettes with an amount of cat poop that weighed about the same. lol. He called me twenty minutes after leaving work and said that his cigarettes were difficult to light.

DISCLAIMER-- Do not bum my dad any cigarettes.