Ya don't hafta "drop out" weekend - there's no time limit (thank gawd lol) and we'll be here keepin' an eye out fer you and yer bike whenever ya get a chance
silver - 'Grey Ghost' is an awesome name fer the bike, but I thought it immodest given the only reference I was aware of was the 1920's Rolls Royce Silver/Gray Ghost:
CarPictures.com - Rolls-Royce 20HP Sedan - The Affordable Silver Ghost - 1929 Pictures Much as I like my bike... it's no Rolls lol - Still, perhaps it'll stick heh
As for a nice workshop w/a woodstove - yes that'd be freakin' GREAT! Don't let my pics fool ya, although that is my basement and that woodstove does get used... sadly the shop space has been completely infiltrated by piles other people's stuff. Surrounded by 'puter equipment, piles of laundry and a ton of random tools - the Rollfast has been (almost) entirely built in my office/bedroom... which my 'puters nor my bedding appreciate very much heh. In all fairness to my housemates - part of the chaos was due to the repeated floods we had this season and my (perhaps misplaced) desire to be nice and reduce the 4am noise by putting another door between them and my tinkering, the reliable baseboard heat mighta had sumfin' to do with my retreat as well lol
As for the different styles of build between you, bairdco and I - I've always thought it the very best thing about this thread! Baird's psychopathic lil screamer inspiring awe and fear - proving "old" has no relation to "slow" heh, and yers proving there's nothing "girlie" about vintage step-through frames... with a engine, a TON of work, and endless care and craftsmanship - it's defo a "looker" and then some
I actually managed to get a bunch done yesterday - tho little of it is apparent in a pic. One of the things that's not blatantly obvious in the photos is the fact that my bike's hasn't
actually been truly assembled - tho the parts have been in place, it's just a "fitting" as I've had to fabricate so much, there's little point in gettin' stuff dialed in when I hafta just take it all apart again and again and again... Yet yesterday morning I got up and started sanding and painting the tank (more is needed still ofc) and while it dried I tackled the rest of the bike, sorting out details and adjustments and tryin' to beat the cables into submission.
I needed to grab a few things from work (longer plug wire & NGK cap, copper tubing & compression fittings etc.), as it was sucha nice day I wanted to be able to pedal in on the Rollfast - to not only strut my stuff but to see how "dialed in" the bike was. I'm happy to report that although it's freakin'
heavy it rides like a dream, the sturmey archers not only working flawlessly but surprisingly silent, the bike also coasts foooorever with little to no drag. If it weren't for what will be a screamin' 2smoker - the name 'Gray Ghost' may be more appropriate than I thought heh
I thought I was used to the responses with my Schwinn, anyone that rides one of these things gets inured to the flattering but incessant questions... but even though I was just
pedaling an incomplete project - people FREAKED out! While with the Schwinn I expect questions and comments when I come back out of the lil convenience store - I had not one but TWO cars pull over and stop while I was rollin' down the road, just to ask about my ol' bike
The first was an old fella that recognized the Rollfast for what it... well... usta be as he had one when he was a kid, the other a buncha motorheads that I imagine will now be ordering kits of their own lol
I
have noticed I get lots more questions/comments when it's simply nice outside - no one cares much 'bout motorized bikes when there's a blizzard heh
Anyhoo - here's a coupla pics, I managed to get all the cables routed about how I want them, their curves right - I just need to have 'em on top of the lower tank tube instead of under it (didn't bother as I need to pull the tank again), bairdco will be pleased to see both the brake noodle on the clutch and the CDI tucked away under the motor (I fear he'd hunt me down ifn I didn't lol), The lil copper fuel line sorted and the SBP exhaust completed - except lacking an exhaust clamp and those pesky hose clamps on the chainstay. The hose clamp method of mounting the glasspack silencer works
great, my Schwinn not only had thousands of miles with it mounted like that, but it even survived being cartwheeled in a pretty epic crash (my buddy crashed the Schwinn months ago) - I just don't think them up to the same standard as the rest of the build. I'll be welding a mount plate to the backside of the aluminum silencer... at some point lol
*shrug* There's still no electricals... I don't think I'll be wiring up a kill switch on this 'un as I'd rather keep the wires to a minimum (and use the button for the horn that's in the headlight housing), there's more than enough blasted cables on this thing as it is. Besides, the CNS has that nifty remote choke so why not use it? The gen hub, headlight & taillight... yea... I'm gettin' to 'em heh