Old Guys Simplex moto-peddle bike

[fasteddy]

Great news that your eyesight is improving. Having worn glasses for 65 years I can associate with that to a degree.

With my limited welding knowledge I've seen some wonderful things made with a Tig welder so I'd imagine that the tig is more versatile than a Mig welder if you could only have one.

I ordered the clamps from the motorcycle supply and they sent me an email a couple of days ago that they were working 7 days a week and twelve hours a day trying to keep up with the orders. Motorcycle season is in full swing and from what I hear there are a lot of new riders buy gear.

I can imagine aircraft companies are more concerned with sell million and multi million dollar aircraft that a hundred thousand dollars in parts and small companies refurbishing parts are so busy they may not take on new customer or relegate the new customers to the back of the line.

I'm putting off ordering more steel and going through what I have.I don't believe that the steel supplier I go to is allowing inside sales and a lot of my steel comes from their cut off bins. British Columbia is entering a lock down phase where travel outside your government health zone is forbidden. This is your public health providers area. Mine is Fraser Health so I'd need a very good reason to go to Vancouver 25 miles away which has a different health provider zone.
They have announced that the fines will be attention getting but I haven't heard how much.

Forgot about the Camel Back gas tank. There is a slightly improved one sitting in a box about 8 feet from me for you along with a bunch of boxes going to my son that I will ship out soon.

Motors and controllers in bulk. Excellent idea.The savings add up quickly.

We have had temperatures in the low 70's or 20C for the last two weeks. For us these are summer temperatures and never happen in April. Starting tomorrow the forecast says we will have rain and temperature in the upper 50's and lower 60's or around 15C for the next two weeks or more. That's not written in stone given how fast the weather can change here. I just wish we could send some to the folks that will need it this year.

Steve.

 

[indian22]

Steve I've used Drag Specialties as one source for the Harley style two piece tube clamps and over the years they have been my choice of clamp on most of my bikes. Not a single clamp has broken or even slipped. They won't harm the frame either. They are in my opinion fool & fail proof.

Travel restrictions seem a bit harsh. I thought South Africa was bad in the Sixties!

Temps down to just over freezing here the last few mornings. Highs in the 50's but next week 80's and low 90's. Warm up is coming. If you can steer some rain this way it would be appreciated any time of the year.

Rick C.

 

[Tony01]

Temps down to just over freezing here the last few mornings. Highs in the 50's but next week 80's and low 90's. Warm up is coming. If you can steer some rain this way it would be appreciated any time of the year.

Rick C.

What’s up. My riding cutoff is 45F. Fingers and battery start to hurt

 

[Tony01]

I got a kid in the neighborhood around 16, he wants a battery for a minibike that’s getting a qs138 3000w mid drive motor. I slowed him down by convincing him to go with a 60v battery. He just wants something street legal with the power of the 212/cvt clone that it came with. I told him to put floorboards to be legal as a stand up e-scooter with a seat. I really tried to convince him to buy a smaller motor too but I failed. Anyway he will not top out too much higher than with the 212 as he is building it for offroading. Im probably going to have to do all the fabrication, motor mounts, getting stuff laser cut, battery box, all that stuff. Gonna charge him for it cause I’m too busy now and he’s not too good at listening, needing much hand holding, but he will learn a thing or two about fabrication... maybe

 

[indian22]

Hey Tony yeah the weathers been a bit off here but we cope. Glad to hear from you and hope you're building some batteries and such at a nice profit!

The kids going to have a nice scoot with 3k & 60v. and yeah he'll be pleased off road compared to a heavy 212. and lots of power. Never make apologies for work charges Tony a guys got to make a living even from a side hack. You paid your dues learning to build innovative moto bikes so the side jobs typically aren't even very interesting to do & that puts them into the "work" category. Helping a friend or kid on occasion is a fine thing however and the teaching aspect is a positive for me. I look at these opportunities as donated time & it's hugely rewarding. I had a lot of adult mentoring in motor and metal fabrication when I was just in the grades 9 or 10 years of age and the following 10 years or so. Paying it forward is gratifying.

Take care of yourself!

Rick C.

 

[indian22]

Materials on hand now for 5 engine cases of various dimensions and power ratings. Gathering the necessaries has taken more time than I would have thought possible & it seems every possible excuse for the lengthy delivery involved. Next round I will order a month out for delivery.

Power wise I really favor 5 to 8 h.p. outputs for the bikes I build and will convert a couple of my old China girl bikes to electric rather than start fresh bikes from scratch. I'll keep the hybrid CG setup on the Grubee frame as is 'cause it's really proved to be bullet proof and tons of fun!

I've got my little lathe rock solid for my current requirements though I could use a milling attachment & dividing plate rather quickly.

Rick C.

 

[PeteMcP]

Delivery times for parts can be a real pain. But this last couple of weeks, most of the stuff I ordered came in within just a few days of making the purchase. Even the stuff on eBay which declared items as being 'UK stock' but listed the seller as being Far Eastern, showed up much quicker than expected - which often isn't the case. Feel as if I've made some proper progress on the latest build this last week.

Milling attachment and dividing head are small-lathe essentials. I have both - and even though a mill/drill set-up will see much more usage, the dividing head is something you'll wonder how you managed without.

 

[indian22]

Pete you have made great progress on your current build. It's a beauty!

No doubt a mill/drill, at the least, is to be greatly preferred. At this time the small lathe will suffice well. I setup a simple 36 position divider to accurately position the chucks back plate edge for drilling around it's circumference. I've yet to fab a fixture to accurately position the drill motor for the cross drilling operation. There are a couple of common positions that aren't included in the 36 hole solution but I'll leave room to include these in an offset pattern at a latter date.

I used a 36 tooth sprocket mounted in the jaws of the chuck (3 jaw) & a length of 3/8" tool steel mounted in quick change boring tool holder to lock the sprocket firmly in each position. Very simple solution to use the cross slide for each advance. I fancy a one time use fixture to securely hold the drill in proper relation for each of the 36 holes

I miss having an accurate & easily setup way to position pieces in the lath for drilling. The divider is a part of the solution and a tool post/cross side mounted drill is next in line, I'll use ER collets for that one. A small, single Z axis mill table mounted to the cross slide is the final addition intended to make the lathe functional for both round and flat fixturing. I reckon time invested now will pay off later on my projects. Small projects all or I'll have to invest in larger machines...not going to happen as small is where I'm going with all my work on cycles for parts that aren't readily available in the market place.

Rick C.

 

[Nightster]

Rick I just want to say you are a very artistic and talented person. Some very very nice builds in this thread.

 

[indian22]

Thank you for taking so much time to go through the material. I hope there is some motivation to be derived from my posts & perhaps a degree of insight too. Bikes are a very real part of my life style building and riding are strongly connected & I can't be certain any more which drives the other; perhaps, for me, one isn't more important than the other.

Each has to find his own clarity through unique experiences and for me riding and building is quite important in that search.

Rick C.

 

[indian22]

I completed my 4 jaw/3 jaw chuck divider plate using the 36 tooth sprocket setup shown above post as a secure fixture to locate 36 holes drilled in the chuck backplate. The chuck locking pin is mounted on the vertical plate locked onto the bed way with a steel carriage stop tool that I repurposed for the task. Very robust and detach is quick and no no drilling or damage to the lathe bed. I'm pleased with the outcome and know it will save hours of setup time for future and current projects.

Now I'm ready to start the cross slide drill and grinding post attachment for this tiny lathe.

Rick C.

 

[indian22]

Well ok now and back to fabricating bike parts with the tools I've been blessed with.

I've currently one firm start on a V-twin electric case motor and am committed to an atmospheric valve design which is neither nor Indian, Harley etc. but a combining of design elements from several manufacturers and a little of what if of my own thrown in. I'm using a mix of aluminum, steel, brass and copper for this one which I'll date as 1906 to 1909 era in which some V-twins were still atmospheric and others dual push rod configurations, typically F- head valve train. The head style I'm going with is the early "bee hive" style with cooling fins running horizontal to the cylinder bore. HD used this up to at least 1907 on their single cylinder and earliest V-twin prototype, both atmospheric.

I favor the Schebler style carb designs as well. Though some road V-twins had the carb mounted outside the V, I favor the centered look that the racers employed. Plugs centered in the head front and rear, both facing outside the V. The intake manifold runs high and at a height similar to that of the plugs but inside the V.

No magneto but a battery ignition will be represented, though the magneto was certainly employed by many in this early stage of moto design I opt for the battery style.

The early road V-twins were marketed as 4 or 5 hp and the racers as 7hp or so. My electric setup will be rated just inside both those numbers.

The weight of these bikes were about 125 lbs. according to some authorities. I think I can manage to get under 80 lbs. with mine mounted in a steel "diamond frame".

Photos failed to show, but I'll post as soon as able.

Rick C.

 

[indian22]

One pair of cylinders, loosely assembled, half scale-ish, 3" diameter by 7" height. The crankcase is 5" diameter. A foot tall total so it's a bit larger than half scale. This one I plan to use on a Schwinn straight bar frame which will pretty well fill that frame up!

The construction on this motor is steel fins, with aluminum billet head and cylinder bore. Steel and aluminum plate crankcase. Some brass, carb is brass and aluminum. I may use copper for the exhaust on the half scale.

The other twin is about 1 to 1:30 scale so it's a hard squeeze in most frames which aren't loop designs. It will definitely fit in a regular Sportsman size frame. It will, with the exception of the heads, be steel. Though much lighter than the V-twin case used for my Old Crow bike.

The third case is a single cylinder for a V-frame bike and will be as large as will fit the frame, yet to be determined though I have many of the parts cut out for it. 4" diameter fins so it's not really very small.

Photos are first assembly of a half scale twin posed flat on the drill table. Lot of machining yet to complete these "jugs" and I'd reason changes as well.

Rick C.

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Nice bit of modeling Rick!
Tom

 

[Nightster]

Nice bit of modeling Rick!
Tom

Indubitably

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Hey Danny, got any Grey Poupon?

 

[Nightster]

Hey Danny, got any Grey Poupon?

But of course good sir...

 

[PeteMcP]

Que? Not a clue....
I'd google it but I'm worried what might come up.

 

[indian22]

Smear a bit of Mustard on the hot dog!

My start to a half scale carb, billet aluminum and brass.

Rick C.

 

[fasteddy]

Enjoying the heck out of this engine build, Rick.

Steve.