Here is the before shot as I wash pushing it to the shop to tear down. Now on the lift, I have finished making the forward controls and will post the pics soon.
The tire is a Cheng Shin like the rear. I do not plan to split the cases, but change the 24mm carb someone adapted to fit. I will then detail the motor when I do paint and powder coating.
Background:
I bought this bike for $850 about 10 years ago and always wanted to finish it, but got distracted by the American V-twin craze (Can't bring myself to say the words anymore...) and it sat for a long time. I swapped it to my brother for an 80" Evo engine I used to build a bobber, but later bought it back. He did a great job storing it for me for 10 years and also managed to install a Boyer Ignition system and Mighty Max battery eliminator. The bike ran, but didn't start good. A little research revealed that Boyers like (need actually) 12 Volts to start...I hooked a small battery back in and it had bright blue spark and fires right up. Since it is a kicker, I can get by with a super small battery- The motor only needs 12 Volts stored to start and no cranking amps. I am using a small scooter battery.
Forward controls:
The forward controls are made out of basic steel. They were designed out of style and necessity. I like the look of them and these old bobbers are so small that you actually need them to stretch out. Since the after-market controls I see are kind of ugly and expensive I designed these to match the single down tube on old Triumphs. I made these once before and they were sturdy and worked fine.
The basic idea is to use a 1" OD tube and hang everything from that. The mounting plate that you see welded to the frame is just a 1/2" piece of steel with a 1" hole in it. After welding the pipe in place, the left and right sides are just pipe with a 1" ID that rotate around the center. The fit is not tight, but after loading up some grease it fits fine. You can also have your powder coater cover the tube and it will fit better then. You will need to cut the outer tube to a close fit so they rotate, but not rattle side-to-side too much. The rest of the pictures explain the adapting of this $20 idea to this bike.
I like to use BMX trick pegs for the foot pegs, but my brother turned these pegs on the lathe and I didn't want to waste them. The shifter is 3/8" aluminum rod to match and the brake is an old handle from a trailer that was bent. I cut the center piece out and used it as the pedal. The brake rod is Stainless Steel. The shifter was cut and turned down with a matching contour to tuck under the motor and away from the pipe. I welded on the steel rod with a 5/16" hole to mount the new adjustable linkage up.
All this stuff looks nasty because it is. After I get everything adjusted and working fine, I like to pull it all apart for paint, powder coat and polishing of the aluminum.
A buddy of mine rides an ironhead with forward controls that are remarkably similar to those. He, a mutual friend of ours, and I built some for it from the scrap pile. Painted them with a heavy duty black equipment epoxy coating. That's my style. haha.
You're a better man than I... I would have rattlecanned that bike and ridden the snot out of it!
All that being said, your work is looking amazing! Can't wait to see it painted and coated.
Fender:
The rear fender is from Lowbrow Customs and I hated to spend $169, but the fenders are excellent quality and fit great- I am happy with the fender. I set it up and cut out the space for the chain and then final fit before welding the struts.
I started to use all the weld-in bungs and allen head mounts for the struts, but they looked like the bolts in Frankenstein's neck so I took them off and made the struts from some old bumper brackets. I just had to heat the ends and bend them to fit the angle form the frame to the fender. I think they look a lot better since they barely stick out and look like something that may have come on a vintage bike. I was hitting the rear brake arm, but traded for a smaller one with a dog-leg that was donated by my 650 Triumph project (Another story...).
Tank:
The tank is something I found about 10 years ago for $40 and it is super nice. I stripped it and sealed the inside. I bought all the factory-stepped mounting rubbers and hardware. I made the cross bracket they fit into for the front and notched out a small place for it to sit in front. I will weld it some gussets for more strength to stop flexing later. The rear tank mount is a weld-in bung that will fit nice with the factory rubbers and hardware for a factory look. I really didn't have a lot of choices on where the front tank mount went since it only looked good in one spot and I had to make it work.
... Boyer Ignition system and Mighty Max battery eliminator. The bike ran, but didn't start good. A little research revealed that Boyers like (need actually) 12 Volts to start...I hooked a small battery back in and it had bright blue spark and fires right up. Since it is a kicker, I can get by with a super small battery- The motor only needs 12 Volts stored to start and no cranking amps. I am using a small scooter battery.
Here is the small battery box I made from angle iron and some 5/16 bungs. I used weld-in threaded bungs to attach the box to the bike. Since I welded the bungs in I am going to ground the NEG to the bolt that is right beside it at the top of the battery. Also, since the bike doesn't have electric start or anything pulling any amps I will not need the usual large battery ground strap/cable. I can probably get by with a 10 Gauge wire made into a pig tail or something. Either way, it will make it easy to do a clean wiring job.
Scott
Here is the mounting plate for the ingnition box. They like these placed where they will not vibrate and being cool is a good idea too so I wanted to "float" it somehow. I used a scrap piece that matched the width and maked and bent the ends down at 90 degrees. I used a socket that was the same size as the frame backbone to mark the radius I cut for fit. I then just angled the corners for finishing and tacked it on. When the tank is on...you can't see any of this.
I got a wild hair today and put everything back together (with tack welds). I put the new petcocks in the tank and tightened it all down and now the bike actually starts in a kick or two and after adjusting, idles nice. I putted around the neighborhood several times to find all the bugs. Each time I let it cool and it started right back up. This was surprising since I have been researching all about carburetors and decided to buy a new Amal 626 this week, but now I will leave this little Mikuni 24MM on there. I know, I know...it is too small and not the best carb...blah, blah, blah, but it runs fine and is on there= FREE. The first sign of a problem I will have a new Amal though.
I did have an issue with shifting into 2nd gear and cannot tell if it is the angle of my control linkage or just 2nd gear. It seems to go in but you have to be DELIBERATE about getting it in 2nd, then it goes into 3rd and forth like butter. I will continue to test it out. If I need parts I have another 500 Triumph motor, BUT hate to borrow parts from a complete "Titled" engine that I also have a matching rigid frame for.
I also learned the clutch is shot, but figured that and planned to pull it apart when I pulled it down for paint/powder coat.
This was actually a great day since I bought the bike about 9 years ago and this was the first time I really got to ride it and hear that stout Triumph sound.
What a blast~
Scott
that's looking cool as hell I would've painted with rattlecan and been riding the heck out of it till a leter date then done the the re-do but that's just me I'm watching this one can't wait to see it done. My dad used to have a 500 before he married my mom. He loved the hell out of it and always wanted to get me one and him another.
LOL~ Typical Californian...rattle can and ride. Wish I was burried in sunshine everyday, but I am burried in snow this morning so it is more a mid-west thing...The test rides the other day were conducted wearing insulated Carharts...Too funny.
I just spent $109 at Bung King and $590 at Lowbrow Customs today on all new pipes, trumpet-style bell tipped mufflers, Amal 626 carb and some other odds and ends. I was tinkering around today replacing build bolts with stainless steel and realized the pipes on it would just never look as good as the bike will when done. The problem is that I HAVE to weld on all the exhaust mounts BEFORE powder coat so I bit the bullet.
The bike starts excellent...with starting fluid...so I popped for the new Amal so I can tickle the carb and flood it for starting. FYI, I have called Lowbrow three times for questions before ordering and Todd has answered every time and been a real help on making sure I got the stuff I needed. Today we talked for 15 minutes about Bonneville alone- Good dude.
Once the parts come in I will make some more progress and post pics.
I fiddled around and finished up the battery box and ground today. I made a little pig tail for a ground. I know everyone is used to a big ground strap like a Harley has, but since there is no juice flowing through a starter I only need to match what is leaving the battery and that is minimal.
While finishing up I notched out the top mounting bar I made so it will fit the battery spill tube. I went ahead and polished the stainless bolts by using the drill. After sanding the head markings off and finishing sanding with a fine grit, Just buff them up on the polishing wheel. I couldn't capture the shine here without high resolution, but they they look chrome and never rust. Once this battery box is powder coated black, I think it will have an industrial appearance and look great.
Just got the new header pipes and bell-tipped mufflers from Lowbrow and had to put them on to check for clearance. I really like the way the angle follows the bend in the rear of the frame. Now I can weld on the exhaust brackets and mount the side-mount license plate where it won't catch all the exhaust. I rtried to get some good shots in case anyone is looking for pipes- I would buy these again. At about $300 for everything I think they are well worth it.
After setting the pipes on to see it they would work I needed to make mounts and weld the hangers on the rear to support the long mufflers. The easiest way I have found to mount pipes on a new build is to put everything together like it will be on the bike and start bolting everything tightly at the clamps. First the exhaust ports, then where the mufflers attach to the pipes. Once this was all tight I made the mounting points fit the exhaust and so nothing is bent or stressed when bolting it up. The middle hangers were made of an old chrome bracket that was the perfect thickness. I just had to measure were the bend needed to be and then marked and drilled the next hole and it fit great. The real trick was to have a stout mount on the kicker side because the clearance there is tight and I DO NOT want it to come down and scratch the exhaust. I pulled it all in as tight as I could and it cleared by 1/2 in easily. If it was too close, I was going to heat and bend the kicker and add more of a dog-leg for clearance. Once those two points were fitting really nice I made tabs for the muffler hangers. I bolted them to the mufflers, put the mufflers up in place and then just tacked them in place. The system fits excellent and I couldn't be happier with the quality and fir of the pipes.
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