EXCELSIOR IN VICTORY LANE

A great archive shot of legendary Lawrence Ray Weishaar on his Excelsior. From the image markings, it looks like he took the victory with a finish time of 2hrs over the 100mile distance.

Image source unknown.

SPORTSMAN FLYER — AUSTRALIA BOUND

A completed Sportsman Flyer Kit rolls out of the shop, and is now headed for Australia. I can't wait to see how this bike turns out. You will also notice our new brass head-badges.

PROTOTYPE PROGRESS

Spent a few hours in the shop working over a few refinements on the Racer Deluxe Prototype this week. Fuel line linked up, pedals installed and front seat mount installed. We are getting close folks. 

RACER DELUXE ENGINE POSITION

Spent a few hours in the shop today making sure the engine position is correct for driveline and exhaust mounting. The Morini S6 engine fills the gap beautifully.

HANK vs. QUICK BRICKS

We are currently looking into tire choices for the new Racer Deluxe build. We have been running the Felt Quick Bricks on our other bikes, but it seems they have temporarily stopped production on this particular tire. Upon searching for other 26" tires we stumbled across the Hank by Bontrager. These slicks are available in 26 x 2.2 with two finishes, simple black or red wall.

More on the Hank here: bontrager.com

MONARCH FORK - REINFORCED

I think everyone agrees that Monark springer forks look great. The originals are rare and expensive. I think everyone would also agree that the new reproduction Monark forks are somewhat underbuilt and lacking in quality control. I looked into the problems and figured out how to properly fix them, making the new Monark fork a safer and stronger option. I use them on motor bikes that cruise at over 30 mph, so I could not accept anything less than completely reliable springer forks. By disassembling a few sets I found consistant problems. The forks are not fully welded (see above) and the steer tube does not have a flared area to press on a crown race. If you can't press this race into place you will always have movement under braking and when hitting bumps. Below are you will see what I found under the polished fork crown cover.

JEFFERSON

The Jefferson motorcycle company was the brainchild of Perry E. Mack, and simply named after the town of it's manufacture. With all its innovation and race wins it wasn't enough to keep this small manufacturer alive, and in those brutal early days of the American motorcycle industry.  Jefferson ceased trading in 1914.

Image source unknown.

FRAME DEVELOPMENTS

Above is a picture of a roughed out Flyer "WZ" frame designed to carry the Whizzer engine. Notice the deeper loop with tighter radius. We are really starting to push the limits of the tube bending equipment.

Here is a shot of two WZ Flyer frames and a Flyer Deluxe. The Flyer Deluxe is the non stretched baby loop for the Grubee engine. These frames still need the welded in engine mounts and a few other small details, not to mention a good cleaning.

TANK & SEAT INSTALATION

A couple new pictures from the Racer Deluxe Prototype build. Tacked up the first new style stretched gas tank and test fit it to the prototype bike.  Also began messing around with a full sized boardie style seat, the standard bicycle seats proportions didn't quite fit with the stretched out frame. You will also notice the widened cranks that clears the 9 1/2" wide engine.

1914 INDIAN

An immaculately restored 1914 Indian is up for sale at Swiss auction site Classic Motorbikes. Starting price... $50K USD. Bike is located in Europe.

Image source: www.classic-motorbikes.com