Wednesday, January 30, 2013

47 FL - Another bit...

Hooked up the brake linkage and mounted the floor boards...

Yeah I painted the Pedal flat black...had to match the brake pedal finish and that's the way I had it when I was a teenager...

A possible candidate for the black primary...needs that compensator sprocket grease hole fixed and a couple of other things but it's not too bad...somebody already hit it with some Bondo...


Sunday, January 27, 2013

47 FL- A little Each Day (til it's done...)




I pulled the 47 out to make room to put the tires on the Dirty Nine last Wednesday. I figured I hadn't seen it from a distance in a while so I took a few pictures. Since then I've done a little each day. Worked on the rocker clutch pedal yesterday and a few other odds and ends. My To-Do list is actually looking manageable...

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Road Test...Ice, Snow, Wet, Salt, Cinders, 19 degrees...

Pit stop...

Lake Nockamixon Dam...

Salty Dog...

Only bike in the lot today...

Well the ALLSTATE's worked out just fine today...ice, snow, wet, salt, cinders, 19 degrees....When it warms up I'll have to try them in a driving rain storm...Can't wait!
I stopped at Lake Nockamixon dam  and and old fella pulled in and said he was there to see if anyone was ice fishing today...

Putting the ALLSTATE's to the Test this Morning...




19 Degrees and snowy...perfect test conditions...

Transitional...





Trans all buttoned up and ready for my '47 Red Head project...

Wednesday, January 23, 2013

ALLSTATE INSTALL...Dirty Nine gets a new pair of sneakers

Time to pop off the wheels and change the tires...

Easy as pie..

One off...

Serious cuppage!

Let's see how this goes...

So far so good...

No problem with removal...


The new ALLSTATE popped right on...

One done...

Off with the rear...
Not as easy as the front but not too bad...

I'd say this salami was ready for replacement...

Off with the old...

None too much trouble...

Look's good...

...And on with the new.


And there you have it...

I installed the new set off ALLSTATE's on the old "Dirty Nine"...she probably won't know how to act. 
Hell, I even adjusted the rear brake linkage so it stops now! Time to put these tires to the test. 
As you can see from the pics above, the old tires were shot. They served for her well for many decades but it was gettin' dicey in the rain and wintry mix type weather we've been havin'.
Well there's snow in the forecast...time to hit the road...




Sunday, January 20, 2013

47 FL Chippin' Away...Front Crash Bar


Front crash bar installed...

Dug up some nice original U clamps...
The parts book indicates no lock washers. I installed them anyway...why not?

Everything fit up real nice... for a change!
Took this pic before I did my final tighten up...

Snapped the brake cable on the Dirty Nine...
The new inner wrapped around the mirror waiting to be installed...

Yank out the old...


Was out riding the "Dirty Nine" today but managed to get into the garage to do a little more on the '47 FL. Got the front crash bar mounted...every little bit helps. I still have to clean up the chrome on crash bar. A little Brillo goes a long way!
Oh and I popped the front brake cable on the "Dirty Nine" yesterday. I road it around for two days without the use of the front brake, but it can really use it, especially since the clutch is suicidal... so that needed a repair this evening...got the inner cable replaced and the brake is working fine.

47 FL Primary Work...

Had to cut off the tip and re-drill the rod so it doesn't hit the cover...


Primary chain and clutch installed and she's kickin' over...

Forced to go with the chrome primary for now...

Got a chance to work on the 47 FL Transformation project a bit yesterday. Got the clutch and primary chain in and adjusted. The re-pop shifter rod had to be modified. The tip of the rod that goes through the lever is too long and hits the trans lid on the 47 and later set up when in 4th gear. I had to cut it short and re-drill the cotter pin hole. No big deal...  I've used these with no issues on the 46 and earlier lids cause the lever's flipped and the excess rod tip doesn't interfere with the lid.
I ended up using my chrome primary cover cause I couldn't find one that was easily paintable. I'll switch this out after I get a black one straightened out. Same with the rear chain guard. But I want to ride this fuckin' thing already!

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Beach Racing Group Shot...

Thanks to Pete for the Pic from Saturday!

Monday, January 14, 2013

Days and Nights of Fog...


Hydra-Bob out for an evening ride...
That 500x16 Grasshopper with no front fender does throw some water...

The "Dirty Nine" is the bike of choice for this weather...

View over the top of the windshield 

It's been wet and foggy here for the past few days. The bikes don't seem to mind much...It's been some of the most dense fog I've ridden through...but what the hell maybe someday I'll go to the UK and this will be good practice...

New ALLSTATE Tires!!!

ALLSTATES arrived...

Compared to the original...

Looking good! 
The new one is 4.50x18 compared to the old 4.00x18 I like the higher profile...

I received a batch (4) new ALLSTATE Tires from Taxi this week! He is making these exact reproductions of the old ALLSTATE brand. I always loved these tires and was gonna use two original ones on my Red and Silver '39. They were somewhat dry rotted and only 400x18. I was hoping to find 4.50x18's...then out of the blue I got a message from Taxi about the ones he's making! I quickly put in my request for them and here they are. I'm also gonna take the bald dry rotted tires off my "Dirty Nine" and install a set of these...I just use that thing too much to keep wearing out original tires...they'll get dirty soon enough...
Thanks Taxi...I'll report back on how these work through this winter!

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Back to the Beach! (Beach racing in Jersey in January???)


Pete's Hillclimber

Mel's Place

Pete's Wall-O-Death Scout


I still love Tommy's van...

Tommy's car and Pete's Climber

SWEET '39!








Under the hood of the '39




Finally back at the beach!!!




Goin' fast standin' still...

Mel

Not sure what's happening here...



Oz trying to start Mel's Indian...ha ha


It's gonna be a long uphill push...


...oops they dropped it...

At least it "shit the bed" after we were done ripping up the beach...

My '41 Hydra-Bob on the jetty...

Back at Mel's... Joe Oz's Indian in the background...

Nice rim Mel...no he didn't do it on the beach...


Mel...dreaming of the barrel...

Got a call from Mel last week to see if I was available to run the beach this weekend...Fuck Yeah! A film crew wanted to shoot the Oilers over at Mel's doing their thing and get some beach racing footage...No problem! I loaded up at around 06:30 this AM and headed for Jersey. We fucked around at Mel's for a while and then Hot Rodded over to the beach...Mel on his Indian, me on my '41 Hydra-Bob and a bunch of Hot Rods. Pete brought my WLDR in his trailer. It was dry and in the 50's...Mel must have a weather connection...hell T.R.O.G. was in late October and it was T shirt weather now it was January and it was in the upper 50's!
Me, Mel and Tommy ran the beach and had a blast! Pete's wife took a bunch of pic's and video that she's gonna send me. The pic's above are what I was able to get...mostly with my sweet Flip Phone...