Way Back Machine
- Thread starter wrenching4fun
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wrenching4fun
Well-Known Member
Are you building anything these days, Curt? Do you have other builders in the area you can ride with? I'm lucky that wifey likes to ride so I have a live-in riding partner.
wrenching4fun
Well-Known Member
Summer monsoons hit just in time to ruin my late afternoon ride. That's okay because it gave me an excuse to wire the stop light to my break lever switch. So the break light switch and horn are wired straight to the battery. The voltmeter, headlight, and tail light are wired to a toggle switch in the headlight shell so I can run dark like most vintage bikes. A salvaged wiring sheath holds the two hot wires from the controls on the front of the bike to the tail/brake light. It's heavy fairly rigid plastic unlike that on Chinese wiring. The wiring scheme is almost identical to what came on my 2nd generation Whizzer, minus the turn signals. Since I'm running LED lights I was able to use light duty wiring.
wrenching4fun
Well-Known Member
Completed the wiring except for the single ignition wire from the cdi to the key which needs to be re-routed to fit in the main harness sheath. The bundle is more compact than before.
Purchased a vintage worm gear speedometer drive to replace the sketchy plastic gear driven unit that doesn't hold up under motorized speeds. The new one has a cast metal housing with a zerk fitting for lubrication, plus it's fully sealed to protect internals from dirt and moisture.
Will now begin painting the stock fenders and smaller bits while enjoying the bike for the remainder of the riding season.
Purchased a vintage worm gear speedometer drive to replace the sketchy plastic gear driven unit that doesn't hold up under motorized speeds. The new one has a cast metal housing with a zerk fitting for lubrication, plus it's fully sealed to protect internals from dirt and moisture.
Will now begin painting the stock fenders and smaller bits while enjoying the bike for the remainder of the riding season.
wrenching4fun
Well-Known Member
These shots will be boring to most of you. The first is a vintage dash with speedo I intend to replace my current one with.
This shot is the main wiring harness held together with tape instead of a sheath.
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Wiring for ignition switch, voltmeter, and horn. I know it looks bulky, but it's the best I can do, and it works.
Harness for tail/brake light. Crimp-on connectors are the best, but they're quick and easy.
Side view of bike with wiring intact.
While on my ride this morning, workers building houses in the area turned to take a look when they heard me coming. I gotta say, the little Honda hits above its weight with help from the 3-speed hub. Finally got the springs right on my seat, nice and cushy on bumps. New tires are on the drawing board, but can't decide whether I should stick with 26 x 2.35 or spread the frame for 2.50s. It doesn't sound like much difference, but the 2.50s look a lot wider. Guess I'll swap out the dash while I'm deciding! The little speedometer on the new dash reminds me of the one on my old Whizzer.
This shot is the main wiring harness held together with tape instead of a sheath.
Wiring for ignition switch, voltmeter, and horn. I know it looks bulky, but it's the best I can do, and it works.
Harness for tail/brake light. Crimp-on connectors are the best, but they're quick and easy.
Side view of bike with wiring intact.
While on my ride this morning, workers building houses in the area turned to take a look when they heard me coming. I gotta say, the little Honda hits above its weight with help from the 3-speed hub. Finally got the springs right on my seat, nice and cushy on bumps. New tires are on the drawing board, but can't decide whether I should stick with 26 x 2.35 or spread the frame for 2.50s. It doesn't sound like much difference, but the 2.50s look a lot wider. Guess I'll swap out the dash while I'm deciding! The little speedometer on the new dash reminds me of the one on my old Whizzer.
wrenching4fun
Well-Known Member
Went for my evening ride a couple of days ago and noticed my drive belt was slipping a wee bit in 3rd gear when stress on it is the greatest. Beat it back to the shop and started rummaging through 20 years worth of springs salvaged from appliances, motorcycles, burned out tools, etc. Found one identical to the one already installed except the gauge was slightly larger making it stronger. So I swapped them out and while cruising through an adjacent neighborhood on a test drive, I realized reaching down to my crotch for the shifter was not ideal.
I decided to duplicate the suicide shifter on pre-war Harleys and Cushman scooters. The placement of their shifters next to the fuel tank is intentional to minimized the movement from handlebar to shifter and back. I pulled a worn out hood lift support and to recover parts for my new shift rod. A little tip to those of you who have a little Sanford & Son streak like me-support struts are gas filled and are under tremendous pressure. When I was cutting into the housing to salvage the rod, I assumed the gas would leak out slowly. Man was I wrong! As I was grinding away the think exploded like a roadside bomb, shooting the end across the garage. Lucky for me, it was aimed at an empty wall, so nothing was damaged.
Anyway, the rod from a strut is the finest steel, much better than steel rods you get at the hardware, plus it's threaded on the end so it's simple to install a shift knob. After fabricating the new rod with proper length and bend, I cut the shaft on the Shimano indexed shifter and drilled a hole for a mounting screw for the linkage between the new shifter and the Shimano one. The Shimano unit had to be turned upside down on the crossbar so it lined up with the new linkage. The new shifter clicks crisply through the index points on the Shimano unit and I retained all of the clever adjustments between the original Shimano shifter and the 3-speed hub. The linkage is simply a section of scrap 1/4" steel tubing flattened on both ends for pivot points.
Here is a photo of the discarded portion of the original Shimano shifter.
Here is a side view of the new setup. Sorry for the distracting Cub Cadet in the background, my room is limited. The shift knob has been in my parts bin for 50 years. It came from an old VW Scirocco. If anyone remembers, these cars had an engine about the size of a 6-pack but it would scoot pretty good with its 5-speed tranny. Mine was white with all red interior that made it look like a French Gentleman's Parlor! Anyway, when I sold it I kept the shift knob for posterity and now it's getting a second life. Note the rusty/crusty J.C. Higgins fenders on the tractor seat!
Here is the shifter in 1st gear.
One click to the rear for 2nd gear.
Another click back for 3rd gear.
View of shifter from the saddle.
And for you sharpies who are wondering what happened to the new dash, I can only say life is full of distractions. That project is coming up next.
I decided to duplicate the suicide shifter on pre-war Harleys and Cushman scooters. The placement of their shifters next to the fuel tank is intentional to minimized the movement from handlebar to shifter and back. I pulled a worn out hood lift support and to recover parts for my new shift rod. A little tip to those of you who have a little Sanford & Son streak like me-support struts are gas filled and are under tremendous pressure. When I was cutting into the housing to salvage the rod, I assumed the gas would leak out slowly. Man was I wrong! As I was grinding away the think exploded like a roadside bomb, shooting the end across the garage. Lucky for me, it was aimed at an empty wall, so nothing was damaged.
Anyway, the rod from a strut is the finest steel, much better than steel rods you get at the hardware, plus it's threaded on the end so it's simple to install a shift knob. After fabricating the new rod with proper length and bend, I cut the shaft on the Shimano indexed shifter and drilled a hole for a mounting screw for the linkage between the new shifter and the Shimano one. The Shimano unit had to be turned upside down on the crossbar so it lined up with the new linkage. The new shifter clicks crisply through the index points on the Shimano unit and I retained all of the clever adjustments between the original Shimano shifter and the 3-speed hub. The linkage is simply a section of scrap 1/4" steel tubing flattened on both ends for pivot points.
Here is a photo of the discarded portion of the original Shimano shifter.
Here is a side view of the new setup. Sorry for the distracting Cub Cadet in the background, my room is limited. The shift knob has been in my parts bin for 50 years. It came from an old VW Scirocco. If anyone remembers, these cars had an engine about the size of a 6-pack but it would scoot pretty good with its 5-speed tranny. Mine was white with all red interior that made it look like a French Gentleman's Parlor! Anyway, when I sold it I kept the shift knob for posterity and now it's getting a second life. Note the rusty/crusty J.C. Higgins fenders on the tractor seat!
Here is the shifter in 1st gear.
One click to the rear for 2nd gear.
Another click back for 3rd gear.
View of shifter from the saddle.
And for you sharpies who are wondering what happened to the new dash, I can only say life is full of distractions. That project is coming up next.
Venice Motor Bikes
Custom Builder / Dealer/Los Angeles
I like the Wolfsburg shifter knob 
wrenching4fun
Well-Known Member
Thanks for reminding me of the name.
Sorry for the delay: No I am not at the momet, lot of health issues latley, so have been up and down, just trying to keepup with the needed. I have been going through stuff and going to get rid of a lot of unneeded. I have lived in this houes for about 60 years, way to much day dream projects. I do have that old 50's frictuon drive that all in boxes, that I am going to put together, as I clean. It came with no rims and have found some with skiptooth chain to use, so should be good to go.......Curt
wrenching4fun
Well-Known Member
I am with you on the health issues that invariably come with age. Also share your pain on the accumulation of stuff for rainy day projects. At my age rainy days make me want to nap!
wrenching4fun
Well-Known Member
There are certain places where chrome fenders and plastic motorcycle mirrors don't belong. One of them is a 1950 J.C. Higgins bike. Yanked both off today. Replaced the chrome fenders with the original domed ones with a fine rust patina. Replaced the plastic mirrors with a good ole vintage bicycle mirror made from recycled tin cans. This was no easy job. You can see in the second photo that I had to rig a sky hook to pull the front wheel. I nearly blew a brain gasket trying to figure out how to assemble the springer front end with the two fender struts. After several aborted tries, I was blessed with divine intervention and the solution came to me. I still have to re-attach the tail light and kickstand catch. Still haven't decided if there is paint in this build's future.
The Sky Hook is a rope and pulley system designed for storing bicycles up and out of the way. I simply attached it to my garage door track and it will lift either end of the bike for easy wheel removal. I bolt a pine board between the two mounts to keep them from sliding together under the weight.
Found this NOS bicycle mirror on Fleabay for a song. Came with a standard handlebar clamp and a glass lens. Like most bicycle accessories, it's not real durable, but not junk either. I like it swept low, our of my field of vision
My seat is still a tad high in the back. I'm thinking instead of buying new springs, I might just cut a coil or two out of these.
The Sky Hook is a rope and pulley system designed for storing bicycles up and out of the way. I simply attached it to my garage door track and it will lift either end of the bike for easy wheel removal. I bolt a pine board between the two mounts to keep them from sliding together under the weight.
Found this NOS bicycle mirror on Fleabay for a song. Came with a standard handlebar clamp and a glass lens. Like most bicycle accessories, it's not real durable, but not junk either. I like it swept low, our of my field of vision
My seat is still a tad high in the back. I'm thinking instead of buying new springs, I might just cut a coil or two out of these.