Black Lightning Build

[bare bones]

I got my bike stolen two Saturdays ago. This is the second MB I have had stolen this year! Anyway, I have all my parts in for my new build and I now have the bike too. Here is what I am starting out with. The bike has 24 in wheels. I bought new high quality double walled sealed bearing wheels w/ a free wheel. I am also painting the bike flat black. I am going for the traditional hot rod look. This bike already sits really close to the ground. It is from the early 60's. I can't wait till I'm done I want to chop the seat and have it sit as low as possible. More pictures on the way!

 

[silverbear]

That's a nice frame design & looks like plenty of engine room, but I'd measure anyway. Too bad about your bikes getting stolen.
SB

 

[bare bones]

I have got a bit further with the build. I have the bike painted. I mounted the motor, flipped the bars, Installed the throttle and clutch ,and hooked up the CDI. I had to grind the drop outs a bit to fit the new wheel axles. I also had to Grind the crank arm on each side to get enough clearance to clear the motor. My new wheels have a freewheel and not a coster break so I also put on a rear brake using an adaptor that converts a single mount brake into the duel cantilever style. The coolest thing I have done (at least to me) is that I chopped the seat and lowered it as low as possible. I am thinking of using only the rear rack as the rear support for the banana seat. It looks way cooler that way, but may not hold up. I will probably have to reinforce it. I still need to mount the sick bike parts expansion chamber and get a brake cable installed. Here are some picks!!!

 

[bare bones]

Here is another pic with the seat chopped.

 

[bare bones]

I have been sick these past few days, but once I am better I will finish up the bike and post some more pics

 

[silverbear]

I have been sick these past few day, but once I am better I will finish up the bike and post some more pics

Take care, Bud. I'm just getting over a flu bug myself. You'll be riding that bike pretty soon!
SB

 

[bare bones]

Thanks Sliver Bear. I have a flu bug as well.

 

[bare bones]

I just checked the mail and I got my new white wall tires in today so those bad boys will be going on the bike soon!

 

[bare bones]

I have still been feeling a bit under the weather, but I did manage to do a bit more to the bike. I installed the pipe and set up the brakes. This bike is not set up for caliper type brakes and I bout an adapter to convert it to caliper style. I thought these would be way better for stopping power. The main obstacle I had to overcome was that the frame does not have a shroud holder/stopper before the brake line gets to the triangle mount for the calipers. I solved this by using the engine mount as the thread point and I used a large washer and a drilled penny as the stopper. The drilled penny hole is only large enough for the cable to pass and not the shroud thus I have my shroud stopper as seen in the photos Ghetto engineering

 

[bare bones]

I don't know what happened, but my pics didn't show up. Here goes another try.

 

[chrome]

i like the seat chop!! nice one bare bones!

 

[bare bones]

i like the seat chop!! nice one bare bones!

Thanks! The seat is gold metal flake and is cool, but has seen better days. If possible, I want to repaint it red metal flake. Does anyone know if it is possible to paint a flexible plastic covered padded seat and have it look good/last? If so what type of paint will work best?

 

[Allen_Wrench]

Wow. That thing's wild lookin' in an intimidating sort of way, especially with the expansion chamber wrapping around, and the lower seat.

 

[bare bones]

Thanks AlenWrench! I am going to work on the bike some more tomorrow. I should have it close to finished . I want to chop the inner cover to allow space for the cdi so I can hide it in there. I will take some pics if it works out!

 

[kla63]

I got my bike stolen two Saturdays ago. This is the second MB I have had stolen this year! Anyway, I have all my parts in for my new build and I now have the bike too. Here is what I am starting out with. The bike has 24 in wheels. I bought new high quality double walled sealed bearing wheels w/ a free wheel. I am also painting the bike flat black. I am going for the traditional hot rod look. This bike already sits really close to the ground. It is from the early 60's. I can't wait till I'm done I want to chop the seat and have it sit as low as possible. More pictures on the way!

good luck !!!looks like it will be a sweet ride when done !!!!

 

[bare bones]

Okay, so I got a bit farther with the bike today. I wrapped from the header to the start of the expansion chamber w/ exhaust wrap. I mainly did it for the look, but it will keep the heat away from the wires as well. I really like how it turned out. I also cut/chopped the decorative clam that was originally on the bike under the top tube to allow it to fit with the gas tank. I was hoping to have enough room to hide the cdi in there, but its not going to happen. I had to cut space for the gas tank bolts/clamp and I also had to cut space for the gas tank spout. I swapped out the all black back wheel for a white walled one and trimmed the length/zip tied the cables. The bike is really close to being ridable! Woooohooo

 

[bare bones]

I got the bike running and have worked out most of the bugs. I will be cruising it around for SXSW!

 

[john8460]

nice work, looks great

 

[Allen_Wrench]

Lord help me, but I love the look of your bike. I can tell you had a picture in your head, and all work on the bike went toward making the bike into what you had in mind. I, too, am adding a decorative clam to my Huntington build. It didn't start out with one so I've had to fabricate a pair using old auto-body techniques, sheet steel, rawhide mallet, and elbow grease. That, and building a super-reliable brakelight, are what's taking me a while to get on the road.

 

[bare bones]

Lord help me, but I love the look of your bike. I can tell you had a picture in your head, and all work on the bike went toward making the bike into what you had in mind. I, too, am adding a decorative clam to my Huntington build. It didn't start out with one so I've had to fabricate a pair using old auto-body techniques, sheet steel, rawhide mallet, and elbow grease. That, and building a super-reliable brakelight, are what's taking me a while to get on the road.

Thanks I can't wait to see your bike when you are done! I really want to learn how to do body work. Post some pics of your progress!