Kick starter

First up is the old kick arm. I swapped this out because it is so wide when folded out. I think it would have been very easy to tip the bike over on the right side using this arm. The old kicker arm (Taiwan Tedd re-pop) didn't fit the shaft very well, had to stick a screw driver in the slot to get it on and off the bike. The new kick arm is a QUALITY made in USA straight kick arm made by Baker. It is a nice heavy duty part and I'm very happy with it. I don't know how Bert feels about me putting a Baker kick arm on a Primo kick starter but it's my bike .
You can also see whats left of the exhaust pipe in this picture. The straight piece of tubing fits nicely inside the kicker arm with plenty to spare. When my new oil tank gets here later this week and gets test fitted I can get back to making the pipe. I also bought a sanding drum wheel that fits in a cordless drill to smooth out the joint where the two pipes meet. I have a feeling I am going to have to extend the straight area of that pipe stub to get it lined up where I want it.

Handlebars and wiring

The wiring is all sorted out I think. I have a plan anyways. The handlebars are all buttoned up and wired. I may modify it a bit due to the brake light switch. I think I am going to run both brake calipers off the front master cylinder and place a proportioning valve inline to the rear brake. Doing it that way would eliminate one of the brake light switches from this diagram.

Exhaust

I'm working on the exhaust next. I have never built an exhaust pipe before and it is actually alot more difficult than I thought it would be. It seems so simple, but to get the pipe lined up down the side of the bike the way I want it to has been time consuming and has stalled me out for a few weeks.

I Want to keep the pipe in as close as possible to the bike. For narrow looks and to keep as much heat off the inside of my leg as possible. In these pictures the pipe is sitting a bit lower than I want it to.I was also trying to figure out the best way to keep the pipe in a perfect straight line going down the side of the bike, and join it as a 2-1 head pipe.

So I decided to cut the rear pipe off at the bend. I bought a straight piece of 2" exhaust tubing from Napa to join the front & rear head pipe bends into. I still have to take pictures of how it looks right now, so this post will be updated later. I also got a new oil tank coming, and ordered a Baker straight kick start arm. The late style FX kicker arm I bought from Carney folds in nice and tight but it is very wide when folded out to start the bike. I think I will have trouble kicking it with my center of gravity so far to the right, and don't want to flop the bike over on the right side when I kick it.

The shifter

The hand shifter was one of the first parts I made on the Smithy 3-1. I started with round stock and turned it down to the shape I wanted. Threaded the end 3/8-16 and screwed on an aluminum ball that I ordered from McMaster-Carr. I put the bend in it in the shop press.

The tailight

This started life as a marker light on a '51 GMC truck that my friend Hootis owned. I mentioned I thought it would make a sweet tail light and he gave it to me. The guts for the tail light are cut down from a late model Harley. The 1/4 turn bulb holder will be accessible from the back of the side mount plate bracket that I haven't made yet. I used a tail light repair kit from O'Reilly auto parts to make the lens. I cut it out so the grooves in the lens would be at a 45 degree angle to the tail lamp grill.

The switches

The electronics for the bike will all be controlled through this left switch housing. The original switch is from a cop bike(pink & orange wires). I had swapped a regular plastic caps onto it. When I tested the way the switch worked it was backwards and run was actually off. I took the switch apart by bending the little hold down tab and swapped a regular run / kill switch into the left side holder. The wires for ignition are now the normal grey & white w/ black stripe.

The bottom indicator lights are from an FXLR I think. I made an aluminum bracket to go inside the switch housing to hold them in place and trim down a "license applied for" plastic plate to use as the background because the texture of the plastic closely matches the switch caps. I'll be using a Hydraulic clutch master cylinder on my left hand to operate the from brake.

Another year past.

Well I've hit the 8 year mark on this bike build. Sure not breaking any records there. This past summer I did almost nothing to this bike. I did ride my Electraglide 13,000 miles and put a new cam in it. Kari and I are now engaged, July 7th 2012 is the wedding date. I told her I really want to ride the chopper in our wedding. She is now the pilot of the Sportster. She managed to get 7,500 miles on it this year. Bradley also got a new bike this year, an XR70 Honda. Kari's son Gene also now lives with us so we are a family of four.

Anyways this blog is about the chopper. If you want to see other stuff find me on facebook. I think I left off with the fork sliders. The polished up really nice. Ike at work gave them their final touch. Also mounted the brake caliper and kickstand. The bike is alot easier to move around now that it has a kickstand. I had to order a shorter one tho. With this one the bike will tip over if I turn the bars to the right.