98cc Villiers on a 1945 Sears Roebuck

[Harold_B]

My mental image is somewhere in between the Indian Model K and the Sears I posted on the first page. I believe they're both 1914ish. Of coarse I'm going with the little Villiers which is about 50% the size of the Model K but I've also been working on a leaf spring fork that falls somewhere between an Indian and the Sears. I needed to get a different fork since the Felt I had wouldn't fit so I bought a garden trailer leaf spring and a "board track" fork on eBay. The quality difference between the eBay fork and the Felt are pretty big so I'm spending a lot of time prepping it for rewelding and getting the threads cleaned up. Once I have it mocked up on the frame I'll post a pic or two.

 

[indian22]

I'm liking your vision of blending the Sears with the Indian Featherweight & both the approximate vintage. Felt quality is high but figure you're not going to settle for weak leaf fork for this build. I'm going to pop some corn & watch how this all plays out. Rick C.

 

[Allen_Wrench]

Same here. This is shaping up to be an interesting and innovative construction. I'm going to watch a bit more closely too.

 

[Harold_B]

Thanks gents. Lots of head scratching going on here lately. I've taken the forks into the LBS to get the threads chased which gave the tech his challenge for the day. Getting the die started required cutting the end of the steering tube. The big problem for me is he could only run the die down about 1/2" before the truss rods got in the way. Not far enough to get the bearing retainers seated. Either I cut or bend the truss rods or buy my own die which starts at around $100 on eBay. I'm not inclined to recommend the guys forks at this point and I'm considering an alternative solution.

 

[Harold_B]

Just back from my local big box with new tanks for my MAPP torch and some bits of steel. I'm going to stay with the eBay forks for a while longer. If I give up now I think I would feel defeated or cheated somehow so back at it. The steel I picked up is to fab some rockers and the connecting rods to the leaf spring. I'll need to order some rod ends still but I have time. The temps have dropped again and there's talk of snow. Hooray for the first day of spring in Michigan!

 

[curtisfox]

What size thread is the fork? have you tired MSC for a die? ............Curt

https://www.mscdirect.com/browse/?n...dsp=Dies, Chasers, & Thread Rolls&hdrsrh=true

 

[Harold_B]

Thanks Curt. Needed an attitude adjustment there. I did find a much less expensive option on eBay through a tool shop in Ohio and it shipped today. Standard thread is a 1-24 so I'll have to barrow a 2" die holder from a friend. Nice weather and feeling like I didn't get what I paid for had me a bit grumpy. I can either fix it or get over it. I'm going to fix it. Thanks for the link.

 

[indian22]

Now that dog will hunt!

 

[curtisfox]

I know that MSC has one or use to as seen it in the book, but ya got one coming now. Yes we got son today,but slow to warm. It's a coming...............Curt

 

[Harold_B]

Fun day today. Steroid shot in the sacroiliac this morning. While I was sleeping that off I received a package on the porch. I love surprises! What could I'd be?!

 

[MotoMagz]

I bet that crab can't wait to get out of that shipping paper and stretch his legs!

 

[Ludwig II]

Somene has sent you a dried snake, it's obvious.

 

[Harold_B]

Certainly spared no expense when it came to packaging.

 

[Harold_B]

If you ever want to play a joke on a friend shipping them handlebars packaged like the ones I just bought would be a good one. Took me about a half hour to cut the wrapping off since I wanted to avoid cutting the chrome. Anyway after a nice visit with family today I had a little time in the garage. Should have been working but my brain needed to do something else. The die I ordered had come in so I chased the threads on the fork stem. That problem is solved. Next was drilling some holes for a mounting plate that I'd hacked out from some scrap. I'll make better fitting plates later but for today I just wanted to fit things up. I cut the leaf spring to length then gave it a slight bend so that it should clear the tire as it gets pulled down. I've marked up some steel to cut out some rocker plates but that's another day.

 

[Harold_B]

It's just balancing on the frame for now but I did score a 30 year old Lepper Primus saddle. I started cleaning up the metal bits though I'm planning to take it apart to paint. The leather looks much more burgundy to me than it does in the photo and I really like it. I've also started rubbing in the leather conditioner. I'm hoping this saddle is more comfortable than the Gyes I had on my previous bike. My back won't take much abuse.

 

[silverbear]

That's a good looking saddle...
SB

 

[cannonball2]

That is a nice seat!

I have an old Messinger I believe, that is totally original on my "barnfind" Maytag build. It is sprung is a similar fashion. Is a super comfortable rider. In fact between the seat and the beehive springer the bike rides better than a modern full suspension bike. Its weight helps a lot. I think you back will be happy.

 

[indian22]

All that guess work about packaging and no photos of the bars? Leaf springer is looking awesome & the saddle is indeed a great find and addition to your vintage Sears & Villiers, Rick C.

 

[Harold_B]

I had thought I should post a quick picture of the bars on the bike but they're hanging there like limp moose antlers at the moment. I'm short on shims or at least they're not at hand. There's bound to be some buried in the pile-o-parts somewhere!

I had been looking for a Messinger long spring saddle but I kept missing out on the good deals and the ones left over were more than I wanted to put into a saddle. If I remember right Velo had a new one on his Felt Chief build that looked really sharp. I bought mine from a seller on eBay out of Poland. This thing is coming together from all over the world and in a very indirect route.

I have mentally benchmarked that Maytag build. It's a favorite and an inspiration for sure.

 

[Harold_B]

My tinkering time has been severely limited lately. Between work and family commitments I haven't accomplished much. Probably just as well because I have more time to think things through. Even with the extra time I can still manage to do something stupid. I've been wanting to get floorboards but I hadn't quite found what I was looking for (cheap / low cost, plain / no logos). I've also been looking for a scrap bike to salvage some tubes for extending the rear triangle to fit the Albion. I found this dandy solution on my local CL:

It's a Schwinn Gladiator. Buying it wasn't the stupid part (I suppose that can be argued either way), the clever part was demonstrating how one would do wheelies and such. While I was at I thought I'd check the front fork. You'll notice the handlebars are folded down. They didn't start out that way. Bounce, bounce, oooff! Planted the stem right in my chest. Pretty sore today.