101 Scout... going to take a while

[TH47Indy]

Congrat's on the sale of your company! And your new "employment status".
As usual your build pictures have been great. Good luck with the case repair and body work and paint. I did the body work on my Chief and was reminded how much I hate body work!

[pisten-bully]

I see I haven't posted anything since September! Been busy... sold my company and rode my Chief 7500+ miles, and now the Chief is coming apart for some drivetrain work. BUT, for the 101 I have changed direction slightly. I intended to have Danny Weil rebuild my motor, but he understandably is a bit gunshy about using a repaired case, I don't blame him, he has great knowledge about these motors and it would be a real bummer if it broke while he was doing the work. He suggested that I acquire another case half, and thanks to Dkgoz I obtained a different right side case with no cracks in the side. Dave's case does need a fair bit of work, however, and being that I really have my mind set to try and use the original case I decided to show it to a local machinist, same fellow that repaired my front fork. Mitch has done several old bikes but his main business is machining small production runs for manufacturers. So we went over the repairs for about an hour and he's confident he can make it work. He's got lots of work so this job will take a while. If he's successful then I'll do the assembly of the motor and send the case back to Dave. If he runs into problems...then I'll regroup and go from there!

Meanwhile, with my new employment status I've also decided to finish the body work and painting myself. I'm still going!

[ihrescue]

time to deal with the fork, the front stays were dented in multiple spots on both sides and I investigated straightening the existing tubes, but when it all was said and done I wanted a set of forks that were properly braced. The fellas at Race Metalsmiths took a look at the fork and came up with a plan, a few of the many dents in the stays:




Brothers Scott and Mitch convinced me that replacing the tubes was the best way to go. The old tubes were cut off and solid slugs were brazed into the casting for the new tubes to slide over and be brazed in place;



Mitch made a die so that the crushed tubing on the lower end, where it's brazed to the main fork, matched up perfectly with the original crush:



New tubes were made that matched up exactly with the old ones that were cut off, they used 4031 chromoly tubing... should be safe forks!



One of the things I struggle with is the decision to do it myself or let someone else do it. The guys at Race Metalsmiths know their stuff and are sensitive to matching new fabrications up to original. Lots of things are beyond my pay grade so I let the pros do it!

This is one of the most interesting and learning parts of the member bike build's - what are the thresholds for keeping work or contrasting it out. If you all that document the builds in the Member Build Threads many of us would get this perspective accept through cause and effect - which is one way to learn but most frequently no the most cost effective way.

Mike Love

[ihrescue]

I went for completion on one item to show myself some progress! The saddle was pretty much an incomplete skeleton so I worked on that first (last year...)

The pan was in trouble, some cracks and blown out holes:



So I did some welding up of the holes and cracks, and fabricated a missing threaded insert for an optional Mesinger back rest (which I don't have)



I also needed a few parts (there's a bunch of parts in one of these seats!), but the few missing parts were available through Walker



...and sent the seat off to Michael Paquette of Worsham Castle... I am quite pleased with the results, thanks Michael!

Since I can only guess, did the saddle maker sew up the saddle after riveting the pan to the bottom leather?

Mike Love

[ihrescue]

Thanks for the pictures, and text, Harry. What you're doing is my favorite part of messing with old motorcycles. I hope you're having fun.

And to use the controversial vernacular of the day I "Like" what Eric said here. the "favorite part of messing with old motorcycles" and it is what got me hooked on old ones, though my old bikes are much younger by comparison. If I have time and I can't find a way to work on an old motorcycle project then its going to be an old blacksmith's sledge or some sort of something old, rusty and in need of TLC.

Mike Love

[ihrescue]

Not much to report (things got very busy with work... the paying kind) but I did acquire a new wrench. I like tools, I've got three sets of them (warehouse, home, shed) but I didn't have a suitable wrench for removing the head adjusting cone in order to remove the forks. I used a strap wrench until the strap started to shred, so then I bought this beauty, an adjustable hook spanner :



Worked great and now I have another tool! Got it from ZORO.com. Their item# GO494155, $27.84 (it's marked PROTO, mfg #JC472) Should work on my bicycle, too!

Thanks for quoting a source and part numbers.

Mike Love

[ihrescue]

Thanks fellas! I complained about myself on another forum about jumping around the project from one thing to another without focusing on finishing a specific thing before starting another. But at this stage I think that's working for me...I'll eventually zero in on an area and focus on it (e.g. frame...or motor...or sheet metal), but for now I'm still in the "exploratory" phase!

Honestly I think the jump around approach is most realistic. You start something and get to a point where you discover you need a part. Do you stop there until you can proceed in a linear fashion? No you jump to another sub-project of which you have a list of or you just look over the project and say "What's Next?" Loving this build thread.

Mike Love

[ihrescue]

Yay. I love a bitsa-build.




Kevin

I like my new catch-phrase for the day bits-build. You should know Kevin.

Cheers

Mike Love

[chuckthebeatertruck]

That is GORGEOUS work . . .and really makes me want to get good at alloy welding!

Thank you for sharing!

[exeric]

That is beautiful work. So glad you were able to find such a talented craftsman to save an iconic 101 motor case. Danny Weil is also such a craftsman, so you're in good shape, Harry

[pisten-bully]

...the cases arrived yesterday and they look great I think. Turn around time was almost exactly 3 months. The pinion shaft bearing race, cam bushings, and cam follower pins will need to be made up as the repairs left slightly oversized bores for those. Now I recontact Danny Weil and hope he can fit me in sometime!

[exeric]

What a great find! And someone that like you, also does a great job providing progress pics. Looking forward to seeing the final results.

I agree. Your photos, progress reports are some of the best i have seen, Harry. Thank you for taking the time, and effort to do such good job of documenting such a good job

[tfburke3]

It looks like you found a good guy.Work looks very nice.
Good luck with it.
Tom

[TH47Indy]

What a great find! And someone that like you, also does a great job providing progress pics. Looking forward to seeing the final results.

[pisten-bully]

After the welding is complete, back in the kiln to relieve any stress and then he begins machining the case back to spec:







So, that's about it, though he's not finished yet. He reported to me last week that he inspected all the welds and they're good with no impurities or bubbles, and no distortion, the two case halves bolt up nicely!

Aside from this being an endorsement of Juris Ramba, I'm pretty psyched and satisfied that I gave it a shot to save this case. Of course I don't have the cases back yet, but Juris Ramba knows old motorcycles quite well and I have the confidence he has saved my crankcase.