Mutt Shovelhead to mess around with - trying to get back into life

[bpeak]

Putting dummy lights in the headlight bucket for neutral and oil pressure. This will be my first foot clutch bike. So I kinda want to play it safe with the green light just in case until I get used to the feel. And I had the spare light already. So...

[DoomBuggy]

That's nice little detail, very cool.

[Tater66]

[QUOTE=bpeak;859357] This will be my first foot clutch bike. So I kinda want to play it safe with the green light just in case until I get used to the feel.


My first shot at a foot clutch was on a gravel road. I recommend pavement. LOL. Hopefully you have the FX gear ration in the trans. Makes for an easier take off from dead stop. Plus not having to shift in the middle of an intersection is nice. I tried the standard shift levers on the controls and found it to be a bit funky. If you have a long foot it may be OK. I got lucky and found an oddball shift shaft/lever that is a bit shorter so dont have to press the foot as far forward.

[bpeak]

[QUOTE=Tater66;859366]

This will be my first foot clutch bike. So I kinda want to play it safe with the green light just in case until I get used to the feel.


My first shot at a foot clutch was on a gravel road. I recommend pavement. LOL. Hopefully you have the FX gear ration in the trans. Makes for an easier take off from dead stop. Plus not having to shift in the middle of an intersection is nice. I tried the standard shift levers on the controls and found it to be a bit funky. If you have a long foot it may be OK. I got lucky and found an oddball shift shaft/lever that is a bit shorter so dont have to press the foot as far forward.

For sure. Only bummer is that my house is down a half mile single lane gravel road lol. Only way in or out is on them there rocks o-death haha. Yea on the shift pedal, this one is pretty long and I was able to clock it at a good position (I think). Plus I'm 6'-4", so forward controls kinda feel almost like mids to some other folks. Will see how she goes and maybe make a different lever down the road a tick.

Was messing with the kickstand a while back. Eventually I'll get (or make) a longer kickstand. But the solution for now included a plate to lower the whole stand on the stock bracket. Now the kickstand mount top bolts... go thru the stock bottom holes. Lowers the deal by 1-7/8" roughly. This helped a LOT. Even with that mod... the lean is still pretty mean...

[bpeak]

Also played around with the tail light mount. Bringing in brass touches here and there. Not trying to get overly cute, or overly custom. Just keeping it as simple as possible with basic hardware and brass straps I already had in the garage.

[Tater66]

Foot lever with toe peg is a non-issue. You need the length there to overcome the clutch springs and it also gives the ability to slowly engage clutch. The real secret is the other side of the splined aft. Some drill a new hole closer to the splines to achieve the desired result. As I said, I got lucky with my shaft/lever. The one I found, I have never seen another like it.

[bpeak]

Rotary top trans.
Wanting foot clutch.
Combo that presents fun challenges.

The foot clutch arm that came on the bike was hitting the trans lid pretty bad.
I tried to modify that arm but ended up compromising a former weld. Junked it.
I actually have a FabKevin rotary top extended clutch arm already. Bought it for the other shovel build.
The trouble is... on this mutt bike... the oil tank and fittings hang down too low for the FabKevin unit to slide on to the clutch pivot shaft.

No good.

Looked around online for inspiration... and found a crew out of Australia that makes some rad stuff.
https://www.chopperware.com.au/
Unfortunately - I needed to save some loot. So I used them as inspiration on how to make my own version.

What they do, is a flat stock clutch arm that first wraps around the back of the trans... and then bends up to get the height needed. The FabKevin version does the same thing but in reverse order.

So I knew the path I wanted... was able to 3D print a few prototypes to test... and then on to 1/4" cold roll.
Challenge was that I don't have a broach tool or way to make a clean square hole.
So I kept part of the stock square hole, ground it down round. And prepped my plate arm with a receiving hole.

Little cutting. Little drilling. Lot's of heat and bending. Welding up the two. And...

[DoomBuggy]

Well if you bend that you hav bigger problems, lol. Nice job solving a problem!

[bpeak]

Well if you bend that you hav bigger problems, lol. Nice job solving a problem!

Thanks man. Yea after I made it I was like... well shoot... that coulda been smaller. haha.

Was also tinkering with the bars recently. I mentioned this in a previous post. But finally had a pro over to weld up my stuff, including this set of 1"x1" mitered square pullbacks. Since these pics, I've been able to get the british 7/8" throttle mated up to a harley throttle cable thread size and got it all functioning proper. Check out the instagram @bpeak82 for some video action of it recently. Surprisingly... the feel of the square grips is not too bad in the hands. We'll see what happens when it all starts vibrating like crazy as we head on down the road. But for now - I think it looks rad. Super stoked how it all came out. I've wanted to do this design idea for years.

[ExplodingCoffinEmporium]

Cool design on the arm bpeak, that is one heavy duty son of a bitch lol

[bpeak]

Cool design on the arm bpeak, that is one heavy duty son of a bitch lol

thanks man!

Most recently I've been rewiring the whole bike. Top to bottom.
I 3D printed a custom battery tray similar to what Hawthorne Company makes/sells but adjusted to my dimensions and to fit some different breaker and distribution devices. Unfortunately I forgot to take a pic of the tray before I mounted it.

For all the gory details on how I wired it... I actually shot a 12-part video series on the step-by-step soup to nuts. You can find links to these videos over in the "how-to" section at:
https://www.chopcult.com/forum/showthread.php?t=56489

Now just on to engine tuning and a full blown loctite party...

[bpeak]

[bpeak]

Also with the help of a cool dude via Instagram... I was able to learn a bit more about this springer front end.

I had searched a TON online trying to find info. Should have been easy with the obvious rockers and square leg setup. But I always came up empty handed. Then it was suggested that it's most likely an S.I.E. Choppers Inc springer. With that nugget of info... it all came together...

[bpeak]

That's my springer in that first pic from the previous post... in the lower left.
Man... $250 for a brand new chrome springer.
Also crazy to think that I'm going to be trusting a springer that could be upwards of 50 years old.
Yikes. But rad.

[ExplodingCoffinEmporium]

The springer on my current shovel build is in it’s 50’s as well, although tight and right. I’ve got to give her a good clean up though and might end up sending her out for a re-chrome in the next few years as she could use a bit of a refresh. Figured she’s lasted this long without any bullshit or major stress points that I’ve been able to notice, lmao I should see if one of my friends in the radiographic department would do a few x-rays for me off the clock one day. I dig the old catalog images you posted, cool stuff.

[james69]

bpeak, rad stance! What is the length axle to bottom tree? I recently came across a 16 over? (38" axle to bottom tree) oem harley springer and am thinking of putting it on my big twin evo chopper. I have 1 3/4" up in the frame and extended the top tube/country bar as well 1 3/4" to fit the evo in a shovel frame. Stock rake.

Anyway great looking bike dude!

[bpeak]

bpeak, rad stance! What is the length axle to bottom tree? I recently came across a 16 over? (38" axle to bottom tree) oem harley springer and am thinking of putting it on my big twin evo chopper. I have 1 3/4" up in the frame and extended the top tube/country bar as well 1 3/4" to fit the evo in a shovel frame. Stock rake.

Anyway great looking bike dude!

Thanks man!

So from the top of the lower tree... to the rear leg pivot... is 35.75".
From the top of the lower tree... to the axle... keeping in line with the springer angle... is 37.0"

So depending on the method, this qualifies as approximately a 14-over.

Will definitely say this though with regard to your potential setup. This bike, a 14 over, with 30-degree stock neck rake, and a 19" rear wheel... the engine is kicked up at an 11-12-degree pitch. It's quite a bit. 16 over, depending on your neck dims you said, and what rear wheel, could be the same or more engine tilt. Also... my bike... the lowest point of the seat height is 27.5". I'm 6'-4" tall and this thing is up there for swinging the leg over. Granted, my seat is the TCBros sportster king/queen which is thicker than most. But still. Tall for sure. She's got 8.25" of ground clearance so curbs aint no thang. Haha. But it's up there.

[james69]

Thanks for the measurements! I don't have the springer in my hands yet as it's in transit. But I will compare when I get it. Figured i'd give it a go on mock up and maybe be able to get away with it with the little bit of up I put in the frame to fit the big twin evo. :-)

[bpeak]

Haven't tried to fire it yet. Gotta rig together a solution for the oil tank drain plug while I have it all empty.
But had to move it out of the garage this weekend to facilitate some other project space.
First time in the wild with this stance... and I'm in love.

[MIKESIERRA]

Haven't tried to fire it yet. Gotta rig together a solution for the oil tank drain plug while I have it all empty.
But had to move it out of the garage this weekend to facilitate some other project space.
First time in the wild with this stance... and I'm in love.

Dig the wrecking ball. Sweet build my dude.