98cc Posted September 13, 2015 Author Share Posted September 13, 2015 Thanks 7VEN, yup its all coming together now. Did you see many of these things over in England while you were there? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 98cc Posted September 13, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 13, 2015 I have basically finished off every thing that needed making on my bike now, all that's left is handlebars and paint which i will hopefully start this week. As i said before i was hoping to make my forks more like the originals, they are all done now and i am extremely pleased with how they have turned out. Pics.... I started with this head casting. I got it from the guy in Oamaru, it's a steel casting that was taken off an original bike. I cut of the handle bar spigot as it was to small for the 5/8" handle bar tube that i wanted to use. I got it in the 4 jaw running as true as i could get it and then machined the 2 degree taper down the length of it. I then drilled and reamed the hole for the adjusting bolt to 1/2" for the next step. I found a 1/2" center drill with a broken of end so i could modify it with out feeling bad, i welded it to a 1/2" rod and then ended up with a long center drill. With the long drill running really nicely in the reamed hole i cut the bottom bearing surface, the long center drill worked well and didn't wander at all when i started drilling. After that was done i bored it out some more and tapped it to 5/8" UNF. That finished off the head and i started on the fork tubes. For those i used the squashed round tube i got from Oamaru. The problem was that i didn't like the look of the long straight tubes when all the other parts on the bike were tapered so all i did was cut a big long triangle section out of them and welded them back up. Tacked back together And all welded up. These long welds were good practice for my tig welding, im slowly getting better at it. I get to do a tig course next year through my apprenticeship so im really looking forward to some proper instruction. For the fork end detail i just cut out some blocks and welded them on. Cut to shape and roughly filed up. And after final shaping and sanding with the bearing carriers fitted. Once all that was done i welded the 2 fork tubes to the machined head. I did a few plug welds aswell to make sure its as strong as it can be. Once that was done i gave it a good file up to fair it all in. The other problem with these fork tubes is that when the round was squashed flat i don't think they had a proper former in it so it was hollow in the middle. This didn't look to good either. Ever since seeing Manu's pics of leading his Ariel tank i wanted to give that a go, these fork tubes were the perfect thing to do so. I asked a good panel beater friend of mine if he would give me a hand and show how it was done so i got some pics of the process. First thing was getting the surface perfectly clean and getting some flux on it. Then tin the whole surface with the body solder Next was getting the lead on. It was a fairly big stick and you heat the end up with the torch until a lump falls of onto the bit of steel you just preheated. You work your way along until there are lumps of lead stuck to the length of the part. The key to the whole thing seemed to get all the lead on in one go so you don't have to put more on later over the top of it. He told me that it is much easier to file of excess lead than put more on. After that was done you go round and using a wooden shaper heat up each lump of lead at push it around until it is roughly the shape you want. After all the lead was on i gave it a real good scrub in water to get rid of all the flux and this is what the forks looked like Now for the fun? part, I dug out my dads body file and got into it. After the basic shaping it looked like this. It happened pretty quick because the lead is very easy to file as you can imagine. And what they looked like after finial filling and sanding. I have also machined up a new handle bar spigot and welded it on, its also tapped 5/8 UNF for the bars to screw into I also finished of and painted the rear saddle mount and spring. The leather saddle is riveted on with big copper rivets. The front seat mounts ready to be cut out All fitted up with the front mounts bent to shape. I also set up the adjusting screw in the rotary table and milled a 1/2" hex on it for your spanner to go on. And how the bike looks at the moment. I am wrapped with how the forks have turned out and they now look like they were in 1870. If i had handlebars i could ride the thing, i am going to strip it down and hopefully get primer on both the bikes this week. The ride that im doing on it is less then a month away now so hopefully the painting process will go smoothly and then i might even be able to get a bit of practice in! 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 I am speechless. You are one tellented dude! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kyteler Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 talented as well. I would also like to voice my appreciation. This is awesome work and I thoroughly enjoy watching it happen. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steelies Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 looking amazing louis. not sure if i'm happy or sad that adding lead is no longer a part of bike building haha, either way it's great to see it used to such good effect! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.QCR Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Looks amazing !!! Trying to convince myself and see if Pete is keen to head down to Oamaru for the day of riding / racing . Keen to race my Speedy BSA again 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyingbrick Posted September 13, 2015 Share Posted September 13, 2015 Is braking on these REALLY exciting? I might have to YouTube this later. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valiant Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 Looks amazing !!! Trying to convince myself and see if Pete is keen to head down to Oamaru for the day of riding / racing . Keen to race my Speedy BSA again Got plans to go already mate, you keen huh? Get that bike down and pump up the tyres! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghostchips Posted September 14, 2015 Share Posted September 14, 2015 This is inspiring craftsmanship, i like your welding too. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98cc Posted September 15, 2015 Author Share Posted September 15, 2015 Thanks for all the comments everyone! I suppose everything i do i try to do to the best of my abilities so i can have pride in the finished product. Thats what i couldn't understand at school engineering classes, most of the guys didint give a toss what their work turned out like and even if they finished it at all. There are so many awesome and inspiring projects on OS so its good if someone can get something out of what I'm doing. Steelies, i think lead should be encouraged for sure! BL, you should defiantly head to Oamaru if you are keen, the full ride that I'm doing is 4 days long, i can send you the details if you are keen. Also chuck a pic of that BSA up! FB, about the braking, these things generally dont have them. The main form of braking is by putting back pressure on the peddles. Some pennys have a spoon brake on the front tyre but they are pretty ineffective. Are you doing the full ride Valiant? Thanks rusti, its good that i dont need to go to my dad every time i need something welded now 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grunta Posted September 15, 2015 Share Posted September 15, 2015 this is brilliant man , the forks look perfect! great job~ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valiant Posted September 16, 2015 Share Posted September 16, 2015 Are you doing the full ride Valiant? No mate I just head down for the day. I'll look out for you. What colour are you going to paint it? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98cc Posted September 17, 2015 Author Share Posted September 17, 2015 Cool might see you there then. Supposedly back around 1870 they had only invented 3 colors. They were Black, dark blue and burgundy. As i am trying to make this one look like an original Its going to be a dark burgundy as lots of pennys are black and blue. I got the first coat of epoxy primer on the bikes and i got them all sanded up last night I will hopefully get another coat of primer on tonight and then give the bits a good wet sand and then topcoat sometime this weekend! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 98cc Posted September 28, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted September 28, 2015 Well the bikes are nearly finished now which is good because im flying down to chch next Monday to start the ride! The top coat color has also been sprayed on all the parts. One of the last jobs that had to be done was to make the handlebars. I originally thought i was going to have to find someone with a tube bender and mandrels suitable for the job but i managed to find some 2.5mm wall hydraulic tube and this bent very easily without wanting to collapse at all. The handle bars are bent with a hump in them to clear your legs at the top of the peddle stroke. There is a piece of threaded rod welded into one end for the bars to screw into the head assembly Starting the bend With a little bit of heat on the outside of the bend the tube just pulled around And bending the other side to match (the hard part!) I got the bars and all the fasteners nickel plated, i did all the polishing myself to save time and cost at the platers. I can highly recommend Electroless Coating Systems Glenfield for any nickle plating you want done, top service and they do a very good job. I also did the grips, for those i raided my dads file draw, i was lucky i found 2 with exactly the same wooden handles After trimming a bit of each end a putting a 5/8 hole up the middle and giving them a good sand they looked like this And stuck onto the bars, they are still wet with the first coat of sealer, there are a couple coats of varnish to go on yet. All going to plan final assembly of both bikes should be tomorrow night 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned Posted September 28, 2015 Share Posted September 28, 2015 Fantastic work man. Love it! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
98cc Posted October 4, 2015 Author Share Posted October 4, 2015 Thanks Ned! Its all done now just about to do a big update 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Popular Post 98cc Posted October 4, 2015 Author Popular Post Share Posted October 4, 2015 Well I think i can call this project finished and I will report if its been successful after the ride haha. Both of the bikes are done, I had a big assembly day last Sunday and I have ridden them around the block a couple of times now and they both go really well. I haven't got any pictures of them both together yet but i just took a few of my bike so here's a big pic dump of it all finished. Tonight's job is to wrap it all up ready for its trip down to chch in the plane with me tomorrow night. The ride that i'm doing starts in Arundel at 11pm Tuesday. The ride ends at Akaora on Friday after about 180km of riding. Im doing the chch swapmeet on saturday as well which should be a pretty good event. 23 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rookie Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Good job man, you should be well stoked. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Value Buddy Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Be proud my friend, be proud. Hope to roll with you some day. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris.QCR Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 Great job !! This is amazing workmanship !! I hope to bump into you at the swapmeet ! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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