The Chopper Compendium

Haven't put anything up here on this bike, there's really nothing that special about it, other than I bought it in '67, and chopped it in '68, not really knowing what I was doing. It was my first Harley, after a BSA 650 Lightning, and a Honda 305 Super Hawk (my first bike, in '62). I was living on Maui in a sugar cane plantation camp, working for the sugar cane company doing surveying, drafting, and layout of irrigation systems for a 37,000 acre sugar cane farm. I pulled that '62 up the front steps and tore it down in the living room. I was a 25 yr old bachelor and could do what I wanted in that old plantation house, so it was rock n roll, beer, bourbon and buds with my buddies most days after work. I was totally uneducated about the proper way to rake the neck, had 16" over stock tubes from Forking by Frank, and wanted to run that long front end.

As I was working on it, I picked up a '59 basket case, put it together and got it running. Put the long front end on it, pulled the shocks off the rear and dropped it down as far as it would go, then made some struts to get the tire to clear the top frame cross bar, and rode it that way while I reworked the back end of the '62 frame to match it as a hardtail...


This shows the start of the rework on the '62 frame, with the '59 also shown with the long fork tubes and the struts.

And yes, I did machine some plugs to mate those tube extensions, they are not butt welded...


Just getting it set up for the first time, stock neck, radically dropped rear, axle plates cut and welded in flat (parallel) with the ground for even axle adjustment.



As I was working on the bike, I got married, my wife jumped in and helped me get the bike finished (she wanted the living room back....), I rode the bike in unfinished but rideable condition for awhile, I had a kid from a previous marriage who stayed with me a lot, he went for his first ride with me on the '62 in this pic, probable taken in 1970....


That bike got red paint, some old army backpacks converted to saddle bags, and was a daily ride, including many fun trips on the other islands with a bunch of buddies, and several trips over to the western states and Canada. Here's a fuzzy pic from one of those mainland trips...

Shortly after this pic, I converted the primary to open belt drive using one of the early Primo belt setups....

Rode it until about 1990, picked up other bikes, the '62 developed tranny and rear wheel bearing problems, so I put 'er away for a future rebuild. Along the way, I picked up a Denver's frame, I had him build one to my specs just for the '62, many years ago, and finally pulled it out of storage last year to redo the bike. Here's the start of the recent teardown of the '62....

This frame and tank went to a buddy who wants to build up his own pan, using this old frame of mine...

More later, gotta go out for Thanksgiving Dinner with a bunch of friends....
Aloha from Maui,
Willy

Set up the Denver's frame with an old extended springer a buddy had, just to see how it looked;



Then put the long front end off the old bike on it, with the original rear fender and sissy bar. Decided to keep it true to it's original existence as much as possible, with the Denver's frame, which I originally intended to do many, many years ago. Finally doing it....



The fork sliders were worn out, as were the lower portions of the tubes where the sliders articulated. Got new legs from Frank's (amazing that they are still in business), and put new bushings in the lower legs, and align honed them to fit the new tubes.



Fitting in more of the old parts. Gave away the old gas tank, had this new one, but had some problems moving the filler cap up to the highest location, chasing mig pinholes all over the place....





Had this tank that I like, not like the original sporty I was running, but decided to try it, see how it looks....


I like it enough that I'll keep it for now...



Got it going as a roller....



It feels damn good, now I need the motor....



Decided to try these buckhorns I cut down....

I like 'em....



Got the motor back together, nothing fancy, sixty over pistons, lotsa new small parts inside, but still essentially a slightly warmed over stock 1962 74"....



And rebuilt the tranny, then set them in the frame for a look....


Now to pull it all apart for paint and detail, then back together for wiring, lights, alla that....

More later...
Aloha,
Willy

PS, I have a whole lotta more pix on my own webpages HERE if you're interested....

My buddy put that old springer on my old frame, and is starting to put together another pan to look like my old one....

Cool, keep going.....

love it, love it, and LOVE IT.

-dan

Thanks guys,
I'm also looking at how I can fit a small disk brake in between those narrow front legs with that star hub, a challenge !

Looks great. Keep it up.

Had an '84 Suzuki front fork assembly on the junk pile, pulled it out for a look....


Also had the calipers, a pair of grease balls....


Cleaned up the left side caliper, looks good to go....


Loaded the cleaned up parts in, now to find a rebuild kit for this caliper....


Will polish up the caliper a bit more, I think it will look good on that front wheel.
Now to design a rotor carrier that will fit in and bolt to the star hub....



One inch is not a lot of room, but I think it is doable....
Aloha,
Willy

More Pix at the home server

One question,
I'm looking at mounting the caliper either at the top of the rotor, where it would pull on the anchor link from the fork slider, or at the back of the rotor, at the 3 o'clock position, where it would be pushing up on the anchor link to the fork slider. I like the looks of the 3 o'clock position, but wonder about the effects of the caliper pushing up on that anchor link ??

Any ideas?

If it was a girder or fixed leg you could do that but it being but, on a springer I was told never to do that it has to pull on the bar.

Yeah, when I try to visualize it, if it pulls on the anchor link, that can be set up so the floating caliper pulls straight and evenly on the disk, but if it has to push on that link, I can see where it might want to try to shift out of alignment and not "float" that well on that disk.

OK, 12 0'clock position....

Willy;

I really like your '58 Chevy truck. Turbo that sucker.

My '96 Buell had the disc on the riders side of the forks, at the 9 o'clock position on the right hand fork

The lower leg had 2 mounting tabs to keep it in position

Built that '58 truck between '95 and '98, been on the road now for 16 years, I love that truck. The 502 is absolutely bullet-proof, or more accurately, "Willy-Proof", but I keep breaking th400s, u-joints, rear axles, differentials, keep upgrading all those parts, seems pretty solid now.

A small thing on the '62, the kickstand was hanging down a bit more than I was happy with, so heated it up and bent it near where the spring attaches, got it up nice and close to the belt and clutch drum, and put a piece of rubber hose on the end where it was hitting the frame, I know that will be a rattle otherwise. Will probably put a rubber pad on the frame once all the paint, etc is done.





This is before I put that bend in it, it will lean over a little more now, but I don't think that will be a problem.


More Pix

Back to the front brake, took that Suzuki wheel apart, cleaned up the left side rotor and rotor carrier, and had to just try it on the wheel. The rotor carrier is too wide, but with it and the original front brake drum to get the bolt pattern for the star hub, I can come up with a design to fit this wheel....

Breaking down the wheel....







Parts look good....




Had to try it on the wheel, but that carrier is too wide....




More later,
Aloha,
Willy

OK, got to put these parts together....


Just stacked 'em up for a look....


one way to go....


Or mod the Suzuki carrier....

Choices, choices...

More Later