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1940 SS Knucklehead: People's Champ 5 Build"

118K views 327 replies 63 participants last post by  Rigidspeedtwin 
#1 · (Edited)
OK, I know a lot of you have seen my girder fork thread, so a bit of this is rehash, but I wanted to get some of this stuff on here chronologically. If you read the fork thread, you can probably read the beginning of post 1 and then jump to post 4. I posted this over on another (the other) forum that prefers angle grinders to machine tools (but I still love them). It's going to seem like a huge blast right off the bat, sorry about that. I'll update it as I go from now on. Maybe print it out in full color on your company's printer and go read it in the shitter, IDK.

So, a bit of backstory, everyone who knows me knows I talk about this thing all the time. I was trying to keep it on the DL online because I was trying to get invited to a "cool" event like born free or Brooklyn. I've since decided that I'm just a nobody and don't really deserve to be invited anywhere. Maybe sometime in the future. Also I am simply just not good at selling myself on social media, so here's where I'm at and I'll update this as I go.

Basically the whole project started like this, a titled basket 1940 EL motor.



By now I've accumulated basically all OEM (not year correct, though) external parts. I'm going to use S&S/Jims/Andrews internals. The motor will be mostly stock. I don't plan on making it anything other than clean, I want to leave all the "wear" marks in the parts that have accumulated over the last 75 years. Sort of like how I shined up this cam cover:



For the sake of the story, not much has happened with the motor, I've been too busy with other things to really dick with that. Also, for the sake of the story this is going to be a little out of order, but no one's probably reading any of this anyway.
I wanted to build a fork for this build, so here's the story of that:
Drew it in cad.







Got castings made from 3d printed wax off cad models. Material is 316L. This is not inexpensive, but I don't spend much money on things besides motorcycles, so it was within budget. All said and done I have into this what a nice condition early springer would cost.



Had to machine the castings. Fixturing these was often difficult and quite a learning experience for me.























 
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#163 ·
One of those companies sells interchangeable engine-pulley hubs. With that as my inspiration I turned down a worn-out pulley for the splined center, leaving a flange with threaded holes to make a 530 front sprocket. So why couldn't someone of your talents salvage a tapered hub and graft it (welds, bolts or otherwise) to the chosen pulley. But if you spent the time and wound up with a plan to modify a taperlock I am not telling you anything that probably hasnt crossed your mind.

Sent from my SM-S820L using Tapatalk
 
#165 ·
Does anyone have any opinions on using very short hardlines on a harley?

Remember that my oil lines essentially run thru the frame. So there would be about 6 oil lines with a banjo on each end that are only between 4 and 6 inches long. I would really prefer to not have to cram a rubber line in there if I don't have to.

Ideally I would like to use mild steel lines silver soldered into mild steel banjo fittings like this:

https://www.belmetric.com/solder-ba...-p-5420.html?zenid=uru4k579piga42vdp8ho8vb5q1



The engineer in me says it will probably fail on a high runtime application, but if I'm being real, the total hours on this machine will be pretty low.

Anyone have any input to add?

The other option would be something like this with a rubber line, but I just think the hardline would look really clean.

 
#168 ·
The original fuel line on my 39 was rigid(flared unions)
but i think the T/Y is brazed.
Oil lines rigid too but obviously no connections(brazed) in them.
No problem if no vibration?
 
#176 · (Edited)
The restriction's resistance to flow is basically proportional to its length, so a short little small diameter at the fitting give a small amount of restriction, but a long, small diameter pipe give a much higher amount of restriction, and might need a bigger pump or higher pressure to get the same amount of flow. This is the reason that you often see a small orifice in a fitting or a port, and a much larger hose or tube. The small restriction controls the way it flows while the larger line reduces the pumping losses. For example you can squeeze honey through a 1/8" hole in the cap of its squeeze bottle, but try to squeeze honey through a seven inch long, 1/8" hose (the same size hole, but very long) and it is virtually impossible to get any honey through it. I could cite other examples of size of hole and length of hole but they would likely not be published here.
 
#180 ·
Hmm, makes sense really, although in their test their isn't any high pressure component, so it is really a pretty poor test of that type of pump. I am still interested in testing a configuration that goes

.21 to .38 hose to .21 for stock versus
.21 to .31 hard tube to .21 for what i'd like to run

under gravity flow conditions. I will post the results. I have heard of some aftermarket hardline kits having .25ID, but that's a bit of hearsay.
 
#181 ·
Thanks for posting your work. It is so artful and well done, it makes my work work look downright pedestrian :eek: However, it is inspiring to look at, and does indeed make me want to raise my game up a level or three :D Keep the updates coming :)
 
#182 ·
I can't say on a knuckle. But on a cone shovel if you add a cooler and smaller lines there is enough restriction that at high sustained revs (85 +mph) oil return to tank will be insufficient. The engine will puke oil out the breather line as the pump will not be able to scavenge enough oil when being restricted by the small lines.
 
#183 ·
More videos, sorry.

I made a banjo bolt with an extra mount on top to mount my lower fender brace to.

Oil path is: Feed: Oil tank > connecting line > right chainstay > right frame bottom tube > oil pump
Return: Oil Pump > right frame bottom tube (in front of blockage) > right downtube > neck gusset tube front crossover > left downtube > left bottom tube > left chainstay > connector tube > oil tank
Vent line: Engine > seat tube > oil tank

Here's a video:

The I made the mount itself. Here's another video with some humor added in:

Here are some crappy pictures of the mount:





Here is how I temporarily(?) solved my mismatched drive cogs. Turned down a pulley and mixed it with an off the shelf industrial drive cog and taper lock bushing, then added a 30mm (~1 3/16) drive belt (rated for 75 HP at SF2.) I'll try and get something better later on, but this allowed me to set the rear wheel where I needed it so I could continue working.



Nothing is really lined up in this picture.



Since the rear wheel was now located I was able to weld on the two fender mounts:





And that allowed me to roll my bike around the shop while sitting on it and making chopper sounds.



Next up I am starting to build an oil tank. I needed to make a die to roll some 1" SCH10 pipe to 7.6" CLR. I tried making one yesterday that didn't have a steel backing plate... well, that failed terribly. Try again tonight. Never built an oil tank, so this will be a fun new challenge. I probably won't post pics until it is done, it'll probably take me all week. Or longer.
 
#184 ·
thats great as always newman, but why not an oilfilter?
If i used the frame as oil lines id sure would use one, as debris from cutting the pipes, welds and from the manufacturing of the pipes themselfes otherwise could wind up in the engine clogging and starving something of oil.
 
#185 ·
I wouldn't be surprised if there was plans for a dirtbike style filter element engineered into the oil bag such that it was basically invisible, without needing a cartridge filter turd bolted to the bike somewhere...

But, I'm just armchair designing/engineering anyhow..
 
#186 ·
My plan is to run a temporary oil filter for the first couple hundred miles to get all the bullshit out and then take it off. Wasn't planning on building it into the oil tank. I haven't had any issues with my other bikes that don't have a filter, though.

While building the frame I was extra conscious of keeping debris from the tubes, and precleaned all the insides. I did all the tapping on small sections where I was able to clean the backside.
 
#187 ·
Don't forget the potential of black sugar inside your tubes from tig welding. You are a excellent welder, but nobody is perfect. If you got any weld a little to hot it's there waiting to break loose and enter your engine.just thought I would mention it.
 
#194 ·

Strictly aesthetic. But it sort of ties into where I am going with this next post.

Stainless taillight housings that utilize some late 1940s Hudson glass lenses. The lower is the interior light, the upper is a hood side light. Before they were welded:



Then afterward. I joined them with a bar that ends at the same angle as the rod in the oil tank.









My original plan was to extend the bars right on down to the fender, but it seemed a little goofy. Sometimes the ideas in your head aren't as good in real life. I wanted to continue the line from the oil tank...





So I thought about it a little more. Made a cardboard seat profile. I think what I am going to do is not tie the sissy bar to the fender at all, but make a very rigid seat pan and run a short rod off the sissy bar and make it bolt to the side of the seat, then have the seat pan tie into the rear of the fender. I am, however, open to ideas...

Something like this:



Obviously not this simple, but just to convey the idea:

 
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