98cc Villiers on a 1945 Sears Roebuck

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Harold_B

Harold_B

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May 23, 2012
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Thanks Velo. I’m not excited about selling it. You’re right that there’s a lot of things here that were hard to come by in the states at a reasonable price anyway. Hanging it in a bar is a great idea. There’s a bunch of microbreweries here that might be interested in something like this. I’ll put out some feelers. Not sure what the market will tolerate on a price but there’s one way to find out. We’re moving in about a month and a half so I have a little time but not much.
 
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Harold_B

Harold_B

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...or sell the house and live at the bar! This isn’t a must sell but one of many options. We didn’t plan on moving and so there hasn’t been any motivation to clear out the excess. It went from “what if?” to “here we go!” really fast. I’m just looking to lighten the load.
 
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indian22

indian22

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Harold_B said:
...or sell the house and live at the bar! This isn’t a must sell but one of many options. We didn’t plan on moving and so there hasn’t been any motivation to clear out the excess. It went from “what if?” to “here we go!” really fast. I’m just looking to lighten the load.
Click to expand...
Life decisions, not always difficult but still change that we do not like & are not accustomed to dealing with. I have a married friend who downsized a few years back. This couple, in their early 70's, chose a retirement village, very nice, but almost no storage for his stuff or most of hers. He decided to rent storage for some tools and a few motorcycles. This was several years ago but during that time he's sold a few cycles and bought or traded for a couple. By not rushing to sell he got top dollar for his cycles & replaced with bargains by those selling in a hurry. He's able to ride when he wants and sell during the Spring to, early Fall when the market for cycles is hot. He gets to remain active in his hobby & the cost of the really small rental unit is minimal and cost of rental has been covered so far by the difference he's picked up in higher selling prices. No sucker Craig's listing just riding & remaining open to offers.

Typically rental storage is utilized for stuff we don't need and later realize we don't want either and we end up virtually giving it away; while literally flushing years of rental $$ at the same time. I'm not suggesting anything of the sort of course, just offering an alternative that may or may not fit your situation. You are so close to completion of the Sear's that I'd hate to see you not get the top dollar that would be possible if it's an up and running cycle. Even a motif bike hanging over a bar or as an office decor item will demand more if running and ride/able. Best of luck on your decision. I still love your bike! Rick C.
 
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Harold_B

Harold_B

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Thanks Rick. My preference would be to hang on to it but I think I’d be short sighted if I wasn’t considering my options. I do have relatives with sheds / garages that I could squeeze into but that’s just more logistics to coordinate.
 
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Harold_B

Harold_B

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Recently got a PM from MotoMagz asking what’s up. Hey, thanks for asking Moto! We did finally land in a new house. New to us anyway. It’s a mid century modern style house from 1961. A style I’ve been wanting all along but has avoided me. It’s been an “adventure” up this point. Our house sold in a day. There was about 6-8 weeks between when we had to be out of our old house before we could move into the new one. I am very fortunate to have family with a condo on Lake Michigan where we could stay. I’ve never stayed at the beach. Almost 60 and lived in Michigan my whole life. So we stayed at the beach for what was the coldest April on record. We then moved to a house with no AC on the hottest Memorial Day weekend on record. Pays to have a sense of humor.

The Sears Villiers is being stored at my folks house until I have a way to transport it over like in a pickup or rental van. The new place needs a lot of work. We’re getting AC installed but have been doing without and it’s mighty hot and muggy in here. On the upside of things: heated garage! I can work out there even once the weather turns nasty. I’m hoping to have the bike here before the fall colors start to turn but the way my luck is running that could be next week! Selling is still a consideration but I’m still in no rush. Hope everyone is doing well.
 
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Harold_B

Harold_B

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Sort of “out” if out in driveway in the sun instead of in the garage counts! It’s not road worthy yet but getting the engine to fire on the first or second kick several times was a big step in getting there. Details like connecting the rear brake and adding a solder ball to the throttle cable to eliminate the vise grips need to happen.
 
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indian22

indian22

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Like the guys say Harold...plus many additional superlatives!

To do list (1) throttle (2) brakes (3) squeeze horn bulb (4) add fuel (5) ride, smile and keep adding fuel!

Rick C.
 
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Harold_B

Harold_B

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Hey Gents, it does feel great to get out and work on the bike just to clear the mind. It's always disappointing to pop in and out here when life gets in the way but hobbies slide when the important stuff intrudes.

I did cheat a bit there Rick. Skipped to #3 several times yesterday and it was rather fun. It was a beautiful day like Moto mentioned which meant my neighbors were out and there were a lot of people just out for a walk. Even had somebody pull into the driveway while out for a cruise. Lots of questions but the one that throws me off is "what year is your bike?". Oldest parts are from the late 1800's and newest are from 2016 or so. I could just say it's built as a period bike from the 1920's but I'm rarely that quick.

I hope to post more details of what I'm doing and how I'm doing it instead of my usual "I haven't posted in a while..." catching up thing. The next real challenge as I see it will be getting the intermediate chain that runs from the gearbox to the jack shaft installed and aligned. It's a tight squeeze in there. I got started on it yesterday and can't find a #40 master link in all of my junk. I'm sure it made sense to me to put them where ever I put them but I can seem to find them now. As I'm cleaning it up and adding more stuff I'm also going through each piece of hardware to add thread locker and for all of the moving parts to clean and grease.

There's still the lighting to finish too. Converting the acetylene lights to LED has presented challenges as well. Fitting in heat sinking, voltage regulator pucks, and hiding the battery and wires has been fun in its own way. Once I have that working like it should I'll post something on it. I also want to install a charging system. I'm thinking I can either take advantage of the jackshaft that hasn't been cut to drive a pulley or I can use the chain drive on the Villiers and try to make it look like a magneto drive system. The charging system will be one of the last things since I can just stick the battery on a charger overnight.
 
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C

curtisfox

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Dec 29, 2008
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fasteddy said:
Great to see you back again. It's wonderful when life slows up enough for you to get to do what you want for a change.

The bike is fantastic. You have captured the very essence of what a vintage bike should be.

Steve.
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Dido, Awesome to see you are back and working on the bike. Along with Steve, and the try car, and Cannonball, doing a push trailer, and a few others. Like it’s been a long winter and everyone is getting spring fever...........Curt
 
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Harold_B

Harold_B

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I really need to connect the rear brake but....

A packet of master links came in the mail so I could install the chain from the gearbox to the drive pulley. Put a bit more gas in the tank, gave it a few kicks and I was off on my maiden ride tonight. Five years in the making and finally a spin around the block. I still have work to do getting the gear ratio right. I had anticipated first gear to be more like a walking pace but I was bouncing along around 15-20 mph. Between the gearing and engine not being quite right, getting up the little hills in my neighborhood was slow go. Engine was bogging down. Nonetheless, first ride!
 
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Gbrebes

Gbrebes

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Jul 16, 2010
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Hey Harold,

Sorry I have not really posted any encouragement on this thread, but I have been following along all the time.

Your bike is the stuff of dreams in my mind, and you should be so damn proud of what you have accomplished! I am very grateful that you have exhibited the drive to stick with this project for 5 years. It seems that it has been challenging to find the time, but you have done it, and all the work you have dedicated must make it that much more rewarding to actually ride it.

Your build and your documentation are highly appreciated by me, and are a true treasure to this forum. I can’t really think of anything you could have done better on this bike, it is flawless. I especially like the gearbox.

Anyway, thank you for all that you have done. I wish we didn’t all live so far away from each other, it would be awesome to meet up.

Gilbert
 
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