Indian Tadpole

Yes Steve I see that you do have enough room on the pedal side shaft, but your keyway isn't nearly as long as the one on my Harley but close to the same length as the one on the Simplex. The cotter style on my HD I bought but now I'm thinking I didn't buy one from Pat. The one on the Simplex I machined for the JAP style pedal levers, which had to be super short and crooked as well and I made those in the shop. My secondary problem on both my Simplex and the HD was on the pedal side not only did both require smaller sprockets to clear the engine case but also I had to run the sprockets on both as close to the bottom bracket housing as possible to get the pedal chain to line up and clear the chain stay on the pedal side. I got the chain straight as an arrow but in the process it was too close to the chain stay for comfort and I added that chain tensioner to control the chain at all times. Removing the clips saved my bacon.
Notice that I also had to flip the sprocket carrier to the outside of the sprocket to free up more room on both bikes.

It's possible that you might have to extend the key slot a bit but that's an easy fix with a Dremel and a good file, easier still with a broach ….I'm hoping to see that chair in place soon!

Rick C.
 
Tom from Rubicon said:
Hi Steve,
Rick made a good point, adding two new snap ring grooves 1.5" offset might work. either way another tear down is in the offing. You would need to extend the key way for the pedal sprocket also.
I spent time in my shop yesterday installing a breather catch can and sorting out installation of fenders on the Flyer.
Tom from Rubicon
Click to expand...

Tom that fine Flyer will certainly look dressed to kill with fenders and the cream tires. The front fender mounting on the springer forks can be tedious to do right & are dangerous when done wrong, but they really look classy and are certainly worth the effort. The catch can will help keep those tires & frame looking sharp and the garage floor pristine. I had a Classic bronco sitting in my garage for several years and it dumped it's oily contents on the floor...clean it up in the Spring!

Rick C.
 
Rick, I'm hoping that when I shift the pedal sprocket over there will be enough of the key way to work with the sprocket. There is a 1/2" not used yet but I may have to round the end of the key to get the use of it all.

I had to run the sprocket next to the bottom bracket as well. That's why I'm thinking that I'll put in a bronze washer as a spacer if there's room. The clutch has a bit of tubing that it runs on just under the sprocket that goes to the rear wheel. Brian cut it down so that it makes the sprocket line up with the rear wheel drive sprocket and sits against the bottom bracket. If I shift the pedal shaft to the left and add a split collar on the right side of the pedal sprocket like you did the chances of it traveling back and forth are slim.

I pussy foot out tomorrow if I can and get started on it.

Steve.
 
Steve innocent gazing at pretty things has initiated both pain and great joy throughout my life & I wouldn't have it otherwise. Though that specific photo started the process I see more of the Mecum auction tri car (recent photos posted) as the evolution of your build what with the camel tank, coupled with loop frame. Authentic but not necessarily specific to time & therefore unconstrained which I see as a positive in the creation of any tribute bike. Those who restore have to color inside the lines as do those who duplicate precisely cycle replicas and there are few who can claim that particular designation. I feel what we do is by and large freeing and much more fun as a result!

Though I turned in quite early last evening I was rudely awakened by incoming ordinance & a brief, low level, flashback event. Celebratory spirits and black powder seemed to have been the order of moment for those involved and I too, since I was awake, enjoyed the fresh start to a new year & then blissfully returned to my dreams interrupted, yet not destroyed.

Happy New year once again!

Rick C.
 
Challenges Rick, have been the bane of my existence and usually self inflicted.

Just the challenge of building the tri car. I chose the early Indian era around 1905 when they were still using a diamond frame since I had one. Then the debate with myself began. Should it be exact like an original other than the engine or should I just work with the general look and not try to be exact like I was trying copying it exactly.

Went with real close and I figured that that would prove I could do it. As much as I hope someone builds another one I doubt that another one will pull up beside me at a bike meet or a car show.

When I started there were three photos of Indian tri cars on the web. this one and another two more that showed up a little later. Every photo was taken from the side and I was straining to see through the wheels to see how the front suspension was made. Every time the hub was in the way so it was just guess work on my part.

The photos available today would have been Heaven sent. Was out looking at the crank today and tomorrow I'll have it apart and moved over to see how it lines up.

Steve.
 
Fire works. Not a good thing for combat veterans. Good friend of mine told me that after he got back from his second tour in Vietnam in November he was still adjusting when July 4th came around. His Dad, a WW2 veteran, strongly suggested he might want to find some quiet woods to camp in for the weekend.
There was a lake a 100 yards from his house and the beach was on the road that went past his house. A prime party spot

He went to bed early and when the firework were over and he regain his composure he was under his bed with his pillow as a sand bag and his loaded hunting rifle sweeping back and forth.

He found out when he went down stairs the next day that his father was sitting in the hallway armed in case he came out of his room. His family said that his yelling had given them some idea of what he had gone through. He said he started trembling when he realized what could have happened.

Agent Orange claimed him in the end and I lost a best friend.

Steve.
 
Shell shock the old "old timers" called it. The minds such a strange place and it's a tragedy to consciously waste it on troubled times long gone, yet it goes there of it's own accord & appears to be current reality. I'm of the opinion that the mind is attempting to reconcile unfinished business that probably can't be.
Sorry to hear of yet another warrior claimed by that "police action" from long ago. His trauma is sadly shared by many & tragically it continues with many of those returning from military combat service today.

Ludwig the first responders and victims as well as survivors of horrific events are certainly casualties as well. A common phrase heard of combat vets is the war hasn't killed us yet...50, 60 years later; waiting for the other shoe to fall.

Steve the relative scarcity of tri cars resulted in fewer photos of course, but the existing tri car photos are a result of the photographer's fixation on the "best side/best view" syndrome & though I'm tragically ungifted in this area I've noted it is a hindering factor to the learning process of how things work and look. I've encountered it too many times to count just on my search of vintage and current side cars, most shots hide the details of frame, suspension & car to bike connections. Almost all are taken with the sidecar almost totally blocking any view of the bike and all of the afore mentioned components. Pretty photos perhaps, but they confer next to zero information that would enable a fabricator to get a feel for operational construction, let alone closely replicate these crucial components in detail.

I think you've successfully captured the feel of that era and specifically crafted a transport worthy of a place along side an original!

Rick C.
 
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My father had been on bomb disposal in WW2, and was invalided out in 1944 after being blown up. I don't know if the gambling addiction he had was a response to the adrenaline involved, or he went on the disposal for the money to pay debts. It's a bit late to ask him now.

I will be honest and own up to enjoying the sensation of adrenaline running round and beating it's chest. Perhaps it's genetic.
 
Hi Steve,
I was wasting my life away looking at Thor motorcycles.
I was raised in Batavia, Ill. about six miles up river from Aurora, Ill. A Tool and Die Maker, Ron Lundquist I worked with 40 years ago. Rode a Thor as a teenager i.e. pre WW II and after the war rode Harley for years. Thor made the first Indian engines. Owner unknown rebadged a Camelback.
 
My friend went on to be the town constable until he set up a road block and stopped the party people coming up from the lake. He arrested one of the town political big shots something or other in law. He was told to make it go away or else. He refused and he was fired.
He made sure the sure the story got out about what happened. Ended a political career.

He said for all the years he was an officer he never carried a loaded weapon. If someone wanted to get up close and personal they would have been better off tackling an oak tree. They would have suffered less damage.

Steve.
 
So true Rick. Head on shots of motorcycles aren't the bread winner. I just figured that as long as I was close that would be good enough. Shots of the side car do block the bike and shots of the bike do nothing for the side car. That's why I bought a $500 Nikon camera and have taken as many photos as I have. Some 800+ on Photobucket alone.

Just in case there was someone who wanted to have a try at making one, at least they could see what did and didn't work and why.

Thank you for the kind words. I can't wait to show it at a gathering of knowledgeable people and see what their reaction will be.

Steve.
 
I hope your Dad was able to recover from his injuries. If it was the adrenaline rush he must have had a large one every time he knelt down beside one and started to disarm it. I'd bet there was a shortage of the usual spectators until he was finished.

Looked around to see if there was an account of a bomb disposers life. Found one and it seems there were a perks but nothing spectacular.

Steve.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct...017950.shtml&usg=AOvVaw3VCeBBisehihdn2Gedj_zA
 
Thank you, Tom,

I had seen Indian looking Thor's but never linked the two. I wonder what caused them to stop manufacturing motorcycles. Economics maybe? Wasting you life away looking at Thor Motorcycles. I would prefer to look at it as enhancing your personal knowledge of vintage motorcycles.

Ludwig is right. It would have be great to hear from someone who rode a motorcycle from the early years.

Steve.
 
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