The Missing Link

Isn't it always the case. The project is for all intent and purpose, done. There will be a few loose ends, I'm sure. Yesterday was spent installing the exhaust, the rear wheel, hooking up a few stray wires and tightening nuts and bolts. Next came the chains. Laid 'em on the sprockets, determined that 5 links needed to be removed. No problemo. Let's see, where are the master links??? For the next 5 hours I turned the shop upsidedown looking for the *&%*#$@* master links. They are gone, vanished, taken aboard the mother ship, grew legs and walked out. All I can figure is that I, inadvertently, threw them away. Now, one would think that procuring a pair of #630 masterlinks in the greater Los Angeles area would be, fairly, easy. Nope, no dice. I called, drove and computer surfed all day today. I should have stayed home and watched Oprah. So, It's back on line to Bike Bandit and they order them for me from Wisconsin, which is not only the cheese capitol of the US but, evidently, the Fort Knox of motorcycle chains. So, instead of filling the air with the stench of tire smoke, I filled the air with a string of expletives.
I will spend the next week cleaning the bike and the shop, Taking the promised pictures and looking in the same spots, for the 50th time, for the elusive links, which will reappear the day after the new ones arrive. One of Murphy's Laws of Mechanics
I'm pissed, but resigned to my fate. Some day I gotta get organized.

Tomorrow Is Only a Day Away

If all goes well, I will be irritating my neighbors again for the first time in a while. The swingarm is done. The sprockets are aligned (I had to make a spacer to go between the BH hub and the sprocket assembly to move it over 3/8"). The chains are on. The rear fender is on. The fuse box is in and the wires are routed. Tomorrow the pipes, seat and tanks go on, and that should just about do it. I'm holding off on the battery holder because I may switch to an Optima or Odyssey gel battery. I may just make it to bike night tomorrow night.

I will be posting a bunch o' pictures soon of the (hopefully) finished product. Stay tuned chilluns.

Objects Are Closer Than They Appear

More progress today. Got the rear brake hitched up. I had to fab up a new hard line, since the old one is a few inches short. Some of the riders of the earlier BHs have recommended cutting the caliper bracket so that it floats and is no longer bolted to the rear of the swingarm. I went ahead and modified mine as well. This actually serves a two fold purpose. Besides floating free, now the arm that anchors the bracket takes all of the braking force and transfers it to the front of the swingarm, near the pivot. This eliminates most of the tendency of the rear end of the bike to squat under hard braking. Tomorrow I'll bleed it out and replace the defective brake light switch. All that remains, as far as I can tell, is to make up a new battery holder/rear fender mount, hang the pipes, put the tank on, re route a few wires and a coupla other small odds and ends. I was hoping to have it ready by next Wednesday, but I may come in early and under budget. I still have my old Nesco trans setup to sell, so that will cover chrome and powder coat later on. Hopefully there will be enough left over for a tank o' gas and a few cool ones.

I can taste it AND smell it, now

Today was spent on the bike and a woodworking project.
I finished mounting the fuel pump, installed the trans mount/crossmember and stared at the battery holder, trying to see if it will work. I think I'll just make a new one, instead. I should have the fuel system plumbed, and all the electrics back in and hooked up this weekend. I need to get some radiator hose, as the old one leaked. Just a tiny bit of welding and grinding on the swingarm and it will go back in to stay, until this winter when I'll be sending it and a few other things for chrome and powdercoat.
I'm really getting stoked. I'm pushing for Wednesday the 20th. We have our local bike night every Wednesday and I have missed them all this summer. I guess I coulda ridden my moped, a 78 Benelli that I bought new. It has about 600 original miles. Original tires, spark plug, everything. I payed 100 bucks for it. Saw one on Ebay for a grand. After 30 years, I think I'll keep it. The only thing I've had longer is the wife. She still looks good, too.

I Can Almost Taste It !

A lot has gotten done in the past 3 or 4 days. The modifications to the swingarm are about finished. Just a bit of grinding and finish welding. I was able to run the crossmember through the chains, as I had originally planned, rather than under them. It just takes a more torturous route. All the wierd bends and notches are pretty well hidden. I will, eventually, have the arm chromed, but will dust the crossmember with flat black so it hides in the shadows. The Curtis box is in for the last time. The QD bushings and front sprockets are drilled and tapped. I need to find some 5/16 USC X 3 inch grade 8 socket head cap screws to cinch them down. The shift and clutch linkages are done. I'm sure there will be some final "dialing in", but it looks good for, maybe next week.

Jockeying for position

Well, it's been a while since any, real, work has been done on the transmission conversion. I have just about finished the jockey shift/suicide clutch setup. It works slick as snot on a doorknob, sitting on the bike while up on the jacks. I expect it to be, pretty much, the same on the road. I have many miles on similar setups on my Indian and 3 of my HDs, so the learning curve will be short. BTW, the bent rod from the clutch pedal will be replaced with a straight piece. It's leftover from the, ill fated, foot shifter.

The antique, purple, glass doorknob has been on the road with me for years. I ran it on the 3 jockey shift HDs and, more recently, on my Cushman scooters. Maybe it's a good luck charm. I hope so.

As can be seen in the picture, the chains are in place, though still in mockup stage. That's why one has more slack than the other. The visual impact of the dual 630 chains absolutely kicks ass.

I still have to re weld the swingarm crossmember, weld on a new brake anchor, build a battery box/holder and a few other, small items and she'll be ready for the shakedown run. I'm gettin' itchy. Can't wait to hammer it in first!!!

"I sense failure is rapidly approching." The Brain

Well, thing are moving along again. The trans is in for the last time (knock on wood) the Curtis box is in for the next to the last time and final alignments and adjustments are being made. As I feared, there is a clearance issue with the swing arm crossmember and the chains. I was expecting to, possibly, have to notch it out a bit. Yeah, right. It will require a bit more than that. I had to cut the crossmember nearly in half and will reconfigure it to pass under the chains. It's a little bit of a setback rather than a failure, but no real biggee. I should have it re done by Saturday if I'm not preoccupied with other stuff. I have to take wifey out for din din and a show. It's anniversary time again. 39 years!!!! It was cheaper to keep her, as they say. No alimony, no child support and, oh yeah, made the last house payment last week Woo Hoo!