While it is not as finished as I would like, I got the thing running for the Camp Mabry Austin Texas living history event. It represents very early Army experiments. The whizzer kickstand is an enormous addition in terms of looks and convenience.
The bike got lots of kudos from Military reinactors and visitors, one sees what one wants to see I guess. While the event is mostly WWII, there is a place were early timelines can be done and I and another guy did about 1910-1917 US military....and boy was that bike a convenience as the day got war and the event is very spread out. Mine was the only pre-WWII vehicle running around and was appreciated as such. Living history is a bit different from reinacting, reinacting is more for the benefit of the reinactors, living history is more educational.
I am planning on a 9HP bike of improved construction so I can sport a machine gun sidecar. The military and police prior to WWI experimented with same. A friend made me a great replica of a colt potato digger MG in wood that only weighs a few pounds ( figure I can make a light tripod mount that will also be lightweight)...the original weighed 40 pounds so I hope that I can carry a person in the sidecar with the 9hp, hopefully the 9 hp engine can generate enough low speed torque to get us moving, albeit slowly.
The bike got lots of kudos from Military reinactors and visitors, one sees what one wants to see I guess. While the event is mostly WWII, there is a place were early timelines can be done and I and another guy did about 1910-1917 US military....and boy was that bike a convenience as the day got war and the event is very spread out. Mine was the only pre-WWII vehicle running around and was appreciated as such. Living history is a bit different from reinacting, reinacting is more for the benefit of the reinactors, living history is more educational.
I am planning on a 9HP bike of improved construction so I can sport a machine gun sidecar. The military and police prior to WWI experimented with same. A friend made me a great replica of a colt potato digger MG in wood that only weighs a few pounds ( figure I can make a light tripod mount that will also be lightweight)...the original weighed 40 pounds so I hope that I can carry a person in the sidecar with the 9hp, hopefully the 9 hp engine can generate enough low speed torque to get us moving, albeit slowly.
