A chopper it is, then.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 11:44 am

This is going to be an interesting ride before it is all done but here she goes. A few years ago I bought my latest ride, a 74 Honda 360. You may remember it from other posts. This is last so far in a string of import bikes that although were all fun were not totally fulfilling. Well life has just not provided the opportunity for a nice Harley or such and I have not had the funds for such and thus it never happened. Then a funny thing happens. As you know, I am a blacksmith by hobby and trade and have the gift and equipment to fabricate at will. My work is not stellar but I'm proud enough. So then after a few seasons off and on of chopper shows I remark several times to friends and family that I think it would be fun to put my "twist" to one. You know, real forged iron if you will. But again funds are not heavy. Then wham, a friend of mine pipes up one day recently that he has enough parts just about for a rolling chassis but he'll never get to it. He wants to move it along so we moved it along to my garage. So just like that, after settling on how much in cash and goods, I love barter, my next bike seems is going to be a chopper. Cool. I've started to clean grease and years of dust off of some of the pieces and took these pictures for a record to go with the bill of sale. Now the hunt begins for a motor, trans and gas tank and after a few contacts the feelers are already smellin parts. I'll post pics from time to time to keep you update. This won't be a fast project but I would like to ride it next summer. Party on.
Gobbler

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 11:47 am

Francis seems to approve.

Should be fun buddy.

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:05 pm

Way cool. I look forward to seeing what you end up doing.

COSteve · Post by **COSteve** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:15 pm

I'm seeing a great project there. Good luck with it and keep the pictures coming.

pwl44m · Post by **pwl44m** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 12:25 pm

That looks like what I had for Dinner last nite "Spaghetti" almost the same color too which by the way I like.
I hope there is not as much drama in Your build as the ones on TV.
Looks like You are going to have fun, Enjoy !!
Perry----------and do keep Us posted.

Borregos · Post by **Borregos** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:07 pm

COSteve wrote:I'm seeing a great project there. Good luck with it and keep the pictures coming.

+1

J Miller · Post by **J Miller** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:33 pm

VAROOOOMMMM ....... wheeeeeeee

Maybe you could get with Pitchy and build a side car for it. Be the first on your block to have a chopper with a side car.

J

e

Griff · Post by **Griff** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 1:40 pm

Borregos wrote:
COSteve wrote:I'm seeing a great project there. Good luck with it and keep the pictures coming.
+1

+2

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:32 pm

I have a Harley Sportster fuel tank sitting around somewhere. It's yours if you can use it.

Sounds like a fun project.

jb

adirondakjack · Post by **adirondakjack** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:34 pm

My first bike, bought used in 1978 for $700, was a '74 CB360. I promptly rode it from upstate NY via I90-80 to CA. Eventually had RC engineering (Russ Collins then held the world 1/4 mile motorcycle speed record) hop it up with 13:1 pistons, a hefty cam, three stage valve springs, punched out to 405 CCs. It was a beast then. So hard to start the electric starter wouldn't turn it and I had the kicker extended 3"....

Rusty · Post by **Rusty** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 2:55 pm

My first bike was a Honda 450 with the double overhead cams. I should have kept it but we all know bigger is better and I traded it on a 750/4. There was another guy I was going to school with that really liked the 450's. He had 3 of them he had built into choppers. He liked the light weight of the 450 over the bigger bikes, saying they handled better on the road. I will have to say they did feel more nimble. I guess that's why you could buy the 450 in an off road version with high pipes.
So what kind of engine is going on this one?

rjohns94 · Post by **rjohns94** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 3:26 pm

Good kick with that build. Looking forward to seeing the progress reports. Blessings

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:05 pm

2ndovc wrote:I have a Harley Sportster fuel tank sitting around somewhere. It's yours if you can use it.

Sounds like a fun project.

jb

Seriously?

What can I say beyond THANKS. Yes I could use it. I would be happy to give something for it and pay shipping.
Thank you very much.
Gobbler
aka Brad Weber
88250 Mill Hill Road
Bowerston, Ohio 44695

2ndovc · Post by **2ndovc** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 5:09 pm

Gobblerforge wrote:
2ndovc wrote:I have a Harley Sportster fuel tank sitting around somewhere. It's yours if you can use it.

Sounds like a fun project.

jb
Seriously? What can I say beyond THANKS. Yes I could use it.
Thank you very much.
Gobbler

May take me a few days to dig it out.
I think it's at my Dad' shop. Will let you know asap.

jb

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sat Jan 07, 2012 7:48 pm

How cool is that. Can't wait to see how she does. How's the hand doing? Hope all is good with it.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 6:39 am

Oh Dude, the hand is great. All healed up and very little pain. The nails on the index and ring fingers are growing back nicely and the middle finger has about 95% mobility. The tendons still hurt a little when the finger bends all the way but it is getting better all the time. Cold does have more affect now but a glove helps. It pays to be a good healer.

Thanks, Gobbler

M. M. Wright · Post by **M. M. Wright** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 7:38 am

Gobblerforge,
I have an old four-speed, kicker tranny and a tin/belt primary that I could trade for?

Looks like a great project. I have a couple of extra sets of fat-bob tanks too.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 9:43 am

M. M. Wright wrote:Gobblerforge,
I have an old four-speed, kicker tranny and a tin/belt primary that I could trade for?

Looks like a great project. I have a couple of extra sets of fat-bob tanks too.

This is awsome. I need to have a couple weeks to work with some local offers and see what is what but I am certainly interested. Thank you, thank you, thank you all.
Gobbler

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sun Jan 08, 2012 10:04 am

I don`t have much for parts any more but after ya get things sorted out maybe i can donate somethin too.
Proud to know you guys.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 7:09 am

Well the weather outside is cold and windy so I got to work on the bike a little. I ground, sanded, cleaned and painted the frame. Now I can start to add parts to see what is what. Maybe today I'll work on the front end. I'm a big fan of Karma and I can think of no better day to start to bolt together than Friday the 13th.

I've had great things happen on Friday the 13th.

Weeeee....................
Gobbler

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 7:16 am

Looking good.

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:18 am

Lookin good bro.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 6:28 am

So yesterday, the 13th, Ibegan bolting stuff on. Not even sure what goes where but I'll figure it out.
Gobbler

1894 · Post by **1894** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:32 am

Clearly you picked a great day to start the build

Looking forward to see it all come together !!

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sat Jan 14, 2012 11:39 am

You`ve been busy, lookin good

JReed · Post by **JReed** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:08 pm

Progress

Ji in Hawaii · Post by **Ji in Hawaii** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 12:30 pm

They don't call these no suspension frames "hard tails" for nothing. The ride can be very hard on your tail. After five back surgeries I could never ride a hard tail. I would suggest getting as fat a rear tire as possible to make up for lack of rear suspension. I've seen a similar frame on YouTube but the guy put small diesel engine in it and it looks like it worked pretty decent. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRadb91o-pc

Rube Burrows · Post by **Rube Burrows** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 1:53 pm

looking good.

kimwcook · Post by **kimwcook** » Sun Jan 15, 2012 2:24 pm

Everyone has different tastes, but I could never see the draw of ape hangers. They look like they'd make my arms go numb after a short time.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 7:51 am

kimwcook wrote:Everyone has different tastes, but I could never see the draw of ape hangers. They look like they'd make my arms go numb after a short time.

I hear ya but I decided to go with what I got until it proves uncomfortable. Then I will change things based on experiance instead of my taste.
Gobbler

rossim92 · Post by **rossim92** » Mon Jan 16, 2012 10:13 am

if you get a motor from a honda vt1100c2 ace shadow i have factory pipes with fifteen thousands miles on them, just pay for shipping, or freight, however they have to be shipped.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 7:18 am

Well this has been such a learning experiance. I found out something today I didn't know.
Do any of you old time riders remember from the biker mags of years ago having an ad for custom bike parts from Ratly Ferguson? I didn't know him, he died before I met his son. but I have become good friends with his son Paul. Well Paul has a bunch of crates of parts that his dad left and after a few digs we have a lot of parts for a motor on the way. It looks like this ride will have a shovel pan. I will get some of the parts out and snap a few pics of what I have so far. This is so cool.
Gobbler

bsaride · Post by **bsaride** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:24 am

I will try to get a pic of the custom p-nut tank I have, see if you want it

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 8:38 am

Thanks. At this point I think I'm going to go with a set of fat bobs. My mind tells me this will make the best platform for Miss Frankie to ride with me and generally more fuel. I am not discounting anything yet as this has been overwhelming and my experiance in this world is small. I am finding I have more friends than I knew of, some of which are right here, that have parts around and are happy that someone can use them. So far there is even a soft tail frame that has reared it's head that may climb into the project. Shoot there might be a second build to happen here. I could see building a rider, then take my time building a Blacksmith custom. Who knows. I am also getting a lot of support from these same folks and I'm getting the feeling that cabin fever and desire to do their own thing has folks wanting to help on this build. I am a blessed man.
Gobbler

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Fri Jan 20, 2012 9:34 am

This first picture is some of the parts that we came across yesterday. We will have to spend another day just going through boxes to find everything else that's available. The next is the parts I just recieved with most of the parts I have. As you can imagine, Johnny Cash's cadillac song keeps popping into my mind. It's a 50, 51, 52, 53................

Can you feel it?

Gobbler

marlinman93 · Post by **marlinman93** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 12:33 am

Something told me when I first looked at the basic frame that it was going to need to be a small engine, or a lot of modifying to get any V twin in there. That last picture kinda confirms what I was thinking.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 7:37 am

marlinman93 wrote:Something told me when I first looked at the basic frame that it was going to need to be a small engine, or a lot of modifying to get any V twin in there. That last picture kinda confirms what I was thinking.

I've been told that this frame was indeed for a v-twin. Man I hope your hunch is wrong but if it's not, then with some cuttin and weldin and an adapter kit...........................................

Gobbler

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 8:59 am

It`ll go, tight fit but it just looks that way because the way the engine is sitting in the picture. There`s only about 1/4 inch between the frame and the top of the rear head.

Malamute · Post by **Malamute** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 10:24 am

Good start.

It looks like you have some mismatched parts, but they can likely be used for trade. You have two rear heads, and perhaps cylinders (can't tell from the pics on the cylinders). Your front exhaust pipe is for an alternator motor also, it won't work with the generator lower end. None of this is a huge deal, just info you need to get on track and make decisions and perhaps trades. The motor is very desirable, I'd stay with it and work around it. Depending on what year it is, it may or may not be set up for electric start, or some can be adapted to electric start, but it isn't a bolt on operation if it wasn't made in '65 or later.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 4:36 pm

It was one of the first things I learned right off the bat. No one told me there were front and back heads. It doesn't matter for now as this was for the picture.
Gobbler

Malamute · Post by **Malamute** » Sat Jan 21, 2012 11:20 pm

The Harleys could be interchanged as regards many of the parts over their lifespan of the pre-evolution motors. I had a '47 motor and transmission in a later swingarm frame from '58-64, the front end, I have no idea what year it was from, and various other parts were from different years. Motors and transmissions need to be used within certain range of year/types, but still there's a wide range of years that major parts work together. The first overhead valve "big twins" were made in 1936, and other than the change from the iron heads used from '36-'47 (commonly called Knuckleheads) to the aluminum heads used from '48 to '65 (commonly called Panheads), there wasn't much change. The same type lower end of the motor was used for the first 3 years of next type heads, called shovelheads, which are the type heads you have. The lower ends changed to an alternator type after '70, but the heads continued to be used for years after that. The shovelheads breathe far better than the earlier types with their improved intake manifi=old angles, and have larger intake valves. It isn't hard to get a Shovel to run quite impressively. I worked on a few that were real dogs in stock configuration, but turned in to scary fast machines when a little work was done on them. They had waaaay more power than they had brakes to handle. Disc brakes, front and rear, are your friend. A good cam, mild port on the heads, good carburator, solid lifters, decent pipes that breathe well, and perhaps 80 CI stroker flywheels often turn a so-so performer into a completely different animal.

Cylinders need to be matched to the type heads you use.

The motor will fit in the frame, its close, but it should go unless it's a '36-'47 frame (later motors won't fit the earlier frames without some work on the center post), which I do not believe to be the case. It's also possible to set the lower end in, then the cylinders, then the heads.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 7:31 am

Thanks Malamute. I just recently started to learn about the variations and had learned almost everything you said only in the last week or so. It seams that my buddy Pauls Dad had started to build this motor some years before he died. He mostly worked on sportsters and most all of his parts are sportster parts. He had slowly put together various parts to some day build one big twin and these are the parts I am getting. I'm sure most of these parts have never been together as on running unit. He said it will work but we have to add a port for an oil line to one half to get oil to the top. I just looked at him with that blank stare and he just smiled and said,"No Problem. It' been done before". Next time I go back to pauls we are going to look for the front head If we don't find one, I wonder if by chance pauls Dad never knew that he had two back heads and no front head. We'll see.
Gobbler

Malamute · Post by **Malamute** » Sun Jan 22, 2012 11:09 am

It isnt that tough to get the oil lines set up for the shovel heads.

Check your cylinders, if the bases are identical, you have two of the same kind, the rear should have a wider, tapered flange on the rear bottom edge, the front will be more squared. The heads will only go on one way, it may be worth checking to see how they fit the bolt pattern on the cylinders. Shovel heads won't fit on Pan cylinders. Best to loosely mock them up before getting too far into the motor work.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:38 am

M. M. Wright wrote:Gobblerforge,
I have an old four-speed, kicker tranny and a tin/belt primary that I could trade for?

Looks like a great project. I have a couple of extra sets of fat-bob tanks too.

Hey bud. I sent you a pm a while back. It looks like I still need to aquire a tranny and a set of tanks. Are yours still up for offer? How can I help you?
Gobbler

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:24 pm

We have a new frame now so the plan of hardtail is on hold. I had a swing arm frame from a 1973 FX show it's head. I had the local PD run a check on the number and all is well so now I have a swing arm frame. I have to evict some dozens of mud daubers and such but It's still exciting. The plan now is to put everything that is bolted on the hardtail on this frame for riding this year and then use the hardtail frame for the blacksmith chopper custom.
Gobbler

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 4:28 pm

Why, what was the mater with the ridgid?

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:01 pm

Nothing is the matter with it other than it being rigid. For the long ride I'm just considering the comfort that suspention offers. I've been advised by several friends that this would be the best way. After all is done, Hilde has to be happy too. So the hard tail will be built with the solo seat and will just be for me.

I figure to put all my effort into the swing arm this year and start the hardtail next fall. Here's a little incentive for me. My friend and nieghbor, Fred, and I talking big ideas agree that if this thing is up and running, all broke in and road ready, we are going to take a stab at Sturges next August 6-12. About 1350 miles or so from here. Only six months to go. I better get busy.

Gobbler

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:16 pm

Gotcha, the older i get the more i like comfort, i`m having a heck of a time getting used to not having a windshield on this bike and may have to get one.
Guy needs two bikes, a chopper and a road bike.

Gobblerforge · Post by **Gobblerforge** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:23 pm

Pitchy wrote: Guy needs two bikes, a chopper and a road bike.

That should be a motto or something.

It seams right to have the comfort ride for long sundays with Mama.
Gobbler

Pitchy · Post by **Pitchy** » Sun Feb 05, 2012 5:26 pm

Gobblerforge wrote:
Pitchy wrote: Guy needs two bikes, a chopper and a road bike.
That should be a motto or something.
It seams right to have the comfort ride for long sundays with Mama.
Gobbler

That or a side car, moma likes that.