Blood, sweat, tears & beers . . .

Sounds like a good day...enjoy:chopper:

So, what did they think, impressed I bet!

It was a great day! When the kids came to shop class, the beast was sitting there in the gravel by the front of the door. Yup, they wuz impressed. Wanted me to start it right then and there but I made them wait until class was over. After class, I kicked it over and rode off to get some lunch. As soon as it started some of them backed away - ha-ha! Suppose I'll hear some comments this morning!

Later, after school, I went for a ride - not too long - I was thinking about the frame. Got some gas in Scotland Neck, tooled around for a while and came home. Carb was spot on. Motor ran very well all the way up to 60MPH. Didn't want to push it so early in the break in. Didn't have to make any adjustments to the carb during the ride.

I mean, does it get any better than that?

Today it's gonna rain, then I'll go for a ride on Friday which is supposed to be even nicer than yesterday . . .

Supposed to be 50 F and sunny tomorrow. I feel a 24 hour virus coming on!

Sent From My Damn Droid!

50 & sunny - that's good for your neck o' the woods Fatboy - yup, take a sick day off!

great, you probably inspired at least one to try and build something on there own from scratch. Let us know when you get the frame welded.
How's that new seat placement feel compaired to the way you had it orginialy?

Haven't gotten the welding done yet. Would have to take the belt off and get the bike off the ground. My welder says that's how it's got to be - but their shop doesn't have a lift and neither do I. Not sure what to do. But I'll try to explain how I got the hole plugged up. There is a hole 3/8" diameter drilled thru the lower frame under the motor. I have a 1 1/2" long bolt going thru the hole, and it fits pretty snug. On the inside, where the bolt head is, I took a large, thick washer and bent it to the shape of the frame. On the outside of the frame, I bolted a nut on - very tight. Then I put the rubber bumper over the end of the bolt, put a washer on, and then bolted another nut on the end of the bolt. So, it's not a half-assed job, at least. (see pic). As far as welding, I don't know how I'm going to get that done, but I think I have some wiggle room and a few more miles to put on yet . . . .

The new seat placement is a lot better. Funny how just 2" further back makes a big difference, plus the nose sits a little lower and the back sits a little higher. Much better.
BTW, the seat is a velocepede solo with a leather cover. To get a little more rise in the back, I put it in the vise and bent it up some. I know there are seat pans out there with nice, high backs, but I took the poor man's route and it came out pretty good. (see pic of seat also).
Thought I'd throw in a pic of Buster, my shop buddy - he supervises all wrenching . . . .

Looks like the stress at that point is more of a pulling rather than a bending sort. Any physics kind of teachers at your school that could opine on that. Maybe OK to run with it. Just a thought.

Oh man, I would so like to go to Daytona this year! But I just can't take that much time off from school - the younguns gotta get their edumacashun. They've never been able to find a sub to teach both my shop & art classes.

I wouldn't just want to go down there for 2 or 3 days. More like a whole week so I could also meet and maybe hang with some of you FLA guys from Bike Talk.

We'd love to see ya.

Nobody here teaching physics that I know of. I'm not sure what you mean by "pulling". Do you mean the frame could stretch instead of flex?

I really would like to get it welded. I think the best way would be to take the washer off and have the welder weld the bolt to both sides of the frame. That way, I could keep the bolt on and still use it.

I'm thinking I'll start looking for another welder who can do the job - just ride the sickle in and let 'em look at it. First we gotta get some decent weather. It's pretty wet out now and I don't think the sun's coming out today to dry off the roads.

anyway, A decent tig welder ought to be able to get in there. leavin the bolt in would fill the hole 'n take away any question about strength.JM0