My turn...

After reading all these great posts about what everyone has going on in their garages, which are all really great and inspiring projects...I figured it was my turn to post up what I've been working on...

Nothing too special, just a '75 FXE Superglide that came in pretty much bone stock. Cut the rear section off, welded a hardtail on and got going with other bits and pieces. Late 60's wassel peanut tank ( those of you who survived the 60's chopper fad, you'll know about these guys ). Customer wanted a barrel oilbag, so in lieu of a stock tank with a stock oil filter, I picked up a couple nifty sifton pre-filters. Run them inline to and from the motor/oiltank.



I seem to have a thing for running belt primary's with the tin inner and outer primary covers ala knucklehead era. The seat is an old original bates. Some nifty/trick bits and pieces on here which a camera is tough to catch sometimes. Battery box/voltage reg are all in one unit, and are mounted underneath the front engine mount. Forks are shaved, and will be polished soon. Fender is from a '53 pan. The exhaust is all donated oddball pieces that I was able to make something cool from. Still figuring out struts, thinking twisting up some stainless square stock...still unsure. Not too hot on the dual headlight setup, but it might grow on me. Still lots of odds and ends, and new tires but I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel, just hope it isn't a train...

Hoping to finish soon, so I can get this thing out of the garage and I can work on my '51.









And, since we're talking bikes...

I've been buying old junker pedal bikes lately. All from various era's ( 40's, 50's, 60's, etc ). I recently finished this one for my mom. It was a gift for her to help her recover from knee surgery. Pedalling is a low impact way to heal quickly...so I built this one out of about 5-6 different bikes. All I knew about this one, was that it HAD to have a basket for mom. The dog is a bit of a camera hog...

I like the style. looks smooth. Not sure about the square and round headlights though?

New meets old.....

Sam_Fear said:

I like the style. looks smooth. Not sure about the square and round headlights though?

Click to expand...

does look a bit out of place but I dig the bars and the lines....flows pretty darn good.... [P

I told the guy that the double headlight idea is "neat" but wasn't going to work. Wasn't my taste in the first place, but at least now I can just continue on like nothing ever happened...

I too think it has good, flowing lines. Funny thing about that, is that I never draw up a game plan as far the lines and flow are concerned. It just happens naturally.

I think it helps to sit down with a beer, and let the bike tell me how it wants to be built.

Sounds like a plan to me.....

One or two beers and the lines will flow even smoother.....[cl

Yeah I am with the other guys..... I think one round headlight is enough..... not sure it looks right with the square....

Sam_Fear said:

I like the style. looks smooth. Not sure about the square and round headlights though?

Click to expand...

I agree. If your going for the 60's or early 70's look I would go with either a single or dual square lights mounted off the bottom tree. If not I would stay with the single round light

I had elected to go with my original plan of running the old unity spotlight.

I just finished making a simple headlight mount out of 3/16" x 1" stainless flatbar. It's terribly dark in the garage at the moment, so I'll snap a pic tomorrow once I mount the little fella.

A little bit of tinkering tonight in the garage...

Nothing outstanding, but progress nonetheless.

Bought some stainless tig filler rod today, and had some 1" x 3/16" stainless flat stock kicking around. Broke my vise tonight bending the stainless, but the vise was on the fritz anyway. Still need to drill a few more speedholes, because the bike will look crazy fast...even if it isn't...and need to sand and shape the mount as well as polish it up a bit.

The comments regarding the headlight choice was appreciated, and the single 4" unity looks good up there I think.



Then, I sat and stared at the exhaust for a while. I needed to have a secondary mount, since the exhaust headers are held in by ONE bolt at the head. I had some 1" x 1/8" mild steel flat stock scraps and whipped this little bracket up. Welded some 5/16" nuts to the pipe after drilling and tapping a couple extra threads in the pipe...just added insurance. I still have to make a mount for the front pipe. There's an neglected floorboard mount which will work nicely to mount the pipe to. I also think I'll re-make the rear bracket to match the headlight mount, but at least I have the mount sorted out.

Man, I gotta say...having this new tig/mig/stick welder has made things so much easier to do this type of welding. Don't know how I did this for years without a setup like this one...anyways, here's the mount.



Rear fender mount up next and a stainless battery box to follow soon after...

Bike looks great, Headlight looks much better. What kind of finish is going on this bike?

sawzall said:

Bike looks great, Headlight looks much better. What kind of finish is going on this bike?

Click to expand...

Thanks much. Agreed, headlight looks proper now. As for the finish, the frame is going an white, with a slight blue tinge. The tins are still up for debate. I'd like to do a trippy panelled paint scheme. Fork legs still need polishing and the exhaust is going to get some high heat treatment.

Nice Job on the bike...

That new welder is the cats a$$...very nice work...[cl

Thanks Sarge!

Did a bit more tonight after work after letting the heater do it's thing and bring the temperature up from -7*C(20*f) to a balmy +5*C(41*F).

Nothing major, just the front exhaust pipe needed a mount closer to the front of the bike. I figured more strength the better, because the guy who I'm building this for rides pretty hard.

Electrician is coming this weekend to outfit me with some new breakers and a 230v receptacle, so my work might shift back to the ford...but I'm on a roll with this bike, so I'll try and keep the photos rolling in.

I'll have to send you the plans for me waste oil heater..

Mr.Crown said:

Thanks Sarge!

Did a bit more tonight after work after letting the heater do it's thing and bring the temperature up from -7*C(20*f) to a balmy +5*C(41*F).

Nothing major, just the front exhaust pipe needed a mount closer to the front of the bike. I figured more strength the better, because the guy who I'm building this for rides pretty hard.

Electrician is coming this weekend to outfit me with some new breakers and a 230v receptacle, so my work might shift back to the ford...but I'm on a roll with this bike, so I'll try and keep the photos rolling in.

Click to expand...

not really my plans but I built one and it works like nutz .....I can heat my 40x20 section of foam insulated barn to a toasty 70 degrees in below freezing temps......

sgtpontiac said:

not really my plans but I built one and it works like nutz .....I can heat my 40x20 section of foam insulated barn to a toasty 70 degrees in below freezing temps......

Click to expand...

Holy moly! Please do. I would LOVE to be able to work in the garage in a nice, constant warmth. My shop is insulated already, so this crazy heater might be the ticket.

Say, where in SE Michigan you hangin your hat? I lived in Traverse City for a couple years about 10 years ago. The cold here was NOTHING like the cold there in TC. The squalls off the bay were a killer, and the wind took no mercy upon any of us.

I am located about 14 miles south of Port Huron..

Mr.Crown said:

Holy moly! Please do. I would LOVE to be able to work in the garage in a nice, constant warmth. My shop is insulated already, so this crazy heater might be the ticket.

Say, where in SE Michigan you hangin your hat? I lived in Traverse City for a couple years about 10 years ago. The cold here was NOTHING like the cold there in TC. The squalls off the bay were a killer, and the wind took no mercy upon any of us.

Click to expand...

About 14 miles west of the St. Clair River and about 40 miles north of Detroit..unless you count 8 mile Rd and then I'm really only about 27 miles from their northern most border...
I will forward the basic plans to you..... no moving parts, no blowers, you'll be surprised how simple it is.....I will pm you the plans asap....

Found myself back in the shop this afternoon.

I forgot to go get some stainless plate yesterday, so I sat and twiddled my thumbs for a bit thinking of what to do with what steel I had.

So, I decided to make my version of heatshields on the exhaust. I will have some minor adjustments with the middle mounting hole on the rear pipe. Cleaned up some welds, and re-welded some spots. Then I started to hand sand the pipes. I think it makes for a more uniform look after all the grinding...don't know why I bother, I'm probably going to paint the pipes black.





And here's a reminder of why you shouldn't touch something right after you weld it...notice how it resembles the shape of a nut...[

Mr.Crown said:

And here's a reminder of why you shouldn't touch something right after you weld it...notice how it resembles the shape of a nut...[

Click to expand...

Ahhhhh NUTS!

Good thing your hands are like most of ours here and have enough callus to help insulate a bit
Soon enough it'll just peal back and it'll look like nothin ever happened

A good friend of mine who's no longer with us used to always say the same thing every time I grabbed something I just welded.......it's in my signature and needless to say I'm reminded of him often.

offroadrolls said:

A good friend of mine who's no longer with us used to always say the same thing every time I grabbed something I just welded.......it's in my signature and needless to say I'm reminded of him often.

Click to expand...

That's one of the most profound statements I've read in a while. I really like it, and will ALWAYS keep that in mind from now on.