Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Oil Tank Bracket Version 2.0

I recently had an oil tank mounting bolt shear on Olivia for a second time. When you build a custom bike that you ride A LOT your design flaws will present themselves. For the record Trent wasn't shy about telling me that part would fail when he welded the mounting bungs on.

Flathead Rob came up with an idea to improve the mount. We fabricated a thicker mount with counter bores that will support the weight of the tank and some other refinements.


Fingers crossed. I seriously doubt if you'd be able to even see a difference. That was part of the idea.

Incidentally, I wanted to order the parts to address a couple of other neglected problems while Olivia was briefly incapacitated. I decided to give Moore's Cycle Center a try for the first time since Keith Moore passed away. I was very pleased to find that Keith's legacy of service, selection and prices are thus far being carried forward. It certainly makes buying parts a much more enjoyable.

Tim's '46

I found this photo on Matt Olsen's blog, it's a bike they built. I spent a fair amount of time ogling this bike when the original Motorcycle Cannonball passed through Albuquerque. It might well be my all time favorite Knucklehead, I wouldn't change a thing. Any Knucklehead that captures your attention in the company of the bikes the Cannonball brings is special indeed.


It sounds like the bike gets ridden a lot. It was outfitted with bike hauler sidecar acting as a sag wagon for the Olsen's so it must be pretty well sorted.

Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Edsel's Model 40 Speedster

I enjoyed watching the Ford documentary on PBS tonight. It made me think about the 1934 Model 40 Speedster I saw some time ago at the Lemay Museum. The more I look at it the more I just love it.








Now here's the other side of side of the Ford coin.


Monday, January 28, 2013

Snapshot

Here's one for Flathead Rob & Lurker Tom


SpeedBird

A few Skunkworks spy photos smuggled out of SpeedBird development.

Custom Ratio Transmission Parts

Highly Nerdy & Ultra-Cool "Factory" Rigid Design



Panheads

So here it is, Nate. Not every woman looks at Pan riders this way.


Tractors

For the record... Flathead Rob first made the comparison.


Sunday, January 27, 2013

King Kenny

Screw the Batmobile... If I had the cost is no object ability to buy any vehicle to display in my living room this might just be the one.


So what's yours?

Indian

There just aren't enough well weathered Indians running around.


Seattle Dealer History

While researching early Triumph dealerships in Seattle I found myself yet again on the Jolly Rogers web site.

In the 50’s and 60’s, the man to beat (or more likely be beat by) at the Jolly Rogers track was Bob Budschat. Sponsored and employed by Dewey’s Cycle shop, he rode Triumph and BSA. It is said he could win a race in 2 seconds less time on his 200cc Triumph Cub than on his 500cc BSA. As a salesman, he made Dewey a ton of money, who always had his hand out for more.





Eventually he started his own shop north of Seattle selling Velocette, Norton and Ducati. Now find him retired in Monroe with his supporting wife.


I found more on Bob's shop here

The Budschat family owned a Ducati dealership in Seattle from 1959 to 1976. They were active in Ducati racing.  Bob’s son, Mike Budschat, still considers the trophy given to him in 1965 by the Ducati factory to be “my most prized treasure from that period.” In Mike’s estimation, among the finest of the Ducati engines of the era was the 450 Mark III Desmo. His father and Boeing engineer Dick Ahrens set about creating a limited run of four motocross bikes built around this street-going engine.



They spared no expense. Ahrens employed his engineering skills to design the frame, made of wafer-thin chromoly steel. The engine received an Imola race cam and the crank was modified, increasing the stroke to make the bike a 490cc. Today the bike retains all its original parts from the 1969 build, right down to the hollow front axle and aircraft-grade titanium bolts. It is astoundingly light, just over 250 pounds. Mike has raced it, and won, at current vintage motocross events around the Northwest.



Top Pot Trailer

I know guys that get all excited about Airstream trailers. For the most part I could never see what all the excitement was all about. There's always an exception. This 1947 Vagabond is currently in use outside a McLendon's Hardware store in Renton, Washington. The picture doesn't do it justice. It's just impossible not to be drawn in by the polished doughnut.


This is the perfect breakfast stop for English Stephen. You'd be hard pressed to find more polished aluminium outside of a B-17.

Pioneer Square - 1914


Seattle Indian Painting Rig - 1936


Seattle Police 1921

Seattle Police Department, Precinct 5, 1921


Saturday, January 26, 2013

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

Ran When Parked

1948 Indian Chief - It sure would be cool to see this one saved.


Forsberg Indian

I found this post on the Jolly Rogers Club site (a perfect example of that depth of heritage). The content is so awesome and so relevant to Flathead Rob I wanted to be sure I could find the facts and photos again in the future. I hope no one minds my reposting.

Forsberg Indian street view. Location is in Capitol Hill, Seattle and picture dates from about 1946

"In the mid 1940s Paul Stockinger, one of the founding members of the Jolly Rogers Motorcycle Club worked at Forsberg Indian as a mechanic. His son Steve provided the Historian with these photos and we are grateful to him. The pictures show the shop, inside and out in about 1946. Paul relocated to Tacoma a few years later to take over ownership of the Tacoma Indian dealership. He spent a lifetime in the motorcycle business and it started when he was a young man and member of the Jolly Rogers Motorcycle Club."

Inside Forsberg Indian, Seattle about 1946. Notice the new Chief. Behind it is an older Indian 4 and a hillclimber.

Can Indian Mike or Flathead Rob confirm the year of the Chief pictured above? I think '46 was the first year post leafspring front end but I have no idea about the tank badges.

Take a few minutes to read the original post and to look over the rest of the photos. Then loose a couple of hours in the rest of the historical content on the Jolly Rogers site. Killer, killer stuff.

Seattle Motorcycle History

Those you that check in here with any regularity know I'm an absolute sucker for the aspects of motorcycle history that just quietly disappear (shops, race tracks, clubs, etc.). By and large this is the sort of stuff you only learn by talking to guys that were there or people that have keepsakes like photos. Being in the NW now I am naturally starting to poke around for these sorts of things. Unfortunately don't know many people yet. That said, a city like Seattle has so much more motorcycle history than a city like Albuquerque it's almost like cheating. I can't wait to dig deeper.

Seattle Cossacks - Auburn 1948

Max Loudons Girls

Seattle Motorcycle Club 1921

Seattle Motorcycle Club 1911

City Light Motorcycles 1918

Seattle 1918

Jolly Rogers

Seattle Motorcycle Club Race Program 1910

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Tacoma Motorcycle Club

I stumbled across this killer Tacoma Motorcycle Club sweater. The club still appears to be active using the same timeless logo.



Motorcycle Cossacks

From an October 1932 edition of Modern Mechanix magazine these guys were only credited as Mexican "Motorcycle Cossacks." These guy only pre-date our fine Seattle Cossacks by a few years. Looks like the might be riding Harley JD's.


Monday, January 21, 2013

Indian Four

I know, it's a modern bike and the proportions are a little funky but it's interesting anyway.


If I'm not mistaken that's a Triumph Rocket III power-plant.

CB750

Nice feature on my buddy Bill's Honda.


Sunday, January 20, 2013

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