torsdag 29 november 2012

Idiot Wind Blowing

1947 was the year the government of the United Kingdom announced the £25 million Tanganyika groundnut scheme for cultivation of peanuts in the Tanganyika Territory.
- Well, everyone knows that but did you know that 1947 was also the year that the Motor Company had it's very peak in greatness!? - Kinda like when Bob Dylan's had his greatness peak in 1976, but mechaincal and not sonical, get it? No?
- Perfect, just look at the damn photos, ok

 
1947 Model U
 
 
1947 M51
 
 
1947 OHV gas tanks
 
 
1947 FL cases being milled out for 3.5/8" jugs

onsdag 28 november 2012

40 Floor EL-evator

Bedouin tribes ascending
From the egg into the flower
Alpha information sending
State within the heaven shower
From disciples the unending
Subtleties of river power
 
 
If your limbs begin dissolving In the water that you tread
All surroundings are evolving
In the stream that clears your head
Find yourself a caravan
Like Noah must have led
 
 
Four and twenty birds of Maya
Baked into an atom you
Polarized into existence
Magnet heart from red to blue
To such extent the realm of dark
Within the picture it seems true
But slip inside this house and then decide.

tisdag 20 november 2012

Vards and Wheelies / Don't mix 'em...

 
Lately I've been experiencing this clunky feeling from the frontend when hitting small bumps and such, and the last days it got pretty exsessive so it was time to brake down the Vard frontend and take a look.
 
 
Have a look at the lower bearing race to the far left in the photo, it was worn out so bad it floated freely on top of the lower sphere shaped fork stem washer, when measured it had a good extra 2 millimeters play all around (!)
 
 
Here's the fender / light / horn mounts I did for the Vard, I just wanted something really primitive looking that would blend in with the raw character of the Vard, no delicate tig welded chrome moly or milled aluminium on this one.
 
 
I reused the original upper headlight bracket and lower horn mount, and the lightbar mounts had to be replaced about 4" closer to eachother to fit up directly to the headlight bracket and not to the friction dampner as they useally do.
 
 
I also replaced the top race and all 34 bearing balls while I was at it, a quick fix to make this fork ready for more... I mean what's the point having a 1540cc motor if you don't pop a few wheelies from time to time?
 
 
I'm going to redo a few more things on the bike this coming weeks, cleaning out the oil and gas tanks an extra time and stuff like that, mainly small stuff, but hopefully I'll have it done in time for Santa Claus.

fredag 16 november 2012

PHOEBUS BEAT CLAN "Midnight Lamb Stalker"

The record label just released another song from our upcoming EP 'Reincarnation Of The Circle Melts The Wheel'
- Please give it a listen before the teddybear turns into a cloud.

torsdag 15 november 2012

Stroke Fest

 
1948 Panghead / 5" stroke / Linkert MR-3's / OG S&S Modified heads / Speed-E-Shifter
 
 
1948 Panghead / 4.3/4" stroke / Linkert M74-B's
 
 
1939 UL / 4.9/32” stroke / Joe Hunt Magneto

tisdag 13 november 2012

Mounting The Superior Chain Enclosure

Last spring I got this beautiful Superior Chain Enclosure from the King of Kings: Dean Micetich, and I've been a bit afraid ever since. Afraid of the idea that I'll have to mount it to my bike one day.
 
 
Now I've heard quite a lot of stories about these covers being close to impossible to mount, which is a bit weird since I don't even know of that many people even seeing one in real life - much less mounting and running one on their bike. However, the rumors should all prove to be perfectly true.
 
 
The trick is to take exactly everything apart, fender mount, kick stand, original chain cover (obviously) even the chain needs to have the master link removed to do this. Then you have to remove the brake drum from the wheel hub, get the brake shield out and remove the brake leveler, then re-mount it through the outer cover, so the brake leveler goes through it. Then you bolt that part up to the frame and lower oil tank bracket. The rear kickstand, fender and luggage rack mounts along with the rear crash bar will have to be removed to do this. To tighten the front bolt with the little spring (og chain cover bolt that goes in the oil tank's lower bracket) you have to run the wrench from the inside of the oil tank, out through the little triangular hole at the bottom, before I came to think of that I was close to giving up. Then you place the drum over the brake shoes, mount the chain around the sprocket and put the master link back in, forget about running an o-ring chain - it's simply too wide.
 
 
After that it's ready for the inner cover and this is when things get complicated. But there is a way to fit it in there without removing the fender and transmission plate, but you will need a lot of patience. And after sticking the inner cover in there and lining up the mounting holes you're almost there.
 
 
The last thing you have to do is taking the air out of the tire and remove the crash bar and kickstand on the right side of the bike to make room for the tire to be bolted back up to the drum. This took right above 3 hours to complete, but then I already had massaged the inner and outer cover to make sure they had a good fit before trying to mount everything to the bike.
 
 
Now the only thing that remains is to see if the chain enclosure will increase chain life with 100% as stated in the ad...

torsdag 8 november 2012

Swedish Skateboard Awards

The Swedish Skateboard Awards are held once a year right here in Stockholm.
 

And what do you know - I won the Veteran Award 'for long and faithful service'.
Now I've been skateboarding since 1984, but I sure didn't see this one coming.

 
 I wasen't going to post anything about this but figured it would be lamer if I didn't, and after all it's kind of a great honor, now Sweden may be small - but so am I. And skateboarding will always remain the #1 thing in my life.
 

And I really think I should have washed my pants...