1920s Indian Monkey Bike

A couple of decades ago (or more) I picked up this interesting little bike. It is made up of mostly 20s Indian parts. I thought it was mostly 101 Scout parts but looking at the frame a friend thought the frame might be a four cylinder. The engine is from a 20's Prince. The trans is a Power Plus. The tanks are unknown to me but Indian and very cool. I'll bet there's a racer that would like 'em. I believe the front hub is HD.

Obviously everything is cut down and miniaturized. The story goes that a monkey rode it in the circus (believe it or not!) maybe not, I don't know. The old fellow that owned it began restoration at one time and the bike was all apart. I stuck it together to wheel it around and had it in the basement for many years.

In 2005 I decided to put it together. The motor was apart, the trans was apart and a million and one little home made "One Off" parts filled several boxes. Well I spread everything out on an old door and began the puzzle. What an interesting job it was trying to figure out what fit what! I would go out to the garage from time to time and try a few things to see if they worked then try them again when they didn't. I would pick up parts that I was convinced were thrown in by mistake only to find that combined with another weird part it fit some purpose on the little freak! The shifter and clutch linkage were a real challenge!

This was one of the best "therapy" projects I have worked on...no pressure just put it together like a (not so) big toy. Of course when all was said and done I had a box of left overs...just like Christmas morning. I believe it had a sidecar at one time based on some of the spare parts I have!

Well then came the task of figuring out what to do with it. I took it out to an AMCA meet in Jefferson PA where it met its bigger cousin (Frank Westfall's) Super X Mini circus bike.

After that outing my sons and I hoisted it onto the kitchen table and into the perfect opening in the wall! It probably still has a little scalp and hair on the floor board..Oops careful kids!

47 Knuckle Assembly from 2008

I came across some pictures of the final assembly of my 47 Knuckle from March 2008 when I re-did the bike for the umpteenth time since I was a teenager. The paint is still the same from 1990 or 1991. The motor got a rebuild and the frame and fork a fresh powder coating. Oh yeah and an NOS Superior exhaust system.

41 TT Knuck

Well it looks like it may be time to get off my ass on this project. I have had the chassis together for probably eight years.

I grabbed up a bunch of cool parts and had a buddy (Paul) paint all the black stuff. My vision was to build a TT knuckle. I am using an ELC (Canadian Knuckle) fork which is 2 1/2 inches longer than stock, similar to an XA. The frame is a 41 and happens to be the first knuckle frame I ever bought back when I was 19. The ride control is NOS and came out of Williams HD in NJ also back when I was 19.

I laced up the original Kelsey Hayes 18 inch rims with stainless spokes that I glass beaded to look like Cadmium (old restoration trick) and I mounted original 4.50 X18 Goodyear Deluxe All Weather (yeah right!) tires. I used a bunch of original and NOS hardware, Springs, rockers, etc. to put the forks together.

The handle bars are low Flanders and the risers are the shortest Flanders they made. I like the look but they hit the cats eye dash so I'll have to figure something out...hey just leave the dash and speedo off! What the hell it's a TT bike anyway...

The motor needs some finishing up. The lower end has been done for over 15 years (waitin' on me) so it shouldn't be too much to get it buttoned up. I would love to get a front mounted magneto for it.

I really don't know why I waited so long to get back to this one, maybe it was just too clean!

57 Panhead Revival

Well the kid is tearin' into it. Brake drum changed out, cut down Pan rear fender painted and installed, taillight mounted, primary coming apart to see where all that oil is coming from and the foot shifter bracket removed for welding. Checking off a few tasks on our "delousing" list! After the primary and shifter are straightened out we'll move on the the front end and get a proper front brake cable eliminating that nice tight streeetch across the triple trees.

Revival in process.

Two Wheeled Mayhem!!!

Any poster for an event that includes Two Wheeled Mayhem!!! is worth checking out! These events started this summer and I haven't checked it out yet. July 11 there should be a whole bunch of old bikes heading down there. I know I'm looking forward getting a knuckle out there and really fuckin' something up bad! What the hell you can always fix it...

Wall of Death!!!

California Hell Riders put on a great show if you get a chance check it out.

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