Venice Motor Bikes
Custom Builder / Dealer/Los Angeles
Another work of art!! I can't wait to see the finished product! 
Indian Tadpole
- Thread starter silverbear
- Start date
Tom from Rubicon
Well-Known Member
Great photos Steve! Thanks for sharing. Stay healthy and get er done. Mind you, my Flyer is wanting fenders that are on but not fixed.
Tom from Rubicon
Tom from Rubicon
Another work of art!! I can't wait to see the finished product!
Hi Norm,
Thank you.
Steve.
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Hi Curt,
Art is napping so far. I found out about a plant that helps with arthritis called Moringa. I use the capsule form. Dried leaves from the tree that are powdered. It has made a major difference in a little over a month.
Lots of information on YouTube about it.
Steve.
Art is napping so far. I found out about a plant that helps with arthritis called Moringa. I use the capsule form. Dried leaves from the tree that are powdered. It has made a major difference in a little over a month.
Lots of information on YouTube about it.
Steve.
indian22
Well-Known Member
Tom "fixing" fenders is always key but not always easy. I rate fenders quite high on the cause of bad falls list and poor fixing is one of the two reasons the second being the bad quality of the materials used by the manufacturer in the fenders and poor design of the attaching fixtures as well. All of the aforementioned get my consideration before, during and after installation & I figure you're going through this now.
Pat D. has put some nice fenders on his bikes, my favorite is the "Triumph style" with center line bead roll & slight tail flip, quite stylish and really look to be of heavy duty steel. If I recall correctly I've only noticed them on his roadster style Bonneville motos.
Most years fenders aren't of much use here in western Indian Territory, but this hasn't been one of those years!
Rick C.
Pat D. has put some nice fenders on his bikes, my favorite is the "Triumph style" with center line bead roll & slight tail flip, quite stylish and really look to be of heavy duty steel. If I recall correctly I've only noticed them on his roadster style Bonneville motos.
Most years fenders aren't of much use here in western Indian Territory, but this hasn't been one of those years!
Rick C.
indian22
Well-Known Member
Tom from Rubicon
Well-Known Member
Not to worry Rick, The Wald fenders are heavy and stiff. Same for the struts/braces.
On the other hand my Huffy Davidson?
Fenders like beer cans. Stiffer struts would help.
Tom from Rubicon
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indian22
Well-Known Member
Can't wait to see the results Tom.
Steve the three tri car projects you've undertaken placed you in somewhat of a no man's land of replication; with little in the way of original design details or even good detail photographs of tri cars until relatively recent revelations came to surface. I think you've captured the essence of these transport rarities despite the extreme lack of substantive evidence of their actual construction. Although you've stated that the tri car project wasn't intended to be an exact copy of the original Hendee design my observation is that it's going to be quite difficult for this first to be completed tri car to be dismissed as an original period restoration by any other than quite knowledgeable students of the type. Well done!
If my last comments are wide the mark & I think not, your tri car is still amazingly sympathetic to the early age of motor transport and it can't easily be dismissed as other than quite brilliant! Two cents or a farthing difference in my opinion....
Rick C
Steve the three tri car projects you've undertaken placed you in somewhat of a no man's land of replication; with little in the way of original design details or even good detail photographs of tri cars until relatively recent revelations came to surface. I think you've captured the essence of these transport rarities despite the extreme lack of substantive evidence of their actual construction. Although you've stated that the tri car project wasn't intended to be an exact copy of the original Hendee design my observation is that it's going to be quite difficult for this first to be completed tri car to be dismissed as an original period restoration by any other than quite knowledgeable students of the type. Well done!
If my last comments are wide the mark & I think not, your tri car is still amazingly sympathetic to the early age of motor transport and it can't easily be dismissed as other than quite brilliant! Two cents or a farthing difference in my opinion....
Rick C
Thank you Rick. The recognition of one's more knowledgeable peers is always heartwarming.
It has been quite the journey to say the least and when I look back at the beginning I realized the journey stared about this time in 2011. Many of the years eaten up by illness and bad weather. So much for the "this won't take long to build" theory that I started out with.
To those that don't know I have reasonable automotive back ground but much of that is 50 years old and my metal fabricating skills, such as they, are were learned in vocational school 60+ years ago. Welding and fabricating of this bike were learned or relearned as the build progressed. My back ground is antique furniture restoration.
If you would like to attempt to build one, Indian or otherwise, feel free to contact me here. Click on the envelope on the top of the header and it will guide you. I have patterns if needed and advise is free. Yes, you can build one even if you have to have the welding done by someone else.
It is comforting to know that the travels are nearing an end for the Indian Tri Car and this summer for Silverbear's Hiawatha Tri Car. Two similar but different approaches to the same build.
The electric tri car will be different yet again other than it's electric. Looking at 4" tires, ribbed motorcycle fenders and mahogany battery box along with other ideas.
My thoughts over the years are the same as yours. What will the reaction of the Indian experts be. Stepped on sacred grounds or not a bad effort. I'm sure that once the bike hits the internet in it's finished form, opinions will be expressed.
Weather permitting the tri car should be on the ground running in a week and we'll be able to get our answer.
Steve.
It has been quite the journey to say the least and when I look back at the beginning I realized the journey stared about this time in 2011. Many of the years eaten up by illness and bad weather. So much for the "this won't take long to build" theory that I started out with.
To those that don't know I have reasonable automotive back ground but much of that is 50 years old and my metal fabricating skills, such as they, are were learned in vocational school 60+ years ago. Welding and fabricating of this bike were learned or relearned as the build progressed. My back ground is antique furniture restoration.
If you would like to attempt to build one, Indian or otherwise, feel free to contact me here. Click on the envelope on the top of the header and it will guide you. I have patterns if needed and advise is free. Yes, you can build one even if you have to have the welding done by someone else.
It is comforting to know that the travels are nearing an end for the Indian Tri Car and this summer for Silverbear's Hiawatha Tri Car. Two similar but different approaches to the same build.
The electric tri car will be different yet again other than it's electric. Looking at 4" tires, ribbed motorcycle fenders and mahogany battery box along with other ideas.
My thoughts over the years are the same as yours. What will the reaction of the Indian experts be. Stepped on sacred grounds or not a bad effort. I'm sure that once the bike hits the internet in it's finished form, opinions will be expressed.
Weather permitting the tri car should be on the ground running in a week and we'll be able to get our answer.
Steve.
Tom from Rubicon
Well-Known Member
Steve,
For the sake of the forum and your legacy I hope the forum administrators will lock this thread so people years from now will be able to read and see it in it's entirety.
But you must retrieve all Photobucket images and edit this thread to make your journey and life's lessons true to what it was.
Tom from Rubicon
For the sake of the forum and your legacy I hope the forum administrators will lock this thread so people years from now will be able to read and see it in it's entirety.
But you must retrieve all Photobucket images and edit this thread to make your journey and life's lessons true to what it was.
Tom from Rubicon
Hi Tom and thank you for your continued support. It's made the dark spots much brighter.
I had thought about asking administration about locking this thread. I'll ask Dan if he can do it for me. Once the tri car is running and rolling I will retrieve the photos from Photobucket and edit them to keep just the relative to the builds photos. There are really just to many post them all.
I also plan to do a bit on what I would do differently and why. When your breaking a trail in an unknown area where there is no path to follow other than a few photos it has both been interesting and absolutely maddening.
The build would have been faster as well if I hadn't shifted to every new idea or product that I saw that I felt would make it better or more authentic. I will have the rear chain tensioner on this week end and the chain guard on as well and the cables all working properly.
Looks like rain for the next week plus. Then again it's the Wet Coast where the weather can change hourly.
Steve.
I had thought about asking administration about locking this thread. I'll ask Dan if he can do it for me. Once the tri car is running and rolling I will retrieve the photos from Photobucket and edit them to keep just the relative to the builds photos. There are really just to many post them all.
I also plan to do a bit on what I would do differently and why. When your breaking a trail in an unknown area where there is no path to follow other than a few photos it has both been interesting and absolutely maddening.
The build would have been faster as well if I hadn't shifted to every new idea or product that I saw that I felt would make it better or more authentic. I will have the rear chain tensioner on this week end and the chain guard on as well and the cables all working properly.
Looks like rain for the next week plus. Then again it's the Wet Coast where the weather can change hourly.
Steve.
My brother helped me get the seat on the tri car today. The rainy day turned out to be a sunny one and we made good use of it. Have to do a little more work to the rear chain tensioner but that will be done tomorrow.
Tuesday will be eaten up with running around but Wednesday turns out to be decent I'll push the work bench out and get some photos of the bike. Have to get it running and everything locktite secured once I'm sure that there are no problems and then I'll set it on the ground and we can see what we have.
I'm going to make a new gas tank for it since the one on it is not wide enough where it meets the frame. Not a big problem since I have the patterns and a form to shape them on.
Steve.
Tuesday will be eaten up with running around but Wednesday turns out to be decent I'll push the work bench out and get some photos of the bike. Have to get it running and everything locktite secured once I'm sure that there are no problems and then I'll set it on the ground and we can see what we have.
I'm going to make a new gas tank for it since the one on it is not wide enough where it meets the frame. Not a big problem since I have the patterns and a form to shape them on.
Steve.
Here is a link to Silverbears Hiawatha Tri car.
Steve.
https://motorbicycling.com/threads/indian-hiawatha.32998/
Steve.
https://motorbicycling.com/threads/indian-hiawatha.32998/
Looking around the internet I found this.
Steve.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...aw3_VONG4ySuQMUEUFbXEvuY&ust=1556061796858235
Steve.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&rct...aw3_VONG4ySuQMUEUFbXEvuY&ust=1556061796858235
Tom from Rubicon
Well-Known Member
Great link Steve! Well found!
Over the years I've been building the tri car I have apparently been able to hide various parts and now they are unable to be found. I will now be forced to trudge off to my favorite bike shop and purchase more parts to replace those that have been lost. Oh, the horrors of visiting that fine establishment. Well I'm quite pleased about it but my wallet isn't.
While I was in the garage I took so photos of the tri car with the seat on it as best I could. Once I have the parts I need on the bike I'll roll it out into the open and take better photos of it. We are supposed to have a stretch of good weather for the rest of the week so it should be doable.
Steve.
While I was in the garage I took so photos of the tri car with the seat on it as best I could. Once I have the parts I need on the bike I'll roll it out into the open and take better photos of it. We are supposed to have a stretch of good weather for the rest of the week so it should be doable.
Steve.