Robert Thumper

9-29-12 NOT SO HARDTAIL…

Seat pan prep meant 96 new holes in the parameter and unfortunately one in my thumb.

For a little cushion I added a couple of layers of neoprene snagged from some end of season discount grill gloves found at the now famous “local home improvement center”

They’re actually pre-shaped pretty nicely for a smallish seat!
 

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9-30-12 JUST SIT ON IT!

Laced cover and a couple of coats of leather dye and finally this seat is ready to stick a fork in it!!!
 

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10-5-12 DATED…

I looked up the serial number on RT’s Schwinn cantilever style frame today and was amused to find it was made in March 1960, just a single month newer than I!
 
10-11-12 HIGH CARB DIET!

To keep things running clean I built a heavy wire screen basket to hold a chunk of official Lawnboy filter foam to the front of the little 22mm Mikuni.

A unidentified vintage short stack (Davenport show find) was modified to fit the carburetor. A brass fitting was added to direct oil seepage from the valve cover vent, this should keep the filter nice & wet.
 

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10-13-12 I CAN STAND IT!

A custom super sized Schwinn style stand was made from my first unsuccessful attempt at Excalibur’s front fork struts, one of the bends was already in place, Ha!
 

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10-15-12 ENLIGHTENED THUMPAGE…

A modern Schwinn light kit was mated with a vintage Schwinn headlight. A new socket added to fit the very bright Xenon bulb and a 4AA battery case velcroed soundly in place. The rear light will be used as is.
 

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10-22-12 FINISHED THUMPER!!!

After a few days of assembly and last minute details I have finally finished RT!

YEA!

I had asked for advise on carburetor tuning on my favorite internet forum and got some very good suggestions. Fortunily it runs great with out of the box factory settings!
In fact this thing is crazy quick and crazy fast, scary fast!*
But, It’s nearly Halloween and I don’t mind being a little scared!
However within just a couple of miles on the shakedown cruise the CVT’s rear clutch fell apart, I believe it was a faulty factory instilled snap ring. When it let go it scattered parts across a leaf cover street.


I did manage to find all of them except for the green spring. A new spring & snap ring have been ordered. I will back it up this time with a large washer on the shaft to keep parts in place in case this is a common problem and happens again…?

It’s also too loud so I will be building a new longer baffle.
 

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Awesome Kirk! Great build.

Momma is gonna whump ya when she sees the burn out though, lol
 
What a wonderful bike. The exhaust note is perfect and the sprinkling of rubber dust, outrageous.

Thank you.

Steve.
 
I took Robert T to Vintage TorqueFest last Saturday, held this year in my own town (sorry, no pics.)

With a one way trip of about 8 miles it was the first time I ever really rode her wide open- Fun bike and a fun day despite a little rain!

However on the trip home the bolt that holds the rear brake arm backed out and by the time I got stopped 5 spokes were violently ripped from the hub and ground into main sprocket- Could of been bad...

I had generously coated that bolt with red loctite when first assembled, but apparently the heat of the exhaust had softened it up.

A little redesign is in order with either safety wire or more likely a castle nut and pin!

This was actually a valuable lesson, from now on anything, and I mean anything that could possibly interfere with any moving/spinning parts will mechanically safety fastened!!!

-Kirk
 

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