Vintage Cushman Higlander

[Sport King Eric]

Not a lot got done by look of it.. if anything it looks like i wend backwards!! But I have a clean frame, (lots of scrubbing with goo gone and lindseed oil) and I have the rear brake lever sorted along with all the structure to support the engine under the sheet metal as been completed and I had this cool Drum Throne cushion I found in a tag sale last summer I think its my seat, real leather on that guy!! .. Next week the engine should be mounted and finished..

 

[Sport King Eric]

Big day today!! I got to set 60 little ball bearings in axle Grease to hope they will stay until they find their way home in the neck bearing races!! I had to enlist the help of big Joey to hold the fork in place and slowly move the assembly home without any deserters!! That die cart (big Joey) was the best swap meet find of my flea market searching career!! Long Story short Everything went as planned and the front forks are now part of the bike.. Still digging the multi paint layer look.. I need to find a good Pin stripe guy here in Michigan soon.. Now off to shovel Snow so I can get to the Bolt supply for some Black oxide bolts...

 

[t555trailblazer]

That had to be a little nerve-racking...keeping all those bearings in place. Great job!

 

[RobertC]

That's gonna be a killer ride !

Hey...I've been trying to visualize the way the ball bearings are placed on the neck.

Are they essentially loose except for the axle grease pasting them against the wall of the tube, until you push the fork post in place ?

Thanks.

 

[manchester1]

If you get all that black paint off, the orange might not be so bad under there. Looking good.

 

[Sport King Eric]

That's gonna be a killer ride !

Hey...I've been trying to visualize the way the ball bearings are placed on the neck.

Are they essentially loose except for the axle grease pasting them against the wall of the tube, until you push the fork post in place ?

Thanks.

Yes, they are loose... I used a set of Tweezers and set each bearing 1 at a time in the grease 60 of the little buggers

 

[Sport King Eric]

Back to a roller.. Found out the hard way as I was tightening down the handlebar nut, somebody broke the fork at the thread.. they did a good job welding it as I couldn't see it.. but as soon as I got it close to tight it let go... Good thing its a 1/2 Fine thread.. I drilled and tapped the for a 5/16 bolt.. It worked like a champ.. the handle bar pushes onto a Morse Taper with a 5/32 woodruff Key locking the unit together.. so my modification is safe.. I would have been upset if this had been a real Cushman Restoration and not a swap meet cruiser.. I'm pretty sure those forks are not too easy to find.. and if i did find a set they would have been expensive..

 

[Sport King Eric]

Well I just caved in to Peer Pressure from the Altered Cushman site.. They were thinking that the 6.5 predator engine was too small for this bike.. (stock is an 8hp basically a hit and miss engine..) they all run the larger Predator Engine ( 13 hp 420 cc) I like to do things a little different.. so I was just online at OldMiniBikes Warehouse.. and bought a Stage 2 kit and an ARC Flywheel for this guy.. Then I found a really cool header to run down the side of the box in the back, and I'll loose the Governor and I'm thinking a performance head and cam should make 13hp seem a little light. Should be fun, I built my first Sport King.. with this set up, and it was a lot of fun..

 

[buckeye]

This is looking too cool.

 

[Sport King Eric]

I decided against loosing the Governor for the obvious reason, and changing the cam, so im not going to open up the case.. Still should be pretty peppy with the light flywheel.. So hoping for a lot by letting the engine breath better...

 

[Sport King Eric]

Got a box of Motivation, both factual and spiritual, from OldMiniBikes today looks like some fun this weekend!! every little bit helps! Still Waiting on the Header, I Plan on using. the one in the shot came with the stage 2 kit.. Ill use it on something else!

 

[manchester1]

That's gonna be a killer ride !

Hey...I've been trying to visualize the way the ball bearings are placed on the neck.

Are they essentially loose except for the axle grease pasting them against the wall of the tube, until you push the fork post in place ?

Thanks.

I Think the "Gray Gote Eric" actually did a segment on his show about how to do those ball bearings.

 

[Sport King Eric]

This is what I was thinking about for a Header... got to love these modern engines.. Hope to get the engine cradle welded up and the engine built and set this weekend.. I'm sure some of this will get done!

 

[Sport King Eric]

This is what I came up with for the engine Cradle.. uses the 4 original motor mount locations and lifts the engine Plate high enough for the driven unit to clear the frame... last shot is the first time everything is in and bolted down!!

 

[RobertC]

You're making nice progress Eric.

Question...did you make slots, or round holes, in the plate, to bolt the engine to ?

 

[Sport King Eric]

You're making nice progress Eric.

Question...did you make slots, or round holes, in the plate, to bolt the engine to ?

I ended up drilling holes to clear a 5/16 bolt.. the rear wheel on the Cushman has adjusters to tighten the chain and the plate is bolted to the engine at the 4 mounting holes on the crankcase cover so no adjustments could be made.. when I take the assembly apart for Paint I'll take some shots..

 

[chipper]

Great stuff as always, I believe the Predator is near 8 hp out the box, you'll be fine!

 

[Sport King Eric]

another quick shot of the engine Cradle before i get it painted up.. its in there solid..

 

[Sport King Eric]

Today Was the Day! fired the Stage 2 Predator and I couldn't resist myself , i gave it a harrowing rip down the street as it was snowing pretty good About an 1" so just burping the throttle would bring the rear right around on it ( this bike weighs about 200lbs feels like loosing traction on a Harley bad things want to start happening especially with the brake being on the floor so you cant ride with your feet down).. Not my smartest move today i admit but at least it runs and moves under its own power.. still have a lot of loose ends to tie up but getting closer.. I'll add some shots tomorrow as i ran out of daylight!

 

[Sport King Eric]

The throttle is hooked up.. the brakes sorta work, and the lights are working great!! If you haven't use one of the OldMiniBikes Predator throttle kit you are missing out.. it cleans up the throttle hookup big time.. simple ideas create great results...