Just checked in tonite after a tough, grindy week and these comments made me smile!
I'm still planning to take this thing in my SUV down to Vista (San Diego County) to get it pinstriped, unless somebody can recommend a striper in the Bay Area?
It's still got a full day of assembly left, and then, after I start it, probably an afternoon of dialing it in. Then I can ride it...
The wood chips are from another project, not motorized bike-related.
I found the taillight bezel (STOP) as part of a new Chinese taillight assembly on Ebay. The rest of the lighting setup is an NOS, completely unused 1946 Make-A-Light set that I also got on Ebay, in original boxes. The Make-A-Light taillight had a nice housing, which I used, and a glass lens, which I also used. I grafted the Chinese bezel and ring onto the Make-A-Light housing, which had that cool cloth-covered lead and the bracket for the fender attachment. The snap-ring from the Chinese light holds everything together.
The headlight is the Make-A-Light unit, flipped upside down and mounted to the handlebar stem. The headlight lens is vacuum-formed acetate butyrate (original part) which has shrunken over the years, but still fits OK. It has a cork gasket. I still have not wired the lights up yet; I made up some matching cloth-covered wire to connect the 3 parts. I have not seen any more NOS Make-A-Light sets, though the individual parts come up on Ebay, usually in lousy condition, and at silly prices. The engine-turned panel for the electrics is .060" T6 aluminum plate that I found in my scrap bin. I made an engine-turning mandrel from a piece of broomstick with some sandpaper glued to the end, and I chucked it into my drill press and freehanded the swirls. The weird finish on the air cleaner, clutch/belt cover(not mounted yet) and chain guard (also not mounted yet) is crystallizing lacquer that I mix from nitro and moth crystals. It goes on clear and dries crackly like you see it.
Gas tank is handmade from foam patterns, vacuum-formed mold halves, and composite laid up tank halves into the molds, cleaned up and bonded together. The bungs were bonded in before joining the halves. Everything was smoothed and painted. I did the tank sides in a fake "worn brass" paint finish. It's coated inside with gas tank sealer.
Haven't ridden it yet, of course, but I did start it and it's torquey and sounds like half a small Harley. I suppose it'll be fun--I have a China Girl I built and it's too buzzy.
I am getting antsy to take it for a spin.
Hasn't anyone noticed that thew front wheel is mounted backwards in these shots, LOL?
It's the first thing on my ever-growing punch list...
