Japaneasy 3 ; Roller.

So now we're rolling.  47 bullneck knuckle frame, offset forks, 19" front and 16" rear with new Firestone Z pattern tyres.  The rear may change to an 18" or we might go 16" on the rear and 18" on the front - we'll see.

 

 

 

Cut back knuckle rear fender, knuckle oil tank, sparto rear lamp, original hub caps (not sure about those yet).  The colour definitely won't be black.

 

 

Flanders 'O' bars cut down and shortened. Flanders 3 1/2" risers and spun fork spring cups.

 

 

Japaneasy 2 ; knuckles.

Our next two builds will be knuckles.  Don't know which motor will go in which bike yet.  The 39 (top) came out of the Love bike; Rich and I had it apart last year so it's ready to go and will probably be the first choice.

 

 

 

This 48 motor came out of the original Tacoma; we replaced it with a rebuilt pan (see earlier blogs).  Its a nicer 'dirtier' looking motor that might suit the dirty Japanese style we're looking for but it needs going through first.

 

 

Either way, we're going knuckle.

Japaneasy 1 ; fork me.

These forks came on a 49 panhead we bought in from New Mexico last year (I think).  Offset forks for a knuckle. 

 

Springer forks lower end check and repair.  We bought the kit but needed very little of it ... but it's always worth checking.

 

 

 

 

What's on in the New Year.

Well its been a busy time over the last 12 months and we've had plenty to do.  There is still a lot in the pipeline so I thought I'd give you a bit of an update.

Our next ground up build will be a knuckle in a knuckle frame, offset forks, very much in the cut down 'dirty Japanese' mold.  Functional, tough, good for hard miles riding and made of old parts.  A couple of exceptions might be the ignition set up and a better front brake!!  After the crash earlier in the year and the stay in hospital that might be a good idea!

Build number two will be another knuckle; a special bobber with a 'sat up' look, maybe in a pan frame with inline forks, fat bob tanks, big seat, again made of old parts. The kind of understated bobber you might have seen in the fifities, without all the doo-dads that sometimes clutter a cool bike.

We also have two customers who want bobbed panheads but we're still looking for decent donor bikes and we still have the Duo Glide to finish and sell.  That will be a more standard looking bike.

We'll post pictures of all the builds and keep you updated but we've still got time for any repairs or engine work you need doing so get in touch.

HOPE YOU HAVE A HAPPY NEW YEAR - WE WILL.

Latest shop advert

Here's the latest shop advert; it appeared in Greasy Kulture.

Guy doesn't like the name and he's been on to us to change it from SkullChopa. One things for sure, we won't be calling it SlimChopa.

Greasy Kulture feature

Did you see the feature on the shop in issue 30 of GKM, well worth a read.

Can Greasy Kulture really have been going for 30 issues? That's about five or six years I think. But it's still the best out there at what it does. Obviously that's down to opinion but there really are some rank mags out there.  Guy just seems to get it (most of the time!)

Guy's been good to us and one day I'm gonna sell my full set of GKM mags on eBay and make a fortune. 

Or maybe I'll still be flicking through them on my death-bed ha.

Cheers Guy.

 

Why we haven't been blogging.

We've not been blogging much of late.  No reason really apart from the work that we've been doing hasn't been all that interesting from a 'viewers' point of view .. but still interesting to us.

We finished putting the Buell together, completed the shovel build, finished the 50E, did Guys gearbox, and loads of other stuff but not so interesting to blog about (and Rich lost the camera)!

1950E for sale

SO she's ready to go now.  We've been right through her; a full service and MOT'd even though bikes registered before 1960 no longer require an MOT.

 

As you can see from previous blogs we ended up going through the motor to double check clearances and we found out that she had recently been rebuilt and with high quality parts.

 

She's a 1950 with matching belly numbers but not all parts are from that year; she's had many of the updates and repairs/ replacements that come with most 60+ year old bikes (we're not concours riders here so you'll have to count the rivets yourselves to make sure)!!!  Certainly she has been updated with a foot gear shift which didn't come in until 1952 ish so that alone has its effect on the later gas tanks, the mouse trap clutch, foot change etc.

 

She's up for sale at £11,250 or she'll be on ebay next year.  Give us a call if you're interested.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gordo's engine is now finished. These are great looking motors and this one looks brand new from the outside and is virtually brand new on the inside.......I think Gordo has plans to build something very cool around it.

 

 

 

 

 

Panhead Motor Check 1950E

 

 

 

We've got plenty of customer's engine work on at the moment but as were getting ready to sell our next bike we thought we had better go through the motor so the next owner doesn't get any unwanted suprises!

 

Everything looked okay but when we were inspecting the primary chain we noted an excess of end play on the motor sprocket. B*ll*cks.

 

Anyway, motor out, take apart, clean, all the usual stuff.  The thing is that someone has recently rebuilt this motor and with some high quality parts, they just didn't measure correctly or in sufficient detail ... which is why we have so much measuring kit to cover dimensions, weights, etc.

 

Harley cases, races, flywheels, con rods, new +60 pistons, Jims crank pin, sprocket shaft

 

 

 

Assemble the bottom end, measure the end float (movement) check the spec (12 thou) take apart, fit new spacers, reasemble, measure, repeat, etc until it's perfect.

 

 

 

Finished, 12 thou.  Too much is too loose. Too much movement, shake rattle and roll (to bits).

Too little is too tight, when the motor runs, heats up and expands there needs to be sufficient clearance. 

 

 

 

Jims parts and Harley parts; a winning combination.

 

 

 

Matching number 1950 Harley cases.

 

 

Remember, anyone can buy the parts and bolt them together and then sell you a 'rebuilt motor'. But have they got £000's of tooling to measure and do the job correctly.

 

We may sell this bike as is for a customer to modify, or we may do it ourselves, but either way whovever gets it knows it will run.  I'd run this bike for 50 or so miles after we had MOT'd it and it ran great .... but the job still needed doing.

 

 

gordo again

Barrels back from coaters, off to be bored to take there new keith black pistons. Time to thoroughly clean everything within an inch of its life for reassembly. This engine is running a j grind andrews cam for a little bit more get  up and go, velva touch lifters, black diamond valves, keith black pistons, jims sprocket and pinion, S+S crank pin. Really the best of everthing. The build is a renovation, restoration and refurbishment of a really good looking generator shovel.     

There she goes.

Tacoma on her way to a loving home.

Took her out for a quick spin before she went ... never a good idea, but she ran great.

gordo continued freshly powdered off for boring

more gordo

The next job was to replace cam cover bushes and ream and lap to size. All these jobs take specialist tools, time and continual measuring , all necessary for a quiet running, longevity and SWEET motor. Time to press bearings onto sprocket shaft/ case

gordo continued......

more gordo

gordo continued

The contraption around flywheels is to line up flywheel as accurately as possible , to stop them pulling as you torque the nuts, as it varies the torque between different year groups, upto 450lbs you are trying save on time when you come to do the run out. Once all back together time check side float on rod to flywheel clearance and then put into centres. This wasnt to far out and a couple of taps brought it well within factory spec. Left hand case had new timpkin races pressed in. New pinion race in right pressed in and measured.   The pinion shaft was measured and right hand case was lapped bringing it back to standard size.   

more gordo