Hi from a new member - in the UK

[PeteMcP]

Hi folks,

Thought I'd say hi from the UK and post some pics of my first motorized bicycle build - an INDIAN Board Tracker tribute.
I commenced sourcing all the parts for this build in March and managed to input 4-5 hours a week on its construction till I finished her up earlier today. Unfortunately, at the eleventh hour I discovered my engine kit's cheapo plastic fuel filter was cracked - so I won't be in a hurry to start up the motor till a new cnc alloy filter arrives via eBay on Wednesday. I'll keep you posted how things turn out post-lift off. Can't wait. In the meantime, I've posted some photos showing how the build turned out.

Questions? Happy to discuss any aspect of the build.

Have to say this hobby is definitely addictive - even though powered bikes like this are not road legal in the UK. Hopefully that won't be a problem where I live in the remote Northumberland countryside where I never see any police. Can't wait to kick-off the next MB build.

Cheers, Pete

 

[malcolmlauder]

Cool! Where did you find a bike like that in the UK?

Sent from my SM-G360F using Tapatalk

 

[PeteMcP]

Oddly, no bike was used as a starting point. This entire project was built from parts. My first purchase for this build comprised the frame, springer forks and polished stainless fuel tank which I sourced via eBay from cnolmotorsport in China. I discovered them by chance while surfing US eBay and sent them an email asking if they could ship to the UK. They replied immediately, quoting a mere $30 for airmail shipping these three bulky items from China to the UK. What a deal! Their ali frame is a light and strong re-pop of a 'fifties Schwinn Panther. Their tank is a gleaming work of art - shame I planned to paint it. It's worth me pointing out that I ended up having to remove the frame's welded-on front motor mount 'cause it located my motor a fraction too high, resulting in the aftermarket cnc high compression cylinder head fouling the upper frame member. To get the motor down low enough, I had to go with no larger than a 36T crank chainring.

Another bargain I purchased for this bike was the motor. Bought it second hand from someone on eBay whose mb plans never got off the ground and so he never got round to removing it from the factory packaging. I paid less than half price for the motorizing kit - which was just as well considering I always planned on binning most of the ancillaries apart from the motor itself.

Certain cnc ali components I felt were vital to the project came via specialist suppliers in the US - namely the aforementioned high compression cyl head, plus the rear sprocket/adapter and intake manifold. Everything else came via mail-order or eBay. Prior to and during construction I learned a lot about what not to do from watching umpteen youtube motorized bike movies and reading posts on forums like this.

Pete

 

[RustyGold]

Beautiful build! Welcome to RRB!

Jason

 

[PeteMcP]

Update - first time fire up.

Well folks, my cnc fuel filter arrived this morning and I coudln't wait to fit it and get the steed fired-up for the first time. Turned out to be easier said than done - which I half expected given the number of youtube and forum posts there are from desperate folks wanting to know why their motorized bike doesn't initially fire up.

I figured it may necessarily take a while to get the fue/oill mix circulated sufficiently in the barrel and crankcase so I wasn't expecting the thing to bark into life first couple of tugs.

You may have noticed I opted to go with a pull starter and while I planned this would (hopefully) make for simpler starting, I ended up having to really persevere to get the motor going. Not to mention a snapped pull cord after a mere couple of hours of yanking the damn thing a couple of hundred times till my arm ached and my hand was bruised. Sheeit! is anything from the orient ever made to last?

So, I figured I'd better get cracking through the troubleshooting list to see what was up. First up, I unclipped the motor cut-out switch wires (having read that an alarming number of riders have experienced faulty switches from the git go) but still no luck. Next I checked for spark and yes, I had a very healthy one from the replacement ngkB6HS plug I've fitted. Then I re-checked the carb and hoses to see if fuel was getting through OK - which all proved AOK.

Lastly, I decided to shut off the idle screw and try pull starting the motor by opening the screw a half turn at a time. KERCHING!!! That did it. She fired right up after the second turn and after a minute or two of fast idling to get the fluids circulating throughout my fresh motor, I adjusted the idle screw to its optimum setting. Wish I'd tried this earlier - it would have saved me an aching arm/hand!

Anyhoo... I'm now the proud owner of a running engine - and I'm surprised at how raw it sounds even with the stock muffler fitted. I already have plans to d replace it with the banana expansion chamber I already bought.

Would have loved to jump aboard and take the bike for its inaugural run today but it's peeing down with rain with more forecast for tomorrow, so my debut ride will have to wait. Patience, patience......

an exited Pete

 

[RustyGold]

Very cool...looking forward to the ride report!

Jason

 

[léocwc]

Good morning, Pete. I am also new here and I speak of Brazil, your Indian was beautiful. I also built a boardtracker based on the Indian model .. congratulations

 

[PeteMcP]

UPDATE....
Working on my bike's Chinese motor so it appears to fill the frame a little better and looks a bit more vintage.
Faux crankcase mods underway. Some dummy pushrods next...

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Brilliant work!
Cheers!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[PeteMcP]

BUILD UPDATE...
DUMMY ENGINE PUSH RODS NOW FITTED AND HEADLIGHT INSTALLED.
That pull-start casing proved the ideal place to drill and mount a pair of faux push rods. For the rods I used 5mm dia. stainless rod tittified-up with some odds-n-ends from my scrap box, topped off with nifty hand-wound brass springs using 1mm dia. brass wire.
All purely decorative of course. Just intended to make my bike's motor look more 'vintage' and unique.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Really nice work, welcome aboard!

 

[PeteMcP]

WIDENING THE LEFT SIDE CRANK ARM TO CLEAR PULL START CASING.
When I purchased my bike's new chain wheel and crank arms from a UK eBay supplier, they originally sent me an un-matched pair of crank arms. The replacement crank arm they sent also wasn't a match. So after finally receiving a third crank arm which was a match, I was left with 2 x spare crank arms.
I always knew trying to source a wide crank set in the UK was never going to be an option, and at the time, even US suppliers of wide crank sets were displaying 'OUT OF STOCK' messages. Besides, I only wanted a wider left-side crank. Then it dawned on me the easiest solution was to cut off the boss from one of my spare crank arms and weld it onto the left side crank arm to provide just the right clearance to avoid the crank arm fouling the pull start's casing.
Ended up being the cheapest and neatest solution by far.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Great job Pete and welcome aboard!
Where did you get the embossed Indian metal plate for the chain cover?

 

[PeteMcP]

Hi Jim,
Looking forward to the arrival of the TRM SpaceLiner Tank winging its way to me. I'll do my best to keep you and others posted on progress re this project via this forum.

The lettering on the cover of my bike's chain tensioner was created using nothing more than injection moulded styrene letters produced by Slaters here in the UK. The letters were easily superglued to the cover, then the cover was sprayed silver to create the impression of a metal stamping. I may yet re-spray the cover in red to match the frame colour. In my world, it's all about creating the little details.

FYI, Slaters are an injection moulding company producing umpteen different plastic kits for model railway enthusiasts. I've known Slaters for years 'cause my day job is designing/manufacturing my own range of model railway kits - at least it was till Dec '16 when I suspended trading so I could devote all my time to caring for my wife Jen who's dementia gets steadily worse. (Building this Indian tribute was great way to get some much-needed respite from otherwise being a 24/7 carer).

I should point out sprues of Slater's styrene alphabet letters/numbers are available in different sizes. I purchased mine via an eBay seller. If you're interested, check out eBay. There are several folks selling Slaters lettering on there.

 

[PeteMcP]

FOLLOW-UP BUILD JUST STARTED...
Just kicked-off my motorized 'DECOLINER' build using a US eBay-sourced vintage Hawthorne frame and one of Jim Henderson's TRM Convertible Tanks. I'll start a new build thread for this one soon. Here's a sneak peek showing where I'm at...

 

[deorman]

Here's a link to that thread > http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/decoliner-build-underway.104229/

 

[Boris]

Superb work! And belated welcome from fellow Brit! (Durham)

 

[PeteMcP]

Hi Boris,
You're just down the road from me here in Northumberland. Just found a buyer for our Netherton home so we're busy firming-up our long term plans and relocating to our place in the mountains in Spain sometime during the next couple of months.

 

[Boris]

Hi Boris,
You're just down the road from me here in Northumberland. Just found a buyer for our Netherton home so we're busy firming-up our long term plans and relocating to our place in the mountains in Spain sometime during the next couple of months.

Aw wow, How Fantastic! Good luck!