Show off your Scout

[kunzog]

Hasn't been much activity here lately so I thought I would post a pic of my 1940 Sport Scout. Lets see some others.

[INLINE4NUT]

kUNZOG,
NICE ! I just had to pass one one because the price was just tooooo high for me...maybe one day!

[indianut]

Here's mine

[c.o.]

Awesome indianut!!!!!!! They look like a hoot!!! I like yours too kunzog! There's some inspiration to get my '41 together.

[AdminGuy]

640 Period modified Bobber. Pretty much stock and correct. *Note horseshoe kicker pedal. I'll make you one if you want.

Myself putting a hammer head into the distibutor - I think. Hammerhead rotor has longer electrodes- smooths out idle.

My peanut gallery buddies are offering verbal support. OR... the older fellas, watching the younger fella, to make SURE he knows what he's doing. Hee-hee....

I was just getting the bike running and it still had some issues.

L to R - Ian Davidson (Inline 4 Repair). Carl Olson (Carl's Cycle Supply), Tim Lien -aka. Wrong Way Tim, and... someones family member. Big Ed in the bkg w/ the ball cap on.

[indianut]

Adminguy, how can a hammerhead rotor effect idle? The coil only sparks one time for a split second and as long as some point of the rotor is in line with the cap electrode at ANY point when that spark occurs the plug is going to fire! Also for a SPLIT-SECOND! It's not like the hammerhead rotor extends the duration of the spark or really changes anything right? Or am I missing something here?

[PatR]

Adminguy, I have a real interest in "period" bobbers. I would love to see some more pictures and hear about your bobber. It looks great. amid80@comcast.net
Thanks, Pat

[LouieMCman]

Hey Brian, you should bring that Scout out to the meets!

Louie

[AdminGuy]

Thanks Pat. What would you like to know?

Degree of rotation -would spark sooner. Hammerhead did smooth out idle for me. That's all I know. Try it, experiment a bit. Apply some modern tricks to your old ignition system. It can only get better!

Paul----

[PatR]

AdminGuy, one of the things I am looking for is what the true period mods were. There are a lot of present day chopper/bobber builders that build so called "old school" bikes. From what I can see these bikes are loose interpretations of a period bike. Does your bike have a modified factory fender? How about the handle bars, taillight? Do you have an idea of the mods that would have been made to the engine for performance including the exhaust? I am thinking that the whole idea of a bobber was to modify the machine on a low budget, making it lighter and subsequently perform better.

[AdminGuy]

Hey Pat,

Modern builders? Well... I know where they can stick the solid billit catalog. BUT - they're in the game to make big money, quickly, while still in vogue. Such over-kill. Just rediculous sometimes. Some of it can be real art. And the drug culture crap? Well I don't plan on spending anytime in prison - and therefore don't feel the need to impress or intimidate anyone, inside or out.

And so, I personally skip all that BS and go back to our real roots and talk to guys who were riding in clubs in the late 40s earily 50s. Sometimes earilier. You get some real insight this way, without all the cross media interfearance.

Making a comparison of a modern bobber to an antique bobber I feel- is night and day. It's not the same. It has no soul. Flat heads have soul. Evo engines do not. Everybody wants to cash in.

Hinge pins were pulled to drop the lower rear portion of fender. Quick and dirty. Slap a tail lamp on (anything handy that looked neat- automotive in some cases) and your good to go. My guy stuck the fender tip on to dress it up a bit. I figured that he probably wouldn't have tossed a perfectly good Indian tail lamp - so I remounted it. Quick and dirty. I confirmed this with some older boys. I also got the horseshoe pedal idea from one of them. Some guy had one back in the day. It looked pretty neat. He approved the one I made. For me - that is period correct as it came from the source. Home built! When racing you can unbolt/remove the whole kicker assembly, incl the stud. Start the bike- remove it. Save 25lbs. Bump the bike when its warm.

Handle bars....with risers? I think that was a big money option. Alot of guys didn't bother. Until maybe back from the war with doe burning a hole in your pocket. Stock was good enough for most guys. Or I guess if you bent a bar real bad you could saw it off and put risers on what remained. So if it happened again you could quickly and easily replace the bars.

Exhaust pipes!!!! Yikes!!! I've seen period modified stuff that looks like someone with an oxy/acet torch heated some pipe and bent it around a small tree or pipe or something. Very crude earily straight pipes. No mandrel bend action here. Garage made in under an hour. Really looks like hell. OR just saw off that muffler.

I had to clear my chain guard. So that dictated the shape and clearance of my pipes. But in reality. With straight pipes on a scout. Loose the chain guard or make something after the pipes are fitted.

Engine mods? A barrel I have was partially trenched. A real crappy job. But I could see what the guy was trying to accomplish. I also found double springs. Allows you to rev the pee-pee out of the engine without valve float. Which in turn WILL crack barrel. and did. Lap in the heads directly to the barrels for higher compression would have been a good cheap trick. Lighten the fly wheel also. Maybe stroke it. But that gets fancy.

Really just look at photos of pre-war SS racers. It was truly "run what cha brung". Remove horn, lamp, front fender, maybe foot boards. Your good to go. Once those fenders are off. Who would put them back on?

Professional racers were modifying front forks, using factory jr scout tanks, race bars, heavily ported engines, etc. Not "joe average" out on the weekend looking to have some fun with his buddies at the local track. Joe Average liked things cheap, quick and dirty. ie. paint it with a brush.

Things like my foot boards would have been off the bike in the first two weeks. Most likely torn off. I'll have to work on some crude pedals for it maybe. Bobbers were sporty hybrids with individual character. Anything goes. But talk to some older fellas if you get a chance. Very few guys had money. They just wanted to have some fun.

I'll most likely be rideing two up on the little scout on club road runs. It's purpose built for me. Partially to be historically acurate, functional, and mainly for fun. Getting it judged would be fun. I'd enjoy that. I need a correct mag. The bike may never see the race track. But - I should never say never.

Hope this helps a bit.

[c.o.]

A tip of the hat to the boys from the good old days!!! They are truly the dudes that started this whole infatuation thing for the rest of us. Well put Admin-Guy!

[PatR]

Great bit of information and very well put. I enjoy talking to the old school guys that were there when it happened. I do so all the time in a few of the other collectible hobbies I am involved in. Sadly some of the oldtimers I have gotten to know and was fortunate enough to learn some things from are no longer here.

[kunzog]

Saw a bike that an "old timer" built. He wanted an oil cooler so he brazed washers along the copper oil lines about avery 1/2 inch. Quite ingenious!
Louie, I may bring it out someday!

[inrustwetrust]

Here's one I did a couple of years ago. Frankenscout #2