Greasy Kulture feature
Guy did a feature on another one of our bikes; this time the old Hippy Chief. He puts out a great mag and always finds some interesting bikes.
Category: News
1947 update
The Hawaiian Hula has been getting the Japanese treatment. Tough and dirty but this one has a selection of old chrome parts just to be different. Brakes, oil tank, bars, pipes, etc.
She’s also got the fat look with fat-bob tanks, wide bars and a panhead rear fender. Should be ready soon.
Jazzy J
Two of the J slots needed repairing on the air cleaner cover, a simple job but important. I did the repair with stainless; its seemed a good idea at the time … until I had to start filing the shape!
Flying Merkel for sale
Fred asked me to mention that his 1913 Flying Merkel twin is for sale. Its nearly all original and very sensibly priced. Its not listed anywhere but give him a call if you’re interested and tell him I sent you!
Visit to Fred Lange
I went to visit with Fred Lange again during the SEMA show in Las Vegas in November. I’ve not been for a few years and it’s always a treat to see his great collection of cars and bikes. Apart from building those great motors for the early models, Fred is also one of the best restorers I’ve met and he is a great guy to learn from. He had in his workshop several Harleys, Indian, Excelsior, American, Flying Merkel, etc, etc. Well worth the ride out to Santa Maria for a couple of days.
WordPress problems.
I’ve had some problems with the WordPress site and the last dozen or so posts from Sept through November have been lost. I’ve re posted a few in brief.
48 update
Well the 48 is finished now. The latest touches were the front bumper, the fender rails and the bomb sight. I just need to repair the J slots on the air cover and all is done.
Knucklehead for sale.
1947 Knucklehead for sale. Excellent VIN, matching belly numbers, some replacement parts include headlamp, bracket, seat post, maybe the bars, and perhaps some other parts.
All the accessories pictured are included, as well as the buddy seat, screen and bags. The front shock and rear stand will be re-fitted this week and also included. SOLD
Transmission work
So the 39 is the bike I sold to Tim. It was /is based around a 39 motor that came in the old Love bike. Well that was taken apart as soon as it landed and the motor went into a Japanese style chopper with a Bullneck frame and matching offset forks. It also ‘featured’ a flamed tank and up-swept pipes, very tasteful (!)
Now, some years later it is back with me, in a slightly different guise and about to change again. I have a correct 39 frame, in-line forks (41 but close enough) and just needs a 39 transmission as the current one is 46/47.
Well the 39 trans turned up today and I’m afraid it will need a little work before launch time. All easy enough to sort but all extra and all unexpected. Or is it these days?
Bars
Handlebars; Flanders, Stellings and HD. The drag bars are 0’s that we cut down and shunted. They came from a straight set on the original Tacoma from about 15 years ago. That was before they started selling on eBay for $2-3,000. With hindsight perhaps not a wise move… but right at the time.
