Roadmaster Project

[jose Pinto]

hello Gilbert
I do like this template, or because it combines the ability to do so, have a surface where I can reasonably accomplish my projects. Do not be sad when you say that your wife will not let you buy a motorcycle because I complain of it, and closer to the time spent in my workshop I am still accused of lovers get there. I thought only the wives Portuguese were weird, but apparently I am wrong

 

[Gbrebes]

I got some more work done in the last few days. I am sort of putting off the cutting and welding of the frame, because I still feel a little under-prepared for this part of the build.

Instead, I have been working on the rear fender, rear rack, tail light, and bike stand.

I have before pictures and after pictures of the rear fender with it mounted. I then started working on making a mounting bracket for a tail light that I bought on ebay. The tail light is a stop light/license plate light from an old car. It was rusty, but had good lenses, so I sanded it down and painted it. Unfortunately, while I was working on it, I dropped the red glass lens onto my brick floor and the lense shattered into a bunch of pieces. I was so sad. But I ordered another lens on ebay and I glued my broken one together to get the piece fitted.

I used .125 " Aluminum sheet for fabricating the bracket. I have pictures while cutting it with a jig saw, and then a finished bracket after grinding, filing, and sanding.

 

[Gbrebes]

More photos of mounting the bracket, mounting the rear tire bike stand, and mounting my 1915 California license plate, and mounting the tail light.

I have owned the license plate for 15 or so years, I got it from my wife's Grandpa.

 

[Gbrebes]

Could be the most photographed bike ever on this forum!

Sorry guys, I am really into this and just have to post all of the progress that I have made.

Here are the final photos with the rear rack, rear fender, tail light, and bike stand all mounted.

Now I just have to hook up some wires to a 6v tire/rubber generator on the back wheel and I will have power for the tail light. In the future I would like to figure out a stop light that lights up brighter than the tail light, the bulb in there is a double element.

Also, I am going to hook up the generator to my 6v lantern battery that powers the head light. Maybe that will keep the battery from wearing out so fast.

That's all for now

 

[silverbear]

Your fender repair came our very well and I really like the antique license and tail light. I'm very fond of rear drop stands, having used an original and fabricated a couple for other bikes. I like the number of photos. Nothing drives me more nuts than just a picture of a finished bike. Or if we're lucky, one before and one after. It's very helpful seeing steps along the way and even wrong turns in a build. Keep 'em coming.
SB

 

[curtisfox]

I got some more work done in the last few days. I am sort of putting off the cutting and welding of the frame, because I still feel a little under-prepared for this part of the build.

Instead, I have been working on the rear fender, rear rack, tail light, and bike stand.

I have before pictures and after pictures of the rear fender with it mounted. I then started working on making a mounting bracket for a tail light that I bought on ebay. The tail light is a stop light/license plate light from an old car. It was rusty, but had good lenses, so I sanded it down and painted it. Unfortunately, while I was working on it, I dropped the red glass lens onto my brick floor and the lense shattered into a bunch of pieces. I was so sad. But I ordered another lens on ebay and I glued my broken one together to get the piece fitted.

I used .125 " Aluminum sheet for fabricating the bracket. I have pictures while cutting it with a jig saw, and then a finished bracket after grinding, filing, and sanding.

Them light are off a early Ford Model A I think. You can buy them repos form one of the suplyers that advertize in car books like street rodder.
I bought some 12 volt LED clearance lights and took them apart and epoxed them inside a regular bike light( thought). ONE AWESOME BIKE GOING THERE....LOL

 

[Bike Monster]

nice seat!!! is it comfortable???

 

[Gbrebes]

nice seat!!! is it comfortable???

It's fairly comfortable. Its not like riding on a cloud of air though. I haven't really ridden the bike for long distances yet, so I don't know about long rides.

One thing is, its a seat of a ladie's bike, so my fat you-know-what kind of bottoms out the springs on a bump. I would like to get stiffer springs for the back, if I could figure that out.

Gilbert

 

[Goldy]

I really, really, REALLY like where this is going. Keep it up , it will be very interesting to see what the final product looks like.

 

[BarelyAWake]

Sweet lookin' build man

I unno about "stiffer springs" for the seat - while if if ya can find them, that'd be the way to go, but I jus' wanted to mention a "quick fix" I saw another member do (tho sadly I can't remember who) - they simply made it an "air-ride" seat by stuffing a tennis ball (or racquetball for lack of yellow fuzzies) up under there...

Other than alla neighborhood pups freakin' out and chasing ya, it may do until ya source up a set of stiffer springs that'll fit *shrug*

 

[msrfan]

Looks like a standard seat spring set-up. If you loosen the nut under each one, you can screw the spring in for a stiffer ride.

 

[silverbear]

Sweet lookin' build man

I unno about "stiffer springs" for the seat - while if if ya can find them, that'd be the way to go, but I jus' wanted to mention a "quick fix" I saw another member do (tho sadly I can't remember who) - they simply made it an "air-ride" seat by stuffing a tennis ball (or racquetball for lack of yellow fuzzies) up under there...

Other than alla neighborhood pups freakin' out and chasing ya, it may do until ya source up a set of stiffer springs that'll fit *shrug*

Oh boy, air ride suspension on the cheap... I must remember this one. That 39 Elgin last winter in the Rustoration build off would bottom out with the springs. It also was a lady's seat and I had the 7 seat post reversed, with the seat as far back as it would go. A tennis ball would have done it. Not to worry since the bike is long gone, but I will tuck this away in my BB brain and be on the lookout for a lost tennis ball to keep in reserve. Air suspension... wooooh.
SB

 

[Gbrebes]

Looks like a standard seat spring set-up. If you loosen the nut under each one, you can screw the spring in for a stiffer ride.

Thanks for the tip msrfan. I did take all the pieces (including springs) apart for painting, so screwing the spring in farther sounds like the thing to do.

 

[Gbrebes]

Man, I can not believe how long it has been since I have made enough progress on this build to be able to post any news! With three kids at 9, 7, and 3 years old, its hard for me to find time to work on the bike.

Anyway, I have not done much welding and I have never cut, stretched and brazed a bicycle frame before, so instead of just diving in on my Roadmaster frame, I decided to buy a cheaper frame to practice on. I picked up a lady's J.C. Higgins frame on e-bay and finally got some work done. Here are some pictures. I used 1 1/8" tubing for the downtube, top bar and second bar (I don't know what you call it) so that I could use the original tubing as interior lugs. I used 3/4" tubing in a similar manner to extend the top bars of the rear tire section and I used 1/2" tubing inside the 5/8" tubing as interior lugs on the two bottom bars of the rear tire section. As it sits now it looks a little bit too long in the rear section, but it matches the dimensions of my original cardboard template, I am going to try it out. I bought extra parts to build this frame as a separate bike, using the same worksman wheels on the original bike.

Here are some pics.

Gilbert

 

[Gbrebes]

More pics, the last ones had images of my home-made bending jig.

 

[Gbrebes]

Even more pics, sorry for the multiple posts. I just figured that like me, someday someone might want some visual help with figuring out frame stretching.

Also those two pictures laying sideways. I could not figure out how to resize a vertical picture to get it to download. One is of the fishmouth shaping necessary for the fit of the crossbar, and the other one is of my frame in my low budget jig with mason's string used as reference for center and alignment.

 

[silverbear]

That's going to make a nice looking frame. I like the proportions and there's room behind the seat tube for a nice tool box if you decide to make one. You've left yourself lots of room in the engine compartment... know yet what you want to put in there?
It may have taken a long time to get where you are, but you've had a lot of time to think about what to do and it has paid off.
SB

 

[Gbrebes]

I got the bike to a rolling chassis stage, very exciting for me. I made a test pedal run late at night and it seemed to work o.k. It road fairly smooth with a low center of gravity. Asthetically, just looking at the bike, I think I stretched the back section maybe one to two inches too long. It just looks kind of funny. Maybe after I get fenders on it and make up a tool box between the seat tube and the back fender, it might look less odd.

I don't think I am going to change it though, because I feel like I am never going to get this project to a running cycle stage and I've got to try to avoid backwards movement. I really had no idea how many hours it takes to build a bike from scratch! With three young kids, and fix-it projects around the house on the weekends, I can't find very much time to work on this thing. Right now I try to get into the shed after the kids go to sleep and work from 9pm until midnite or so, but that's only three hours, and I don't get much done in three hours.

Silverbear, I will be using a Briggs and Stratton 5 hp engine.

I hope I will report back soon with engine mounting.

Gilbert

 

[Goldy]

Good Lord man, don't change anything!!! It looks perfect to me. Keep us posted.

 

[Gbrebes]

Progress update. I have been able to get in the shed on the night shift often lately, so I got more done. I cut open the two rear wheel bars on the drive belt side of the frame and then put in two bars with a wider profile for the rear sheave drive belt.

I also fabricated and installed the jackshaft mount as well as the motor mounts. I still have to figure out how I will be starting the engine, I wanted to do a kickstart like briggsbiker, but I am not sure I will be able to fit this in. I may do a rope pull for now to keep the project going and get this thing running.

I am also considering an alternate gas tank to speed up the "on the road" moment. Something temporary while I painstakingly make my own metal tank.