Introduction, new guy, newbie, FNG, etc

[Wes Four Aces]

Hello gents Wes White here. vintage motorcycle enthusiast, vintage motorcycle shop owner. owner of mostly triumphs, but also one Indian (hey both brands were good enough for Ed Kretz Sr. and Jr., they are good enough for me!). I am a big, big fan of custom and bobbed motorcycles, although I am pretty knowledgeable about stock Triumphs from various years.

I like the customs and bobbers because they were "real motorcycles" that is bikes that guys personalized. They have soul and speak to an era as well as a person's choices and tastes. My Lakes Racing partner once said: "The world does not NEED another restored anything!" I mostly agree.

Hope to learn a lot, especially once I start playing with my '36 Chief, since I know jack about them.

Here is a pic of a bike I built a couple years back, it shows my tastes pretty well, both brand-wise and style-wise.

[Chopperdave]

Hi Wes!

I done heard a rumor that you ran that at palmdale...

sweet!


how the hell are you and you will soon learn that this is the best board on the internet!

[Wes Four Aces]

Dave. . .

thanks for the welcome. I never knew it was here (the site) and Jedd was by the other day and turned me on to it.

Yea, I took one of Mike Parti's Indians. You may have seen pics of it, Royal Enfield or Velo everything --750 Scout motor. Third gear had some issues, so it ran 76 miles an hour. But it was FUN!!

[AdminGuy]

Welcome aboard Wes.

Funny thing. I was just thinking this morning it may be interesting to do a road test of two 45 Scout bobbers. One stroked 57 w/ 4 speed, jockey. One stock 45. Perhaps a fully done up racer 45. Maybe put a hot little 45 HD into that mix? Maybe a 39 T100? And for real kicks dyno test all of them at the end.

Got caught in the rain last night on the bobber. Not fun. Thankfully I was wearing the covertable full face flip lid.
Must find a front fender for it.

How bout a photo of the 36 project status?

[Wes Four Aces]

Thanks for the welcome

and thanks again for the help in figuring the site out.

The '36 is barley in the project stages, mostly I just brought it home and cleaned up the (later model) girder front end. It was someones custom or bobber in the late sixties, bought in the 80's then taken partly apart. Motor cases are chromed, frame was white (and a little hacked), most original sheet metal gone. I have restored triumphs and this Indian would be a very expensive resto, so I plan to get it back on the road as a cool period custom. Here is a pic of the roller and lower end. I have the primary, top end, Linkert, generator, distributor and a buddy of mine in Florida got me a good set of tanks. All the major pieces are there for a custom. We will see.

[AdminGuy]

Looks good. You've got more than most folks. Thankfully neck wasn't copped. Do the numbers match? If so - go stock. 47 front end? Leaf rides good. I'd look for one. Ohya, DO you have clear title?

Ya, it's expensive. As are women. You can make alot of the small stuff. Scrounge the swaps for the rest. Dixon. Do the engine first. Maybe an 80?

I'm wondering the condition of mating surfaces after chroming. Any warpage? Man- that's a big devalue. I wonder if someone would comment on if stripping is doable. THat chrome traps all the heat. Were the parts blanked off for chromeing? Or was it a dirty job? Do you have a TIG and a mill? OK- I'm not a big fan of chrome. In fact - I hate it. Especially on a piece of rolling art like your 36. I have local guys with chromed over knuckles. These guys are lost in the 70s. A shovel ya -but not a knuck. A primarily stock bike as a bobber with a dropped seat looks pretty darn nice. It's worth the work to strip the chrome and rebuild. Don't go half way. Do it right.... Sorry, I'm going hard line on you.

test that oil pump. Yikes!

A pinion shaft oil seal may be a good idea. Your soldered tanks may give you heaps of trouble.

Another tip - I know lots of guys with permanent lower back problems from riding "very cool" rigid on rigid bikes for years. They can't walk normally. It's really sad. You may want to think about that.

I'll bet you could get that running in a year. It would be fun to watch the progress on this board.

[Johnny]

Wes,
Are you still in the Four Aces?
I was over at Mike Parti's house a couple of months ago and we were reminising about the old days. I mentioned that I still had a program from the 1970 Four Aces grand Prix at Willow Springs. (A hard get-off and broken collar bone ended my day prematurely, but I still had fun and was racing 6 weeks later).
I grew up in the SFV and knew a lot of folks in the Viewfinders and other clubs. Thinking about Bay Mare and Indian Dunes brings back a lot of memories.

[Wes Four Aces]

great thing. . .

about the title was first that it came with one, the second great thing was it had a California Black and yellow plate on the title with the bike. thanks to some fancy DMV work (email me if you need title work in CA) I get to keep the black plate, supergenius.

I have had pretty good luck de-chroming alloy at my local chrome shop. But have never done any motor cases. The numbers "match" that is come both from 1936, should they match, match?

Hey Johnney, I am not old enough to be an original FOUR ACES MC club member. I am 39 and chose the name for my shop partly to pay homage to the great old California motorcycles traditions, and party to appeal to the younger "rockabilly" crowd that is fast making its way from Hot Rod cars to customized British and American bikes. I know some of the old FA crew though. Everyone around here knows and loves Suzi Ellsworth, Mike Parti, Larry Harness and some of the others.

[AdminGuy]

Black plate! Nice!
Frame and engine numbers match. If your lucky.

Look forward to seeing some detail shots of the cases when apart. Great project!