Indian Tadpole

[fasteddy]

I have the tires and fenders on the tri car now. The motor mounts will be welded in shortly.
In order for the wheels to turn with the inner front fender support which holds the fenders in place and solid, I cut a piece of aluminum tubing and put it over the top of the king pin.
When the wheel is turned the fender support pivots on the king pin.

The tubing was packed with body filler and two sheet metal screws were put through everything to hold it together. A washer was welded to the bottom of the support so that there is a hard surface for the king pin top to ride on. The tubing rides up and down the king pin as the suspension moves.

That's it for the moment. Once the motor mounts are in I'll break it down and prime it and get it ready for painting.

Steve.

 

[MEASURE TWICE]

I like the home made fenders. Hiding a gas tank on the rear fender? Also I was in error about dual trenching, seems the front two wheels do the steering and a single rear wheel drives.

MT

PS I looked on the internet and saw this:

http://www.slideshare.net/willboutelle/a-brief-history-of-indian-motorcycles-presentation

View image 16 of 96 for picture

It is not a tri car but has that same rear fender lump (for lack of knowledge of a better term)

In the picture I could not see any other place a tank would be hiding.

61 of 96 Hill Climber is something too!

 

[fasteddy]

Measure Twice,

Here is a photo of a 1905 Indian tri car like the one I'm building. The tri car front end was used instead of the forks which you simply removed and replace with the tri car on an Indian motorcycle. They came with a seat, delivery box or plain so you could build your own.

That model of Indian is known as the "Camel Back" due to the hump shaped gas tank on the back. Like most motorcycles of the time it was simply a motorized bicycle.

Click on the photo to enlarge it.

Steve.

http://www.midamericaauctions.com/showvehicle.asp?VehicleID=20190

 

[silverbear]

Steve, the addition of tires and fenders is a leap forward in seeing how things are going to look. Very nice. Did you extend the handlebars? They look good. And the engine mounts are made and only need to be welded in place... then paint... then woohoo! And then all the other stuff that takes up so much time and energy... brakes, throttle, cables... front seat...headlight? How are you doing the drive line? I don't remember. Will there be a jack shaft? What kind of clutch setup? What an enterprise this has been! But, it will be worth it.
SB

 

["the prussian" Shop Dogs]

OMG whats the emoticon for drool running down my chin !
Im officaly droping the anamated beaver and looking for stock in fasteddie inc.

 

[RicksRides]

Steve,
As always its looking better everyday. My grandson, RJ, asked if you had a tricycle cause you couldnt ride a 2 wheeler yet, too.
Rick

 

[silverbear]

A little update on the Jacobson engines... I made up a mounting plate so that I could affix the engines, one at a time to a bench mount vice, rigged up a gas tank and gave the motors a try. Both responded to a bit of starting fluid in the spark plug hole... pretty instant response. One I was able to keep running for a bit, in spite of the carb leaking. The other is not getting gas. So, I think I need to pick up a couple of carb kits.

Rick, is there a source you recommend for a carb kit? I've not yet found anything for the Walbro SDC 21-85, just looking on ebay. Also, how are you setting up the throttle control for your Pennysworth... or you, Steve, for this Indian? I'm unfamiliar with this type of carburetor... the hi/low powerburst feature, the governor control. Do I dare to bypass the governor control?
SB

 

[fasteddy]

P.S.D.

Stock in Fasteddie Inc. You most certainly made a wise decision. It's guaranteed to far exceed the Animated Beaver stock or double my money back.

If you want to build a tri car I'll bring the patterns I have for the seat and foot rest and we can take copies off the rest. I can also tell you what to do to improve things to make it easier. Having access to a machine shop is a bonus.
Rick at RicksRides has a bike shop that can supply hubs at a decent price as well.

I told my brother that the only reason I am able to pull this off is that we have a good family lineage including insanity, mad dogs and Englishmen which without that I would never tried to do it. You may want to check and see if your ancestry is of any help.

If I were to do it again {Yes I'm gathering parts} I would NOT try to copy something like an Indian. Too complicated and time consuming but a tri car of your own design, perfect and no one can say this or that is wrong.

As for the Fasteddie Inc. stock. We are using The Fat Chance [you will ever see you money again] Stock Holding Co. of Hong Kong. Just Google them and when you see the president of the company in his prison stripes, click the required boxes and thank you for buying from the Fat Chance Stock Holding Co.

Steve.

 

[fasteddy]

Rick,

Please give that young man a hug for me. I'll be chuckling over that one for a long time.

Steve.

 

[fasteddy]

Silverbear,

Rick is working on putting a clutch and jack shaft together so the motor can be pedal started. I extended the handle bars 4".

Yes it's hard to believe I've been at it for over 3 years off and on. The end is in sight.

Steve.

 

[silverbear]

fasteddy said,
"If I were to do it again {Yes I'm gathering parts} I would NOT try to copy something like an Indian. Too complicated and time consuming but a tri car of your own design, perfect and no one can say this or that is wrong."

Steve, as you know my original intention was to do a tri-car in the spirit of the next model of Indian which had the in frame gas tank... a 1906 I think it was. Pretty early on I realized that trying to stay close to the original was going to be very difficult and also expensive. Besides being way beyond my capabilities.

I happened to have a 1939 Hiawatha ladies bike with very cool, distinctive art deco fenders and ornament and got to wondering how they would look on my modified Worksman frame. That did it. I abandoned the tribute idea and decided I would build a replica of a vintage bike that never was. It has an Indian head badge and also has the Hiawatha fenders and ornament proclaiming for all to see HIAWATHA. It got a 2 speed German model 1932 Sachs engine 2 stroke motorcycle engine, looking not at all like any Indian engine and with the help of Tinsmith a wonderful in frame copper gas tank.

Not having to make any attempts at any particular Indian ever made was a freeing experience and made it easier for me to follow my own motorbike muse, doing what I liked. And even now the build has it's own kind of authenticity. I have called it a 1932 Indian Hiawatha, which of course never was and yet the bike is very much in the spirit of an early motorcycle, something which might well have been manufactured around 1932 when the influence of the Art Deco movement was everywhere from the sweeping lines of automobile fenders to stunning Tiffany lamp shades and jewelry.

For anyone interested here is the build thread for my tri-car. Work will resume on it this August when fasteddy arrives at motorbicycle summer camp here in northern Minnesota
.
http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=32998&highlight=1932+Indian+Hiawatha

So, I'm glad I changed horses mid stream and will continue to build bikes that never were, but maybe could have or I'd like to think should have been made. That said, I'm also glad that you have remained as true as you have with your original plan. You will stop traffic, sir!
SB

 

[fasteddy]

Got the motor mounts welded in today. Took a while to square everything up but it looks good.I'll take it apart tomorrow and clean up the welds and get it all primed. I'm using Tremclad [Rustoleum] paint and they say to wait 48 hours if you don't recoat within an hour. I've see what happens if you don't follow their instructions. It's not nice and it sure isn't pretty unless you are looking for a wrinkle finish.

BarelyAWake sent me a very useful tip in a PM. He found that getting the wheels aligned on the trike was very hard to do. Seems that if you are out just a half a turn on the tie rod ends it makes for dicey steering and excessive tire wear.

The solution he found is ingenious to say the least. Take the tires off the front rims and clamp on two straight bed rails. One on each wheel with just a small amount going past the front rims. Then measure the space on the front and then the back. With the length of the rails the amount it's out shows up in the back of the rails. Keep adjusting the tie rod ends until both the front and rear gaps are the same. Brilliant idea.

Look under the photo's for descriptions of what it is or how I did it. Not all of them have it.

Steve.

 

[fasteddy]

Silverbear,
Thank you, and while it may stop traffic, as you know it came close to stopping Fasteddie more than once. Thank Heaven that common sense returned before the hacksaw was applied.

Yes it was that bad.

Steve.

 

[fasteddy]

Just went through the Hiawatha thread again. Talk about memory lane all over again. A lot of the people posting have disappeared as well.

Couldn't help but think if the old, bald guy did less creative staring and more work this project would have been over long ago.

Steve.

 

["the prussian" Shop Dogs]

Head turner... Think neck snapper?

 

[RicksRides]

SB,
My local lawn equipment parts shop carries them.
On the throttle I used a brake line noodle a small nut( with nylon threads) & bolt and a small washer.
The small washer was soldered to the throttle cable. I drilled a small hole in the plastic piece that attaches between the carb and governer and attached the cable to it. the noodle was used to keep cable stationary. ( check the pics in my 40+ mph club)

 

[curtisfox]

P.S.D. Have to be sure we don't book the same time period as a fishing trip to Basswood Lake in the boundary waters with a neighbor, so I'll need to check with him. I'm voting for late August or early September when it is a little cooler down south where you are. Way south of here anyway. Very much looking forward to the meet up.

Curtis,
Fast shipping, bud!. The engine arrived today in good shape and this one has no dust on it. Ha! I've robbed a pull handle from a Tecumseh to fix the pull start.
SB

That was fast i sent it ground and you got it over night

 

[silverbear]

Just went through the Hiawatha thread again. Talk about memory lane all over again. A lot of the people posting have disappeared as well.

Couldn't help but think if the old, bald guy did less creative staring and more work this project would have been over long ago.

Steve.

I went through the whole thing again, too, and am anxious to get back to work on it. Think Ill mix up a gallon of gas for it and see how it runs. I still worry about that little key that showed up in old gear grease... wondering where that came from. I wonder also if we had known at the time how long all this would take if we would have gone ahead anyway. Probably would have. It is so easy to say, "Let's build a couple of tri- cars!" Not so easy to actually do it.
SB

 

[silverbear]

Curt,
Yeah, that was quick shipping for sure.

Rick,
Do you have a thread link? I did a search and came up with nothing. I can pretty well picture it, though. Figure out an anchor point and go from there. I'll find the carb kits and have sent a couple of inquiries out to ebay sellers of other Walbro kits.
SB

 

[fasteddy]

Silverbear,

I guess the worst part for me was that it lived up to my expectations as to how hard it would be. For once I would have loved to have to been wrong. That's why I said let's build two of them because once the problem is solved or the form or jig made what's the difference between 1 or 50 other than the cost and the time to build them.
At times it did kick me around like a pair of dirty socks and I was going to cut it up in revenge but we both survived.

The fun of the Hiawatha is that it is what we say it is. As Rick ,I believe it was, said that it won't be long before someone is telling you about the one they have/ had. Human nature is great. Close to 50 years ago I helped a friend build a body out of mahogany for a Model A Ford that all that was left was the roadster cowl. Looked a lot like the sidecar on the Monark. Off to the first show of the year and we weren't there 10 minutes when another owner came over and told us about the one he used to have and how he was sorry he sold it and he even knew the body makers name and it was exactly like my friends.
The look on his face was a scream when my buddy, after he got himself under control, took out the build album and showed it to him. The guy disappeared like fog on a sunny day with a muttered "I have to get back to my car" coming over his rapidly disappearing shoulder.

I know that I keep saying that other people should built one because they aren't that hard to build and having done one it's easy for me to say and hard for others to believe. With go kart parts for the front axle which was, to me, the hardest part and premade hubs like Ricks bike parts supplier has the worst part is done. The seat isn't difficult to do except when you make the foot rest over sized . The camel back tank wasn't any more difficult than any other tank would have been and nowhere as hard as the copper tank that you and Tinsmith built.

It will be fun to get back to the Hiawatha and close in on finishing it off. Most of the parts are ready to go and all we need is to put the steering tie rods and drag link together. Then it's yours to finish off.

I'd start it up and see how it runs and maybe jack the back end up and see if it goes through the gears. We may be touring up the Bear Head State Park this summer after all.

I'm painting the small parts now and I hope to get the tri car part painted tomorrow.

Steve.