"kindalikeawhizzer"

Got up to water the garden and feed the wood stove, checked the clock and saw that it was five something (or was it six something?), heated up a cup of coffee and sat down to the laptop. Nice to catch up a bit on forum doings in the pre-dawn. Just noticed that I misread the clock and it is now going on 1:00 A.M. Good grief. Not that it actually matters. These kinds of things seem to be part of geezerdom which I'm trying to laugh at and accept. For those of you young folks at fifty or so, go ahead and laugh, but keep in mind you are being forewarned of coming detractions in the feature show of old age. The great silver screen has a few holes in it.

Ipana toothpaste. I still remember at least part of the T.V. advertising jingle. "Brusha brusha brusha, with a new Ipana... you're bound to crack a smile!" (or break a smile or something a smile. Bucky Beaver, railroad engineer had a nice set of teeth but a really stupid jingle. A memory I have from around 13 or so is in being half asleep while prepping for school and mistaking a tube of Colgate toothpaste with my brother's tube of Brylcream hair lube as they had the same white and red tube. Woke me right up and I did have a brilliant smile that day. Those dang jingles would get into your head like a sound loop and start killing off brain cells right and left. "Brylcream, a little dab'll do ya, Brylcream, you'll look so debanaire." There, if you're old enough to remember, your brain has just been fed a jingle virus. Good luck shaking it off. Mental floss is about the only thing to get rid of it. Insert through right ear to left and vigorously floss. It really does work, but may lead to migraine headaches which is still better than having the jingles. Ha.

NIMBY, I thought that might have to do with being nimble, like in Jack being nimble or possibly having to do with mamby pamby which I never understood either. Life is full of mysteries, eh? Sigh. Yes, I live in cold country, but it helps to keep out the riffraff. There's another one... what exactly is riffraff? More sigh...

Ah, Steve is negotiating I see. So if you become chef at motorbicycle summer camp (for boys who never grew up) then I have to do my own welding? Hadn't thought of that.
Dang, there's always something to screw up a good thing. We'll talk about it, eh?

So, Ray, you can switch the wires around on the ignition module? How do you check the strength of the spark, just see how it runs? These modules might make good replacements on the old villiars 2 strokes which I understand had Lucas electrics. I recall Steve calling Lucas Electric "The Prince of Darkness" and saying it was the reason for the warm beer in England. Not a great reputation for solid electronics. Maybe the Nova II is here to save the day.

Well, now that I've had my first morning coffee and it is 1:30 A.M. I guess I'll stare at the "kindalikeawhizzer", read awhile and then take a nap, get up a little closer to dawn and try again. Good morning!
SB

Bluegoat,
Opportunities for making a decent living in rural parts is not so good, including in my neck of the woods. Many of the young people are forced to leave seeking gainful employment in the big cities, as you did onceupona. But it is hard to forget such country, isn't it? Paradise is not so easily forgotten and we come back to it in our dreams and longings for connection to a world more real and natural than the one made of concrete and glass and asphalt. I know very well how fortunate I am. And my impending move to Ely is not such a great shift; it is not leaving this paradise behind. It sounds like a trip home to Michigan or similar might be a good thing for you. Do you think? The roads that took you away also lead back home to the land of dreams.

Steve,
Bringing the grill and stove for outdoor cooking will raise the bar and take things to another culinary level at the Roadkill Cafe with outdoor dining. How chic! Will this require chairs or will stumps do?

While I did not go all the way to Duluth today, I did make a road trip to Virginia, Mn. (seventy five mile round trip) to visit L&M (our version of tractor supply) and Menards (like Home depot) for bike stuff. I found a tap for the compression release valve so will able to drill and tap soon, bought more of the brown Van Sickles tractor paint for the body of the "kindalikeawhizzer" and of the same brand a can of cream for the fender accents and hopeful pin striping. Dang, just remembered that I forgot Bondo for the fenders. Ah well, next time. Picked up a blade balancer for balancing the Tecumseh flywheel and want to get the engine back together soon and make the intake manifold and then an air cleaner.

I also picked up materials for making a set of handlebars. A very cool set of handlebars I have been thinking about for some time... heh heh heh. Actually the handlebars will be for the Elgin Velocipede and the set of handlebars currently on it will be donors for the "kindalikeawhizzer"... oooh oooh ooh, just wait for the next show & tell! More harmless madness. The velocipede is fun because I can be as crazy as I want and who's to say that isn't how they did things back in 1934? And I'll be the only kid on my block with ones like these. Oh boy.

I also swapped out front forks on the "kindalikeawhizzer", removing the Hercules fork and replacing it with one from a light Amerchi/Harley Davidson motorcycle from the 1970's. The donor fork I had set aside for the delta trike, but it is just right for this build so it has a new home. The drum brake stop on the leg fits the drum brake hub and the length of the head tube matches that of the bike, so it is a done deal. Pretty soon I'll paint it brown and that will be one less thing to paint later on. Fenders will be next after a little body work.

I also made a keyed drop stand catch in the spirit of the one invented by Tinsmith and want to get that installed on the Velocipede. All of the little time consuming detail work that can be done before summer means more time for more essential work. If we could make up the engine mounts before summer that would allow me to get more done on the driveline of the "kindalikeawhizzer". The split collar part of the mounts (a pair of them) should arrive this week. If I make the steel parts which get welded to the collars and sent them to you with accurate patterns so the angles are right do you think you could weld them up? Think about it.

Also, when you box up the Mikuni carb for the Tecumseh, please also pack in the extra Walbro carb for the Jacobsen 2 stroke. I want to start preparing that engine for a someday swap with the Predator in the American flyer. No more Chinese motors on my American bikes. Doesnt seem quite right to have a Chinese motor on an American flyer. Not criticizing the Chinese motors; I just like the idea of using nice vintage ones... the American Jacobsen and Tecumseh, two classy Villiars engines from long ago England and a lovely old German Sachs engine from 1934. Sweet motors all and without plastic parts or poor castings. Well made vintage engines for vintage bikes feels right to me. To each their own. These bikes are as close as I will ever come to having grand old motorcycles. What fun it is. Can't wait for bike camp 2015...
SB

Bluegoat,
It is good to have grown up in a place and time that brings back fond memory of a youth which informed who we are today. You and I are fortunate to have experienced a rich natural environment. When I see children in the current news torn and displaced by war and hunger it is a sad thing.

And it is true that this thread wanders and dithers like an old fellow who sometimes loses his way and forgets what he is doing, distracted by one thing or another. Still, it comes back home again eventually to tinker some more and make a bit more progress. Those who lose patience move on to another thread of greater interest to them and of faster pace. I admit that my builds stretch this way and that and seem to take forever. But when they are all done and there are no more projects... then what? So what's the rush?

Perhaps it is something like breaking bread with friends. Savoring a good repast is more than satisfying hunger; it is also the sharing of stories and smiles in between the chewing, ingesting a different kind of food is a good aide to digestion of the first kind, I think. Some like fast food and getting it over with. I tend to eat slowly with a lot of chewing. Ha.

MT,
It would be nice to have a hanger sized work space, wouldn't it? And we forum members could divide up the space so we all had some to share. Come to think of it this forum is a kind of virtual hanger, isn't it?

Steve,
Maybe snapping turtle could be substituted for armadillo. And cooking it up under a portable garage sounds like great fun. Stop welding for a bit to stir the armadillo zoup. I have a double burner propane camp stove, by the way. My propane barbecue was crushed by the top half of a white pine which came down in a big wind last winter, so no barbecue. I do have a good supply of stumps. Might want to dig a fire pit nearby, too.

I'll look forward to getting the carburetors and hope the intake manifold I have in mind for the Tecumseh works out. Once the engine is back together and the split collars are in hand I can start bending some metal for welding up the mounts. Over the weekend I want to drill and tap for the compression release valve, perhaps get started on the handlebars. I know you're wondering about that. "Now what the hail hair brained thing is he doing that probably won't work!" Ah, but it will... see you at show N tell.
SB

Hey Curt,
I know it's that armadillo soup that you're wanting more than anything else, but I hope you can come for awhile this summer. Get your motorbike done this winter and we'll go riding this summer. Woohoo! Snowing hard up my way... very nearly a whiteout with eight inches coming today, a couple tonight, more tomorrow and the next day followed by basement temperatures and windchill. It's pretty out though with the trees all laden in snow. Fire up the snow blower tomorrow. Winter in Minnesota, eh? Stay warm, bud.
SB

Steve,
Give it a week or so for the mystery to reveal itself. First things first. Tomorrow is clearing paths & driveway with the snow blower. How's that for responsible, adult-like behavior?

The split collars arrived today. Nice. I went ahead and ordered a third one for the brace going to the head bolts. I have some steel you left behind from summer camp and will make up pre-cut and bent pieces so that all you have to do is weld them to the collars. The one we'll use as the anchor we can weld to the frame this summer. Slick way to go with the engine mounts and another tip of the hat to CB2.

How's that knee healing up?
SB

It's been awhile. After some nasty cold in the minus 25-30 range we've had a warm up into the balmy upper 20's above zero with some rain which has knocked down the snow pack a good bit. Wood supply is still holding up nicely and here it is almost February in the annual hibernation. When the sun is scarce for any length of time I tend to pull the covers over my head and wait til spring or sun, whichever comes first. So, not a lot of progress on the bike, but a number of books were read. But some progress. Pictured below is the wood shed and the first trimming away of finwork for the compression release valve. I'm almost done with that now since the photo was taken. I had to get another flat topped grinding bit for flattening the area around the new threaded hole. Now I'm looking for my copper gasket sealant, figuring to use that as a kind of thread lock. If that's a bad idea or there's a better one I'd appreciate the heads up.

There's also a photo of the inside of the headlight for the benefit of Tinsmith who has access to the leftovers of my copper sheet in his shop. Dan, if you would please, while you have things out for making up the copper gas tank for the Elgin Velocipede (no hurry), I'd very much appreciate your cutting a doughnut shaped piece of copper for the inside of the headlight to act as a surround for the lens and to kind of hide what now shows on the tin can headlight housing.

This is to continue a theme of copper and silver like with the flywheel cover. Copper and silver is going to be like a motif that gets repeated a bit... in the headlight and also in the handlebars which will combine chrome with copper as shown in the next post. The measurements on the copper doughnut are 3& 1/4" diameter at the outer edge and 1 7/8" diameter at the inside edge. I know the outside diameter is simple on your circle making machine/tool deal since I watched you cut some. Pretty slick. The inside diameter maybe is more time consuming, so I can deal with that, having lots of time on my hands. I know, the disc is kind of anal, but will contribute to um, something or other of possible artistic merit when all is said and done. A little somethin'. Humor the old bear, if you will.
(cont.)
SB

Between two builds going on at opposite ends of my old trailer house in the woods, I've been binging on copper. The Velocipede now has a copper headlight, copper jewel tail lights, is getting a front fender light in copper with an amber beveled glass lens and brass dragon fly wings (woohoo) and in the middle of the night a couple of weeks ago a vision (brainfart) entered me thinker and I saw possibilities for making a copper handlebar. Yes, sparklers were going off in me little brain, smoke coming out me great ears, me crossed eyes were spinning in their sockets!!! Got out of bed, fed the wood stove ("feed me!") and turned on the light over the workbench to do some creative staring at the Velocipede.

Oh boy... all that gold (okay, pretend gold) copper starting out all shiny at the build's coming out party for vintage debutant step through motorbikes and then gracefully adding patina through the years for that truly vintage early motorcycle look. Be still, my beating heart.

I took a trip to the nearest biggish town, Virginia, MN to a building supply (Menards) to purchase 3/4" copper water pipe in the heavy gauge (substantial stuff) with all of the appropriate fittings in couplings, 90 degree and 45 degree elbows plus a couple of T's for a cross member in 1/2" (about $25.00 worth of stuff). Photos of this handlebar will accompany an update for the Velocipede build when I get around to it. After all my initial enthusiasm for it, now that it is stuck together... I don't know, it might be a bit much. Some serious and long range creative staring is in order over the course of the winter. We will see. Different as the bike is I might be able to pull it off. Who's to say what a 1934 Elgin Velocipede looked like when new? (I won't tell.)

All of which leads up to a toned down version I'm considering for the "kindalikeawhizzer. After swapping out a different suspension front end from a light weight Harley Davidson Amerchi motorcycle from the 1970's I think, painted the same brown the frame will be, I mounted the art deco headlight and stubby chrome handle bars long ago cut way from something bigger from the dump. The stub has been around for a couple of years at least coming close more than once for a trip to the landfill metal pile. I think I was keeping it for the straight sections of tubing. Never know when you might need that.

Pictured below is the stub rising from the triple tree fork. A 3/4" 45 degree street elbow slides onto the handlebar snugly and is joined to a straight section of 3/4" heavy gauge copper water pipe. Copper and silver together like with the flywheel cover and the copper disc in the chrome tear drop headlight. A motif! I think I like it. The elbow determines the angle of bend at 45 degrees, but it also allows for the side to side width to be chosen... farther away from or closer to the rider's body. How much rise you want (how high up your hands are) is set by how long the stub is. This one will probably get cut back so that it is lower. I don't like the feel of ape hangers and I want the copper sections to be parallel with the ground (in line with the copper exhaust pipe). I think I like this handlebar, but will decide where to cut it once the bike is outside sitting on the ground with me sitting on the bike.

I won't try to solder the copper to the chrome sections. It is already snug and small brass bolts threaded into the steel stub will keep it secure. Now all the bars will need is the right leather grips... coming right up.
(Cont.)
SB

The last photo on the prior page shows an elk hide tanned with gold dye. My former wife #3 who I am still good friends with recently gave it to me thinking I might use it for moccasins (and probably hoping I will make her a pair). Gold is a little bright for my idea of moccasins, but it might be just the thing for covering the saddle and making handlebar grips for this "kindalikeawhizzer". Below photos show the seat I'll be using which is the same model as has been sitting on the bike, but in black and fairly beat up. Schwinn used these for awhile in the late seventies or maybe into the mid eighties and they are very comfortable, even if they don't look it. They have the large springs in back, but the comfort comes from what look like mattress springs under the padding. Nice. The leather is fairly thick, buttery soft elk which wears well. I use it for all of my seats and grips, moccasins and mukluks. I've not yet cut into the leather as I'm always reluctant to cut it just like cutting into stained glass. Neither is inexpensive, and once cut there's no putting it back to the way it was.

I'll document with photos when I do cut and assemble the seat. And when the foam grips I purchased on ebay arrive from Hong Kong (very inexpensive if you're not in a hurry to get them) I'll also document how I make them look great covered in hand stitched hide. A comfortable seat for a bony old butt and cushy grips kind to old hands help to make for a nice riding experience. When you're building your own machine, you might as well do it just the way you want it, right?

See you at the next show & tell.
SB

Dan,
Thank you sir. If cutting out the center of the disc is by hand, let me do it. My hands are more youthful than your prematurely beat up ones. Button up for that blizzard coming your way. I may be in the area this spring to sell my travel trailer on Catoctin Mountain, mid April to mid May, somewhere in there. If so I'll bring a motorbike and we're goin' ridin', Bud!

Anne,
Yes, the mattress saddles are winners. I never heard them called by that name, but the construction is reminiscent. I consider them one of the most comfortable ever and treasures.
SB