I'm glad Boeing 787 Dreamliners arent built in China

Back to servicing the knucklehead, oil pump failure, poor job on engine case assembly by long ago owner,.. so i'm reassembling my knuckle n i got these "cast iron piston pin keepers" to secure..holy fuck batman.. these made in the peoples republic of lead painted childrens toys...are made out of cheap cast iron... not the proper spring tension metal, and they r missing the 2 holes for the ring expander to fit in , see foto... so some part not worth a fraction of a penny can take out your motorcycle. truthfully i'm thankful that country doesnt build passenger aircraft...what a disaster if they did...imagine how poorly made their nuclear weapons must be?? next to the busted rings u can see a set i think for r12,,, w the proper holes.

Blogger map

you can see the map on the bottom w visitors, pretty kool, i haven't conquered China, most of Afrika, Greenland , Iceland , middle Russia, ...those wierd hits in the ocean..?? cruise ships w internet service...its amazing just how much old iron from ww2 tanks to subs to motorcycles r still out there to be discovered, just last week i learned about a German ww2 tank in Belarus, without a foto it would stay unknown except to the folks who know where its at.

Genuine as-is 1913 Harley Davidson twin

Above is a advert for this 1913...98 years ago...

Unbelievable 1913 HD twin...the real deal. owner is considering selling this... i would sell the kids , wife,girlfriend, grandparents first...but never my dogs...So he has asked me to entertain some bids, you are welcome to email me at the profile/contact page, leaving an offer on the comment page ..no good.. email me and i will contact owner...

So you can see its a 1913 HD, no footboards or the brackets on frame for footboards, 1913 would still be a single speed hub in rear wheel, 1914 gets the first year for a 2 speed .Note the manifold has a opening on it.No pushrod tube covers until 1914 models. Gas tanks w separate oil tank below seat. Why the motor company doesnt buy all these up is beyond me.. I'd get an aircraft hangar and fill it. What ever is missing is available as excellent high quality reproductions.

Consider being a vegetarian or vegan

I dont push my beliefs or agendas on anyone. I apreciate the folks who read my blog n send me fotos, input...I have been vegetarian 11 years, best thing I could ever have done, Please consider the brutality n cruelty of eating cows, pigs, chickens etc.If I influence 1 person w this post..thats great... meat diets have zero fiber, high risk of colon cancer among other cancers, plant based diets equal increased health longevity, weight management,...Sir Paul is vegetarian , last year i saw him perform in concert, he has the energy of a 20 something. I'll continue posting motorcycle n auto related topics, so send me fotos.

1940 WW2 BMW R12 front brake cable service

Harbor Freight here in USA has great tools ,like this motorcycle stand..

Missing the correct cone style front wheel spacer...previous driver used worn out Timken berring assemblies as spacers!

New cable, as-is original rust and paint...

Front brake lever w new cable.I did have to grind the brake cable end piece keeper to fit inside the front brake cable assembly, So its not just swapping out parts.

Blown apart front brake cable and new Made in Germany replacement..not that made in the "Peoples Republic of I dont give a fuque" or "its on the boat..its your junk now"

Give yourself a little xtra cable so it fits correct. I did have to Dremel grind off 6 inches of outer cable to get it to fit...

Interior splined front brake drum.. I was looking for the splined part that mated to it,,not here..Turns out the R12 front drum is the same as the R12 rear drum , so no the splined parts not missing,, Being that the front spacer was missing i just assumed the splined part mating to this was another for the missing or lost parts lot.

Note the paper thin front brake pads, 72 yrs later ...worn out ..but at least it wasnt metal on metal..So next re-pad the front shoes,,so the bike stops with not just the rear brakes.. Theres always the "Fred Flintstone" braking option.

The tires are very old Russian tires someone added postwar in Latvia to keep riding it after the wartime tires wore out, the tread passes safety but the sidewalls are dried out.

Everything you ever wanted to know about BMW R12 bikes...look here
http://histor.ws/bmwr12/eng/index.htm

The R12 is a major blast to ride.

1955 Porsche windshield wiper mechanism repair

Heres the actual windshield wiper mechanism that controls the wiper, mounted below the dash.

All old Porsches have this failure, the wiper stops rotating but the linkage below the dash is functioning. What is the actual failure in the mechanism? a tiny metal rod or pin , thats all. the small cranks wont break they r tough metal, When i looked around to replace the units i only found very very expensive replacements, and its not a part common to the early VW like many other parts like the wiper motors, The actual unit is riveted together, assuming no one is going to drill out the rivets to determine the failure. ..So thats what i did,,, next time use a drill press to get the holes straight. Study the fotos and you will see the tiny pin that needs replacing ..thats it!then just get some nuts n bolts grease it and reassemble. The most difficult part is you just about need a toddler to climb under the dash to remove both assemblies,,i like working on old metal, iron , parts vs the chinese mystery metal or water bottle plastic all new cars are made of.

No wear at all on the crank teeth! Very simple reassembly,, so if you have this problem or you have an opportunity to buy used non working wiper units , now you can easily fix them.

Christians 1940 Knucklehead in Denmark

heres a great 1940 Knucklehead daily rider that belongs to my friend Christian in Denmark, bobbed front fender used on the rear, updated modern carb , 1/2 moon boards correct for 1940 and up. Surprisingly these beloved Knuckles n Panheads w original parts are just fewer every year, major blast to ride, ..

Christian is looking for a Chief runner or project in Sweden, Denmark, UK, Germany ,France..or somewhat closer to Sweden...If you have one you want to sell contact me on the profile contact page and i will fwd it,, truthfully gang if i post your email all you'll get is scam-spam and my favorite emails from Nigerian Royalty about your missing millions $$$ ..how folks fall for that crap is beyond me, i thought you get smarter the longer you live..

1936 Indian Sport Scout as-is

Note no pogo spring plunger, using the old style seat springs for suspension.

the complete rear fender is hinged.

This Scout would also have a rear stand.not just the sidestand here, The Chief sidestand would have "Indian" cast into it.

Narrow spokes vs the very thick spokes found on the 1935 and 1936 Chiefs.

One single spring for front suspension.

The early style oil pump w distributor.

1934 is the beginning of the 2 piece keystone frames for scout models ,continued thru the last scouts of 1942. 45 cubic incher, one could bring the engine up to 60 cubic inch OR one could buy a Chief. Yes plenty of aftermarket parts available to make this a daily rider. very kool indeed! My Indian experience started w Scouts, faster than HD 45s . This is why i started this blog, to share w readers these very kool historical fun motorcycles as found...

1937 vs 1940s Indian Chief Trans cases

1918 Indian model o opposed twin

Harry Sucher's book The Iron Redskin mentions the light twin model o , introduced in 1917 as the replacement for the underpowered model K. The model o above was only produced in 1917 and 1918. Another great reference book ;Jerry Hatfield's Indian Motorcycle Photographic History mentions non-Indian riders calling it the model nothing, Interesting how one motorcyle maker can generate a failure w a design and another motorcycle maker like BMW could turn the opposed twin into a hugely successful design.

1913 Harley Davidson Twin Cylinders discovered

Matched serial numbered set of rough 1913 HD twin cylinders. On the back side ,at the base of the cylinders are the serial numbers ,then on the cases below one would see the same numbers, After 1914, HD ceases numbering the cylinders.One can see the exposed valve spring, one per cylinder, Starting in 1914 all engines would be fitted w valve covers, note 1 valve cover per cylinder vs the 2 valve covers in later bikes. the fins are busted off but the cylinder base corners are all intact.amazing!
No primers on the backside of the cylinders either, One would open the primer and inject fuel,my guess is that after HD experimented w "atmospheric valves" someone engineered the early primers to the cylinders to inject/deliver fuel directly into the combustion chambers for easier starting. My guess is the "fuel vacum" of the early carbs just wasn't enough to get fuel into the combustion chamber.The primers ,one per cylinder start in 1915. the cylinders on the early engines are the hardest to find, So one could use 1913 Twin cylinders on 1911 thru 1914 models only.No one as far as I know is reproducing early twin cylinders, and NO ..one cannot interchange Single cylinder barrels on Twin cylinder barrels.. next to get the rest of the engine ,...the old foto is a 1912 or 1913, cannot be a 1914 because?
No valve covers, No footboards, No 2 speed shifter on the gas tanker.