Falling Flat

I've spent the last to weeks trying to get everything finished and all the gremlins worked out. I had to have some of the welds on the tank redone due to some pin holes. I've also been struggling with some poor idling issues. Through this process I have put about 80 miles on the bike. Last night I planned to take Nixon on a 40 mile shakedown ride to make sure everything was OK and I would make it to TN this weekend. About 3 miles into my ride, as I was turning a corner, my rear tire went flat. That was scary! I nursed it over to a parking lot and called for help. My brother-in-law showed up with a pump. The pump didn't work so he went a bought a new one. That one worked but wouldn't inflate the tire. So we put it in the back of the truck and took it home.

This morning I took the wheel to the local motorcycle shop and had him replace the tube. From looking at the tire and tube, this is the best we can figure out. When I put my new valve stem caps on, the o-ring in the cap got pushed down into the valve and was slowly letting air out. I didn't realize the tire pressure was low. When I went around the corner, the tire deformed and ripped the valve stem out of the tube causing a sudden flat.
It is now fixed, but I didn't get to take my shakedown ride. So tomorrow morning I head out to TN and with good luck, I might actually make it.

Order From Chaos

It was finally time for final assembly!  My friend Dave came over the other night to help me assemble the bike.  Of course, on his way over, his bike died and I had to go rescue him at the gas station.  I think it was just a bad battery.  We got back to the garage about 10 minutes before it started pouring.  Good timing!  It took us about 4 hours (or 6 beers) to get most of the bike assembled.  For the most part, everything went smoothly.  I had to put the forks on a couple of times because I kept forgetting things like the gators and headlight ears.  After we got everything together we realized that the fuel tank bungs were in a very bad location.  When we built the tank, I did not have the engine in the frame, so we weren't quite sure where any interferences would be.  I dropped the tank off at the welder's the next day and he quickly moved them and had it back to me on Sunday.

I spent the whole next day and most of the third day working on the wiring.  Since I moved the battery and most of the electrical components to the the seat hump, all those wires had to be extended.  I also had to extend the key switch wires since I moved that to the dash.  Luckily my dad helped me out with the wiring or it would have taken a lot longer.  *Note to future builders: Get a real soldering iron. It made things much easier and more than paid for itself with the time saved.*  I cleaned all of the wiring up and rewrapped the wiring harness.  I still have a little bit of wire organizing to do under the seat, but I will do that after I know everything is running right.

I have spent the rest of the time attending to small details.  As I was looking at the rear brake setup, I realized I had the brake cam in 180° out of alignment so the brake arm was sticking up instead of down.  To move it, I had to take the back wheel off.  As you can see in the pictures, I had the bike up on a platform (a cooler to be technically accurate).  When I took the back wheel off, it was no longer balanced on the platform and tried to tip forward.  My dad tried to stop it but it fell over on him.  Luckily it did not hurt him.  The bike didn't have much damage either.  All it really did was bend the rear brake stay which was hanging down at the time.  I guess my dad broke its fall.  We just bent the brake stay back.

So now, it is pretty much complete.  I need to adjust the generators and the timing so I can get it running.  Then I have to take it over to the welder's house so he can shorten the rear brake rod and shift lever so they fit properly.  Then I have to apply the brushed finish to the tank.

Almost there!


Engine in!

Suspension and wheels on!

Ooops! That's not going to work.

Underseat wiring.

Ready to roll!

And I Want It Painted Black

Since all of the fabrication work is done and all the mods have been made to the frame, it was finally time to paint the frame.  First I cleaned all the old paint and grime off of the frame. That took a long time!  Although it wasn't necessary, I used a self etching primer on the frame to keep it from rusting and help the paint stick a little better.  Since I don't have any time or money left to powdercoat it, I sprayed it with a satin black epoxy paint.  It turned out really nice.  I also finished up the fenders which needed a little bodywork done.  With the exception of the brushed finish on the tank and seat, everything is ready for re-assembly!  Most of that will take place this weekend.  I will have some wiring modifications to make and I still have to work out the rear brake arm and shifter, but I will still hopefully be finished before the end of the month.

Fender Bodywork

The primed frame

The frame painted and drying