NZ Shovelhead build

[Stix]

Nice work so far mate, looking forward to seeing the end game. Good luck.
Question, what breed is the repop springer you are using?

[spent]

Pretty impressive build, so far. That jig is a work of art.

[RedHerring]

Very nice build!!! What is that front brake that you are using?

[nuklhd]

Very nice build!!! What is that front brake that you are using?

looks like stock springer drum brake but that old stuff always throws me off.

[AndyNZ]

Question, what breed is the repop springer you are using?

It’s one of the Euro re-pops, +2” over. Have just spent the day/night straightening it as there were multiple issues with both front and rear legs, will update soon on what went down.

[AndyNZ]

looks like stock springer drum brake but that old stuff always throws me off.

Correct, just stock springer front brake all chromed, mounted on a star hub that I converted to sealed bearings as can be seen earlier.

[nuklhd]

It’s one of the Euro re-pops, +2” over. Have just spent the day/night straightening it as there were multiple issues with both front and rear legs, will update soon on what went down.

I'm interested in the problems Andy. 10 or 12 years ago I bought one from Kurt at 45parts depo(guessing its close to same thing) with no problems.

[AndyNZ]

Took a ten day break here in NZ and managed to get a solid few days on the bike with the help of friends.

First job was to take a look at the springer. In eyeing up everything when installed on the frame it was obvious that the wheel was cocked left and lent over so we knew something wasn't right. Upon investigating we found -

1 - The front leg right side had been welded on crooked meaning the rocker was on an angle causing rocker bind
2 - The front legs were miss-aligned front to back meaning the axle was not running square with the frame
3 - The rear legs were miss-aligned front to back
4 - The rear leg rocker holes were at different lengths from the lower tree by 1.5mm

Front leg we made a tool to fit the rocker tab and simply clamped the leg down and tweaked back to place.



Rear leg we clamped down, checked the miss-alignment with rods, and again tweaked back into place.






We chose to leave the 4th point as it was minor and would have been more trouble than it worth for the minor difference. All back together it was running sweet but the changes meant some offset lacing is now needed to the front rim as everything has moved and its of centre by 2mm now.

[AndyNZ]

Next was sorting the rear wheel and spacing out.

I had clearance issues with the brake plate and axle plate and really wanted to keep the mech brake tab, so first had I to linish down the back of this for clearance, this was simple and I didnt get a pic but only a few mm came off the casting high spots.

Due to running the 67-72 juice drum and axle we were always going to have a few chain line issues to sort,i know its been done before plenty of times but always with a slightly different answer on how.

The simplest fix for us was to spread the rear axle plates slightly (about 3.5mm) to get the chain line spot on. We clamped the crap out of the frame to the welding table, welded on a beam to push off of that sat hard against the right side axle plate so as not to move that, and then ran a piece of round bar that located against the front down tube (we clamped some angle to act as a fixed point) and rear motor mount. This bar allowed us to take measurements to both axle plates so we knew which side of the frame was moving and by how much.



All in all by doing it this we were able to use all of the brake side 67-72 axle components, the only right side change will be shortening the spacer a few mm.

End of day it was all buttoned up.




Next i wanted to weld in the oil tank mounts. It had been about 5 years since touching a TIG so figured it a good place to start as it will all be hidden by the seat. Came out really good and i think this will be a good long term mounting solution that will prevent cracking.







We also machined and welded in these small sleeves. These are 1-1/8" OD and 1" ID, they are simply to hide the step in the tubing due to the hardtail. Being we put in a trans bridge plate the step in the tube is now almost in-perceivable.






And lastly for the day, Steve made me up a stem nut to the correct length needed. We tried a Paughco one but it was still too long.

[AndyNZ]

Had to dummy everything up and see where we are sitting. A lot of work to be done now but having the roller locked in is a major milestone for sure.






Had to try on a couple of seats and the rear fender im planning to use for good measure.

Genuine Bates solo and P-Pad




And another that my friend had made a long time ago.

[DoomBuggy]

Look'n good, really nice lines.

Thanks for the pics

[AndyNZ]

Have continued chipping away at things. Heaps of work going down on the primary side which ill do a post about once finished.

One thing i have buttoned up was the gearbox mounting. Being i am using a tin primary with belt setup i had to use a trans adjuster plate. The adjuster plate takes up some thread from the gearbox studs and i wasn't happy with the amount of engagement left on the nuts, so i made these longer studs up and this washer plate. Trans is securely mounted now with the baering support on. I also had to space the bearing support a few mm to clear the sprocket nut so i cut some spacer plates on the laser rather than juts using washers.






I also got the headlight mount all welded, i added a tab that bolts to the spring bridge so it cant rotate, works really well.




Dummied the exhaust up too. I was originally going to make these pipes but considering time, material + chrome vs the Paughco price, i opted to buy, i planned to build them identical so this made life a lot easier. Really good quality and great fit from Paughco so kudos to them. Still need to make mounts yet.

[AndyNZ]

Hasn't been swarms of progress as of late due to other commitments. Have ordered a last haul of parts needed from the US so they're on their way, other than that i did a heap of work getting the primary side to work.

I wanted to run a belt drive in the factory tin primary setup which i knew could be done. Setup i had was BDL 1.5" belt drive, 5 finger clutch hub, Sifton Diaphragm clutch, and re-pop Tin primary covers for inner and outer. A fair bit of work had to happen to get all this to fit so here's what was involved for anyone looking to do a similar setup.

- Drilled out the inner primary to motor case holes (A LOT) to get the inner primary to pivot at the clutch end and clear the clutch hub
- Clearanced the inner primary a few mm right around the front pulley for belt clearance as it fouled
- Drilled clearance holes for the nuts on the outer bearing support for the primary
- Ground the lip on the inner primary where the two pieces of sheetmetal are welded together down as this hit the belt, then fused it back together
- Machined the clutch basket OD down to just above the rivets for added clearance

So overall a fair bit of drilling, grinding and welding. Pics below including indoor welding setup...the joys of indoor chopper building







In the above pic you can see the area i had to fuse back together after grinding the lip down from where the factory joined the sheetmetal.



And below is what it looks like mostly assembled. Still need to make the bottom rear mount, but found a nice rubber vibration isolater to connect the top mount to the oil tank which has worked great.



In other unfinished news, got the clutch cable adjuster mount all made, and began work on mounting the exhaust.





I'm using a Paughco exhaust system and Emgo shorty slip on muffler tips. The tips are supposed to slip on but i found there is around 1.6mm difference in the OD of the Paughco pipe and the ID of the Emgo mufflers. What i did was get some 0.7mm copper sheet and roll it to make a gasket/spigot ring. This now means the mufflers are a really good fit to the pipes. I will cut slits in each muffler and use SS clamps to secure the joins. Just need to weld in my mounting points which ill do next week and the exhaust will be on.





Thats all for now

[AndyNZ]

Got busy over the weekend locking in the primary side...ran into an issue unfortunately.

After getting the inner primary cover welding finished, welding the lower inner primary mount, and welding in a new upper inner primary mount on the oil tank, i fitted the Sifton diaphragm clutch up only to find it fouls the outer cover by a bucket load....bugger. Simple fix is to go back to the stock clutch...oh well.

Pics tell the story.

Upper and lower primary mounts with vibration isolaters (still need to sort the hardware)


New oil tank mount as the old one was offset to far inward. Id show my welding but i had a mare on this and im not proud lol



Inner primary fitted up, as well as the new clutch, also showing some of the footpeg/shifter side which is just mocked up for now



I also ended up cutting off the JIC oil tank fittings as my fitting and hose options weren't going to work out due to limited clearance from the top exhaust. I bought some Swagelok weld in fittings, fizzed them in, then polished and bent up some 316SS tube...still more to do here.

[Jakerz]

Looking good man, that clutch cable mount is trick!

Jake