The Morgal Flyer! Aka DrHax's Steampunk Firestone Motorbike ( Front welded up.)
- Thread starter DrHax
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It looks like they started with a centrifugal clutch bell and cut slots for some motorbike clutch plates, no doubt there is some fancy engineering inside that machined piece the cable attaches to, but maybe there is an idea there that you could make your own...
Some springs, a big bit of thread for a ramp to disengage to clutch...
Probably easier to find an old dirt/trailbike and strip the clutch pieces from it and just make a new housing...
Luke.
Rut roh!
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Well my fender skirts and fenders are... uncertain. Fedex's tracking stopped on the 11th and they're pended for a delivery date...
I am kind of worried now.
Bummer. Lost a super sweet donor for my build which was a real setback. Unfortunately, "pending" means they'll get right back to you as soon as they find it. My experience with Fedex is that they're much better on follow-through than brown is. Hope your bits turn up.
furyus
The Renaissance Man
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Screw it the fenders and my 135 are lost to the wind... what ever I still need to get this bike done. It ticks me off to no end that only time fed ex screws up is with something rare and arguably valuable. I opened up a ticket on it so hopefully a inquiry from the sender and the receiver causes them to get their behinds in gear and find my crap!
To-day I'm going to see what is required to mount the freaking engine to the bike I'll see what flat pieces of steel I got. I found a piece of pipe cut off on the floor at work that will be used in the construction of the mounting plate due to how this engine's oil drains out.
I'm done feeling sorry for myself. Now i'm just MAD! The one freaking time I buy something nice. *Grumble grumble grumble!*
Anyways I hope to work on the bike to-day. Because screw it.
To-day I'm going to see what is required to mount the freaking engine to the bike I'll see what flat pieces of steel I got. I found a piece of pipe cut off on the floor at work that will be used in the construction of the mounting plate due to how this engine's oil drains out.
I'm done feeling sorry for myself. Now i'm just MAD!
The one freaking time I buy something nice. *Grumble grumble grumble!*Anyways I hope to work on the bike to-day. Because screw it.
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The Renaissance Man
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Maybe while you focus on the engine it'll take your mind off of the guards and they will show up at your door. But if not, they look fairly simple to replicate. Maybe you could make a set and add your own steampunk twist to them. The fenders themselves look pretty ordinary so they can be replaced.
Valid point, nose to the grindstone as they say.Maybe while you focus on the engine it'll take your mind off of the guards and they will show up at your door. But if not, they look fairly simple to replicate. Maybe you could make a set and add your own steampunk twist to them. The fenders themselves look pretty ordinary so they can be replaced.
I'm sure you'll get it figured out.
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Nothing is a better motivator then PURE DETERMINATION! (Mixed 1 part rage to 3 parts determination.)
So I've been all talk and no go on this forum for awhile (Can tell by the lack of replies to my thread.) So here we go *cracks knuckles* I've been outside since 5.... Yupe soon after I posted my post I went outside and went MENTAL!
Simano throttle on the left side indian style! Tested it out to see if it would work on the handlebars it does!
Got that bleeding pedal off took me using a welding clamp to hold down the drive side to the rear stays and me actually stepping on a wrench. Got it free got out of there. Got everything out getting out all of the parts were tricky as they haven't been moved in 50 plus years.
LOOK MA NO TUBE!
As I get my butcher pete on. He's hackin' and wackin' and smackin'
Close up the carnage. This is shows the post is the same diameter and thickness as the rear tubing which means I do not need to source any. Good it'd only slow me down!
The rear stays on these vintage bikes are tough thick steel. There's a reason why I like old cars and old bikes. They built these things like tanks.
The beach cruiser murrays rear stays were flexible and not very strong. So SCREW IT! DANGIT JIM I'M A WELDER! So I'm using the firestones bb and rear stays.
And remember that crappy MS paint mock up using a schwinn american brochure? Yeah heres a real freaking mock up on a concrete floor!
I think my concept and vision transfers over nicely. It has a very aggressive look which I do like.
Close up of rear wheel
Close up of front wheel. Any questions?
And another shot of the whole picture.
I got another post coming up after this so stay tuned. I think you guys will find it interesting.
So I've been all talk and no go on this forum for awhile (Can tell by the lack of replies to my thread.) So here we go *cracks knuckles* I've been outside since 5.... Yupe soon after I posted my post I went outside and went MENTAL!
Simano throttle on the left side indian style!
Tested it out to see if it would work on the handlebars it does!
Got that bleeding pedal off took me using a welding clamp to hold down the drive side to the rear stays and me actually stepping on a wrench. Got it free got out of there. Got everything out getting out all of the parts were tricky as they haven't been moved in 50 plus years.
LOOK MA NO TUBE!
As I get my butcher pete on. He's hackin' and wackin' and smackin'
Close up the carnage.
This is shows the post is the same diameter and thickness as the rear tubing which means I do not need to source any. Good it'd only slow me down!
The rear stays on these vintage bikes are tough thick steel. There's a reason why I like old cars and old bikes. They built these things like tanks.
The beach cruiser murrays rear stays were flexible and not very strong. So SCREW IT! DANGIT JIM I'M A WELDER!
So I'm using the firestones bb and rear stays.And remember that crappy MS paint mock up using a schwinn american brochure? Yeah heres a real freaking mock up on a concrete floor!
I think my concept and vision transfers over nicely. It has a very aggressive look which I do like.
Close up of rear wheel
Close up of front wheel. Any questions?
And another shot of the whole picture.
I got another post coming up after this so stay tuned. I think you guys will find it interesting.
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So I'm a welder. I have it as a job and I went to school for it (And slaved away every night for it.) I love it too. Welding doesn't feel like work to me.
So that being said here is the welding post. You saw the carnage. You saw the maniac slices. Now how the heck is he going to get humpity dumpity back together again?!
With this.
'
For those of you who know welders you're probably a bit confused. Wait is that a lincoln tombstone buzz box arc welder?
Yes and no my friends. Here is where things get different.
It is a lincoln buzz box welder made in 1972. But this old brute has a few tricks up its sleeve mainly it don't do arc no more. This baby's a tig machine. No tig implies precision, delicate, and control like a surgeons scalpel, and this is your surgeon popping out from the side of your bed with a chainsaw...
This is heli-arcing. No pedal, no squarewave, no DC, no digital read out. Just you and the torch and what ever you told the tombstone to lob at you!
I bought this set up from a harley guy who made his living repairing bikes people dropped and engine covers that got smashed since 1972. He also built a twin engine triumph that went 198mph using this machine. It came in two parts the box used to be separate and the cords were worn down and everything was bulky so I combined two into one and I got rid of the SMAW stinger and directly wired in a 20 foot long 250 amp aircooled tig torch with a gas valve.
So how the heck does this thing work. It is an ac system using an external high frequency module wired to the where the stinger lead normally goes and your torch is wired into that unit you see above. The thing sounds like a tesla coil when its fired up and you can actually see electricity arcing off of metal when you get the torch within two feet of it. Yeah remember the precision part of tig? This guy doesn't have that.
As a welder you need to learn how to prep your metal.
Removed what remained of the firestone's old seat post with a few rolls of a flapper disc.
And you may wonder what the welds of that crazy death machine looks like.
That. There was so much heat the grease on the inside of the BB caught on fire, as I said this thing is a tough machine. It might as well just be electric oxy welding, but it does get the job done, and hopefully I have enough gas to weld up the entire bike.
So that being said here is the welding post. You saw the carnage. You saw the maniac slices. Now how the heck is he going to get humpity dumpity back together again?!
With this.
'For those of you who know welders you're probably a bit confused. Wait is that a lincoln tombstone buzz box arc welder?
Yes and no my friends. Here is where things get different.
It is a lincoln buzz box welder made in 1972. But this old brute has a few tricks up its sleeve mainly it don't do arc no more. This baby's a tig machine. No tig implies precision, delicate, and control like a surgeons scalpel, and this is your surgeon popping out from the side of your bed with a chainsaw...
This is heli-arcing. No pedal, no squarewave, no DC, no digital read out. Just you and the torch and what ever you told the tombstone to lob at you!
I bought this set up from a harley guy who made his living repairing bikes people dropped and engine covers that got smashed since 1972. He also built a twin engine triumph that went 198mph using this machine. It came in two parts the box used to be separate and the cords were worn down and everything was bulky so I combined two into one and I got rid of the SMAW stinger and directly wired in a 20 foot long 250 amp aircooled tig torch with a gas valve.
So how the heck does this thing work. It is an ac system using an external high frequency module wired to the where the stinger lead normally goes and your torch is wired into that unit you see above. The thing sounds like a tesla coil when its fired up and you can actually see electricity arcing off of metal when you get the torch within two feet of it. Yeah remember the precision part of tig? This guy doesn't have that.
As a welder you need to learn how to prep your metal.
Removed what remained of the firestone's old seat post with a few rolls of a flapper disc.
And you may wonder what the welds of that crazy death machine looks like.
That. There was so much heat the grease on the inside of the BB caught on fire, as I said this thing is a tough machine. It might as well just be electric oxy welding, but it does get the job done, and hopefully I have enough gas to weld up the entire bike.
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Progress progress and guess what? Potatoes no
Progress!
But in what? Welding of course!
Some of them ain't pretty but that's why flap wheels exist
The BB weld you saw earlier this how it lines up. I used the largest weldable steel rods they had and cut it to size. I welded onto the BB and slid down the bottom frame over it. This actually allowed for everything to be straight as well as making it a breeze to line up and weld. I took a pie cut out of the frame and lined her up.
and here's your final product!
Looks almost exactly like an oxy weld. How strong is it might you be asking?
Considering I was able to throw all of my weight against it to pull UP the frame so the part that used to connect to the rear stays would go up to where I needed it. I think its safe to say that buzz box produces some strong welds.
Here's some more of that bending action I mentioned earlier.
And heres a close(er) Up of the welds. Not bad for a machine made in 1972 doing something it was never designed to do! Fits the build quite well doesn't it?
Now here is where the picture train ends. But I can describe what happened. The remaining rear end of the murray cruiser was welded to the bike frame. Easier said then done.
Progress!
But in what? Welding of course!
Some of them ain't pretty but that's why flap wheels exist
The BB weld you saw earlier this how it lines up. I used the largest weldable steel rods they had and cut it to size. I welded onto the BB and slid down the bottom frame over it. This actually allowed for everything to be straight as well as making it a breeze to line up and weld. I took a pie cut out of the frame and lined her up.
and here's your final product!
Looks almost exactly like an oxy weld. How strong is it might you be asking?
Considering I was able to throw all of my weight against it to pull UP the frame so the part that used to connect to the rear stays would go up to where I needed it. I think its safe to say that buzz box produces some strong welds.
Here's some more of that bending action I mentioned earlier.
And heres a close(er) Up of the welds. Not bad for a machine made in 1972 doing something it was never designed to do!
Fits the build quite well doesn't it?
Now here is where the picture train ends. But I can describe what happened. The remaining rear end of the murray cruiser was welded to the bike frame. Easier said then done.
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The vintage firestone american steel was strong and thick meaning this buzz box loved it. (90 amps did the trick)The murray chinese steel, however, wasn't playing nice with the apple pie loving capitalist steel. Also the chinese steel was much thinner on the murray section meaning I had to do a bit of a trick to get everything to work.(alternating welding between 75,90,115 and 135 amps!) The part that went to the rear stays originally on the firestone were tricky to weld. That steel just nearly blew out when applied to heat. And I was running out of filler rod. Lucky as I was griding my tungsten I found a loan steel filler rod in a bundle of aluminum ones the previous owner of this machine gave me. I got burnt and hurt during this part of the build from me getting tired, and it was hot outside. But its done.
How strong is this frame. It is absurdly strong now. Theres no give and you can throw it around all day. before the firestone felt "Weak" compared to my schwinn tiger it always felt a bit "light" Well not anymore. The frame with that reinforcing rod in the bottom added so much rigidity you could swing it like a norid battle axe and take on the world. I think this thing will hold up doing 60 mph.
Also using this type of welding process is closer to how they used to weld these bikes back in the old day. GTAW welding (Tig, or in my case AC Heliarc) produces a weld where the filler metal, the parent metal and the weld are all merged into one. Unlike a mig weld were the mig weld is actually a harder steel then the metal surrounding it. To the point where I needed to remove a part that was welded onto the murray cruiser rear end and I simply able to grind enough off the part and hit it with a wrench and they came off.
I wanted to do more but my fiancee was with me. We were hungry, and honestly I was hurting and from burning my left pinky, and stabbing my right pointer finger with a screw driver whilst removing the crank.
I made a lot of progress. But with that being said, do you think the warranty is still valid on this bike? 
Yeah we ain't in kansas anymore toto. From here on out there is no instruction manual.
) The part that went to the rear stays originally on the firestone were tricky to weld. That steel just nearly blew out when applied to heat. And I was running out of filler rod. Lucky as I was griding my tungsten I found a loan steel filler rod in a bundle of aluminum ones the previous owner of this machine gave me. I got burnt and hurt during this part of the build from me getting tired, and it was hot outside. But its done.How strong is this frame. It is absurdly strong now. Theres no give and you can throw it around all day. before the firestone felt "Weak" compared to my schwinn tiger it always felt a bit "light" Well not anymore. The frame with that reinforcing rod in the bottom added so much rigidity you could swing it like a norid battle axe and take on the world. I think this thing will hold up doing 60 mph.
Also using this type of welding process is closer to how they used to weld these bikes back in the old day. GTAW welding (Tig, or in my case AC Heliarc) produces a weld where the filler metal, the parent metal and the weld are all merged into one. Unlike a mig weld were the mig weld is actually a harder steel then the metal surrounding it. To the point where I needed to remove a part that was welded onto the murray cruiser rear end and I simply able to grind enough off the part and hit it with a wrench and they came off.
I wanted to do more but my fiancee was with me. We were hungry, and honestly I was hurting and from burning my left pinky, and stabbing my right pointer finger with a screw driver whilst removing the crank.
I made a lot of progress. But with that being said, do you think the warranty is still valid on this bike?
Yeah we ain't in kansas anymore toto. From here on out there is no instruction manual.
