Vintage Cruiser

[sportscarpat]

I have been pretty busy lately working on various projects. My wife has been riding my motorbike around quite a bit and asked if I could put one together for her. I have wanted to do a military style build and figured this was my opportunity. I had plans of an olive drab and desert camo paint job on the frame and every other part of the bike either green, black, or tan. I started with a Schwinn frame and a stencile kit off of ebay to give the frame a stock Schwinn paint job using the olive drab and tan. Well, the wife got involved and now I have a lot of chrome pieces as well. It's really susposed to be her bike anyway, so what could I say? It has started to take on it's own personality now. Not at all what I had started out to build, but I am beginning to like the looks.
Here is a partial components list:

1952 Schwinn Panther
Parsons seat that I recovered in black leather
Unknown cruiser bars with Schwinn stem
Oury grips
Schwinn $10 special cycle computer (these work great)
Chrome ballon tire full fenders (these were going to get painted black or olive drab)
Latest manufacture PK80-J Slant Head in silver
CNS Carb
One of my custom in-frame tanks in an unpainted "scotch-brite" finish
1952 Schwinn springer fork
18 tooth bearing mounted idler sprocket for a #41 chain
1995 Schwinn Phantom crank, sprocket, and bottom bracket

All I still need are tires and wheels.

 

[BarelyAWake]

Very nice build fosho! Got any "before" pics of the '52 Schwinn?

I envy yer tank skills - I'm still workin' on mine lol

 

[Venice Motor Bikes]

Old Schwinns rule!!

 

[flybytaco]

have you ran a cns yet? I have 2 and dont like them i have more luck with a jetted stocky like the shim on that fat frt mount u made nice bike

 

[boscrowe]

Great tank were do i get one

 

[sportscarpat]

Thanks for the replys guys. I like CNS carbs. I found that on my 80cc Grubee that I lost a little on the bottom end but the trade off was a far smoother running engine and no more four stroking. I threw an expansion chamber on the Grubee and then got the bottom end back. Wouldn't run without the expansion pipe or CNS carb now that I know the difference. Flybytaco, if you want to sell those carbs give me a shout. Boscrowe, I make the tanks for the Schwinn Panther and have frames available also. I now have a Worksman frame and plan to start building tanks for them soon.

 

[OleSkool]

Very nice! the tanks you make are very nice looking I intend to assemble a wrap over tank for a bruiser prestige frame any tips on tank building? I probably will paint mine so I can camouflage any mistakes with bondo!

 

[sportscarpat]

The best advice I can offer is also the most difficult part. Precision. Joint fit-up is critical because your working with thin sheet metal. If your joints are perfect the welding process is much easier. If you have big gaps then your going to have problems. My tanks are all corner welds as this is the stiffest part of the tank and this helps to control distortion. Make it out of thin poster board first and tape the joints to build a 3D model, test fit to the bike. When its perfect cut your metal from the developed patterns.

 

[Sharksfan]

Awesome build! I really like the custom tank.

 

[turner22]

i love these tanks and I want one for my boardtrack project. know of any tutorials??

looks great!!

 

[MotorbikeMike]

Hi Sportscarpat, I have not taken pics of the Brooks yet, and am still interested in a nice tank for my Schwinn Tornado. I have not forgotten, just not completed the task. I DO have several of those CNS carbs new. and maybe we can work something out? Or maybe do something about the frames you use, and the tank that fits?

Feel free to PM me if you like,

Mike

 

[sportscarpat]

Mike,
I think I am pretty well covered on the Brooks saddles although it never hurts to have a spare. Which models do you have? The Tornado tanks are of an earlier design I had done. The current Panther version is really the best of the three designs and allows a larger tank. Frames are out there and deals can be found.

 

[silverbear]

Hey Pat, No surprise that I really like the current build. I was noticing the chrome fenders and wondering where they came from as they look new. They look to me like gothic fenders with the flattened peak or is that an illusion of some kind? I was under the impression that no one was making reproductions of the gothic fenders. I'm very much interested since my 39 Elgin has painted fenders very similar. Bringing them back to life has been arduous, and the results are not all that great. New ones would be a great option.
SB

 

[sportscarpat]

Hi Silverbear,
The fenders are an ebay special. $60 shipped. The guy lists them as Schwinn ballon tire fenders. I had planned to paint them but the chrome is really nice. So far they are still chrome. Here are a couple shots from yesterday. I just need to get the chains mounted and she's ready to ride. We had a pretty cool tech session at my shop yesterday with four motorbikes. Talk about a good time! We went for a cruise and just got poured on. It was raining hard. Ended the day doing water burnouts on the motor bikes.

 

[sportscarpat]

 

[sportscarpat]

 

[itchybird]

Hey Pat,

Good time at our tuning session yesterday, my bike has SOOOO much more power now. I don't normally stoop to such childish behaivor as doing burn-outs, but the bike is so much more powerful now that I just couldn't help myself.

MOD's:
1. Expansion Chamber pipe.
2. .035 decking of the cylinder head
3. CNS carberator
4. Clean fuel delivery, ie petcock, filters, etc.

We'll let the forum decide who's burn-out out was the best, but from what I see, my bike (the maroon one) had the upper hand.

My Vintage bike rules the burn-out pit!!

Rich

 

[sportscarpat]

I have to agree with you on who rules the burn-out pit. You have a technique I just couldn't seem to master. The mods you listed definately turned your vintage beast into a real terror. The next time we have a race day I may see some real competition.

 

[LAboy]

Looks like you guys had a good time. Nice bikes.
Pat, what paint do you use for expansion chamber?

 

[sportscarpat]

Hi Roman,
The pipes come with a cheap chrome plating of some sort. These pipes do not fit out of the box. I cut off the bolt flange and then modify the pipe inlet angle. Then we swege them out a bit and weld on a new flange that I designed to match the cylinder port. Once finished the pipe is nicely port matched. You can sand the chrome finish and then paint with a high temp flat black if your not into chrome. These pipes make a huge difference in performance. The list of changes we made to Rich's bike is becoming the standard list of upgrades we do to all the bikes. Makes'em rip! After upgrading Rich's bike we went for a long cruise. At one point we were cruising at 33 mph for an extended period of time.