101 Scout... going to take a while

[pisten-bully]

Mike’s thoughts are good, thanks ...and Kevin’s got another angle I’ve got to pay attention to...so thanks...I don’t want the fork to look like Cotten’s one picture that seems to be making room for a hay wagon tire (love that picture!)

Haven’t been back to the 101 since I posted that, instead concentrating my motorcycle time on taking one last ride and on putting the Chief to bed....got cold fast and now there’s snow on the ground!

[pisten-bully]

I needed to spread the forks to 5 3/4" before they would settle in at the needed 5" width, and I wound up restraining the forks higher up so that I was only spreading the lower part, but it all came together.

The exhaust fit with lots of fiddling around (I have a used European re-pop exhaust that a friend gave me which came off of a 45" 101....lots of fiddlin'!). Headed back to set up the kicker next and I'm expecting more fiddling... so far nothing on this project has been "bolt on"

[exeric]

That is looking so good, Harry. Thanks for keeping your project updated. The 101 had such good lines.

[pisten-bully]

I've been fitting some of the little things, like the rear brake. The brake pedal on the right connects with a rod to a bell crank which is on the end of a cross over shaft:



I have the original cross shaft but the key way on the RH side was wallowed out a bit



I went ahead and had it re-plated and then I tried to solder my way out of trouble by repairing the key way with solder (this may not be the best solution!)

[pisten-bully]

The brake cross shaft has another bell crank on the LH side and another rod connects that to the brake actuating arm



The re-pop rod had a 90 degree bend on the bell crank end, but Indian changed that rod in 1929 to threaded with a clevis on the bell crank end. I couldn't get the 90 degree rod end to fit between the frame and the bell crank so I cut it off, threaded it, and installed a clevis to make it fit.

So now everything is all connected and I'm just wondering how the brake bands will conform to the drum! I'm supposing that on my first ride I'll have a rear brake for a few yards then not much after that until I re-adjust?



Again, I've found that everything needs some sort of an adjustment to make it fit. Re-pop parts mixed with original!

[exeric]

I am so envious of your project, and what you are doing, Harry. I wish there were more 101's out there. I guess we just have to enjoy the motorcycles we do have, and the time we spend with them.

[Green Indian]

Great work Harry, thanks for sharing the progress on the Scout.

[pisten-bully]

Thanks Eric and Damon! Eric, you're right about enjoying the motorcycles. I'm on my own schedule, no pressure of a future Cannonball like Kevin, Dana, and others to get it done... so when I get a chance to do something on it, it's there. And maybe it's good therapy, too, since I'm working full time, some pretty long days in the winter, too!

[JTR249]

I'm seeing all kinds of 101 parts on ebay this week.

-JR
36450

[pisten-bully]

I'm seeing all kinds of 101 parts on ebay this week.

-JR
36450

Thanks JTR, I actually bid on some little wire clips that go on the rear fender!

[pisten-bully]

One thing about Covit-19 is that now there's time to work on the bike. I've been chipping away at a bunch small stuff and decided it was time to true up the wheels and mount the tires.

The rear wheel spun fairly true and all I needed to do is make some small corrections to the side wobbles and then torque the spokes. I cut off any of the spokes protruding on the inside and mounted the tire and tube by hand (really, it was two hands and two feet to get it on!)... but all in all the rear wheel was not that big a project:


Now for the front, a whole different ball game! I don't have a truing stand so I rigged up pointers, both for side to side trueness and radial trueness:


This is when the fun began....the front wheel was way out radially, a 1/4" or more in two spots opposite each other. To get this wheel round instead of oval required what felt like thousands of half turns on the spokes. And the biggest issue I had is that the nipples have only two flats on them, so when you turn the nipple and your wrench contacts the adjacent nipple and stops your turn, I found that the adjacent nipple on the other side was in the way so that the wrench wouldn't go on until I turned the nipple a few degrees.


So I made a few wrenches for the nipples:


I spent a whole bunch of time truing up the front wheel but I finally got it, thank-you Covit-19

[pisten-bully]

By the way, if anyone were to ask me when you should paint your spokes, I would now suggest to paint them AFTER you build the wheel and true it up!

[exeric]

Great pictures, and descriptions, Harry. I always save original spokes and nipples and go to pains to save them when I break down an old rusty wheel. I love the tools you made, and I have done the same thing out of necessity. You have shown much of the grief, and victory of lacing, and truing your own wheels and it's worth the effort. When I first got into old bikes, I took a wheel to an old line H-D dealer in the early '70s to have it laced an trued, I was shocked when he said the bill was $60. With indignation, I pulled up my big boy pants and said I would never pay that outrageous amount again for that service. Of course I would gladly pay $60 all day long today, but I'm glad I persevered and learned some of the nuances of the wheel building art. In my limited experience, Indians, H-Ds, and Excelsiors with laced in front brakes are the hardest to do. I love your build, and thanks for sharing it with us, Harry.

[pisten-bully]

You have shown much of the grief, and victory of lacing, and truing your own wheels and it's worth the effort.

Thanks Eric! I’ve done a few wheels before but nuthin’ like this front wheel! It was oval, not round...and not slightly oval either...I almost caved in at one point and gave up: loosen two sides, tighten the other two sides, repeat...repeat...repeat with little movement until finally things started to move!

[ClassC Dan]

This is awesome Harry, love all the detailed pics its very helpful for future reference