Wednesday, December 05, 2007

More antique motorcycle fotos 1915 hd ,101s

The above foto goes w the group on the bottom but blogger doesnt have an option to move it.
the guy i got the 1915 above from used it as some sort of generator, ....


Heres the 1928-29 101 w 1940 square base sport scout barrels, heads & chief mag, red powder coat, great machine. Loud & fast, some folks just didnt share my enthusiasm. Who cares? i guess they got old. Life is for the living.


Florida "Wall of Death" bike, maybe a 1927 front end, no front brake assembly. awesome fun bike. i've had them all & 101s are my favorites, very easy to maintain & service, quick, dependable.inexpensive to buy or piece together.




Some of my fleet.









Antique foto i found on the net, i had one of these early 1911 -12 belt frames.



a 1914, first yr for footboards & 2 speed shifter on the tank top vs side.The 2 speed rear wheel transmision w clutch , these are extremely rare & in 1915 Hd ditched the hard to machine rear transmission, clutch hubs & went to true pedal thru & kick start transmisions. Motoryzed bicycles evolved to motorcycles.



No footboards so its got to be a 1913 or maybe a 1912 chain drive single speed. Elegant old bikes!



Beloved Koko & 1915Hd










Heres where i started the 1915 HD , chopped up frame, engine & tanks, No they are not grey.

maybe military use olive drab.












I'd like to build another 1914 0r 1912-13 twin. Engines survived, but chasis were recycled for 2 world wars so the steel & iron vanished. I found this thru a $15 /month Hemmings Motor News ad! from Springfield Massechusetts...Indian country!

As a little kid i was always building model planes & tanks ,trains & go carts etc. Just couldnt get away from old bikes & cars.














Monday, October 29, 2007

Buddy 1995-2007 sweet little guy. RIP

I found him on a very busy street at 11pm as a puppy, no one claimed him except me. I was really lucky to have such a fine dog, i think i needed him more than he needed me. He taught me about real friendship, He rarely barked, could devour 3times his weight in 1 sitting, pee ed like a fire truck anywhere he pleased.. When i'd take him to a favorite machine shop to make Indian parts, they wanted to trade for him for services. He especially liked children, he was just magical around little kids, Not like a human that gets old & jaded & bitter, he was as child like at the end as when i found him as a puppy. if you measure your life by money & things , you're a failure, if you measure your life by friends & love & experiences, your rich, i'm rich having had this little guy.Buddy spent alot of time around motorcycles, All my motorcycle pals knew buddy ,so he has to be included.




Buddy on a 1952 Indian Chief.
no tongue..................................tongue



Stay away from my Chief!!!!!

I could sit here all day.

Knuckleheads are kool!

Buddy, me & Koko
Buddy & Koke , inseparable
Handsome little guy.



Off to my next adventure...









Friday, September 28, 2007

1955 chevy surfboard? almost...

My hot rod surfboard from hell, this was pretty short & very maneuvarable, vs long boards & their loss in turning properties,, cant believe i sold this on ebay to a celebrity hairstylist in NYC.
oh well. i always loved the flame design, great times surfing SoCal, i dont know how sharks see boards, as food sources?

1929 Indian 101 scout,Wall of Death bike

Heres a 1930 era four, mine looks like this, you can see 101s were very similiar in design to fours during 1928-1931. 101 production yrs, 101s were 45 cubic inchers & 37 cubic inchers,
37s were less powerful but still quick, the engines & primaries were the only difference. the rest of the bike was identical. 101s were the best indians ever made, many were used in carnival & circus wall of death barrels because of their center of gravity , ease of handling ,light weight.
the 1929 101 below is a wreck i bought, i'd call it a project but when the motor is a glorified boat anchor & the gas tank is a rusted out bedpan fit for a senior center.... its a wreck .

after high pressure washing it, i separated the cylinders from the pistons w a special bracket that has a large bolt in the center, i attach this assembly to the head bolt holes making sure to bury the attachment bolts all the way into the cylinder head,so as not to strip the threads out, after hitting it w a torch & liquid wrench , one then runs the impact driver on the large center bolt to push the frozen pitsons from the cylinder. there is absolutely no other way to free a frozen piston.

i've since found a 18 inch drop center rear wheel & rear fender, chainguard , & a excellent gas tank from Germany.i had to replace the rear cylinder as some 3rd world moron welded the exhaust onto the threaded rear cylinder exhaust port. Next i need a good set of handlebars & front fender, the handlebars that came w the wreck were junk only good to salvage the controls from. Fortunately there are excellent reproduction parts available from Europe. 101s had helical gear drive units w wet clutches, so dont run a synthetic ... synthetics increase lubricating properties as they heat up , no good for a clutch that needs to grab disks.,helical gears vs belts & chains, really amazing & durable old system to run power from the engine to the trans. so just to build the powerplant & reassemble......i think this is my 13th 101, they are absolutely fantastic machines. if you have been around old iron long enough , you will notice the "sluggish" feel in acceleration of a engine w original heavy iron pistons vs modern aluminum pistons.the modern aluminum pistons must be balanced, a mention on drop center or modern tires vs antique clincher tires, clincher tires would at higher speeds free spin on a rim & cut out the inner tube stem, not safe,, this wont happen w a drop center, i believe its about 1933 clinchers were left behind, not sure on that.
if you look at my foto archive theres a 101 w 1940 cylinders i built, yes they fit & turn a 101 into a rocket, 101s are very light weight & but w increased rocket speeds, one still has the primitive external band rear brakes & internal front drum brakes, quick to heat up but slow on stopping power.


Saturday, March 24, 2007

phils 1955 porsche bent window coupe

Heres the 1955 coupe, story is the fellows dad in So Cal raced it & blew up the engine , so now the hunts on for a engine,it sat around for some +20 years in the desert in Cal, heres Flanders, note full body restraint, they can snap dog collars when they are leaping into the air, also heres my running 1941 r35 bmw, quick bikes, didnt take much to bring back from the dead.the 41 r12 is waiting on the valve & cylinder work then i'll slam it all together & kick it back to life.
Update Gary Emory sold me a rebuilt 912 engine, so whenever he ships it , then i can get going on the '55 again...the '56 is waiting on a donor car or i will have to buy alot of steel from trevors hammer works....sometimes money just cant get shit done.........
Bad news some moron flared the front & rear fenders, poor job at that, but we can repair it.Ugly ass muscle car wheels,

1963 Alfa Romeo & 1955 Porsche


Previous owner carved up the rear which will have to be repaired,








Someones restored coupe, this is what it looked like when it left Stuttgart.

I'm just gathering the engine parts now to make it a rider , its got a roll bar, i think i'll keep that & the racing seat belts, i only need a correct oil temp gage & dash knobs etc,steering wheel & wheels, coupe is in pretty good condition even w the screwed up fenders. get it running , brakes, shocks, wheels, fender repairs, paint , interior, ..The 1956 cabriolet is going to be awhile, i may have to sue the crooks who ripped me off. not fun.......





Thursday, February 01, 2007

Panther tank ,Porsches Panzer

knocked out Panther in front of Koln cathedral.
Ferdinand Porsche designed the Panther, strong point was the wide tracks copied from the superior Russian T34, they just couldnt copy the reliability of the T34, Panthers broke down regularly & were easy to disable w grenades dropped in the exhaust ports, good Porsche stuck w Porsche cars.......especially 356.


I collect militaria, heres a group of Panther tank tracks, these weigh about 65-75lbs each, next to it is a SS gas can, the SS had all their supplies marked accordingly,w runes,

Panzer factory, probably Tigers or pzk IV not Panthers by looking at the wheels.
i'll add more fotos as i find them. I dont find a problem collecting militaria, as long as you remember the brave decent souls who died to preserve some form of freedom. Understand the intense suffering all around, there is no glory in war , only sadness. Tyrany starts out in childhood w the schoolyard bully. At least I got to beat up the school yard bully once.




Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Bismarck in Bergen Norway 20/5/1941

great old fotocard of the Bismarck in Bergen, its twin was the Tirpitz,

Sunday, January 21, 2007

Indian Scouts & HD 45s

Heres another Terry Krumm masterpiece, i cant believe i sold this 1928 101.. what an idiot. Z metal racing flywheels for a faster engine.this red frame was the blue frame below.
Heres the start of my 1915 HD a partial frame & a engine & tanks, quick on the phone w a committment to buy & it was mine, no bullshit answering machines,came out of Springfield Massachusetts,,,Indian country. I never got a Indiian out of Springfield surprisingly..
101 scout w 1940 barrels & heads a common modification of racers in the 1930s & 1940s, this was a loud & very fast machine, lightweight chasis w plenty of power, everything bolted up nicely. Indians were well machined. I ran a mid 1940s Chief magneto, 1 -2 kicks to start tops..
The 1940 sport scout barrels on a 101 engine fit well in a 101 chasis...I'll definately build another...

I started building a 1916 but switched to a 1915, 1916 was the first year for a kick start trans vs the peddle thru trans of 1915. 1915 & 1916 were actually pretty different bikes but w the same engines, the script of HD was raised letters, by mid 1916 the letters were embedded or not raised.

1912 belt drive,
1913 twin tank w visible script , they really were not silent grey fellows as most were ugly olive green for ww1, the earliest bikes were grey,
maybe my 1913 or 1914 twin engine in the foreground.
1913 chain drive twin, damn rare, note no footboards till 1914.
heres a 1907 HD, at a mobile HD museum,note the curved front down tube,by 1911 they are straight, historically this would be considered a motorbike vs motorcycle, but thats just nomenclature.
Heres a Spacke , early American bike , this & the 1913-14 HD single below came out of Uvalde Texas, . i used to run wanted ads & the other folks who ran wanted ads either were too busy to answer their phones or never returned calls so i got em.......
just found out in a desert field in Texas,

heres a 1914 HD twin frame, & another 1914 HD twin chasis i had got out of Cortez Colorado, amazing find, sitting in some scrap pile of metal.....
1928 era 101 scout, 45 ci, this was a wall of death carnival bike i pulled out of northern Florida, cleaned it up, readjusted the mag & came right back to life w plumes of black smoke.....the frame had been modified, amazingly fun bike, best Indian ever made, i had maybe 12 101s, one i built w 1940s sport scout barrels & heads, very loud & very fast..

1940 Sport Scout, great fun.the skirted fenders were not interchangeable w Chiefs, Scouts looked like smaller Chiefs,elegant lines, Indians designers were simply brilliant,timeless good looks.
Heres 2 Hd 45s i brought back from the dead, i probably had 15 45s oover the yrs, great reliable iron ,easiest to restore, HD built some 80,000 45s so parts are abundant but they are slow heavy bikes.
1940 Indian Sport Scout, 1 yr only rear fender & rear frame, Fun & quick. i also had a 1942 last year sport scout w plunger frame & shocks.
1942 Indian 741 30.50 cubic incher, fun trail bike, great for around town but maybe 500-600cc, so pretty small, this was the Army contracted Indian for ww2. very abundant ,cheap & very easy to restore & maintain
this 741 came out of the Carolinas, just like an Indian , throw some gas in it & a fresh battery , plumes of black smoke & there it goes back to life, very reliable.
Koko & Buddy , me & some great friends, the motorcycle King from New Jersey came out to inspect my fleet. 1969FLH "lovechild" & my 1915 HD
My beloved Koko, & bastard sport scout, built by Terry Krumm, worlds finest Indian builder, bike chasis came out of Oklahoma , engine? cant remember where i got that one, the chasis was a 1934 w a 1940-42 sport scout engine, fast & fun.Indians have a great range of interchangeable parts. I'll add more bike pictures as i find them