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Never mind the wheel and its weedy front wheel cruiser tire (God willing, it will be replaced by a bona fide PM 8-spoke rear wheel with a proper, fat dirt track tire in the not too distant future). But we can at least see where this build is heading. I find these mock-up sessions invaluable when trying to get the frame just right. After this one, we decided to change the front anchoring point for the shock. The two plates holding the shock will be replaced by two nicer looking ones, moving the shock about 25-40 mm back and about 5-10 mm "up" which will make the swingarm droop a little bit more and increase the clearance between seat unit and tire. The back of the seat unit will come down about 15 mm.
And please: if you spot something stupid – speak now, or forever hold your peace...
The last week has been unseasonably balmy here in Sweden with temperatures hovering around the 17-20 degree mark (that's Centigrade) and the streets are already filled with bikes. Which of course makes me want to rush the project along. But I'd rather make it right than on time. So we keep on checking, and double-checking everything. The rear part of the frame is taking shape now and will be attached tonight. BTW: the transverse piece of tubing at the end of the rear structure will be omitted as soon as the "loop" that will hold the seat unit is welded in place. More pics tomorrow.
If you are even remotely interested in flat tracking or motorcycling in general for that matter, you need to buy Sideburn – the coolest motorcycle magazine I've ever come across. And believe me, I've read most of 'em. Click here to go to Sideburns blog and then hit that Paypal-button. OK?
We are now some 70 days into the build, out of the allotted 180, and we have yet to encounter any major problems. I know I'm probably jinxing the whole thing by writing this, but I just want to share the good feeling I have at the moment.
The swingarm is almost done, and in a few weeks I'm going to have my "byggbesiktning", which is sort of a pre-MOT, that is conducted by an organisation called SFRO. The SFRO-inspector will check out the welds, materials used and measure all the angles to make sure that the bike will be road worthy when finished. If my bike passes this preliminary MOT, I can then go ahead and install the electrics, brakes and of course: paint the bike (Death Spray Custom: are you reading this?).
For some reason my brain likes asymmetry. Everything has to be a little off kilter to really get me going. Cookie-cutter straight and expected simply doesn't do it for me. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I've broken my nose so many times, and have had to get used to looking at a distinctly asymmetric face in the mirror every morning?
Anyhoo, I found this super cool Harley racer on some web page a while ago (sorry, I don't remember which), and I just love the fact that the wheels don't match. It looks so workmanlike. As if the guy thought to himself: "I don't give a toss, as long as it's fast", and just slapped on the wheels that happened to be shod with the best rubber for the upcoming race (or could it be that it's a conscious choice in order to get a more compliant front wheel?). In any case I think it adds uniqueness to the bike. So right now I'm toying with the idea of using an 8-spoke PM-wheel (powdercoated black) at the back, and a regular spoked wheel up front (with a black rim and hub). Any thoughts on that?
Just received my seat pad from First Klass Glass. It cost $72+postage, which I find quite reasonable considering the quality. And he included the mounting hardware and the ace bumper sticker as well! Will look great on my grimy Subaru. Or maybe not. But dude: get with the program. Not accepting credit cards is not very "noughties" is it?
