Making Just A Little Progress

Once again this weekend I got a little more done. I pulled the primary cover off and installed the new starter that Danny from the Quad Cam Bastards forum sent me. It's even got the starter button on the solenoid so I can skip the hassle of a starter switch. While I was in there I changed the crusty clutch cable out for the new one. To get the new cable on I had to take the ball and ramp apart so I have a new lock ring on its way for me to go back in and replace the worn out old one. I just made a nice order from JPCycles.com Sunday night so my exhaust will be here Wednesday along with some other parts I need. The next time you see pics it will look like a chopper, but I'll still be short a few important pieces like an ignition system and coil. Plus I gotta get a new voltage regulator. I hope to test ride the bike this fall and then get it pretty over the winter to really ride by Spring.

The New starter is mounted.

You can see all the crap in the floor. Just so you know, puppy training pads are GREAT for catching oil spills while you're working.

The CRUSTY old clutch cable

The shiny new one.

Starting to look like a bike.

Beauty shot!

Artsy beauty shot!

Stay tuned I'll be getting more done soon and then it'll slow down while I go to the Bastard Bash, then the next weekend my work is moving to a new location and then Labor Day the family is taking a trip for my Birthday (not really, I'm just claiming that since it's happening on my Birthday).

Made Some Progress On The Flyrite

I've been trying to get some work done lately. I managed to get most of the parts I need, but every time I want to work on the bike it rains and once it rains here the humidity goes so high that I can't stand to stay in the garage. This weekend it stayed nice until early afternoon so I made some progress. It did start raining again, but I was almost done by then.

Got the other bikes out of the garage to make room and got the chopper up on the lift to keep it level.

Getting started on mounting the correct controls. I had some later model ones on there, but they won't work with the oil lines running from the oil pump to the filter. I now have the right ones, but since this is an aftermarket frame they still needed some persuasion.

Had to make a hardware store trip to get longer bolts and luckily I had a good supply of spacers stashed in my stuff to make it all work. It seems the spacing of the front tubes and the mounts are different than a stock frame. Nothing a little measuring and changing bolts and assorted parts couldn't fix.

It started pouring rain so the other bikes got wet, but they get wet when I ride in the rain anyway so it was no big deal. I like this picture because it shows just how long those damn forks are.

While I was at the hardware store I also got the bolts I need to attach my seat to my new Fab Kevin invisible seat mount. Now to get the mount welded to the frame.

The finished controls. It took quite a while to mount these because the instructions Custom Chrome send are copies of copies of copies so it's hard to see anything in the drawing and the words are impossible to read. PLUS I had to try different bolts and stuff to find out what would work and what needed changed. I got it done though.

I doubt I'll use these pegs once I get the bike on the road, but they came with the kit and will work until I get different ones.

The Fab Kevin brake set up I bought is on the axle, but now I need to redo the wheel spacers and get the tab for the brake anchor welded on.

I put the rear axles of the Triumph and the Flyrite even with each other to show how much longer the chopper is. That's a helluva difference.

All the bikes back in their place so I can finally get back inside and get out of the sweat soaked clothes. Got lots more to do, but at least I'm making progress.

The Flyrite Sporty Is Finally Home

As most of you know I've owned this bike for a couple of years and have been slowly working on it as I could. This whole time it's been at Larry's shop (Garage Company Customs) where I would tinker with it on Saturdays when I could, or when I had parts/supplies. Well finally most of the fab work is done and since Larry and Ashley are going to be gone for a couple of weeks to Born Free, I figured now is a good time to bring her home. This way I can work on it when I have time instead of just on Saturdays. Before, I had to remember to get/order the stuff I needed, and then remember to take it with me or find a way to transport it to the shop on Saturday. Sometimes this was a pain plus it's hard to concentrate and work on your bike when everyone else is cutting up, having fun or just working on something more interesting. This way I don't have all the distractions and hopefully I'll make some progress. My first batch of parts should be here today and some more will be here tomorrow. I still have stuff to get, but at least I'm on my way now.

I have to take a minute to thank Larry for letting me leave the bike sitting at the shop so long. Larry is a good friend and has been truly supportive of me during this build. I also have to say thanks to Spenser for helping me, encouraging me and sometimes just plain ol' doing it for me (Larry did some of this too). It's good to have friends and I hope all of you are able to find folks you can hang out with, work with and basically just share your love of cool bikes with. I also want to thank Bill, Ian, Ross and Whitey for all the support, help and Brotherhood they've provided. Enjoy the pics and stay tuned I hope to be posting more like this soon.

Outside the new shop waiting to go on the trailer.

Big Boss Ross from Southpaw Machine hooked me up and gave the girl a ride home. He's the only one I know with a trailer long enough .

You can see here that she takes up damn near the whole rail. Hopefully during this build will be the only times she ever sits on a trailer.

Got her to the house, Ross is amazed that I think I'll be able to squeeze her in my crowded garage.

Ready to get off the trailer and into her new home.

The next day I pulled her out and sat there staring at her as I made a list of what I need to buy and what I need to do. It's not a comprehensive list, but it's enough to get me most of the way there. Yeah, you can see that I'm a geek with my tablet and keyboard. But it DOES do a good job of keeping me organized and lets me look stuff up without having to come back inside and using the desktop computer.

I love these lines and can't wait to have a long bike on the road again. The Triumph used to be set up very similar to this and I've missed having a bike with that style.

All my babies are together for the first time at home.

I'll post more as I get parts and start to get some work done.

TRIED To Work On The Flyrite Sporty Saturday, Need Seat Help!!

I was SUPER excited Saturday. It's the first day I could go by Garco and do some stuff to the Sporty since the Barber's Vintage Fest. Mt Brother Roadside had sent me a special seat from his stash as a birthday present and I was ready to try it out. Get to the shop, go into the fab room where the Sporty is hiding these days and DAMMIT! It won't work! Apparently it's for a big twin frame with more of a V where the frame and fender meet. If you look at the pics you can see what I mean. With the seat flat on the fender the front of the seat sticks about 6 inches up in the air. I'm pretty bummed because A. the seat came from Marty, B. the seat looks kick ass and is BRAND NEW, it still has the stickers and a wrench has never touched the bolts in it. and finally C. I can't afford a new seat. SO, after conferring with ChopMaster Marty it was decided that I should use the seat as trading material for another one. SO Who has a cool seat that would like to trade for a new Corbin-Gentry chopper seat. I'm open to anything that will look cool and ride decently with this bike. Let me know what you've got.

With the back down the front goes up...

With the front down it looks like I just launched her ass into the air.

Since this bummed me about the Sporty and because Larry and Spenser were busy plus planning to leave early I decided to start on the sissy bar I'm making for my softail. I'm not reinventing the wheel on this one, just too cheap to buy a pre-made one PLUS I like to bend metal and make stuff. This will be a smaller version of the one on the Sporty plus it will mount in the stock sissybar sideplates when I'm done. At least I made progress on SOMETHING!

Mostly bent up, still have to get it all flat now.

Not perfect, but not bad for a 2nd attempt at bending round bar.

You can kind of see how "not-flat" it is. Hopefully I can finish it this Saturday and get the front tire on theSporty AND the Softail. Gonna be a busy day next weekend.

Stick around, got a few interesting posts lined up for this week.

Some Progress On The Flyrite Sporty...

If you've been reading the blog you know all about this project and what happened on Saturday. I figured I'd throw some pics out there for ya. I went in to work on the bike and was able to make a little progress. My nice piece of stainless got in this week so I was ready to make a sissybar. It's been a while since I've used a torch so Boozer was helping me get it adjusted right, then helped me make the first bend for the bar. Got it close to what I wanted then took it out to test fit it. Decided I needed to bend some more before I started on the bends to get around the fender. Fired the torch up and couldn't get it to adjust, started checking and damned if we didn't run out of oxygen. Oh well, I have other stuff to work on....

The sissy bar so far. It's going to be a traditional pointed bar with the tip tilted back. I've always loved that style and want to run it on here.

So, no torch means start cutting up that beautiful oil tank I just bought. It really hurt my feelings to have to molest the craftsmanship on the tank, BUT, I needed more room to get the exhaust to work. That meant I need a notch in the tank. so I made one. Here is where I marked out my first cuts. The bottom mounting bung is in the way and had to go.

After I cut the slot and then trimmed some more to get it right.

Test fitting the tank. I had to make sure I kept the tank rotated and positioned so that I can get the cap off once the tank is mounted. Now I have to get with Spenser one evening to start filling in the hole and making the mounts. My welding skills are no where near good enough to do this tank. It's too pretty to booger up so I'm enlisting the help I need.

That's it for today. Stay tuned and I'll keep ya up to date as the bike comes together.

More Fun From A Rainy Saturday

These are the last of the pics from Saturday. After this it's back to BMR or vintage pics for a few days. When I say vintage I mean my old pics form the 80-90's, not the really cool stuff from the 60-70's. Hope ya like this stuff and if not, check back, I'll find something cool to post sooner or later

Moon tackling a stripped bolt in his primary. He's lucky, this was his Dad's bike and was put together back in the 80's so it hasn't been boogered up by cheap bastards for the last 20 years. If something doesn't seem right he can check with his Dad to see if it's been screwed with before. Most of us old Ironhead owners are not that lucky.

Digging into the guts of the beast.

Yep, it was raining outside so the goofyness commenced! The owner of this bike added a clip on FL type fairing with a radio and speakers, She brought it into GarCo to have the guys do the work and get it painted for her. As we all know if it's on the shop floor it is open for mayhem. In this case Ian and Ross decided to show us how much they love to ride together. It appears that Ross does have the holding on technique nailed down and is secure in his position.

The boys up close. Can't you see the love/lust in their eyes?

 I DID get a little work accomplished on my Sporty project at least. Ross helped me get the spacers I needed machined . NOW, I can work on getting the rear fender mounted and figuring out what I want the sissy bar to look like. This shows the brake side. I'm using the stock rear caliper and mount. I just need to decide what I'll use to take up the slack left over by using this on a round frame tube instead of the big square of the stock swing arm.

 I think I'm going to use the stock mid control foot pegs as a kind of reverse highway peg set up. I have arthritis in my hips (from my old Army days) and can't ride with mids for long, but it gives me a spot to shift my feet around when I get on the open road.

The sprocket side is spaced now as well.


Tune in tomorrow, same bat-time, same bat-blog!