Ryan's A.M.C.A. Giveaway bike build!

[Slojo]

Ryan
I love the apron, good work Carl. Ryan your enthusiasm is spreading with this project. Look to all the positive input from the guys to identify with this fact. You appear to be having the time of your life go for it, it only gets better from here if you continue to put forth the effort.
If this activity is any indication of future bike giveaways the club gets for this program we should offer one once a year. Instead of charging for spot rental at meets vendors should be allowed an option of paying in parts for another program like this one. Select a bike and then let the club collect the parts.
Joe

[Ryan Mackey]

Nothing is set in stone yet so keep the ideas coming.

Ryan,
I like your idea of incorporating a decal color into the pinstriping. I noticed your other bikes have flat black paint. Just as food for thought, have you considered the black parts, frame, etc. & the black fender & tanks in satin finish with the silver in gloss?
Your doing great work.
-Bob

I never thought of that but definitely am considering it now, I think that could look really cool.

ryan ,what ever paint design you decide on ,i would be glad to have my painter ,and tim peterson in spearfish do the job.tim has a great eye for what color striping goes with which decal ,and base color.send the tin to sturgis ,and i'll get it done in less than a month.no charge.

Thanks a lot for the offer but Larry Medwig has already offered to do the job and as luck would have it lives only a few miles away from where I live. So since I am so close, I plan on working with him on it and learning that side of things, too!

I got a little surprise today from Carl...he got me my own apron with my name and all! Now I can keep my clothes clean in style!


I got the front mount done on the battery box this morning. Here is what it looked like before.


I measured off of a repo box to make new tabs.


My box needed the tabs replaced before the bend so I made the two tabs out of one piece and then bent it in half. Then I cut it in the middle which left me with a 90 degree bend on each tab. I thought this way would be much easier than having to bend each one separately.


And here they are welded on before I drilled the holes.


Tonight I milled down one of my heads. The heads that I have are low compression so by milling them down I boost the compression from 5:1 to 6:1. More power baby! My head is on the left and a high compression head is on the right.


Here is the head on the mill.


Tomorrow I plan to mill the second head and hopefully finish up the motor! Only 8 days of work left before I head back to Cleveland.

[jurassic]

ryan ,what ever paint design you decide on ,i would be glad to have my painter ,and tim peterson in spearfish do the job.tim has a great eye for what color striping goes with which decal ,and base color.send the tin to sturgis ,and i'll get it done in less than a month.no charge.

[1945UL]

the next bike i do is either gonna be red/ black or black/ white. im definitely impressed with the progress that's being made though.

[J Wall]

Ryan,
Choosing paint colors can be painful. I vote for a dark red and white. Go man Go, sure fun to see an ehtuastic young guy taking care of business.
Jim

[davidsonp9]

Great work guys especially Ryan. We are all impressed and envious. I like the paint layout on the tank and think that the silver a black sheet metal will really compliment the overall bike. You could also incorporate it into the fender skirts and rib. Very enjoyable reading your progress.

Paul

[bobdo]

Ryan,
I like your idea of incorporating a decal color into the pinstriping. I noticed your other bikes have flat black paint. Just as food for thought, have you considered the black parts, frame, etc. & the black fender & tanks in satin finish with the silver in gloss?
Your doing great work.
-Bob

[exeric]

I don't know if you're fishing for paint color opinions Ryan; my opinion of black and silver is, it's too Mercedes Benz. I think a bobber, chopper, or cut-down should be colorful. I think your layout is very nice however. I also love what you did with the rear fender valances.

[dommi7]

Really looking good guys, this thread is a lot of fun to read. I'm a +1 on the paint idea - it'll look great! I really like it that you're fixing a lot of parts, not just buying new ones. Keep up the good work.

[Matthew N. Olse]

Ryan made up some skirts for his fenders today.
Here is the piece of steel that he used


First Ryan cut the radius to match the lip on the inside of his fender.


Then he followed the curve 2 inches from the radius. Here it is mocked up on the bike, it is a little long, and needs to be trimmed on the bottom. It turned out well.

[Ryan Mackey]

Ryan, what a great smile! You remind me of what I must have looked like 35 years ago digging my first bike. Thank you for taking me back to the best of days and swinging me back. Your life of fun and adventure has just begun my friend; enjoy the ride, and I hope to ride with you some day which will be an honor. Mark Croft

Thanks for the kind words. I am sure we will cross paths at some point and be able to ride, the would be awesome!

I should have asked this question before you assembled your valves to the cylinders Ryan.... While I know you checked for sealing, did you lap the valves to the seats with lapping compound ? Paps

The cylinders had already gotten a valve job done, but to be sure everything was done correctly, we did a thorough check and all turned out good.

Not to be of a deterent to your build progress Ryan.... I am a bit concerned over your decision to weld the brake perch onto the handlebar. The brake lever will be under constant use and the gripping pressure on the lever will work against the perch weld points. My concern is the weld points will eventually break loose at the welds themselves or the handlebar material will give way. Paps

Thanks for the concern but a lot of thought went into this to make sure it would be strong enough. If any of us thought it would be unsafe we would have not done it, but I will be sure to keep an eye on it as I put miles on just to make sure.

Matt, to answer your question with my opinion on the tank paint design, you've got my vote.
Very tastefully done & I've always liked that look. I first became aware of it on the Gee Bee race plane. I wonder where it originated, the Gee Bee or the Bobbers? I saw Delmar Benjamin fly a Gee Bee in Cleveland years ago, very cool, but we're talkin' bikes here right?
Any thoughts Ryan on paint color? You guys are doing a great job. Not only on the bike, but entertaining us old guys with the updates. We're getting lots of snow here in Cleveland too Ryan. Happy trails, Bob

Thanks. I didn't want to go overboard with the design, just something basic and I think this fits the bill. I am thinking of going with black and the scallops being silver. Then maybe a gold pinstripe inbetween to match the decal.
Sorry to hear about the weather but we can't complain too much, I was still riding a week before I left!

I started working on the battery box that I will be using last night. The tin box was pretty rough and corroded so I cut it out and a new one is on the way.


It was a lot easier than I thought it would be to get out. I started by drilling out the spot welds but found it just easier to cut the sides out with a cut off wheel and then just cave the box in away from the frame. Here it is all taken apart.


All the mounts need redone. There had been repairs done to all of them. Instead of messing with trying to fix them, I decided it would be best to make new mounts and weld them on. Here is the top mount.


I measured off a repo battery box and made the new mount and then cut off the old one. Here they are next to each other.


Here is the battery box with the mount cut off.


And here is the new one after I tacked it in place.


I am now working on the front mount and then I will redo the fender mount

[bobdo]

Tanks

Matt, to answer your question with my opinion on the tank paint design, you've got my vote.
Very tastefully done & I've always liked that look. I first became aware of it on the Gee Bee race plane. I wonder where it originated, the Gee Bee or the Bobbers? I saw Delmar Benjamin fly a Gee Bee in Cleveland years ago, very cool, but we're talkin' bikes here right?
Any thoughts Ryan on paint color? You guys are doing a great job. Not only on the bike, but entertaining us old guys with the updates. We're getting lots of snow here in Cleveland too Ryan. Happy trails, Bob

[Paps]

Not to be of a deterent to your build progress Ryan.... I am a bit concerned over your decision to weld the brake perch onto the handlebar. The brake lever will be under constant use and the gripping pressure on the lever will work against the perch weld points. My concern is the weld points will eventually break loose at the welds themselves or the handlebar material will give way. Paps

[Paps]

I should have asked this question before you assembled your valves to the cylinders Ryan.... While I know you checked for sealing, did you lap the valves to the seats with lapping compound ? Paps

[Lonewolf_51]

In The Moment

Ryan, what a great smile! You remind me of what I must have looked like 35 years ago digging my first bike. Thank you for taking me back to the best of days and swinging me back. Your life of fun and adventure has just begun my friend; enjoy the ride, and I hope to ride with you some day which will be an honor. Mark Croft