!914 Twin HD Cannon ball request

[Slojo]

Focus on the ability to roll

The axel spacer limits the guess work and ability of over tightening bearing races effectively eliminating the possibility for one to remove built in clearances, improperly loading the wheel bearings. The spacer, a piece of chrome molly. tubing turned down in the center of two outer flanges removing extra weight. Two rubber O rings installed on the undercut area of the axel shaft support the spacer on center. The modified bearing races join up to the sleeve carrying the new ball bearing allowing the bearing to float a predetermined amount. I have allowed .010 axel end play. After final assembly and sufficient tourque applied I will re-measure the end play of the hub assembly and make adjustments I determine necessary.
On to the clutch, the original steel plate did not fit freely on the releasing disc. This would explain why the steels had some color in them. I determined the O.D. of the releasing disc to be at fault. Inserted into the Parker Majestic O.D. grinder and indicated to run true as possible about .005” I was able to remove a small amount of stock and allow the mating parts to fit without interference.
The Freewheel clutch outer plate is new old stock and for good reason, it also did not fit properly. Binding is the devil when it comes to assemblies. The three drive pins interfered with the holes in the releasing disc. Into the Monarch lathe to take a slight cut on the inner side of the pins. This did not work as well as anticipated so a little work with a hand grinder and a hand stone to finish polishing the faulty surface. A test fit found all the clutch parts cohabiting just fine.
Finally for the night was to introduce the throw out bearing components. The three holes in the Freewheel plate were tight to the mating triangular disc pins. Drilling the holes slightly oversize allowed for ample clearance and once again all parts are fit and ready for plating.
I thought it to be prudent introducing the gauging equipment, after all these instruments are the true unsung heroes of these machining and fitting operations.
Joe 2-14-2010

[c.o.]

I've always wondered where the real Joe Cool was...........

[Slojo]

Side Tracked Again

The more I work on the Gray Ghost the farther I fall behind on other responsibilities and commitments.
The KJ Henderson case set are weighing heavy on my mind, a sound repair for the mismatch transmission main shaft threads is a must or I won’t do the repair at all. Last night might have been the turning of events for the how to on this project (couldn’t sleep). Several competent motor builders have offered their cure-all on the issue, to me it appears the only way to properly solve the problem is my way. I will further study the issue and should make my final decision tomorrow.
Mean while a couple fenders have been in the works. I prepped these fenders a while back and paid an out of work friend to make some temporary dies to squeeze out the minor wrinkles and other repairs. Next was to send them to my painter so he could finish the restoration process up to primer. The front is a 48 and the rear is a knuck fender with the medium3/4” wide fender braces I am unsure what year. The flip section has drilled holes for stainless steel trim while the main rear fender section had no such holes so it must be earlier. I pieced these together and could not decide whether to fill or drill to match these two fender sections so I left it up to the next guy in line as they will be for sale to help fund the 14 project. Yesterday I assembled the fenders with new rivets to finish them off, they came out beautiful.
The Okuma CNC has been neglected for two weeks and that is about two weeks to long. A new cable connector came in so it was time to fix my error so I can work on the original failure. After soldering three wires and reassembling the cable to the machine I ran one part and the original problem returned. It appeared to be a two thousand and thirty two dollar position encoder OUCH! I attempted a simple removal of the encoder for evaluation and it refused to cooperate. This time forcing the part was not an option so instead it was reinstalled and retested,,, for now problem solved. The machine performed perfectly for the rest of the night, cross your fingers.
As far as the old gray well still chasing front brake parts. It would be easier to find and identify 28 JD front brake parts than 82 Honda XR 500R (or whatever?) front brake parts.
Following are a few photos of riveting the big twin fenders together.
Joe 2-17-2010

[c.o.]

First class job!!

[rwm]

joe i think the cannonball guys are driving the j model brake price through the roof. last week on epay a complete set up of wheel, backing plate, shoes, shackle and brake arm whent for $1255. way back wheels had a 29 dl setup at jefferson for $500

[Slojo]

Rob
It is my intention to locate and use the Honda brake. Currently I have three different size brake drums all of identical design appearance and construction. The smallest unit has the brake assembly with it the other two are without brake assemblies. If the remaining brake parts are located for the other two hubs a choice will be made as to which one will be used. Otherwise the smallest one will be used and should outperform the JD unit, be half the size and weight. These brakes are double leading shoe and come from the late seventies early eighties off road bikes. The hubs are identified by having a removable steel spoke flange on the right side about five inches in diameter, cooling fins on the outer diameter of the brake drum and are commonly laced to 21 or 23 inch rims. They are of the dual leading shoe design.
Cory I slept fine last night so feel free to relax.
Joe

[rwm]

joe try larry's cycle salvage in quakertown pa they are 45 min. from oley 215 536 6958 if it was a jap bike or part he bought it.

[Slojo]

Nuts and Bolts

This morning started out where we left off last night running the last of the stock in house making frame rails on the Okuma. I ran a total of ten sets of frame rails. Four sets are spoken for already plus the set on my bike makes five sets. Next distraction from the 14 is to address the Henderson project again. I have made a decision to look into making new main shaft bearings with the major outside diameter thread to an oversize condition. This will allow me to re-bore the miss match cases and install a slightly larger threaded transmission main shaft bearing into them. I will also need to re-cut the entire mating surfaces of the two case half’s, something to look into. This project will be placed on the back burner temporarily while focus returns to the 14.
More time spent looking for the brake components (thanks Rob for the good lead). While on the phone a call was placed to Buchanan for hub information and preparation for rear wheel spokes to be made.
The phone was ringing all day slowing me down, progress did not suffer to bad. A new part program for the Okuma lathe is in progress, should be easy to finish. This is going to be a slick operation.
Since Harley did not have bolt standardization to comply with much of the hardware is not available at the hardware store, the Chinese are just not interested in specials I guess. I will custom tailor new fillister screws and bolts for the application. This new program will allow me to make any bolt size, length, pitch….. required for this bike build. It will use a list of eight to ten variables, once filled out the program will use the rest of its information to make whatever fastening device I desire. Change over from one bolt size to the next will require changing the chuck jaw position, setting variables and a new Z zero position. These change overs should take about fifteen minutes to complete.
The same concept will be applied to make proper nuts just as found in the past on pre war hardware (which argument was that?). Fully machined hardware with old style washer face surfaces and chamfered top side, in other words unidirectional nuts.
Joe 2-18-2010

[jurassic]

[big jesus 151]

Hey Joe ! I've been keeping up with you, the machine work is truly impressive. Keep up the great work & can't wait to see what's next. Thank you all, who are helping out with this thread. Give her hell & c-ya soon, Carl Pusherman Racing

[Slojo]

Sleeping on the job

With plenty of work in process there is not a whole lot to report on as most of what is taking place would be put in the category of preparatory work. No different than the man from OZ, the ole wizard was always behind the curtain pushing buttons and pulling levers as I am now. The real magic comes after hours of preparations. I have been making tooling and writing two programs to make fillister head screws and old style bolts.
The current batches of fillister head screws come from China and do not have the correct appearance or metallurgy required for cross country travel. Tooling for an eight inch chuck to hold onto the 3/8” and smaller bar stock in the lathe is not standard. Chuck jaws and T nuts modification for this operation is necessary. Also still in the works, front wheels and brakes perhaps this week a score will take place.
With most of the chassis falling into place the motor is now in my sights. I do not build motors every day like many of the guys that build bikes for a living. Sourcing suppliers and materials is critical for this motor to survive the distance. Modern materials and technology will be incorporated into the internal components of the engine.
We are in the middle of a snow blast about eight inches already yet all I can think of is motorcycles is this right?
Joe 2-22-2010

[MJW]

"Right as rain" ,wait a minute, you said snow...We've been in the thirties up here in the twin cities, before long we'll be complaining about the heat! I'm looking forward to the engine build, thanks for taking the time to bring us along...Mike

[chas]

"We are in the middle of a snow blast about eight inches already yet all I can think of is motorcycles is this right?"

Sure it is. Just wait another couple of months Joe, you are going to be looking forward to 200 ft of clear pavement. I just hate to rub it in <;-) I sent out emails last week warning you Northerners of a blast heading your way from:
http://www.prh.noaa.gov/hnl/graphics/npacloop.gif
Just look for the huge lows coming your way. On it you get a 7-10 day warning specifically look for "hurcn forc" - not good at all

[chas]

Oh its cold out here too, 62 F.

Burrr Winter! In Summer it's 68 F nice!!!

[silentgreyfello]

[QUOTE=HarleyCreation;91212]
SN# H7762-H
1914 serial numbers are something of a mystery.

The "H" prefix must be something to do with it being a 1914 model. For 1915 they used letter prefixes beginning with "L" and since "H" comes before "L" in the alphabet, subtract 1 year from 1915 and you get 1914. But the exact prefix letter system used in 1914 needs clarification.
[QUOTE]

The "L" prefix on the 1915 HD's designates that it was a generator model. If it was a magneto model, then there wasn't a prefix. For example, all 1915 singles were numbers followed by a "J". Twin mag models were numbers followed by a "K". Twin model 11H (generator/single speed) had an L followed by numbers, ending with a "T". The model 11J (generator/three speed) had an L followed by numbers, ending with a K.

I have never seen any documentation that 1914 had any prefixes. I have owned close to ten '14 motors or complete bikes and none had prefixes. I also looked at pictures from about a dozen 1914's and none had a prefix. Further, I checked Harry Suchers book which I find to be pretty accurate for vin numbers (except for 1911) and it does not show a prefix either.

After studying the numbers of the motor in this thread, it is my opinion that H7762-H motor has been restamped at some point in it's life, not only because of the prefix of the H, but there are some problems with the letters/numbers. spacing, and orientation.