Zodiac: 1955 Swingarm Panhead Build

[shoveler]

I googled "Finger Tight".. Once I waded through all the porn and found the bike, I can see why it inspired you! Eager to see how yours 'pans' out.

[ericthebeard]

I googled "Finger Tight".. Once I waded through all the porn and found the bike, I can see why it inspired you! Eager to see how yours 'pans' out.

Haha, yeah. Kim built an iconic bike. The kinda weird but awesome thing is, as I build my bike I diverge more and more from it. In many ways they are VERY different but I still find tons of inspiration from Finger Tight, if nothing else from the principals and philosophy that it came from.

[144]

I bought a 1955 from bill too

I've got the original frame too that motor
.i was lead too believe by bill I had the motor too.. but the green tag makes sense Maybe.. I've got the iron horse mag with the feature also. I seen that bike in Craig's list and recognize his garage
And called him out. He played dumb.
Seen your post tonight confirmed it.
Wow your really going balls out on the
Bike. Great job. Talk with ya later just joined so still figuring out this site. First one I've ever joined. I'm franky 20yr professional tig welder every day all day.
Funny world it is. I like to trade my work when I can.

[ericthebeard]

I've got the original frame too that motor
.i was lead too believe by bill I had the motor too.. but the green tag makes sense Maybe.. I've got the iron horse mag with the feature also. I seen that bike in Craig's list and recognize his garage
And called him out. He played dumb.
Seen your post tonight confirmed it.
Wow your really going balls out on the
Bike. Great job. Talk with ya later just joined so still figuring out this site. First one I've ever joined. I'm franky 20yr professional tig welder every day all day.
Funny world it is. I like to trade my work when I can.

Wow, that's crazy. Small world.

Thanks for the kind words... I'm just trying to fulfill my crazy chopper dreams on it without wrecking the basic integrity of the bike. And learn some skills along the way.

For everyone else watching along at home, I'm slowly making progress in a two-steps-forward-three-steps-back kinda way. At least that's how it feels.

Stay tuned...

[144]

contact me if you ever want too sell
The motor , trans, or the whole bike..
at anytime.. I live in Renton 15 minutes
North of Seattle. Like I said I'm tig welder
The best you'll find.. so if you need
Help we can chat about that also...
144 Frankensteins welding..

[ericthebeard]

So, I thought I'd batch up things in this thread and not update until I get some significant amount of work done on some component. Thus far the work on the bike has been a little bit of this and a lil bit o that, and just posting a stream of consciousness... maybe not the most fun for those watching at home.

But I got good end-2-end work done on the front wheel.

The original front (if you recall) is a 1968 Triumph TLS I scored off ebay. Well, I wanted to clean it up a bit more than it was, and the rim was all covered inside with what looks like tank sealer to stave off the rust. Well, I took the plunge and rebuilt the wheel.

This was satisfying to nip the spokes and shoot the across the shop out of the rim:
IMG_0554 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

Made sure to take good notes as to the existing crossing pattern:
IMG_0555 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

Scrap:
IMG_0556 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

And got a nice fancy Excel rim and spoke kit from Buchanan's. I *think* I could have gotten away with a harley rim that would have fit the hamburger drum, but it was good peace of mind to have Buchanans dimple and drill it right, specially considering this is my first wheel and now I'll know that I should not expect much if any resistance to the lacing.
44632B6C-ACE8-4E11-B2D8-F9436EA83025 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

And another big win, once the hub was out I was able to prime and paint it, doing a proper job:
IMG_0588 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_0590 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

And also, in for a penny... got the braking surface trued at a friends shop:
IMG_0672 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_0671 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

[ericthebeard]

Then got the final paint on and laced it all up... pretty

IMG_0756 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_0757 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_0760 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

She has yet to be fully trued and tensioned though...

[ericthebeard]

Another fun mini-project win:

Got the Bareknuckle Overbearing for my tranny. Pretty excited about it if it lives up to the hype (which thus far from other people's say so it does).

IMG_0569 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

But... its much bigger than the standard tranny nut. Didnt think about that AND I just bought a std sprocket nut tool for my bike.

2 1/4"
IMG_0571 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

So. Its custom sprocket tool making time! Here's the standard tool (left), then a cheap 2 1/4" socket with a HF impact socket stacked on it. The 2 1/4" incher is a 3/4" drive, which is a large enough hole that the main shaft slips right through it, and the HF socket is long enough to take up the extra length + converts it to 1/2" drive. It all just works with no lathe or mods necessary (beside welding)

IMG_0761 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

Prep and chamfer the surfaces:

IMG_0764 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

Then affix and weld!

IMG_0771 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_0770 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

[144]

Hey Eric
You ready too part with this bike?
Motor trans ?

[ericthebeard]

Hey Eric
You ready too part with this bike?
Motor trans ?

Hey man. Not yet, sorry Still working away on my chopper dreams...

[ericthebeard]

Other major milestones completed... decided to pull the trigger on a magneto for the bike. Maybe a terrible decision, but am liking the simplicity, thinking of running without a battery, and it looks super killer. I was going back and forth on it for a while, and when Lowbrow was having a sale which I could apply to a new Morris mm74e, I jumped on it.

First took out the old timer, which I will be keeping for just in case I hate the mag

IMG_0822 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

And watched the little video on the mm74 install over and over... seemed simple enough. Suffice to say the Morris is really nicely built:

IMG_0823 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

Also splurged on the Morris timer unit, since I assume I'd be timing this bastard (much) more than once. Seemed like a good investment:

IMG_0677 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

From my "research" it seemed like a crapshoot whether the mag would fit out of the box without any fin trimming or pushrod tube smashing... So I held my breath and dove in. Got in installed with the pushrod tube loose (without the top clip) and was able to get enough head movement back and forth.

IMG_0879 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

But the tube was interfering when seated fully. So I got a little tape on the mag head to see where it was rubbing.

IMG_0880 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

And this is where I'm ether a genius or moron. All the interference was against the mag cap. So I decided rather then bash or cut the pushrod tube I'd just see if I could get away with clearancing the mag cap. And if I totally messed it up a new cap is much easier to fix and buy than a head fin or tube.

IMG_0886 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_0887 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

And it fits, with enough clearance for advance/retard movement. Yes!

IMG_0883 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_0888 by Eric Bott, on Flickr


And as expected, looks super sharp (although those wires ended up being too short overall to use).

IMG_0897 by Eric Bott, on Flickr


A little checklist (for my own sake) of updates I need to make:
-Leg shaving
-Fender saga
-Trans studs and FX mid control fab
-Wheel truing, axle spacers, and brake stay tab

[nuklhd]

had you already ground the relay boss of the case or did it come that way when you started?

[ericthebeard]

had you already ground the relay boss of the case or did it come that way when you started?

It'll probably piss people off, but yes I cut the boss. My considerations were: 1) The motor was already molested elsewhere and no longer a candidate for a fancy/easy restoration and 2) I wanted to.

[ericthebeard]

Another saga milestone... getting the brake pedal sorted out. I really want the engine of the bike exposed as much as possible/reasonable with minimal visual clutter around it... going with left-side pipes and deleting the floorboards are all part of this equation. The other major visual blocker in my mind is the brake pedal and MC. I really like the way that mechanical brake bikes look with the Dishong-style brake pedals right off the crossover tube and matched peg mounts right off the floorboard tab. So this is my attempt to copy that style with a juice drum setup.

First I got a FX-style mid control and brake setup and I quickly realized that my trans studs were too short for mounting it... So those were "upgraded".

IMG_0680 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_0682 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_0712 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_0708 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

Separately I purchased an older, left-side Ironhead mechanical brake pedal... its got the right "swoop" for my taste. That fat tube of a pedal off the stock FX set is not only boring but also not going to land in the right spot for my peg locations. So I chopped of extra fat from the FX mid and the ironhead pedal and started with my personal abomination... tinkering around

IMG_1462 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_1461 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

I lopped some extra bits off the bracket, and cut off the foot peg spline connector as it is only going to hang the pedal now (pegs are coming off the floorboard tab, more forward). I drilled and tapped it for a retainer plate/washer and bolt.

IMG_1453 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_1469 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

IMG_1474 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

At this point I felt I was getting somewhere... but the mounting point was just too high still :/ It just didnt look right.

IMG_1466 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

[ericthebeard]

The "ah ha!" moment was realizing I should mount the pedal on the bottom of the pivot. This way looks sweet and is nice and low to clear the yet-to-be-made-but-made-in-my-mind pegs off the floorboard tab.

Got it aligned and tacked up:

IMG_1481 by Eric Bott, on Flickr



And it looks.... fucking perfect. Flows just how I wanted with the bottom of the cam cover.

IMG_1482 by Eric Bott, on Flickr

And the stock arm has a good outward kick to it, so I will bend it unto the cam cover after the pegs and peg "stocks" are built to keep everything nice and tight. And there is still plenty of meat to shave off the stock bracket to slim it down and make it floooooooooooow.

IMG_1483 by Eric Bott, on Flickr