1912 HD Belt Twin (AKA EVIL TWIN)

[Slojo]

On the skids

After work today an impromptu stop at Brembo North America , Plymouth Michigan to investigate the possible merger of Brembo brake material and coaster brake hubs

The first person to greet me was Mike C. , he is a polite person genuinely interested in my project. At first he appeared a little distant until we spoke for several moments , he then had a better idea of what my intent was. We talked about mechanical loads on the driving face of the brake plate. While describing the forces he drew parallel to a motorcycle clutch plate, exactly. Mike understood the mechanism and was able to draw a parallel to another motorcycle item, the right guy.

We exchanged business cards and an email was sent to him further explaining my intent. Mike will forward this information to the appropriate department and they will decide if it is in Brembo's interest to become involved in the Twin M/C Cannonball project.

Brakes are critical especially when crossing mountain passes with elevation twice the distance to get a camel, for those who remember cigarette commercials or, for those who don't two miles high. This Twin must achieve equality or out perform the Ghost in most categories to be successful.

joe

[Slojo]

Framed again

The above photo is of Tony silver brazing the Twin frame together. Tony has been welding for me since 1981 he is excited about this project and being involved in such a bike build. The frame should require one maybe two more welding cessions to complete this phase of the project.

The log's roof is 99% with trim work and chimney flashing remaining to completion. What a project. Why do I always take the most difficult pass.

joe

[Tom Lovejoy]

Come on Joe, I want to see an American belt drive make the Cannonball. I think your the only chance of that happening - so Come on Joe ! Just one of your many fans :-)

[DEWGARINC]

I spoke with Joe a couple of days ago, he does NOT have any internet, and is working on getting another system! He wants everyone to know this and as soon as hes back online he will be posting again !!!!

[c.o.]

I spoke with Joe a couple of days ago, he does NOT have any internet, and is working on getting another system! He wants everyone to know this and as soon as hes back online he will be posting again !!!!

Thanks for the FYI. I was wondering where he got to.

[Slojo]

Locked out

Finally back on line.

After several IP's attempts to get me on line Verizon wireless has succeeded. Details later.

joe

[aka HAWG]

welcome back to the current slojo

aka HAWG

[Slojo]

Back in Black (and white)

Its been three months since ATT converted my I.P. to U-VERSE . I.P. U-Verse didn't work well and I accidentally missed my second payment by three weeks. U-Verse suspended my Internet and would not turn it back on without a credit card account number. I asked U-Verse to quite my service and refund my money. They shut my service off and did not refund my payment. Getting back on line was near impossible.

The past two months focus was snow removal and staying warm. During this time working in the barn on the Twin was difficult so work has been focused on sealing the barn to hold in the heat instead of working on the Twin. Most of the progress on the Twin is on paper. New designs are nearly finalized upgrading the coaster brake hubs for safety, durability and braking performance.

The new coaster brake hub designs are all internal modifications to keep within the spirit of 1912. Accessing on line information is a requirement for research. Locating and choosing new bearings for the hubs to go along with the other internal modifications is reason for my immediate focus on getting back on line.

Also, on paper is my new "Godfather waltz" ...........

Much of my available time spent on redesign for safety performance and durability , working on the bike itself has not progressed beyond the now virtually finished frame rebuild and repairs.

joe

[Slojo]

Justice (partial)

Sorry forgot to mention. My Shell station massacre in five part harmony was dismissed last week after five trips to court and a lot of paper work , research and of course un-productive wasted time. The court realized I was not going to default so the case was dismissed by the prosecutor whom realized he had no case at all.

joe

[c.o.]

Glad to hear you're back on the interwebs again.... It's good to hear also, that "partial justice" was the outcome.

[Slojo]

Production frozen ....

More computer I.P. failures. After several hours of on line issues a call placed to Verizon wireless turned up a problem on their end. With my computer running I found it convenient to research bearings and hub parts instead of going outside in the cold weather conditions. For Michigan it is brutal outside.

Bearings are near impossible , I am not turning up bearing dimensions that are ideal for the hub application.

Meanwhile a set of pistons are now ordered for a Knuckle motor in process right now. This is a motor I am building for a good friend . I hope to have it finished next month.

joe

[Slojo]

Framed again.

The frame repairs have turned out great although more time with the welder will be required to finish that project. Speaking of welding I found a used carbide inserted drill in a box of tools. One of tonight's projects was to remove the broken 1/8" drill bit out of the coolant port in the back end of the inserted 7/8" drill . By Tig welding a steel rod to the back end of the broken drill bit followed by careful twisting and pulling removed the damaged tool from the coolant port. Yes me a welder .... not ... just lucky . Fortunately the broken drill bit was extracted with little trouble and the 7/8" drill worked for one of two drilling processes tonight (the other, a 1.5" drill).

Following an inspection on the front fork I concluded that it had been pulled together in the past. A quick method using a couple c-clamps enabled me to spread the fork blades parallel again with little effort.

Since the last report, focus on design improvements to the coaster brake hub and the Godfather waltz. These two design projects have kept me warm and occupied inside the cabin in front of the fire instead of working in the barn.

With design work completed progress can begin. Thread gauges are made , steel cut, program wrote, tooling setup and some machining has begun to the rear coaster brake hub. These hubs are expected to out perform the stock hub in skid power , safety and reliability. They will look identical to , and have many interchangeable parts with the original hubs.

[c.o.]

[Slojo]

Shell game

Yesterday Michigan had the most unusual storm occur. Heavy snow , blizzard conditions with WHAT! thunder storms yes including lightning . The state of the State is a mess , snow pilled up everywhere ice sheets and cold.

Last night a rear hub shell started taking shape . With designs , process machine tooled up and a program nearly sorted out a finished hub shell may be off the machine tonight. It will have identical characteristic as an original hub on the outside.

joe

[c.o.]