Frame jig, almost ready!

Spend another few days assembling the parts. It is getting there. 1 or 2 days more work and I am ready for my first frame.

Frame jig, In the making!

I showed you some picks and some drawings of my latest ambition over the past weeks.
Discussed my plans with several guys, tuned my ideas based on their input and started with some pencil work and the ideas turned into drawings and now into reality. Rob Wijers and John van Wanroij are helping me to achieve it. Their lathe and milling machines are spinning and spitting out the parts. Coooool to see the concept turning into reality. Guess what I'll be doing this winter................



"And some more, these spacers will allow me to use different axle sizes"


"I will use this jig to weld the frame as well. So it must be able to rotate.."

Work in progress, what's it for?

Nice things are happening. Machines are spinning, bits are being crafted. Just a little more patience before the first results are ready for the limelight.......

Alu inlay, continued

After yesterdays success I was eager to get back into the workshop this morning to make the "backbone" alu inlay for the rear fender. Spend another few hours bending, hammering and rolling to get it into shape and to fit it to the fender.
I am very pleased with the result. Next week test fit to the bike to cut the fender tip to size.

Harold where are you I am ready for more paint magic. gheghe.....

Alu inlay for my rear fender

Been playing around with my, newly bought, english wheel today.
From the beginning I wanted to do something extra with my rear fender and a few months ago I decided to make a depression on the top and back side of it.
Now it was time to see if I could materialise my ambition with my aluminium inlay.
It still needs to be shaped in the right size but I think I have succeeded. The fender tip is 90% ready. It is just as I imagined it.

Frame-jig, drawings ready, materials ordered

The steel I have ordered is delivered. Now we start building.......
This is what I intend to build

Paintjob, The magic is happening!

The magic is happening, it’s really cool to see how al the parts transform when the expert is at work. Suddenly they get their smooth and equal surfaces and you only need a "little" imagination to picture them into their final colors. Nice work Harold.........

Paintjob, We have progress!

We have lift-off. Harold from South East has started the prepwork. Look how smooth the tank has become. I am exited to see the progress

Building my frame-jig, the beginning

Like a mentioned a few times before, the bike-building bug is back and has a tight grip on me, haha.....
Decided that it’s time to take things to the next level. I am building myself a frame-jig. Gave it some careful thought, looked around on internet and some real life examples, now it’s time to get things started. Did some shopping at some local hardware shop. The type of shop I like most, the one who deals in all kinds of scrap stuff and left over goodies. Found a nice large hinge and a very large threaded rod (30mm thick), which I think can serve well on the jig.
Tomorrow I am off to Rob Wijers for some more technical advice. To be continued.....

Tools maniac... my english wheel

I've been thinking about getting myself an english wheel for a long time now.
Given the S&S being at the paintshop and the fact that I planned to add an aluminum insert across the rear fender, I felt it was time to plunder the savings acoount.
I'll be like a little boy for weeks now, playing around with my new toy....

Harold, buddy, here I come!

Hope he's got the coffee ready tomorrow morning early.
Time's are exiting once more, can't wait for the final result.

Final prep before paint

Its been a long time since I worked on the S&S rebuild.
For good, lets ride the wide open road, reasons. Needed to get the final things done before I drop the bike off with the painter. Harold from South East is going to do his magic (he'd better, hahaha....)
Fitted a brand new chain to make sure the mounting and the clearance of the rear fender is correct. With some playing around with the brackets and the sissybar, I think its DONE. Last pictures in its raw appearance.

Shaft drive in Hardtail frame, continued!

Have seen that there is quite some interest in how I made myself the mounting brackets for the shaft drive construction in my hardtail frame, here are some more details.

The basics are pretty simple. Get yourselves some thick mild steel plate. Mine are 12mm thick. With some cardboard you make yourselves some templates, copying the holes from the axle and the mounting bolds of the shaft drive bell. Since you must be able to move the drive shaft a bit when mounting the rear wheel into the frame, I made the 2 plates detachable by drilling and tapping some mounting holes into the side plate.
If you keep these 2 plates nice and square you will have a strong supporting structure to be added to your hardtail frame.
The reason for making the sideplate (welded to the frame) as long as I did is that this allowed me to weld alongside the pipes (frame tube notched around the plate). This way the twisting forces of the shaft drive bell are supported by the full frame triangle which is about 65cm long in my frame. When you make the length of this triangle very short (by welding the 90 degree support bracket directly to the frame), the vibrations will eventually break your frame.

Hope this helps a bit and enjoy building your own.

Back from Holiday in France

All the preparation paid off, the bikes performed wonderfull. NO issue's at all.
We had a great 2 weeks holiday riding our bikes through the south of France. For you who are interested, we rode our bikes through the Cevennes and the Haut Languedoc mountains. We took it easy riding the bikes from campsite to campsite through little back roads meeting the local frenchies on the way. Always funny and interesting having a conversation about our chops without really speaking the language, but somehow we always manage.

It is a shame its over, but.... like a big Austrian guy once said. I'll be back...

Getting the chops ready for the biketrip

Had a great few days working on the Yamaha chops. Working alongside John from JJ Suspension I got to fix all the little annoyances that surfaced the past few weeks, Some minor oil leaks, carburetor alignment, ceased cables…... and both bikes got a full service, all the fluids and filters replaced, starter engine cleaned etc.
Having an experienced mechanic in the neighborhood is a great benefit.
DO NOT know how to fix things does not exist anymore......and easy access to spare parts of course.