Winter project

[Lucasind]

Hello all and thanx for the replies.......... As far as what to ride to the rally?
I robbed a intake and carb off a 1970 trail 70 and got the 65 S running last night......... so Im going to ride that from toledo to ashville !
(just kidding).....The 3 bikes going to the rally will be my 03 XII,pulling the matching trailer,, my son Brad on his 2000 zrx 1100, and his buddy Brian is riding the 03 connie.The red wing has a long way to go before I trust it going too far from a BIG toolbox, these things take time, as Sgt Slag commented, I like the older bikes ,and enjoy bringing them back to some sort of life. (even if they're just added to the stable,and not ridden a heck of alot)......Gene commented on my shop, that one is 45x24,and I have another one 34x24, and three other smaller out buildings. This may be my downfall,they're not filled to capacity anymore..... so I can justify "just one more". . ......Scott commented about the red wing being more sporty now in it's stripped down state,..it is ....and I would bet leaving off all of the extra stuff took 150 lbs off of the the weight of the bike and I'm planning on leaving it like that,other than putting the case guards and radiator cover back on...........tony

[cushman eagle]

I finally got my GL1000 project to the point I put 36 miles on her today It runs nice, but the speed indicator gave up the first mile, although the odometer works.The VXII is a big improvement on it with power and comfort,cruise control, stereo,low enough to flatfoot at stops etc etc .But the owner only paid $900 for it with 53,000 miles and I have about $300 plus maybe 25 hours in it.Now I need to find out how to post pictures on here.Probably not before the rally.

[Lucasind]

Congrats on the WING project ....and.... now that you mention it.........
I don't believe I remember seeing a photo post made by you ? tony

[trikebldr]

Cushman,

I have followed your Eagle project in this thread with interest. Was just wondering, have you bored it out yet? If not, what about having a simple sleeve made that will slip into the current bore, and then have a piston made to fit? Sure, it shrinks the displacement a bit, but that's a lot better than not being able to get it running.

[trikebldr]

Hey, Tony!

He, he, he! My set of Webers will fit that GL1000 of yours! A bolt-on job, too! BUT, your stock exhaust, cams, ports and ignition probably won't be able to swallow and light that much fuel. How about hot-rodding that bike, just like the 1300?

[cushman eagle]

Hi,Trikebldr,I just got my Cushman block back from the machine shop on Saturday nov 1.It cleaned up with a .010 overbore and I am planning to get it back together this Saturday.Dennis Carpenter offers,among other Cushman parts,pistons and rings from standard to .060 in .010 increments.Yes I know it has been at the machine shop for two months,but that was because our custom forage harvesting business keeps me too busy this time of the year to even look at the Cushman, until harvesting slows down about now.

[trikebldr]

Well, I sure would like to see pics of it! When I was about 5 years old a kid in the small Kansas town where my grandparents lived had an Eagle, and I wanted to ride on it so bad. We asked grandma and she said OK. So, Ronnie took me all over southeast Kansas that day. I did burn my leg a bit on that chrome pipe running down the right side. Ah, who cares!!?? Part of the cost of having fun! Ronnie also had a Topper that he rode just around town. I always liked the "kick" starter on them. More like a stomp starter. But, to me, that Eagle wreaked of bad-boy image!

[Lucasind]

Well the focus of this long thread was to bring a old bike back from the dead ...and put it back on the road....well that objective has been reached,and the bike has been sold to a guy I see from time to time,and it brings a smile to my face,when I see that bike going down the road reflecting back on all the work I went thru to bring it back to life ! Well as it turns out i saw the guy that bought the bike and we got to talking about" bike stuff" and I mentioned that I had been spending some time in the evenings "hand sewing" more patches on my riding vest,and that it is a PITA to push the needle thru the patch and leather to accomplish this. well he mentioned to me that he had a ol'sewing machine at his place,and was so appreciative of me practically giving him the Goldwing,that I could have it for free !
It turns out to be a 1945 Westinghouse machine,that did not work,sooooo after making a couple of parts for it out in the shop,I got the old machine up and running again (just like the ol'Wing )
Now I can zoom along attaching the patches I acquire, as I go state to state on my Voyager !
They sure built things to last back in those days,this ol'sewing machine is built like a tank !
The ol' Goldwing is gone from my possesion, but it just keeps giving back !

[hank43]

My wife has an old Singer from about that era, sews on leather just fine! Those old machines were built like tanks!

hankl43

[Lucasind]

Yes Hank, I remember both of my grandmothers having the ol' Singer machines,and let me tell ya ....they certainly did NOT sit idle,nearly every time ya went for a visit ,ya walked into their home hearing the sound of the machine doing it's thing ! That was around a half century ago,and a different time compared to the "throw it away" society we have today !
I have never ran a sewing machine before this...and am kinda getting into this ! I never knew ya had to load the "bobbin" of which thread comes up from the underside never had a reason to learn this skill but am enjoying it ! I have actually found that someone had posted the original owner/operator's manual online ,for this particular make and model ! was shocked to find it ,and now have my machine all oiled up in the proper points of lubrication ,and have it just' a hummin along ! ..........Tony

[trikebldr]

My grandfather was a shoe repairman for nearly 60 years and had three Singer heavy duty machines that would shove heavy thread through about 5/8" thick leather soles on boots. And, they were the old treadle types, with no motors! Grandpa really knew how to run them, too!
I still have my mom's old Singer that she bought new when I was born. It's motor driven, but I used it to make the cover for my first sidecar out of felt-backed expanded vinyl, four layers thick around the edges. Expanded vinyl is fairly soft and easy to sew, though! My machine has a terrible knock in it, but still keeps on sewing just fine. I figured to wait until something breaks before diving into the innards to find the problem.
Tony, my first project on any sewing machine was a dozen bean bags when I was a kid. my mom coached me on the first one then left me alone to make the rest. A week later they were ruined because I left them in the yard and it rained. Who knew navy beans would swell up when wet?
My machine will be getting another four layer workout soon when I make a new cover for my new sidecar! I already made a double layer sling seat for my trikes. Hmmm, I wonder if it's strong enough to sew the aluminum body panel seams on a new sidecar for my other bike. It would sure save me a lot of expense in aluminum welding wire and gas!

[Lucasind]

Going thru all of the stuff that accumulated from the road trip to Wisconsin , I always look for new patches to add to the vest on trips like this ,and this trip was no exception,mission accomplished ! Time to fire up the old sewing machine and put em on !

I re-read Bruce's post above telling of his granpa's machine that could pierce a 5/8" piece of shoe sole, That must have been one heck of a ol' tank ! and tredal powered !

[krasmu]

My mother used to have an upholstery business out of the garage. She used an old Singer machine that just kept going. That what I learned on. It became my job to make all the buttons and roping for anything she had in the shop. It was also my job to tear down anything coming in for her. I got to keep anything I found inside. You can't imagine all the stuff, "good and bad" that are hidden away in couches. I also remember playing with the old peddle powered Singer machine my grandmother had at her place when I was a kid.

[trikebldr]

Tony, shoe repair sewing machines are quite unique. Although older ones were treadle powered, they had massive flywheels that took a bit of time to bring up to speed, so grandpa would save up several shoes to sew before sitting down to have at it! He would sew a few inches of stitching at a time, then "rest" by bringing the flywheel back up to speed. I remember how he would be "grunting" as he sewed trying to maintain as much flywheel inertia as possible. Dad always tried to get him to motorize them, but grandpa was set in his ways! He closed the shop down in 1992. I always wondered what happened to all of his equipment. He was well known in the S.E. Kansas area for rebuilding cowboy boots that looked shredded.

[krasmu]

Tony, shoe repair sewing machines are quite unique. Although older ones were treadle powered, they had massive flywheels that took a bit of time to bring up to speed, so grandpa would save up several shoes to sew before sitting down to have at it! He would sew a few inches of stitching at a time, then "rest" by bringing the flywheel back up to speed. I remember how he would be "grunting" as he sewed trying to maintain as much flywheel inertia as possible. Dad always tried to get him to motorize them, but grandpa was set in his ways! He closed the shop down in 1992. I always wondered what happened to all of his equipment. He was well known in the S.E. Kansas area for rebuilding cowboy boots that looked shredded.

I see where you get your persistance and work ethics.