Schwinn Vintage Board Tracker

[sportscarpat]

Hi guys,
I am new to the motor bike word. I saw my first motor bike about a year ago in Santa Cruz, California, and just couldn't believe it. I remember saying "that bike has an engine on it"! I have always been a Schwinn fan and I had worked for years as a fabricator. I figured I could put an engine on an old Schwinn cruiser and fab any of the parts I would need. Then I saw the board track bikes with the in frame tanks and knew I wanted to build one. So I kept my eyes open and found a 1950 Schwinn Panther frame and original springer fork. The build began........

 

[sportscarpat]

I picked this type of frame, a Schwinn Straightbar as they are called , because a tank would fit nicely below the top tube and give the bike the board track look I was after. I quickly threw the bike together with any 26" bike parts I had laying around the shop just to get an idea of what this bike was going to look like. I mocked up a gas tank in cardboard.

 

[silverbear]

Welcome to the forum. I have the same frame, same year, but no springer. I'll be following your build closely, for sure!
SB

 

[bairdco]

cool, took ya long enough.

don't hesitate to ask norm, joe, or 2 door about any chain tensioner problems you might have...

(c'mon, i'm kidding...)

if you can fab up your own gas tank, you could make it look like the original horn tank. that'd be neat-o.

 

[sportscarpat]

While worked continued on the tank I started researching engine choices. I quickly discovered that in California you cannot run over 49cc and still be considered legal, so I bought the 80cc of course. I went with the Grubee because it was available in California as it comes with EPA certification. EPA legal but over the 49cc limit? Whatever. I mounted the engine.

 

[sportscarpat]

The gas tank continues. I currently work for a company that specializes in custom stainless steel food processing equipment. We have a couple laser cutters and I draw in autocad. I have access to this equipment so it helps when I need custom parts. Using my cardboard template as a starting point I drew up the tank and developed the flat patterns. Once cut the pieces looked like a small jig saw puzzle.

 

[sportscarpat]

I chose stainless steel for the gas tank for a few reasons. First it is 90% of what we use for food processing equipment, second it does not rust, and third, well it's just really cool. Time to put the jig saw puzzle of a gas tank together. First I welded in acorn nuts on the base plate so I had threaded attachments to eventually mount the tank to the bike frame. I then took the four main flat pattern pieces and starting with the base piece I tacked the two side pieces on using my tig welder. If you look closely at the finished tank you will notice that the sides are not completely flat, but curve. The back of the tank is 2 1/2" wide and the front is 4 1/4". The sides had to be shaped as they were tacked in place to the bottom. Once the two sides were welded to the bottom then came the hardest part, wraping the top piece around the sides. Precision is the key here, as good fit-up makes the final welding much easier. I was pretty busy during the fitting and welding process and forgot to take any pictures. I do have a couple of the finished tank, though. In these pictures the small tig welds have been ground flush, the tank static leak checked, and then given a "scotchbrite" finish. Also in these pictures you can see the vented Harley gas cap and Husky industrial wheels in black annodize finish. Stay tuned, more tomorrow.

 

[butchl]

Beautiful tank.Nice GT-40 too.

 

[rockvoice]

thats gonna b sweet

 

[silverbear]

What are you going to do for a front brake, or will you have one? I have the same frame and found a NOS front caliper brake adapter that Schwinn made for the older bikes. I have one on the 50 straight-bar and three others on 60's Americans. Not as good as disc or drum brakes, but a whole lot better than no front brake at all. I know of just one seller and he is on eBay. With shipping it comes to about $12.00. Along with a BMX caliper by Pyramid from bikeworldusa, (or salvage one from a BMX donor bike) I find it to be adequate.
SB

 

[sportscarpat]

Thanks for the comments, guys. Silverbear, I do plan to run a front brake and was thinking about the Strumey Archer drum brake. My plan is to unlace the front wheel and reuse the heavy duty spokes that came with the Husky wheel. A local shop can shorten and rethread the spokes for me. I know people will tell me I shouldn't reuse spokes but I am trying to keep this a low buck build and really can't see having problems with reusing 12 gauge spokes. I like the drum brake because that was the style back then and they are more then adequate. A good caliper type brake would work also, but my rims are black annodize and I don't want to burn the finish. They may also look out of place on an old style build like this.

 

[sportscarpat]

So the build continues. Once the tank was mounted and I had a decent set of wheels and at least a rear brake, I tightened up the bicycle side chain and was ready for some non motorized shake down runs. I had never ridden a board track style bicycle and did not what to expect. A few issues were readily apparent. I had bought a rear fender from Husky Industrial Bikes for $8, shortened it and rolled it forward to put the rear kicked up lip at the top of the wheel. It looked cool but rattled like crazy every time I hit a bump. I added struts to the fender and that soved that problem, solid as a rock. The gearing way way too stiff so that would need changing. The spring on the 60 year old springer fork was too soft and the seat way too hard. I was able to find a heavy duty spring off a Whizzer that really improved the handling of the bike and raised the front end as my weight on the old spring caused the front to settle when I sat on the bike. Just a simple spring made all the difference in the world. As for the seat I wanted something cool like a Brooks Saddle, but they are pretty pricey. Anyway, now I had a fairly solid rider and felt ready to start tackling the motor. Here are a couple shots after the first shake down under human power.

 

[sportscarpat]

The little 80cc "powerhouse". I have been reading the forum and finding out what people are having problems with and how they are correcting them. It has been a huge help and I appreicate everybody who posts these issues and solutions. I set up the throttle properly, lubed the cable and made sure the throttle snapped close on release. I carefully adjusted the clutch cable. Checked and rechecked all the fasteners using locktite everywhere. I bought an NGK B5HS plug and made a better quality copper core plug wire. I also made a nice muffler support and tied it to the front motor mount so the motor and muffler could torque together instead of tying the muffler to the frame. Oh, and while I was at it I painted the gas tank satin black. I almost left the tank with the brushed stainless finish, but found some really cool Schwinn Motor Bike water slide decals and felt they would look better on black instead of silver. It was getting real close to being a runner, but I still needed a motor side drive system. I had read all the horror stories about cheap chains, sprockets, idlers, and the resulting vibrations that just ruin the whole motor biking experience. That would take some time to figure out. While I was at it I built a nice support stand like I have seen on some of the early board track racers from the 1920's. Here is a shot with the painted tank and almost all systems go.

 

[1 low 64]

Very Very cool bike! Damn it now I need to go down to my shop and work on mine until 2 a.m. Great job man.

 

[bairdco]

there's absolutely no problems with re-using spokes, as long as they're not bent or kinked up.

here's a link that'll explain it all:Reusing Spokes by Jobst Brandt

 

[sportscarpat]

Bairdco,
Thanks for that info. I just read it. From what I gather then I just need to keep the spokes in the same relative location to the hub, that is reuse the inside spokes on the inside of the new hub and the outers to the outside of the hub so I don't rebend the spoke head in the opposite direction. That shouldn't be too difficult.

 

[flatblackkustoms]

I almost left the tank with the brushed stainless finish, but found some really cool Schwinn Motor Bike water slide decals and felt they would look better on black instead of silver.

Where did you get the decals? I want some for my bike! They are totally bad ass ! NICE WORK !
GERRY D. FLAT BLACK KUSTOMS.

 

[silverbear]

I love your motorbike. When I can find it on a cd I'll post a photo of a Schwinn motorbike with a slight variation on the decals. Instead of the Schwinn logo it has a spoked wheel that the wing comes off of. I like the whole bike, but it is the tank which really makes it. While I like some of the stretched board track racers and some are just amazing builds, your bike looks very inviting to own and ride. If you ever decide to make and sell those tanks, please let me know and I'll start saving my pennies. You must feel a lot of pride in what you've accomplished. And you should. Well done!
SB

 

[dmar836]

Nice work!

 

[sportscarpat]

Thanks for the kind words and nice to finally get some responses on my build thread. Flatbackkustoms, Medford Oregon is a cool place. I used to live up in Coos Bay. I found the stickers on ebay awhile back and just had to have them. They were a perfect fit as they were originally designed to fit on a vintage Schwinn tank bike and I built my tank around that original shape. Silverbear, you had mentioned that you had a straightbar frame also, so this tank design would be a bolt-in on your frame. I have built three tanks now and am currently working on a more shapely design. I have another Panther frame that I may build up as a military bike and have some really cool P40 Warhawk decals for the tank. I have also been working on the motor bike stand. This gives me a solid foundation to support the bike while I am working on it and true to that old board track style I can start the bike and warm it up in the stand. Tank fabrication takes quite a bit of time and if I charged for my time no one would buy them. Each tank does get easier so if your really interested you send me a private email to discuss. Oh, check out the other vintage build by Itchybird, he did an amazing job and his bike also uses one of my fabricated tanks. He disigned that tank and I just did the fab work.