Remember this??

Mac’s boy Josh – desperate to become a ‘Scavenger’ has been given a test.

Mac picked up a cheap Chinese scooter off of EvilBay….. If josh can strip it down, do it up and make a few quid when he sells it ……. we’ll consider a more worthy project!

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It’s great to see the kids getting involved, I don’t mind them borrowing tools, using my consumables etc….but if they think my beer is a consumable we may cross swords, untill then I’m all up for micro-scavengers.

Here’s a shot of my ‘trainee’ using my grinder to make a pencil holder from 4mm steel tube and some decent guage plate, should hold up to the task ok…infact I think it would do well in any major disaster.

– Heisenberg

I’ve been looking forward to making the exhaust system since I saw how nice Mac’s ‘zorst’ was, bit of pipe jealousy, work of art and he knows it.  He has name dropped ‘Wolfy’ for ages but as usual I had glossed over it and missed the obvious, my bad once again……

Ok, so it came to the day to buy some bits of exhaust from this mystical figure I have heard so much about, in my head and looking at the website this outfit was going to be something very professional and probably would not spare much time for an idiot like me that likes to make everything himself, turns out I was a little way from the truth.

He’s got a beard, thats a pretty good start, you know you can trust a chap with a beard, it’s a sign of honesty.  The workshop was not as expected, I think the broom may have been stolen a while ago, just the sort of place I like!  It turns out wolfy is actualy pretty keen to assist ‘wanna be’ bike builder such as myself and soon hooked my up with a few bends of stainless and was happy to share tig welder settings whilst stiring his cup of tea with a rusty spanner, classy.

This is what I was sent away with, top quality bends that are mandrel bent so the diameter stays the same wherever you cut / join, reduces the chance of needing filler welds.

I started at the manifold and made up a couple of rings to push against the exhaust gaskets to make the seal so it diddn’t blow.

Next I machined out the flanges to accept the new tube, I’d be suprised if the judges didn’t mark me up a few points for a pair of freshly reamed tidy flanges. Fnar Fnar.

So I started to add a few bends together with some jubilee clips and get an idea of a posible route, first thoughts were to go for one pipe each side but I soon realised that the oil filler plug would be covered if I used the right side of the engine.

I now concentrated on bringing both pipes up the left side but soon realised it must be kept close to the frame or the front wheel will hit it when the suspension compresses, looks easy but theres actualy not much room.

Reasonably happy with progress I decided to tack weld the tubes, as long as the two exits were pointing roughly right I was confident I could finish.

Fairly happy so far so I decided to seam weld the tubes.

I now need to concentrate on the muffler construction, all pretty simple, flared tubes to seal each end and perforated tube with fiberglass matting.

An arty look down the new muffler.

A mock up of how I want the tube to sit, nice and flat so I used the digital protractor, pretty happy so I welded it.

Here’s the finished tube, welded in place with the 45 degree exit bend, looks pretty good I think.

To finish I repeated the process and made another muffler and added a stainless mount just under the seat to tie both tubes in tight.

Pretty happy with the end result, certainly couldn’t have done this without the help of Wolfy, top chap, very helpfull and patient with all my silly questions.

If you want a custom system making I’d suggest rattling wolfy’s cage, he can make pretty much anything and his prices are very reasonable, it looks easy but it really isn’t.

Wolfy’s workshop

We have had a major incident, a set back that we may never fully recover from, I can’t put it in to words but it feels like I have lost a friend, a tasty hop based friend who was always there for me in my times of need or boredom, always ready to help drone out the ramblings of an angry wife or snotty faced children with nothing sensible to talk about.  Mr Abbot was minding his own business when tragedy struck, sitting quietly on the edge of the bench and without warning was punted by a rouge angle grinder and fell to his death.

I could have got to him sooner if I had noticed or had faster reflexes but sadly it was too late for me to attempt a rescue, the damage was done.

I was in a state of shock but Fruitshoot was in pieces, he may never recover from this I think the mental damage is just too deep.

Now all fruitshoot can manage is backwards and forwards motion in his ‘rockingchair’ and making references about ‘Monty Python’ films that dont make any sense, with the correct amount of medication and support from friends and family we can only hope that one day he may be able to be accepted by society and claim his rightful place once again as ‘Village idiot’.

So there was very little jealousy amongst the scavengers after Mac’s win at the show this weekend, almost not worth mentioning…….grrrrr

One way I thought I could ‘return fire’ was to try to out do Mac with even better foot pegs as I think the best judges probably admire decent foot pegs, well lets hope so.

I had in stock some 1″ brass bar so I cleaned it up in the lathe and put M8 threads in one end to accept an end cap later.

I next used the mill to drill some holes as I’m sure you can remember ‘holes make things look tough’.

Once the large holes were finished I wanted to add smaller holes so I used a 45 degree block to set the angle.

Started drilling the smaller holes, it’s begining to look good/tough.

This is how they ended up, pretty pleased so far.

I now needed to think about mounting them and also alowing them to pivot out of the way so I used the mill and machined some flats ready to be drilled later to accept the mounting pins.

Next I needed to make some mounting brackets, I chose 5mm plate to add some strength, chopped them out with the angle grinder and tacked them in to shape.

I don’t have any training with welders, I’m self taught but every now and again I manage a decent weld, quite proud of this one although it will never be seen as it is an inside weld hidden by the frame, if it would have been visable I imagine children would have sung songs about it around a camp fire for many years to come.

Next I chopped some more bits of plate to make the rest of the mount, drilled them to accept the bolt, I’ll change these bolts for pretty bolts at a later date.

Now all the parts were ready I welded it all together ready to be mounted on the frame.

Thats all for tonight, it’s a bit hot and I’m off to bed.

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Well that was a warm few days, betty swallox all round……. but it’s letting off now so time to get back to building some custom bits!

At the start of the article I mentioned an 8mm thread was inserted in one end, now I have made some brass caps and using countersunk screws attached these to the end so my feet don’t fall of the pegs in high speed manoeuvres or feats of derring-do.

Now was the time to fettle the pegs to allow thm to fold, this took ages as it’s all filework but in the end both pegs fold nicely and return home via gravity.

Using a gee clamp I tried a few positions out to find the sweet spot and settled for here, it sits well and leaves enough room for a brake lever.

As pegs seem to drop over time I decided to set the pegs at 5 degrees tipped in and if they don’t settle this much I’ll just file a bit of the back of the peg to allow it to sit down a little although they look a bit sporty like this so I’ll get some feedback from the judges on this……. 😀

A quick shot of the tack welded peg before I add the brake.

The rear brake assembley was something I have not made before, can’t even remember seeing this on American chopper so I guess I’m on my own….. first bored out some stainless bar to accept a bronze bush.

Used a reamer to get a nice fit.

Thats not my real hand, I hired a chap from a ‘stunt hand’ agency to cover for me as I was making a cup of tea, I think he did quite a good job.

Luckily I keep a small amount of bronze in stock so I was able to swiftly turn out a bush, I really hope the judges admire a nice bush.

Next the bush needs pressing in to the stainless outer.

So this is the assembly so far, roughly in place so I can see how to make the lever.

Here’s the stunt hand again, I was busy campaigning for world peace and helping orphans cross a busy road, I really hope any judges reading this don’t mind me using a stunt hand, (did I mention I also love dolphins, ponys and anything else stupid enough to end up in Tescos). Free Tibet!!

Using some ‘engineering’ cardboard box I cut out a Blue Peter brake pedal, seemed about the right size and ratio.

I cleaned up some 5mm plate and marked it out ready for cutting.

Using the plasma cutter I cut this out in no time and trimmed it up on the linisher.

Next I made a  stainless pin to accept the brake lever with a couple of circlip groves

I welded the pin to the brake lever and added a brass bit in the same style as the rest of the sparkly bits.

The lever is a bit tucked away under the engine and a bit close to the footpeg so won’t offer a lot of leverage but as I don’t like to use the rear anchor I’m not too bothered.

Next is the little lever that oporates the master cylinder, rough cut from steel plate, I’ll add a hole that slides over the brake pin and can be held in place by one of the circlips.

So here’s a shot of how the lever looks in position, note the addition of a return spring cunningly added on to one of the engine mount bolts.

Now attached to the rear master cylinder pump, I have a reservoir in brass made but need to take a pic.

Thats all working now, not pretty but working so next was the gear change, I made up a small square with a pin and attached this to the frame, the pin is the same size as the inner diameter of a skateboard bearing.

Now it’s on the frame nice and square the excess is removed and a lever made to suit containing the skateboard bearing.

Next I bought a couple of rose joints from eBay and made the connecting rods, all seems to work ok so far.

Made up a nice sparkly brass bit in the same style.

As scavengers we try to keep our thieving down to a minimum most of the time, not so much at the weekends when all the best stuff is about but certainly mid-week we barely rob anything unless it’s really well worth having, it’s an unwritten rule and we sometimes abide by it strictly.
I feel it is my duty to publicly shame FRUITSHOOT for pillaging from another member, namely me.
I spent hours welding and making bits for his bike this weekend when I should have been ‘collecting’ parts and how am I paid for this…….by being stolen from……and I have evidence.

I keep a bottle of petrol in my shed for cleaning and caught the thieving git in the act of robbery whilst he thought my back was turned, I asked him what he was doing and he said “I’m not sorry and if you have any more I’ll nick that too”……what a cheek….there should be laws against thieving.

Also laws about going out in ‘double denim’ need addressing.

Mac rode to the show at Jacks Hill Cafe, Towcester on Sunday and placed the Scavenger bike amongst some stunning machinery, amongst the puddles. He thought he stood half a chance at a prize amongst the dozen or so other bikes that had braved the miserable weather. Unfortuately for Mac but fortunately for Dave from Northants V-Twin the sun came out and so did a lot more customs. The day was a success and the crowds turned out for another great show courtesy of Dave, Julie and the team!

The icing on the cake came when Macs kids found him and told him that a rosette had been placed on the bike which read “Best of Show”……………. never going to hear the end of it!!

The award reflects what a bunch of mates gathering in sheds and garages can acheive – when we first began these notes, Mac listed those who’d helped weld, grind, machine and craft some of the bits across the bike which made it what it is – so the award belongs to all of them – the ‘Scavengers’ ………………………………. Yeah right – He’s keeping it!!!!!

Donated to the Yamaharley project – Russ found a set of PFM six pot callipers and some discs from his Jedi racing car which he gave to  Mac  to help stop the beast! Will need some reworking but should look (and more importantly perform) Superb!

Mac bumped into his mate Andy who owns ‘Fire Risk Pro’ who was having a sort out and binning a load of old fire extinguishers, some steel some aluminium (not aloominum).

Thoughts of Oil tanks (not oil bags) filled Macs head so when Andy’s head was turned one of each size were liberated for a new life on the Yamaharley! – watch this space!

I’ve been putting off buying a headlight for some time as it’s such a focal point I think it’s worth spending a little time to get it right, it needed to be big to keep to the chunky theme but also simple so I plumped for this one, it’s 8 inch with a chrome surround and a black body, all metal, very British looking.

Needed to get a rough idea of the shape of the mounts so I got some cardboard and a sharpie and made a rough template.

Next decision was what to make the mounts from, no expense spared here as I butchered some twisted steel from a fancy fence, looks better on my bike, very 70’s.

It needed bending quite a bit but my ‘El Cheapo’ bender made short work of it.

Using a line on my table I was able to find the centre point.

I made a couple of stainless washers to join to the twisty fence metal, lined up with the centre marks from earlier.

First trial fitting and it looks OK!

I wedged it all in place to get a first look at how it should end up, may be pointing at the stars but proportions look alright.

The ends are made from some plate and tacked in place on the bike to make sure it all lines up when I put it back together.

I used a cramp to make sure the foot mounts stayed in place whilst I welded them up, worked quite well.

I think they turned out alright, I’m quite pleased with the overall look of them, quite simple but effective.