Axle repair

Made repairs to the main axle. PIcked up a cobalt drill bit to drill through the case hardened bottom bracket. My first attempt I only drilled into the tip. I hand to clean the old axle adapter (cutoff crank piece) then put back together. Did not get the two pieces to join together correctly so I pulled the two together then drilled hole for tension pin. Reconnected everything and looks good. Will try to get some pictures in the next couple of days. Had the Thanksgiving turkey in the shop smoking so wasn't able to work in there. I'm still looking for some led replacement lights for the front. The light is good but doesn't provide enough narrow beam but has wide path visibility. Have found a better version of the MR11 halogen setup. If led's don't work I'll look into that.

Drivetrain problems

Got my second front light in this week and after the downpour we had on thursday I finally got the light mounted and wiring ran. I had a problem with my axle slipping on Wed. and thought I had it back together. Unfortunately yesterday on my ride I learned that wasn't the case. When I got to the elementary school I noticed that the axle was about to pull out. The carrier bearing and sprocket on the other side of the bike kept it from sliding out but this still presents a problem. I going to try and correct this by repositioning the axle and drill a whole through the collar (former crank mount hole) and the bottom bracket piece. This will be fun due to the nature of the material making up the bottom bracket, case hardend steel.

With that aside the new light is tremendously brighter and will help a great deal but I still might have to change the bulbs in the old light and possibly both to an led setup. I 've also looked at Luxeon bulbs as a possible solution. We'll see. Today I hope to get the axle problem resolved and get another ride in. I didn't realize how much I really enjoyed riding until I didn't do it for a few days.

Remounted seat

The seat is mount back on the bike. The base was a little farther forward than I expected but it looks good. There is room for adjustment on the rear post so it can be tilted back. The extrended left handle bar is painted and looks good. I went ahead and pulled the right side off and clean it up and painted it. I finally received my strobe light for the rear. Fed-Ex thoughtfully delivered in across the street at my granddad's sitting on the front step. The light is bright and will provide the visual alert I'm looking for. I made the mount for the strobe and battery. I ran some of the wire and tried to test but may have a blown bulb in my front light. My time was eaten up some today due to work. I rotate being on-call for work and had some drawn out calls today. It's kind of fun sometimes being on the phone talking with one of our customers and having my welding hood on welding. I'll get the wires run tomorrow and hopefully go for a ride. Today's weather was nasty so it was ok. I'll try to get pictures tomorrow of the mounted strobe.

Completed seat mount

The new seat mount is complete. The new mount and the increased area beneath the seat for possible storage. Still haven't received any of my lights yet. I expected my strobe to come in today but nothing. I painted the seat mount areas. The pictures don't show it but I also painted the lower seat mount and some of the struts. I just wanted to get something on some of this to keep the rust down. I know at some point I will need to paint the rest of the bare metal but that's for another day.

Seat mount change

Made the move to move the seat mount forward. Cut out the old mount and fabbed up the new mount. Have everything but the vertical support tied in. Still have to mount the rear supports for the seat but its marked off and ready. The seat will be slightly higher and show allow more clearance when leaning forward. Also I spread the front runners apart allowing more area under the seat. If I have to add a second battery for the lights I'll have the room. If not I should be about to use the unused area for storage (ie., tools & etc.). Will try to have pictures tomorrow.

Lights and modification

Got the first light mounted and temporarily ran some wiring. Mounted one switch and placed a battery for a test fit. I'm planning on moving the seat forward slightly and will modify the frame struts. I'm going to make a new seat mount and cut out the current seat struts from the back and make longer ones. I plan to move the seat forward by 2-3 inches. This will give me more area under the seat to mount the battery or possibly (I hope not) a second battery.

Another workday

Didn't get to ride today. Got the wood stove in the shop working properly. Had to make an adjustment on the reinstalled blower. Paint still wasn't quite ready to allow me to reinstall the left side bar. Polished up my front light and made mounting brackets for both. Have ordered the other light. These lights came on pre 67 bugs and karman ghia's. I welded the brackets onto the front of the fork assembly but this time it will be isolated from the jarring action of the fork moving up and down. The previous design suffered from my mounting it to the secondary brake mount. I've made a switch plate that I welded to the bottom of the seat-back mount facing outwards. I've got two toggle switches that will controll the new strobe and the front lights. We started making the frame for the battery to sit in that will be mounted below the seat. If everything goes well tomorrow after my ride I should be able to get the cradle completed and maybe even wired up. I'll try to remember to take some pictures tomorrow.

Handle Bars

Well I finally got around to taking pictures of the handle bars. I thought I had a problem last night with the drivetrain. Something was slipping when pedaling. I couldn't find anything so the only thing I could figure was I was on uneven ground and was slipping on one wheel due to the fact the other chain had jumped off the front axle sprocket. But enough about that. When I originally did the current bar design I cut one slightly shorter than the other on the mount tube. I made an extension to weld onto the shorter piece then ground it down and painted. The pictures are of the right-side bar still mounted and of the modified left-side painted. I will eventually paint the other as well as the other bare metal areas.

I also found a light to use for the front since the "head" lights are not working as planned. The light is a backup light from an old VW. It provides a wide beam and should work well. I did find some online so if I decide to get another and mount in the same area as the current lights. I have found a small motorcycle battery that will mount perfectly under the seat. With the strobe light that I ordered and this front light I think this will be cool. I'm planning on mounting 2 switches. One for the strobe and one for the front light. If need be I have the room to run another battery in paralell. I need to find a good trickle charger to run this so it will charge overnight but not overcharge. The last picture is just to give some perspective on the size of the battery.

I didn't ride today due to alot of running around but I did do a fair amount of walking. Nothing to get the heart rate up for any extended time but it was exercise. Hopefully I'll have the handle bars back on tomorrow and we'll see how hte balanced bar setup works.

Another day another great ride

Took a ride Halloween morning and passed a few people walking. The first was group of ladies walking and commented on my bike and how different and interesting. The second was 2 young boys on their way to school. They stepped off the sidewalk to let me pass and one asked "is that a bike?" After replying yes he turned to his friend and said "it is a bike!" The more people see me riding the more interesting looks I get.

I'm still having problems with the main chain jumping off. I'm going to have to mount a tensioner from a derailluer to provide tension. My rear light is not working to well and took steps tonight to improve that. I ordered a small strobe light for the rear as part of my birthday present. I have a small 12V battery and will mount perfectly underneath my seat. With this change I plan on changing the front lights to provide better visibility. My initial concern was that I needed cars to be able to see me. This works well but the problem is these lights were designed to be used at distances of 3 to 4 feet. This doesn't work riding down the sidewalk in the evening. I'll have to mount a switch to run everything and a quick disconnect to charge by.