Indian Tadpole

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fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,470
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British Columbia Canada
Rick,
As always it's a parts wait. They are in Blaine Washington at the mail drop off and now it's a matter of getting over the border when there isn't a 2 hour wait.
Some of the parts I had sent here because they don't use Big Brown or Fed-Ex who clip us for "Brokers fees" based on a percentage of the value. If it's mailed rarely do we have to pay any duty.

I am still working on it but basically it's nothing stuff that isn't picture worthy. I'll brave the storm Wednesday or Thursday and go and get them. Maybe I can include some in depth photos of how I filed down the welds on the handle bars to get everyone over the hump until there is some real action going. :)

Steve.
 
Jul 15, 2009
594
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waukegan IL. U.S.A.
Steve : just got back from texas ,trying to reread these threads . Please know we all feel that family is the most important thing in life ,bikes can wait . A trip can happen next year,Your family needs you now .
My Mom is turning 80 in september ,and I worry about Her everyday . I can only imagine what Your going thru .
I wish there was something I could say here to make things different ,just know our thoughts are with You and Your family. Jim B.
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,470
4,954
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British Columbia Canada
Hi Jim,
Hope you had a good and pleasant trip. it's true that a trip is anytime and parents are once in a lifetime. It was a bit of a shocker when the hospital discharged Mom and then called the next day to say that blood work showed that she had the super bug and shouldn't have been discharged. They contacted our doctor who called the pharmacy to give them a prescription and that worked for a couple of days but then she was rushed to the hospital just before midnight. Her blood pressure dropped to 30 before the ambulance left the house and then went to 112. Took almost 15 minutes for them to get it leveled out so they could leave.

When we got to the hospital Mom had no recollection of what happened. A couple of days later she had the hospital call my brother in late at night since he has the power of attorney because she was sure she wouldn't make it through the night and wanted to make sure everything was OK with her papers.

Now, fast forward three weeks. she's home and climbs the flight of stairs to her apt here at the house like she is 70 at best and then a few days latter is hosting her pals for their weekly Mahjong game and is the life of the party.
You just can't under estimate the human spirit when it comes to survival.

Hope that your Mom is enjoying good health. Does she live near you? That is always a bit easier if she does.
She turn 80 in September and I turn 70. Wasn't so long ago that those were just numbers and now, to us, it's a fact.

It's a constant worry for all of us with elderly parents. I know one member who is the sole care giver to his elderly Father and my hat is off to him for doing it.
I can't imagine having a parent in a senior citizens home. My brother has a friend who works in one and the stories he has about the way they are run and how the patients and staff are treated by the owners is nothing short of criminal.

Wish you Mom a Happy Birthday for me and may she enjoy many more in good health.

Steve.
 
Jul 15, 2009
594
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waukegan IL. U.S.A.
Steve ,wow I'm really glad to read that ur mom is on the mend !
Reading old posts is like watching reruns of tv some times ,your going along sort of skiming then ????
The whole reason for the trips to texas this year was to deal with property my dad left my brother ,that his dad gave up on decades ago! And left him...
What fun roaming around threating people to pay up or leave property they thought was family owned for 20 years.
The worst part is my brothers dont realy want mom to know what were up too,and were really close (like when they can read your thoughts close)and only four blocks away.
My life is real simple these days, Mom,Dog ,bike ,beer...not sure what I'm gona do if any of those things change?
We'll just have to try and meet up next year and hope for the best aye..Jim
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,470
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British Columbia Canada
Rick,
He has a video of him riding the bike and the sidecar with the orange/red roof. I broke into a sweat and though to myself, Haven't you heard of gas motors. He did have one with a friction motor but I couldn't get them on the thread.

Steve.
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,470
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British Columbia Canada
I got the sprockets and split collars for the jackshaft that I ordered and a 3' piece of 1" dia rod with a 1/4" key way cut the entire length that I bought in town. I have a bottom bracket that was cut off the trike that I'm making into the delivery trike and there are two bearings that will be pressed into it. I'm going to weld up a mount for it and set it behind the seat post on the chain stay where it meets the bottom bracket.

The bearing cups in the bikes bottom bracket will be taken out and turned around and put back in and welded in place. A length of 1-1/2" tubing with 5/8" flanged ball bearings in the ends will go into the center of the bearing cups. It will be centered so the ends clear the jackshaft and then it will be welded to the bearing cups.
A 5/8" rod with the ends squared so pedal arms can be attached will go into the bearings and a wide pedal crank will result. I hope!
The split collars will hold the 5/8" shaft in place and one will go on the end of the jackshaft to keep it from moving.

That's it. Here is a few photos of what I'm talking about.

Steve.

 
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fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,470
4,954
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British Columbia Canada
Got the body of the jackshaft welded up. Working on how to mount it to the frame. Hoping to have the bearings in and the shaft and sprockets going as well by tomorrow.

Steve

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fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,470
4,954
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British Columbia Canada
Well, that jackshaft idea kind of went up the left fork in the road and not the right one and now it's totally forked. Needless to say when they go bad you will not ever get them to work out.

I looked at Goldy's thread for the Flying Merkel because I remembered the clever way he had done the jackshaft and pedal crank as one unit and there was the answer. I PM'd him and he was gracious enough fill in some of the details of how he had done things that I couldn't see on the thread photos.

I found bearings that fit the bottom bracket (2" outside dia with 1" inside dia) and they slid in. Bought some 1" DOM tubing or Drawn Over Metal so that the diameters are in closer tolerance than regular tubing but they still weren't perfect and the bearings and sprockets wouldn't fit on the tubing. The best thing would be to chuck it in the lathe and even everything out but since like most people I don't have a lathe and any machine shops around here wouldn't touch it, I went with the Armstrong lathe. Clamped it into the vice on one end and got out the roll of emery cloth in a nice coarse grit and cut a piece off and started sanding it back and forth and then turned it a 1/3 turn every 20 strokes until the sprockets were a tight push on fit. Then the bearings still didn't want to go on.
That sounds familiar to everyone doesn't it. More sanding until the bearings barely started on and then I polished it with 320 grit and now the sprockets slide on and the bearings need a firm push. I wanted them to be a little tight on the tubing or as Goldy called it, a quill shaft. Probably because it's hollow like a goose feather which they used to make quill pens. A 3/4" x 5/8" x 1-1/2" bronze bushing will go into each end of the quill shaft and a 5/8" shaft with tapered and squared ends will go inside the bronze bushings and pedal arms will go onto the squared ends and be held on with 1/2" nuts.

Slit collars will hold everything in place. Goldy used a reverse thread or left hand threaded nut to hold the quill shaft in place. I may try and find a 1" nut and a die or it's metric thread equivalent and thread it and use the nut instead of a split collar.

I'll get some photos up tomorrow to show what I'm doing. My arm and shoulders need a rest right now.

Steve.
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
Congratulations Steve. It is an excellent solution to your problem and will raise the level of this build another notch. Very much looking forward to your photos...
SB
 

Mr.B.

Well-Known Member
Oct 21, 2008
1,329
559
113
Upper Mississippi River valley
For future reference-

Try freezing the bearings in your ice box overnight and gently heating the tube with a propane torch...

Using this Trick I was able to get Harley front wheel bearings to fit into a vintage American sized bottom bracket that was close but otherwise would of never worked. They're now a very tight fit!

FYI- The Harley bearings are pretty inexpensive, easily found on E-Bay and have a 3/4” ID.

-Kirk
 

fasteddy

Well-Known Member
Feb 13, 2009
7,470
4,954
113
British Columbia Canada
Hi Kirk,
Thank you for the information about the bearings. That is a neat way to ensure a tight fit.
I had just the opposite problem. They fit into the bottom bracket fine but the tubing I was using for the quill shaft was slightly over sized and I had to sand it to get the bearing and sprockets on.

I could have used some cheaper bearing if they could have been found. These puppies were $22 each and that didn't strike me as a give away price.

Steve.
 

curtisfox

Well-Known Member
Dec 29, 2008
6,078
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minesota
Ever thought about useing a drill press to spin the tube and sand it that way? I have a friend that got a old drill press ( Thats the best old slow and stable) and turned it on it side and used it for years as a wood lathe. He did a lot of awesome work on it