Just one link in the chain...

After I got back from Idaho, I took a look at things and realized that I absolutely wasn't going to make it. So I talked it over with TyLeigh and decided until the baby comes, I'm going to work at least 12 hours a day every day of the week. 7am to 7pm 7 days. Which is why I haven't been blogging oh so often...

I haven't followed it perfectly, but I always put in at least 80 hours a week at the shop and looking at things now, I'm going to make it.

One of the "problems" I've been having is the amount of time I put into a project. People ask me all the time how long it takes to build a custom bike, and the question is so subjective there really is no answer. I mean how long would it take to build a simple wall shelf? If it's made out of wood, 20 minutes maybe. But what if you had to machine each and every screw that puts it together? Now it's maybe a 3 hour job. But what if you want to forge the shelf out of a solid steel billet? Add 2 hours. And how about glass inlays and brass rivets? See what I mean...

The bikes I build are more like the second shelf, and they take a lot of time. To show you an example, I'm going to take you through the entire process of building one part: an adjustable rear suspension linkage.

The system that comes on a stock Harley is called a 2 point suspension. It's a simple as it can get: basically a spring bolted between two points. It works okay, but if you really want a high performance suspension you need an adjustable linkage. Basically, an adjustable linkage works through a system of pivots and levers and creates a suspension that can be completely tuned for the amount of wheel travel, stiffness of the ride and even ride height.

First up I had to do some math. I used a sportbike shock and went to their manufacturer for specs. I found that the shock had 1.66in of travel, but I needed to get at least 3.5in of wheel travel. So I needed to create a linkage that would progressively increase at a 47.4% rise rate.
I took a pencil to paper:



I came up with the measurements and tested them by drilling holes in scrap metal and bolting it all together. When I was confident with the schematics, I went to Larry and his 350lbs power hammer to forge a piece of 4140 high carbon steel. This is a tool steel the possesses excellent stress qualities, but it's dense and hard to work with:

Larry started with a round bar and got it white hot, after a few whacks he got this:

My next step was to machine the part so I could have perfectly flat and parallel surfaces to work with. I started by milling a groove for the shock mount:

After the groove and holes were drilled for the shock mount, I bored out two holes that were exactly .499in. They have to be .001 undersized for the bearings to get a pressed fit, but that comes later:

After the holes were bored exact, I milled the face to get a flat smooth surface for the linkage bolts:

Now that the part was precise and everything was oriented correctly, I trimmed off the fat and rounded off the corners. Needs to be as light as possible if it's going to be on a performance bike:

Next I needed to do some research and went to a specialty bearing company to talk about my linkage. The suspension is under a great deal of stress, and I can't just have the linkage pivot on some bolts. Not only would they not be strong enough, but they would eventually wear down and lock up. Instead, I looked through their book of schematics and found some pressed bearings that have a .500in diameter and will hold a dynamic load of over 3,600lbs. Since this bike weighs around 300lbs and it's unlikely it will ever pull the 12g's that would cause the bearings to fail (space shuttle take offs only produce around 3g's), these will work perfectly:

Only problem is the bearings had to be special ordered, so in the mean time I created spacers of the same size and dimensions to continue on with the build:

With spacers installed:

Linkage attached to shock:
Shock and linkage on bike:

Here is a video of the whole mess in motion; might give you an idea of what's going on: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vp3js10p3tE

So what you saw me build took about 25 hours to design and build. At custom shop rate that's $2500 for a part that fits in my hand...$2500 that I'll likely never see. A lot of shops would have saved the 25 hours and built a 2 point suspension. Looks the same. The difference is that this bike will be one of the best handling Harleys ever built. I'm not going to tell you how long it took me to make the adjustable pivot for the linkage:

I am aware of how ridiculous it is to knowingly cut into your profit margin by giving away hours, especially with a baby on the way. So I'm taking a break from this project to build the ultimate bang for your buck budget bike: a bike to go from conception to completion in no more than 3 weeks. More updates on that project later this week...

I know Temple Baldwin

Larry and I headed down to Idaho this week to pick up some machinery from his dad who owns a big machine shop in Buhl. Driving out in the sticks reminded me of Crane quite a bit. The dirt smelled the same.

Larry's dad happens to know automotive royalty and fabrication legend Temple Baldwin. Note the hat. Temple restores a lot of vintage cars and is a major player in the classic auto world. Plus he is one hell of a nice guy. I told him I was a sheet metal man and he said he has some work for me to do. I'm excited for that...

Larry's dad is a collector of old machinery and owns one of the largest private inventories of vintage gasoline engines. He has several of these massive tractors from the early 1900's just laying around. You can see in the picture where I'm standing next to it, the drive wheel on this one is about 8ft. tall.

This is the load of machinery we brought back with us. I was mainly after the pullmax and the marchant kick shrinker, the rest are vintage blacksmithing hammers that Larry plans to sell in the Seattle market. We weighed in at about 11 tons total. The tools we got are the creme' de la creme' of sheetmetal tools and are really going to open up a whole new world to me. I can't wait to dive in.

One means 3

Well I said I wouldn't take any more shots of the bike until it was finished, but I also thought I could complete it in a week. It seems pretty consistant that anything I build takes about 3X longer than I bid. A big reason for that is I can't leave well enough alone and tend to get obsessive with my projects. I honestly just can't compromise. Take these exhaust pipes for example:
Typically a custom exhaust system takes around 10-15 hours to fabricate. I have over 40 hours in them already and I'm not done yet. Usually you just buy "U" bends and some straight pipe from an exhaust shop and just piece the whole thing together like legos. I had a pretty non-typical idea of what I wanted the exhaust to look like. Exhaust shops only offer a limited range of bend radii, so to get the exact curve I wanted I had to spend a few days building my own tubing bender. The big swoop on the end was first carved out of foam so I could make patterns to get a very accurate representation of what I had in my mind. Then you can see the one-off cap I machined out of solid aluminum and countersunk to bolt on. And that's just the exhaust...
You can also see that I got a seat carved out of foam rubber and mounted to the bike. The seat really helps tie all of the components together and makes the whole bike flow. I still need to wrap it in leather, but I'm still throwing around a few ideas on finishes.

Half Pint of Freedom

What I started with. This is a mostly stock Harley Sportster with a dash of gay. You can get into these bikes relatively cheap because they have the unfortunate stigma of being a girls bike. It's really an unfounded claim; though it's true Sportsters are a bit smaller bike, their engines are also smaller, lighter and produce more power than their big brothers. Also, there are a few other favorable features like the engine and transmission being one piece and the final sprocket being outside the primary drive. Just makes it a good platform to build around, and since I couldn't find a good reason not to like this bike I decided to see what I could make it worth if I took care of the aesthetic deficiencies.



Shop projects. The Sportster is in the middle, the other two are just another two. I stay busy.

This is when I first realized the bike might actually turn out marketable. At this point I've modified the frame and swingarm to accept bigger rubber as well as fabricated the fuel tank and tail section. Threw in a different front end and handlebars and suddenly we have a completely different bike.

Yes, I do feel like a gorilla on the bike. A super fast gorilla. I'm calling the bike 'Half Pint'.

Fuck the Factory. Note the exhaust pipes. Honestly the first set I've built. I think this will be the last picture I post of the bike until it's completed. I've been taking these shots with my camera phone and need to upgrade, any suggestions for an nice snap shooter would be greatly appreciated. Looking for a good bang for your buck camera.