With the right cut on that fender I'm feeling this
Love the transition to the chain guard
ππππ ππ§ππ₯π πππ«ππππ‘ ππ¨π₯π¬π¨π§ ππππ - BO17 Build Journal - Finished in 3rd Place - 1937 Uncle Stretch Colson XLWB
- Thread starter kingfish254
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With the right cut on that fender I'm feeling this
Love the transition to the chain guard
The bottom picture where the lower guard mirrors the upper creating a trailing point. https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/attachments/20220618_124454-jpg.199309/
That is the one with the higgins colorflow skirt on top and the western flyer skirt below. The other two combos that have a similar combined scallop.
There is the higgins top and bottom combo
And then the Elgin skirt on top with the higgins skirt below.
Of course any of these could be combined differently. I've had this idea for years and mocked it up on other builds, but I haven't followed through with it on one yet. It didn't quite grab me for this build yet either. Who knows.
View attachment 199334
With the right cut on that fender I'm feeling this
Love the transition to the chain guard
To be honest, the one skirt that has rolled in my more is that Elgin guard on top like that. But I don't believe I will use the long Evans chainguard. It was just the only longish guard I had available to mock up on that day. I'll probably mock up the Elgin skirt with the long Tracer guard and the fat Felt fender sometime soon.
I've had fun chasing skirts a few times before 
The first time was the flaming Elgin skirt on Firewing in BO8
Then the flipped Western Flyer skirt on VerBoten in BO10
And the Higgins skirt on Western Sizzler in BO14
The first time was the flaming Elgin skirt on Firewing in BO8
Then the flipped Western Flyer skirt on VerBoten in BO10
And the Higgins skirt on Western Sizzler in BO14
I think what really makes the Sizzler and the Firewing work so well is the combination of the skirt with the chain guard, and how well the guard goes with the respective tank on each of those builds.
I like the guard/skirt on top with that red fender. Add a front numberplate (oval) and you got that "flattracker" looks going.
Well from a structural engineering standpoint you wouldnβt want any curved tubes at all.You'll have to take that up with the design engineers at Colson back in the thirties or with Uncle Stretch's artistic stretch of that design.
View attachment 199333
So Iβd say that they were on the fence about form versus function. Iβm sure none of us are familiar with that situationβ¦
MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
I like the flow of this setup best
Yeah, that is true with any of the old skirtguards. They are made to mesh with their respective chainguards. Of course, I didn't use the corresponding chainguard in either of those builds. It takes a good bit of work to mate skirts mechanically and aesthetically with not only the chainguard, but also the fender, and also notch them to fit the seatstays too. It sorta becomes a spring loaded puzzle when you are mocking it up
.Firewing was even more complicated, not only because of the two layer roof flashing flame skirts, but also, the nanner seat support panel is integrated and hidden behind the Elgin skirts. That was an intricate symphony of parts on the back end of that build.
Western Sizzler wasn't too hard to integrate the Higgins skirt to the Elgin guard, but it was a challenge meshing it with the fender.
VerBoten is completely different. It is less of a skirt guard, and more of a Cadillac fin turned upside down. Purely a design element, but one that I am still very proud of. I love the look it gives to the bike.
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It gives verboten a very interesting fish-like look to it.
I like the guard/skirt on top with that red fender. Add a front numberplate (oval) and you got that "flattracker" looks going.
Hadn't really thought about boardtracking it. It might be cool, but not quite what I am feeling right now with it. Have to see how it shakes out.
Thanks. Like I said, I really don't know if there will be any skirts on here, but I'll try them out again once I get the guard and fender ready. Then I'll be able to see if anything else plays well with this or not.
An old 50's hot rod louver press would be so cool to own. Imagine the custom tanks, skirts and even fenders that could be made with one. I have read those presses are very expensive. You could make one piece fender skirts with louvers that tapered in size and etc.
I worked at a place 20 years ago doing cnc programming work among other things and they had quite a few louver setups for making lockers. I made battery boxes, vent panels for hoods, among other stuff. Those were the days. Doing "government" work on third shift
I had a contract doing prison windows with louver punches in the Amada turret press.
By βdoingβ I mean I drew them, generated the G-code, wrote some numbers on paper, and gave it to the shop super.
They had to load up those presses & move all that steel around. Anyhow those were some thick plates at 0.107β . . . much thicker than a louvered hood.
By βdoingβ I mean I drew them, generated the G-code, wrote some numbers on paper, and gave it to the shop super.
They had to load up those presses & move all that steel around. Anyhow those were some thick plates at 0.107β . . . much thicker than a louvered hood.
