Here comes the baddest of the bad!

[Creative Engineering]

This Morini powered Schwinn Spoiler was custom built for forum member GeneFiorot.

After many months of literally looking at this bike and trying to figure out how to "Morini" motorize it, without hacking the original bike, it is 95% complete.

There were a lot of hurdles to overcome in order to pull it off. It is not easy to motorize what was not meant to be motorized and create a finished product that is reliable, safe, and appears "production".

The drive set-up solves two problems:

1) Chain alignment from the engine to the rear wheel.

2) How to retain the original rear disc brake and arrive at a final drive ratio that is not too tall.

The engine mounts needed to be placed so that the engine would sit in the frame naturally yet still provide the neccessary unitization that makes the engine "one with the frame", and not a hap-hazard mounted stress monster that promotes future frame cracks.

The tuned pipe: how to route it, how to make it fit the bike, (look good), how to retain the dimensional data provided by Morini, was also a bit of work.

The additional details of the design process will be added with the pics that follow.

Jim

 

[GearNut]

Looking good!
I can appreciate all the engineering that you did to get that just right fitment and look.
It looks very well crafted.

 

[Crazy Horse]

This one Jim is off the HOOK, you said it badest of the bad!!!!

Congrats to you Gene, that ride is what I call "Spot On",
and reminds me of The Late Great " Indian Larry", old school meets the new High Tech School!!!

Jim one word "Genius".

Peace Crazy Horse.

 

[Creative Engineering]

This one Jim is off the HOOK, you said it badest of the bad!!!!

Congrats to you Gene, that ride is what I call "Spot On",
and reminds me of The Late Great " Indian Larry", old school meets the new High Tech School!!!

Jim one word "Genius".

Peace Crazy Horse.

Thanks Crazy Horse!

When Gene told me that he wanted to do a tribute to "Indian Larry"...It really made me think...How can I do this bicycle, mechanically, right so that a pro motorcycle builder would say "that's cool".

Indian Larry was a true artist...he mastered the mechanical and the cosmetic in his builds.

Jim

 

[Creative Engineering]

The drive set-up is simple, and very easy to maintain.

Note the fact that the bearing shaft is eccentric to the housing...by turning the entire housing in the bracket...the engine chain can easily be tensioned.

Jim

 

[Creative Engineering]

An SRAM internal dynamo front hub is used for lighting.

I retrofitted the Harley Davidson headlight unit with a Qty: 12 light emmiting diode array, of my own design.

It works great.

Jim

 

[Creative Engineering]

Pro done!

Jim

 

[GearNut]

The attention to cosmetic detailing is impressive.

 

[foureasy]

nice pipe!

 

[bairdco]

that's pretty amazing. i'll admit it's not my style (), but i salute and respect the work you've done to build that up.

 

[michaelgrav]

SWEEEEEEET!!! Great Job! I would be afraid of running that at full speed!

 

[GeneFiorot]

Thanks for all the comments. It has been an interesting time for me since I discovered this hobby. It happened by accidents. Literally. To begin, me a bored retired guy needing to do something I found a “New Career” A parts man in a Custom Motorcycle Shop in Naples Florida. I had just purchased my first motorcycle at 53 years old. I spent a year digesting the catalogs and magazines, visiting multiple internet forums and web sites and picking the brains of the mechanics until I became the “go to dude” for customization ideas and bike building possibilities. It was pretty funny when hardcore bikers with tattoos, chains, boots, bandanas, you know the whole getup, are asking a retired Television Director/ Producer what they should do for their bikes. By 55 I had two radical custom Harleys in my garage. Then the first accident hit. My stepson riding a rice burner had a very serious accident. Being close to death for awhile ended any of my enthusiasm to ride. The bikes got sold and I left my new found career. Just a Cager for Ole Gene from now on. As time went on and 14 operations later with permanent disability , things slowly returned to normal and I got an itch. I saw a Schwinn Spoiler in an ad. I figured perfect! I will buy a chopper bicycle and ride around the neighborhood and if it is cold enough I can even wear my leather. I got it and rode it, wished it had a 3 speed hub, got a lot of thumbs up looks and at the end of the day it collected dust in the garage. Until one day I was showing the bike to friends who wondered out loud “ Imagine if that thing had a motor?” Accident 2 A motor ? Hey now there is an idea. Wa La Holy cow! I google and I discover all you guys out here doing this already. Like When do you all get here? I’m in. I am going to build a Motorized Spoiler. Needless to say there are many twists and turns but the best one was finding Jim Manic Mechanic at Creative Engineering in Clearwater. Only an hour and a half driving distance from me. We talked and we met and I explained my experience and he explained his. We came to a conclusion we wanted to build the best Spoiler ever. I am not a fabricator, I am not a machinist, I am not even that great with a wrench but I am good at a few things. One is determination to do it once committed, I understand mechanical concepts, I embrace new technology, and I have a vision of a style to achieve on a motorcycle and I can make and utilize resources in order to achieve it.

I met Indian Larry before his death we had a nice time talking Brooklyn and stuff. Being thankful for still having my Stepson around I decided the theme for the project would be an Indian Larry Tribute Bike.

A bunch of people deserve credit for this. My good friend Al Brush Battista the Old Skool Pinstriper check him out on Pinhead Lounge Pinstriping Archive - Dedicated to the Preservation of the Art of Kustom and Traditional Pinstriping John Grenga of Seat fabricator. Charlotte County Auto Body for painting the Tank and spending a lot of time finding the direct match for the stock Spoiler paint, Eric at SmartBikeParts.com who spent a lot of time with me working out the S Ram Dynamo hub and the Surly Big Marge Wheel, Alan at Chopperus.com for putting up with me. And most of all my Wife Virginia for leaving me alone to do this. So I’m back I own a bike. There are a few things still to do on this one this week though. A custom chain guard and one more Major Indian Larry touch, just wait until you see the picture of that. For the near future I am also considering Hydraulic Brakes and a switchless motion detecting brake light.

Ya know Jim and I have been talking and we really like the idea of a Pro-Street Style 280 Wide Tire Inverted Front end Bike next. Yea I know you some of you want your sprocket adapters calm down. This bike took 18 months. Be patient.
I hope I haven’t bored you .
Gene

 

[Crazy Horse]

Here's a lil information about this Indian Larry, for those of you who'd like to know the inspiration behind this build:

Larry Desmedt known as Indian Larry passed away on August 30, 2004 Larry died doing what he loved most, performing his most famous stunt, standing on the seat of the moving motorcycle for cheering fans when the bike started to wobble, and he lost control. Indian Larry's inspiration was 50's - 60's motorcycle clubs, Ed "Big Daddy" Roth and the legendary, Von Dutch. The skilled machinist, metal-sculptor and master motorcycle mechanic won countless custom shows, participated in motorcycle racing, and originated the hard-core motorcycle style - a blend between classic choppers and hotrod race bikes. Indian Larry's resume includes movie, video, television, and magazine spreads. His eccentric nature combined with a unique and colorful appeal has gathered great interest from media, producing a fanatic fan base. Larry could be found around beautiful women, tattoos, motorcycles, and the Coney Island Polar Bear Club. In Larry's own words to Joann Bortles, of Crazy Horse Painting in North Carolina, he explained one of his many philosophies. To seize the moment, and to have no fear, he said are of utmost importance. "Never take a moment for granted no matter how bad it feels," Larry said. "Life is so precious and it goes by so fast." Larry lived his life the way he wanted to, no apologizes, he was his own man, a lone wolf... and thats why people loved him. Larry, you will be missed.... but never forgotten


Indian Larry "The Emperor of Old Skool"
Indian Larry kicked off life in April of 1949, a good year for bikes. The Harley Panhead and Indian Chiefs ruled American highways. In the tiny Upstate, NY town of Cornwall, in the Hudson River Valley, a future legend in the Art of choppers was born. A few years later, the family moved a town over to New Windsor, where Larry's love for Motorcycles began.

Larry was fascinated with the idea of motorized bikes. His first "Chopper"creation was built from his younger sister Tina's little tricycle, by adding an engine from an old lawn mower, a set of ape hanger handlebars and riding it around his neighborhood while standing on the rear step. His curious mind was never satisfied. Many people don't know the true story of how Larry lost a finger. He decided to build a better skyrocket for the 4th of July and blew it off, while constructing his prototype in the basement of his family's home.
Larry in 1983.

Later, Larry laid down metal flake and his initial MC work was handle in the back yard shed, belonging to his life long friend Ted Doering. That wooden shed of Ted's eventually grew to be Ted's V-Twin Cycle parts.

Larry grew up moved to NYC. He was an artist and wanted to be a part of "the scene" and NYC's Greenwich Village was the place to be in the late '60s and early '70s for someone with Larry's talent and vision. Hippies, Bohemians and all other types of free spirited individuals flocked to Greenwich during a time when creative juices were free to overflow. But Larry was never a follower. He also didn't want to be a leader, he just wanted to be Larry.


Larry thought that a motorcycle could and should be something more than just basic transportation. His first photo feature was published in the old Iron Horse Magazine. Issue # 70 November 1987. It was of his chopped 1950 Indian Chief. I remember the bike well. It had a Cerianni Road Race front end and flames painted on one side of the gas tank and scallops on the other. Larry, not to be mistaken for a hippie, sported a greaser style haircut and only had one tattoo at the time. If memory serves, it was a Harley flaming skull.

Because of that bike and after the article ran, he became known around town as Indian Larry.

Larry and a few friends, Paul Cox, Steg and Frank, banded together wrenching and artistic skills and opened a motorcycle shop on NYC's Lower East Side called Psycho Cycles in the early '90s. The shop moved to Rivington St. then to it's current location at 151 N. 14 St. which became Gasoline Alley in Williamsburg Brooklyn's industrial district. It is now named Indian Larry Enterprises.
In 2001, Indian Larry was invited to ride to Sturgis and set up at the Camel Road House with Jesse James and Chopper Dave, which was filmed for the Discovery Channel's Motorcycle Mania. Larry was a natural character having been in movies and TV commercials before hand. His glowing genuine personality quickly attracted the attention of producer Hugh King.

Mr. King knew a good thing when he saw it so Larry was asked to participate in his new Discovery show "The Great Biker Build Off" series. Anyone who enjoyed watching the show witnessed what Larry was all about.

Ultimately Larry was pitted against his good friend Billy Lane, of Choppers Inc., in a build off. At the final public judging of the bikes, Larry was deemed to be the winner. In his moment of triumph, Larry had the class to announce to the crowd and to the whole world that both he and Billy should share equally in the first place glory. Both bikes were an honest expression of the builder's art and skills, and it wasn't about which bike was the best. Both Larry and Billy and their crews put their hearts and souls into their respective bikes. That's the kind of person Larry was.

Larry was invited to be a guest on the Regis Philbin show and also did his famous daredevil stunts during David Letterman's Late Night show.

Larry went on to do a few more shows for the Discovery Channel's Biker Build Off series. He was featured on the cover of The Horse/BackStreet Choppers Magazine numerous times as well as Easyriders and just about every big time motorcycle magazine from as far away as Japan and Finland.

It was during the weekend last of August 2004 that Larry finished his latest and most spectacular creation, the Chain of Mystery bike for another Biker Build Off. With Larry in the lead riding the bike, that he and his talented crew built in just 10 days, they rode from NYC to the Liquid Steel show in Charlotte, NC.

Biography for Indian Larry:

Date of Birth
28 April 1949, Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York, USA

Date of Death
30 August 2004, Concord, North Carolina, USA (motorcycle accident)

Birth Name
Lawrence Desmedt

It seems as though Creative Engineering always has something special going on at their own secret ( Area 51-Skunk Works ), R & D research & design department.

All the continued success & ingenuity coming from and to you and yours Jim ( Manic Mechanic aka Creative Engineering ),

Peace Crazy Horse.

P.S.Congrats again Gene Beautiful Build!
Gene's Indian Larry Tribute Custom Paint:

 

[2dawgs]

Too bad Larry did not subscribe to wearing a helmet; he would still be with us creating off the hook cool bikes. I love his creative genuis and being an original. Just wish all motor riders would know how important it is to wear a helmet. Learn from this sad ending to a great Motor Head.

 

[GeneFiorot]

It will be nice to think this bike will bring up that discussion for guys with bicycles too.

 

[TerrontheSnake]

WoW, when I read the title of this post I wasn't 100% sure I was about to see the Baddest of the Bad...........Now I know I really was on my way to see the baddest of the bad, it's literally my dream bike! Damn I want a spoiler, wish I would have gotten one when they came out, I never see em any more or there just to rich for my pockets.

 

[Mr D]

One word. WOW !!!! OK,... two more...FU*% SWEET !!!!

YOU are a master Jim. I am humbled to see you here on this forum. Thanks for posting. (Deep bow as crowd cheers in background)

 

[silverbear]

Gene & Jim,
Wonderful collaboration. The bar keeps getting raised. From the big concept to the smallest detail... perfect.
SB

 

[kicking]

that looks a whole lot like the hardknock bobber , except a lot of people are useing 110cc rainbird engines (if they are still around ). Schwinn may be catching on to what people are doing with their bikes ? If so we may see motorized Schwinns soon

 

[GeneFiorot]

Gene & Jim,
Wonderful collaboration. The bar keeps getting raised. From the big concept to the smallest detail... perfect.
SB

Becoming Great Friends over this is the best part for me.