Hi from the UK - INDIAN Board Tracker tribute, my first build

[PeteMcP]

ALREADY STARTED STASHING A FEW PARTS FOR MY NEXT BUILD...
Sorry about this unrelated off-topic posting, but with the finishing post rapidly approaching on my DECOLINER build, I've begun thinking about the next project. Always fancied having a stab at creating a patina'd flat-tanker repro, complete with vintage doo-dads and perhaps even a belt drive. With that in mind, I've started collecting a few parts for the next build which will hopefully keep me meaningfully occupied over the long winter months...
I purchased this lovely old Lucas Silver King bicycle lamp on Fleabay several months back. It came with the usual abundance of age-related dings and crusty patina but I knew with a little tlc it would spruce-up to provide the acceptably careworn look I was after. More noticeably, however, the lamp also came minus its front lens and surround - meaning I scored it for a bargain price. That awol lens/surround didn't particularly concern me given that I somehow intended converting the lamp to LED function anyway.
By sheer good luck it turned out the LED headlight I had purchased for use on my Indian board tracker tribute bike had a detachable lens/surround which matched the Lucas lamp perfectly. So I purchased a second LED headlight (bargain at a mere 4 quid) and cannibalized its lens for use on this project. Result!
Pics show the outcome. My Lucas lamp now has a nifty hinged lens/surround which allows access to the ON/OFF micro-switch and features a hard-wired triple-AAA battery pack concealed within the lamp body.
Really pleased with how this simple conversion turned out.
Next posting WILL be on topic. Promise. I'm busy with DECOLINER's electrics.

 

[curtisfox]

Wow! Nice work, looks realy good............Curt

 

[xseler]

Kinda reminds me of the commercial where a lady hands the architect a faucet and said, "Build a house around this....."

I'm sure the result will be epic!!

 

[indian22]

Lucas lamp cleaned up well. Are the both the red & green jeweled nautical indicators replacements or original? I've had some difficulty finding proper replacements over the years. Rick C.

 

[PeteMcP]

Lucas lamp cleaned up well. Are the both the red & green jeweled nautical indicators replacements or original? I've had some difficulty finding proper replacements over the years. Rick C.

Rick,
Red/green jeweled lenses are original and intact.
I do see Lucas replacement main lenses advertised on eBay fairly regularly, but never the coloured ones.

 

[PeteMcP]

MEANTIME, BACK OVER AT THE DECOLINER BUILD....
My original 'tank in a bag' idea has been shelved following arrival of the leather saddle bag I purchased from a Chinese seller on eBay. That thing was way larger than described in the listing. A full THREE INCHES longer in fact. Now I'll admit the seller did say in his listing to allow one or two centimeters margin so far as the bag's measurements were concerned - but even that's a lot so I figured it was a typo and he meant to say millimeters rather than centimeters. Oh well, let's just chalk another useless eBay purchase down to experience....
Actually, I was so pleased with how my first aluminium 'welding' project had turned out, I was really rather happy to go with having DECOLINER's gas tank on display rather than hidden in a saddle bag, so that's what I've decided to do. Tank is now primered, painted and clear-coated to match the rest of the bike. I added decorative rivet heads to the tank ends to match those applied to the TRM tank. Pics show the result...

 

[wret]

Your tank looks fantastic! And your first aluminum welding project? Wow!

 

[PeteMcP]

DECOLINER.... the final countdown
Well, my DECOLINER build is all but done. What a rewarding project. Getting to the end of a build is always a sad time for me. Have to say the build process itself is always what does it for me. Oh well, there's always the next project to look forward to...
Finished up a few more small jobs on DECOLINER this last week, including mounting the fuel tank. It's now suspended from the Brooks saddle via a pair of home-brewed leather straps. Wasn't at all sure about having a gas tank slung behind DECOLINER's seat, but to be honest, I'm so pleased how my home-made tank came out I'm happy to have it on display. I reckon it blends well with TRM's tank. Agreed?
Applied gold striping to the frame. Probably not apparent in the pics.
Installed some polished alloy trim strips to the quill stem and gearbox cover.
Installed the wiring and switches inside the tank for the twin 12v headlamps and engine cut-out. Look closely at the pics and you'll see the headlamp's latching on/off button and the momentary push-to-make button for the engine cut-out located on the underside of the tank. Next to no visible wiring on this build (make a note all you guys who over-indulge a passion for multiple cable ties and rats nest wiring...lol). To keep things tidy, the throttle cable is partially routed within the tank too.
Adjusted the front fender's horizontal brace so it flowed in-line with the alloy chain guards. Just a minor detail - now it no longer offends my eye.
Fitted a centre stand.
And that's just about it really. Almost done - apart from needing to cut/shape/paint a length of half-round aluminium trim for the rear fender.
No point building 'em without riding 'em. Ride report to follow ASAP.
Need to thank everyone who followed this thread and offered encouragement. Thanks for your input guys. I appreciate it.

 

[Mr.B.]

Bravo!

 

[fasteddy]

Fantastic build.

Steve.

 

[curtisfox]

Truly AWESOME!

 

[PeteMcP]

PARTS STASH FOR BUILD No. 3 IS GROWING...
Well, the snow's begun falling early this year. Last three days of November saw the earliest dusting we've had for as long as I can recall. Which means Northumberland Council's fleet of gritter trucks have spread salt everywhere - so that's put an end to riding bikes till Spring. DECOLINER and my Indian tribute are safely under wraps in the garage - so now it's time to turn my attention to commencing build No. 3.
My parts stash for this build has grown in the last couple of weeks. I managed to bid on and win a vintage engine on eBay - a 1946 Gnome et Rhone 2-stroke with hand gear change. Have to say it was the idea of the hand change that swung it for me - that and the fact I won the auction with a bid of only 19 pounds!!! Waaay short of the maximum bid I had entered. Hard to believe when the same seller sold a similar but not so nice motor - with a couple of broken fins - for 197 pounds only a few weeks earlier. The seller wasn't sure of the cc size of my motor and I was expecting it to be a 98cc - but it turns out it's 125cc. Physically much bigger than I was hoping - but at this early stage I'm still planning my build round this unit. It's in great shape. Good compression, all gears select and the piston/rings look new. I'm in the process of hunting down a suitable carb and new plug lead. See pics.
Those superb heavy duty girder forks I've purchased for this build were another eBay find from cnolmotorsport - the same China outfit I purchased the frame/forks/tank for my Indian tribute bike from. Yesterday I mated the forks to a 26" front wheel and fitted a SRAM roller brake - makes a change from my preferred Sturmey Archer 70mm drum brakes installed up front on my first two builds. Wasn't sure if the roller brake wouldn't look a little too modern for what I intend to be a 'vintage' style build - but I'm pleasantly surprised how in-keeping it looks. I'm especially fond of the cooling fins on the reverse of the SRAM unit.
The frame for this build will be a complex, not to say ambitious, affair. Consisting of a rear suspension unit sourced from a new, bargain-priced donor frame I purchased on eBay coupled to a new-build front frame section designed and fabricated to accommodate the Gnome & Rhone motor. This will be a long, low bike with a 24" rear wheel and the forks raked-out accordingly.
Pics show the motor, front forks and as-yet-uncut frame. Everything forward of the seat tube on that donor frame will be discarded.
When I'm up and running properly on this project it's probably best that I start a dedicated new build thread.

 

[curtisfox]

WOW! Nice motor, love that brake, Can't wait to see more............Curt

 

[indian22]

Pete that's a really nice engine find. How many speeds? Brake looks right at home on the girder/spring fork as well. It looks as though the suspension triangle has plenty of room for the 24" wheel. Most of the mountain bikes are 135 mm at the drops, but their stays narrow too quickly going forward. The triangle you show looks to remain almost parallel for most of their length before narrowing to the seat tube connection which to me make it an excellent suspension member design for wider wheels, tires and running straight chain lines on both sides without tire or stay interference.

Like Curtis I'm looking forward to this build Rick C.

 

[PeteMcP]

Pete that's a really nice engine find. How many speeds? Brake looks right at home on the girder/spring fork as well. It looks as though the suspension triangle has plenty of room for the 24" wheel. Most of the mountain bikes are 135 mm at the drops, but their stays narrow too quickly going forward. The triangle you show looks to remain almost parallel for most of their length before narrowing to the seat tube connection which to me make it an excellent suspension member design for wider wheels, tires and running straight chain lines on both sides without tire or stay interference.

Like Curtis I'm looking forward to this build Rick C.

Rick,
Motor is a 3-speeder. Not yet sure if it's made by Gnome et Rhone or SNECMA who took over shortly after WWII. After it arrived I searched online for it's true identity. Found very little showing this specific engine in a bike - but it appears its an R4. Most R-types had a regular foot shift arrangement. See pics here showing a couple of original R4s along with a close-up of the same hand shifter arrangement on a different Gnome Rhone model, Shift rod from the hand lever connects to the small cam lever protruding from the right side of the alloy cover atop the gearbox. Looking forward to building the shift lever set up. Will work nicely on this build.

 

[indian22]

Absolute beauty of a motor setup. I suspected a 3 speed (also hoping for the same) & the featured hand shift lends a touch of times past, not only in appearance, but also with that unhurried feel of gear changes made by hand which are a far cry from the bang bang operation by foot. Will you opt for a "suicide" clutch lever as well to develop & test your balance? Does your full suspension design include a pedal bracket or is this to be a straight small cycle design? Rick C.

 

[PeteMcP]

Rick,
Pedals are a pre-requisite on my builds. Before deciding to purchase the donor frame for its rear suspension unit, I had three or four others in my eBay 'watch' list as potential candidates. Reason I went with this particular frame was the location and orientation of the shock being vertically mounted, parallel to the seat tube and therefore least obtrusive. All others had the shock mounted horizontal - although a couple had the bottom bracket for the pedals mounted rearward of the hinge which would have been my preferred location for helping locate the pedal cranks well clear of the engine casing.
Hmmm, suicide clutch lever is an option. I recall a partially disabled builder of an Morgan 3-wheeler replica same as mine did exactly that to his shift lever and it looked and worked great. Something to think about further down the line.

 

[sportscarpat]

Really nice builds going on over here!

 

[indian22]

Rick,
Hmmm, suicide clutch lever is an option. I recall a partially disabled builder of an Morgan 3-wheeler replica same as mine did exactly that to his shift lever and it looked and worked great. Something to think about further down the line.

The older gear boxes, especially the 2 & 3 speed non-integrated transmissions of yesteryear allowed finding neutral when rolling to a complete stop quite simple when compared to the current 5 an 6 speed gear trains. Finding neutral quickly & reliably is an absolute safety requirement when riding a bike designed with a foot operated or non handlebar mounted hand lever as would be the case with a hand shift & clutch lever combination. I would think the 3 speed you've selected could be safely operated in such fashion. The simple bar mounted clutch lever is the safer & more convenient option thus the designation "suicide" need never be applied to it's use.

Pete is the swing arm aluminum? If so will the main frame be of the same metal or will you opt for steel? I have no real preference just curious. I've elected to use aluminum frames in 3 of my last seven builds & I've selected steel for the soft tail V twin I'm currently engaged with. I suppose most would think steel is the more "classic" metal for tribute bikes (rightly so) but I prefer a more creative approach to my own "traditional" builds.

I'm a fan of mountain bikes & my current custom built full suspension uses an almost identical shock lever placement & rides really well. I use an air shock/air spring on the mountain bike, but plan on using coil spring over air shock on the V twin for a little more travel. Rick C.

 

[PeteMcP]

Pete is the swing arm aluminum? If so will the main frame be of the same metal or will you opt for steel? I have no real preference just curious. I've elected to use aluminum frames in 3 of my last seven builds & I've selected steel for the soft tail V twin I'm currently engaged with. I suppose most would think steel is the more "classic" metal for tribute bikes (rightly so) but I prefer a more creative approach to my own "traditional" builds.

Rick,
That donor frame I purchased has a steel rear triangle with an alloy mainframe. Earlier today I cut off the unwanted parts of the alloy mainframe, leaving only the seat tube from which the rear triangle is pivoted. Haven't yet committed to what material I'll fabricate the new forward section of the frame from. I would think it'll be steel. Plan is to slot the new frame's steel seat tube down inside the existing alloy seat tube.
I'm pretty certain my Gnome Rhone engine for this project was intended to be used as a stressed member in its original R-series motorcycle set-up. Not yet sure if that's a concept I'll go with. Probably not. Either way, designing/fabbing some motor mounting plates is high on my to do list.
Had my heart set on a belt drive for this project - but motor choice may dictate otherwise. Everything about this build is still pretty fluid at the moment....