Thanks for the encouragement regarding the fenders and skirt guards. Looking at them through your eyes helps me appreciate how far they have come thus far and encourages me to keep on keepin' on. I tend to see mostly what's still wrong with them... the silver solder repair work yet to be done, the places where a bit more straightening is needed and then all the JB Weld filling and sanding to come. They do look better in the pictures than they would in paint at they are. I'll do some more work on them and then say 'good enough' as I have with every other imperfect thing on this bike. You have to know when to say enough and move on. Overall it is looking much better than I had originally imagined it might. I think this is going to be my favorite ride.
Steve, I'm glad to hear you've got the mahogany laid down on the sidecar... can't wait to see it. I'm still thinking in terms of adapting a kiddie trailer into a sidecar, which shows the great discrepancy in our respective woodworking skills. I'll be very interested in how yours will attach to the bike.
Bairdco, I failed to thank you for the fender and fender stay tips. I have yet to address that bent up stay. Whatever I do it can't turn out worse than it is now.
Barely, your bike is really coming along. Very dramatic picture, that! No, it sure isn't grandpa's Rollfast anymore. Where do you get gell seat insert material? I need something for mine as the padding I used when I rebuilt that seat had a kind of waffle design in it which telegraphs right through the elk hide... so it needs something else to both look and feel better. I suspect I'll be riding this bike a lot, so a comfy seat is high priority. I'm also thinking about adapting gel grips and then covering them in leather. I have nerve damage in my hands, so they are very prone to tingling a lot after long rides. I'm thinking gel might be a good way to go. Any experience with gel grips? Are they flexible enough for one to fit over the throttle barrel? I hope so.
Yesterday I soldered up a new V8 gas tank and made a new and improved cradle for it with wider angle and a solid aluminum plate underneath to sandwich the rack. The cradle will stay unpainted aluminum and I'll take more care in painting the tank. You know, I don't mind that the tank looks like what it is, a lowly juice can made into a gas tank. So what if it works and looks good? I don't feel much need to disguise it. So long as I like the way it looks, then good enough. That's part of the great satisfaction in building these old bikes out of rusted and neglected frames and parts. As we breathe life into them they start to take on our character and reflect our tastes, color preferences, values. In that sense they truly become extensions of who we are and give real meaning to 'my bike'. Gettin' kind of philosophical there... hoping for another shake-down ride today as it appears to be the only break in weather for some time.
SB