Scrapmetal Board Track Racer

[Pete]

Well due to unprecedented demand (ie Sean aka Modelmaker mentioned it....briefly......in passing........accidentally......) here is the start of my new project. As is my usual medium, it is being built entirely from scratch, using steel rod, nuts, bolts, washers etc. It is again being built as close to scale as possible but without being anal about it. It is another of my pretend brand bikes. I like to do these as it gives me some artistic licence to make modifications which suit my sensibilities.

Anyway, here's the bike that forms the basis of this project. It's a 1915 Harley Davidson v-twin board track racer.


This is the start of the whole thing. The crankcase is a 1 1/4 inch gal pipe socket. The cylinders are the usual bolts covered in various sized washers.


Here are the spark plugs (sorry about the photo quality, I got a new camera and I'm still learning how to fly the damn thing).


And here is the engine, basically finished in the frame.


Note the size of this thing. I figure it'll end up being approximately 450mm (20 inches) long overall. The real thing was about 6 feet long, so does anyone want to give a clue as to what scale this 'll end up as?

[modelmaker]

Well I wasn't far off I guessed it to be an Indian !! as far as scale Id have a stab at roughly 1/3rd ?? very nice work so far , do you have a Lathe or any machining equipment ?

[Shoey]

This is awesome stuff Pete! By the sounds of it you build Models by eye not measurements, just like me!!!! Cant wait to see it finished!! Is the Rum can a fuel tank for the bike or you???.. lol P.s. Thanks for your kind comments. Cheers

[tezza43]

I've seen many artisans working with metals and I've got to say, you're up there with the best Pete. I built that old Harley bike from a 1:12 scale plastic kit many years ago and that was challenging enough, but what you're doing is full-on techno-art. The finished model will be something worthwhile looking at I'm sure.

[Pete]

Well I wasn't far off I guessed it to be an Indian !! as far as scale Id have a stab at roughly 1/3rd ?? very nice work so far , do you have a Lathe or any machining equipment ?

Lathe????!!!!! Machining Equipment?????!!!! What the???? Geez I wish. Somewhere else in this site, there are photo's of some of your workshops. Let me just say that mine is not like any of them. All I have is a bench drill, a bench mounted nibbler, two angle grinders, a dremel, an air grinder and a baby blow torch. Oh and of course my trusty mig welder. This is the major difference between your models and mine Sean, yours are maticulous scale replica's of real subjects. I just enjoy making mine look like real bikes without worrying about absolute exactness. Basically, I'm far too impatient and far too lacking in talent to do that. Besides, I like to modify mine to suit my own tastes.

[Pete]

This is awesome stuff Pete! By the sounds of it you build Models by eye not measurements, just like me!!!! Cant wait to see it finished!! Is the Rum can a fuel tank for the bike or you???.. lol P.s. Thanks for your kind comments. Cheers

Thanks Shoey. Yeah mine are done by eye although to help maintain some scale, I have in the past taken a side profile picture of the subject and blown it up to the exact size of the model just so as to maintain proportions. That is one of the freedoms of building the choppers, I can maken them anyway I like because they are my design. But for this bike (and the other vintage bikes I've built) as I'm trying to make them as scale as possible within the boundaries of my building medium, I do copy from photo's. But this one will have several changes from the same period so it will still look authentic.

[Pete]

I've seen many artisans working with metals and I've got to say, you're up there with the best Pete. I built that old Harley bike from a 1:12 scale plastic kit many years ago and that was challenging enough, but what you're doing is full-on techno-art. The finished model will be something worthwhile looking at I'm sure.

Artisan??? Me???? Geez thanks Tezza but I don't reckon I'm any better that any of you blokes particularly the amount of scratch built stuff you add to your kits particularly the interiors!! I'm hoping this one turns out as good as it's starting to look as I want it to be the main background feature in my bar which these days is starting to resemble a bikers bar on route 66. I just can't seem to stop building.

[Pete]

I managed to find a bit of time this weekend to do some more work to the Board Track Racer (BTR). I've added the chain drive cover for the magneto (located behind the rear cylinder).



It's not real clear in the photo but I also punched two shaft end domes into the cover. I added real brass screws to help continue the period look. On the left side, there's now the crankshaft sticking out for the primary drive sprocket.



In this photo you can also see more clearly the top of the cylinders with the sparkplugs



And finally the fuel tank. Although very difficult to build, it's also turned out as good as I ever hoped and will be a stand out feature of the finished model. As you can see, it's a split type and the top spine of the frame will be very prominent. As with the real thing, I had to make a small indentation for the rear rocker gear.



And just to show how ugly some of this stuff starts as, just check out the welds on the inside of the tank. It's very difficult for a [very] amature welder like me to cleanly weld tin this thin, but I don't care if the outside area is ok.



More as progress continues.

[Paul]

This is coming along Great! and don't worry if you run out of room for new builds as I'm sure we would all like one for our collections in exchange for some cold hard cash!!!!!

[Pete]

This is coming along Great! and don't worry if you run out of room for new builds as I'm sure we would all like one for our collections in exchange for some cold hard cash!!!!!

Can there possibly be any greater compliment than to have someone offer to pay for your work?? Paul, your comments have humbled me. Any time anyone wants one, just let me know. I do take requests and happily make details to really personalise for the individual. Last Christmas, I set up an assebly line and built four choppers at once. These were for my two sons, my daughter and my nephew. Each one was different to suit their personalities but each one had the same number plate "Xmas07". One in QLD style, one in Vic style and one in NSW style as they all live in different states. But in years to come, they'll all be able to remember when they got it.

[Pete]

Well the engine is almost finished now.



Just gotta wait for the wheels to arrive so I can build the front and rear ends and then all the final fiddly bits before paint.

[Paul]

Nice Work!

[tezza43]

Your creative work continually amazes me Pete. It's brilliant stuff and as you say, full of individuality according to the need. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.

[Pete]

Well she's finally up on wheels.


I decided to build her with what is commonly called a "Kiwi Indian" front end. Don't ask me where the name came from. I decided to use this front end as it will be more interesting when finished.



Now it's just a matter of all the detail stuff including the seat and rear guard, the gear box and the sprockets. I also have a cunning plan for the drive chain but more on this if it works.

[Pete]

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that it now measures 620mm front edge of the front wheel to the rear edge of the rear wheel. That's a smidge over 2 feet in the old money. So all guesses of it being roughly 1/3 to 1/4 scale are pretty close.

[allan]

WOW thats going to be one cool build,great work so far.

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