Wanna be

[Goldy]

Hi all, here is a couple of shots of the bike that my buddy Mike and I built this summer. I started my own 'Cyclone' board track replica project about a year ago, but after a recent trip to the Antique Motorcycle Show at Rhinebeck NY this year, I put mine on the shelf and proceeded with this one at Mikes request. We started with a 1957 Western Flier bicycle and fitted a 3hp Techumseh engine and belt drive (no it doesn't overheat). We referred to an old magazine article/ project that can be viewed on vintageprojects.com . The fuel tank is a modified fire extinguisher, the exhaust was fabricated out of an old set of motorcycle handlebars, and the headlight is made out of a stainless steel food storage container. It will never make much of a steep hill climber, but on level ground and average inclines it works perfectly. The machine made its grand debut at one of the local vintage auto/ motorcycle shows putting around the parking lot through the day and was a really big hit at the local drag strip, where several people thought it was the 'real deal'.

 

[chainmaker]

That is one nice looking bike, I really like the red with the white walls.Nice work with the exhaust and tank.
Cheers

 

[Dan]

Suweet. Really great build

 

[corgi1]

That looks great,,,on the double rim on the back how do you do the tube( s?) ?

 

[hurricane]

Very clever build,The gas tank idea is impressive. And the scrub brake is also very reliable and not too techy but effective, Your front fork looks pretty but all it is for is looks ,you should have attempted to add springs to it for a more comfortable ride maybe and better appearance? The front fender bracket is amazing though.

Your rear belt drive tire is also a clever design,it looks like all you did was use another rim and attached it to the tire rim by welding a few brackets to the tire rim ? Is the belt a V or flat or ridged ? Seems to me a ridged one would work best ?

What is the purpose of the 4 bolts in front of the brake arm for ? Kinda appears one peice of of the frame is larger and the other slips inside it ? But why ?

Overall it is a very attractive build good job.

 

[Goldy]

As far as the front forks go, we were really only interested in appearance and trying to keep costs down...Yes another rim is connected via brazed on links and the rim fastened to those with countersunk screws...no problem getting the tire on. The plain V belt seems to work just fine, no slippage. The four bolts hold a split sleeve to enable the belt to be passed inside the frame.

 

[hurricane]

thanks Goldy,excellent explanation. Very good job of staying on budget and making things work for your build.

 

[silverbear]

I like that build a whole lot. Very inventive and the gas tank is super. How did you extend the business end to that shape... welding? It is perfect!
SB

 

[Goldy]

Yes, plugged the business end of the extinguisher and welded on heavy gauge sheet metal to form the necessary shape.

 

[harry76]

WOW saw this in Goldys BSA copy thread at a show and had to search for it. I cant believe its only a 1 page thread. This is a thing of beauty and deserves more attention. Id love to see more pics or hear more about the build. This is definitely one of my all time favourites. Awesome!!!!

 

[Goldy]

That's about all I've got for pics as we didn't document the build. Most of the inspiration came from all those early Indian motorcycles we saw. In hindsight I suppose it would have looked even better with the frame stretched four or five inches. Anyhoo, glad you like it!