The Hepkat * I'm back!!

[Bike Bum]

The frame is ready to paint but I have a few things to complete first. This chain guard was not built for this bike so I have to make all new brackets to fit the frame. Plus I still have to make the shims so the rear fender follows the tire tightly. It's slowly getting there but it's going to be cool.

 

[toro1978]

That chainguard is really cool. What is the biggest chainring that fits under it?

 

[Bike Bum]

That chainguard is really cool. What is the biggest chainring that fits under it?

I'm running a 44 tooth sprocket and I have plenty of room.

 

[Bike Bum]

I really hated the gap between the tire and the fender. Not only was there a gap you could see all the way through but, the fender didn't follow the line of the tire.

 

[Bike Bum]

So I made spacers that pushed the fender closer to the tire and I had to shorten the fender brace.

I like it but I need to shorten the spacers a little bit because my tire slightly rubs the screw heads. By doing all this I did two things, I made the tire and fender flow much better, plus, I moved the tire back about 2 inches. I always thought the rear tire looked too close to the seat post tube. I think it looks better now.

 

[TroutFishingInAmerica]

Brian likes his fender the same way.

 

[Bike Bum]

Brian likes his fender the same way.View attachment 72300

Heck yeah! That's why Brian is the original Hepkat. This picture might have just inspired me on my next build.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Great work on that fender!
It’s those kind of details that take bikes to the next level (IMHO, that is)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bike Bum]

Thanks doc. I still have some fine tuning to do but it's getting closer.

 

[Bike Bum]

Not much progress last night. I did shorten the spacers about a 1/4 inch because the tire would slightly rub the screw heads. The fender still looks tight to the tire so I'm still good with the look.

 

[Bike Bum]

Then I started working on the tail light and license plate bracket. The Hepkat license plate bracket will have a hidden battery pack behind the plate that will run the tail light. I'll have more pictures tomorrow. But here's the light I found years ago and I finally have a project to use it on. The plate will be mounted vertically below the light.

 

[Bike Bum]

It took longer than expected to clean this up with the wire wheel but it looks great. Had to use the hammer and dolly to straighten out a lot of it but it's quicker and easier than hiding the dents with bondo.

 

[Bike Bum]

The front of the chain guard was pretty rough. After smoothing it out I got out the files and reshaped it more. Especially the three grooves, they were a mess. It's looking much better now.

 

[kingfish254]

Krispy Klean

 

[Bike Bum]

I finally invested in a large air compressor so now I can get serious about painting. Lot's of metal flaking is about to happen. Sorry, no picture but you know what an air compressor looks like.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Like this?

Merle.

 

[Bike Bum]

Like this?
View attachment 76748 View attachment 76749

Merle.

Yeah, that's it but red!

 

[Bike Bum]

Sorry for not posting for a while but I've been packing my house. I'm sick of living on the Gulf Coast so I'm moving back to Michigan. I'll have plenty of room to work on all my projects plus it won't be 300 degrees with 6000 percent humidity everyday.

 

[Bike Bum]

It's been a few months, I'm mostly all moved in to the new place. I need a workshop with great lighting so I picked the old chicken coop. Plenty of room and lots of windows.

Of course, the problem is, it was full of junk.

Spent a few weeks cleaning and now it's usable again.

 

[Bike Bum]

On the bright side, I found a couple good scores hiding in all the junk. A pretty cool Columbia, I even found a NOS tank for it. And peeking out from behind the Columbia was cycle truck frame. Which is cool since I found the rest of the bike in a box up in the barn. Woohoo!