Excalibur ‘09

[Mr.B.]

8-27-11 RE-ENLIGHTENED

While waiting for steel I decided to figure out why my lights aren’t working any more...

I found that the ceramic 2 pin socket for the headlight had shattered.

I replace it with simple female “bullet” style plugs that fit the bulbs pins perfectly.

I also replaced the simple shade plugs in the battery box so I could use the battery from my 14.4v drill-

Not quite as bright as the 18v but still pretty darn good, and I’m sure glad I won’t have to open the box to turn the lights on any more!

 

[Mr.B.]

9-1-11 SHOW EVE

It’s Thursday night and we’ve been working like crazy- Much progress to report...

Assembles:

- Turned & machined a extra wide pedal crank from 3/4” cold rolled rod.

- 5” pedal arms from a vintage 2pc European jobber, cut & milled to “spec”

- Period looking pedals assembled from 2 sets of donors.

- Chain, chainring and cranks assembled- We have a roller!

- Lined the flat belt pulleys with 3/16” leather (an Ebay find).

- Temporary secondary drive belt was made by belt sanding 2” flat spots at the cut ends of an old serpentine belt, contact cementing and pop riveting it all together.

- Machined a plate with a slot for an adjustable primary tensioner pulley, it mounts to the engine.

- Primary pulleys & V-belt installed, adjusted

- Clutch lever & linkage installed and adjusted.

- Bicycle Bill turned a new clutch linkage pivoting block as my original rod through hole was binding up a bit. Carefully located on the lever to allow maximum throw adjustment.

-1 gallon of gas in the tank...

The results:

- Starts up pretty easily, adjusted the carb for slow idle.

- First run,

With his greater motored bike riding experience I had Bicycle Bill give it the first try and it’s obviously geared too tall. I had brought a few spare pulleys so we worked all that out.

I tried it next: YEA! I just rode my freak’n bike, but...

Now it won’t start, no matter what. :-(

Bicycle Bill believes by using the original old kill switch it has somehow fried something in the magneto.

Damn, so so close, and it’s getting late.

 

[Mr.B.]

9-2-11 DAVENPORT!

I’ve decided to take Excalibur to Davenport anyway just for display at Bicycle Bill’s friend’s spot.

It was miserably hot & humid today but I still managed to pedal this 200 pound beast through the crowd and to our host’s section.

Actually all things considered with the primary belt removed it pedals fairly easily on flat ground, but I did worry the chain might break.

It was very well received, especially from one particularly enthusiastic Wisconsin collector who first thought that the engine may have been a unknown licensed bike manufacturer.

Snapped this photo just before we left this morning...

And a album link for this years photos-

http://imgur.com/a/NpGqL#0

Other than the heat it was another great show!!!

 

[Mr.B.]

9-5-11 DIAGNOSTIC

Removed the original Bendix magneto and also the Fairbanks-Morse mag from the 1947 engine and took them both to a little shop just across the river that specializes is automotive electronics.

The “vintage guy” mechanic there tested them both and determined that the condenser in the Bendix was complete toast and the F-M’s wasn’t really much better.

Turns out that Fairbanks-Morse mag’s are actually much more common and there is a website where you can still order new parts.

He ended up giving me a used condenser he had used during his testing. But I ordered a one and points before I left anyway.

I also fixed a hole in the F-M’s bakelite cover with bondo & black paint- It's actually pretty hard to see the repair (except in flash photos- Ha!).

 

[Mr.B.]

10-22-11 BELLEVUE

Had a good visit with Mark and did just a little of the usual wheeling and dealing.

We decided to take advantage of Bellevue’s very flat and nicely laid out street grid.

This was really the first real ride!

Looks like my absolute top end is 32 mph, very close to my goal of 35.

And it starts so well off the line that I’m not changing the ratio!

However, 5 miles into the ride the temporary belt exploded! Pedaled back to Mark’s shop.

Never the less I’m very happy with the results!!!

Now I have a excuse to try the leather belt I ordered recently.

 

[Mr.B.]

10-25-11 LEATHERED

I installed the leather belt today and it very quickly stretched beyond my ability to adjust it, a little disappointing but not at all unexpected.

The owner on the Custom belt shop had warned me that these belts will run in (stretch) 4 or more inches and it’s not unreasonable to have to trim them once, twice, or perhaps more.

Part of his price is to do the trimming and install a new clip just for the cost of shipping.

Although I initially ordered by E-mail he insisted on calling me for a chit chat.

A very interesting and obviously older man who is rightly proud of his product. He mostly caters to the antique farm machinery crowd.

http://www.leatherdrivebelts.com/index.html

He had also sent a scrap piece so I could reline my badly scorched drive pulley liner at no extra charge.

 

[Mr.B.]

11-8-11 GUARDED

I started one of the neglected finishing touches today, a belt guard.

First I made a wooden buck with 1/2 radius edges and carefully cut a piece of 20G sheet with a 3/4” overlap all around, from the same piece I built the gas tank from.

Held the metal in place with screws in the center points of the engine shaft and the jackshaft axle.

As with the tank I carefully hammered the edges over.

 

[Mr.B.]

11-9-11 HOLES AND SLOTS

Further work on the belt guard today. I added some openings with a series of hole saws. I also worked on the brackets to mount it to the bike.

 

[Mr.B.]

11-11-11 PAINTED, MOUNTED

The belt guard is finished & mounted!

Painted and pin stripped- If I ever build an Excalibur ‘03 I believe I’ll leave it painted pretty and newly restored looking!

But for Excalibur ‘09 it’s rust & scuff!

Note: I have removed the top of the clutch pulley lever and added a larger 4.5” starter pulley- This does make it easier to start!

 

[Whozawhat]

WOW just WOW!! This looks amazing.

where has it been hiding??

 

[Mr.B.]

11-22-11 RUNNING IN THE LEATHER

As per bicycle Bill’s suggestion I had added a temporary pulley bracket so I run in the leather belt to the absolute possible amount given the limitations of my frame.

The belt is now 6 inches longer that what I started with.

But still too loose to move the bike with what seems to be a ways of stretch to yet go.

I hung it up last night with 10 pounds of weight attached and this morning it's another 2 inches longer and still seems like it has much stretch left to go.

Yikes!

 

[Mr.B.]

11-23-11 RUBBER

A trip to O’Reilly Auto Parts revealed I could get an off-the-shelf serpentine belt that is just 3/4” shorter than my desired length.

Bought it.

Adjusted the rear wheel forward a bit (may need a 1/2 link for the pedal chain through...)

Installed it.

A quick little trip with some hills proves...

I have a serious rider!!!

Yea!!!

Unfortunately I’m expecting company soon or I’d be going for a long one!

Also grabbed a twist grip throttle at O’Reilly’s for Robert Thumper.

 

[Mr.B.]

11-30-11 FINISHED!

Still warm today!

I went for a 10 mile ride and I’m really getting the hang of it now. With just a little pedal assist I can climb crazy steep hills!

I’m feeling kind of finished with it now, so I did a big photo shoot today...

 

[Mr.B.]

12-25-11 VIDEO

Christmas morning and it’s still crazy warm here- 40 & sunny!

We’re going to visit out of town family later so my daughter made this quick little video so I could share my obsession with them and others via YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gayDFNXWIw&context=C3873f0dADOEgsToPDskKhrXFBep306TPQkQrA6_43

So at some point this spring I’d like to do a nicer production vid with music, editing, etc...

Merry Christmas!

 

[Mr.B.]

1-8-12 OUCH

Finally got a ride in with Bicycle Bill!

14 miles around town and Excalibur is running good!

When we stopped to visit a friend’s shop we came out to find 2 cars stopped and people taking phone shots of our rides... Funny.

However, just as it was getting dark and just a couple of blocks from my house I noticed my handle bars had slipped down a little.

I tried pulling them up and they were still rock solid in the stem???

I then quickly realized the bike didn’t feel right either.

I stopped to inspect and discovered my frame had broken up front.

Damn!

I walked it home from there.

Closer inspection revealed a drop of gas on a front seam of the tank.

Double Damn!

Obviously time for some additional reinforcement up front, but I fear the tank may actually be harder to fix than the frame.

Insert Excalibur motto here...

But thank goodness as this could of turned out so very much more worse!!!

 

[Mr.B.]

1-22-12 FIXING

I’ve drug Excalibur down stairs to my shop and removed all the extras to get ready for repairs...

We’re finally have something resembling winter here now so I’m in no particular rush as I don’t really want to help weld in the cold anyway...

There's always Robert Thumper to work on

I hoping that I’ll be able to just re-Kreem the tank?

Need to do a little research...

 

[Lurker]

Finally! I have been waiting patiently for you to do this thread ever since you told me about this bike. I was following along as you were posting each progress report.

I am truly amazed at what you have created, It really embodies the spirit of the old motorcycles. There are so many ideas here that wish I would have thought of while I was building my bike. Also the patina on the bike looks fantastic, I am now considering that for my current v-twin build.

You make me wish I had kept a detailed diary of my build like you have. I love your sketches. I'm going to assume you are also a artist?

Thanks for everything you have done here. You and this thread are a real asset to this community.

 

[Mr.B.]

Yep, I’m a self employed doodler!

98% of the patina is real rust "-)

-Kirk

 

[harry76]

WHOA that has got to be one of the best,. if not the best bike ive seen here. Really really looks authentic.... im a little upset that youve been holding back this baby from our viewing

 

[curtisfox]

WOW that is AWESOME! How did I miss this build. Love it Love home built bikes ........Curt

A lot like me fix and refix.