lil indian "bullbutter-part Deux"

markus

Well-Known Member
#1
I bought this as a roller off another member probably going on a couple of years ago, so far all I have manged to do to it is drop an NOS mercury clutch on it and chip the nice paint and sell the wheels off it :doah:


How it looked when I got it:



so I started working in it again finally this week. I had sold the 4 spoke 4" that were on because I had scored another set off ebay that needed refinished. the ones that came with the bike were nice and clean but but were clearcoated over raw finish. I wanted to strip them and polish them a bit so instead of redoing 2 sets of wheels I sold the clean clearcoated set for double what I paid for the other set (which gave me a little more budget to work with) and stripped the ebay set.

so they have been sitting for almost a year raw, I had media blasted them but never did much about polishing so this week I polished them up, ordered a needed rear sprocket from oldschoolminibike.com/Frank Mathison and started to get this bike back on track.

stuff I got done this afternoon:

got around to painting the chainguard I already had, half sized tank, and engine today:


I still cant make up my mind about running lights or not, the plan was to use a 1969 lighted 3.5 to keep a "correct" look to it which I may still do. This engine in the pic is actually an HS50!, I already had it cleaned and some parts painted white and it needed to be built anyway so I'm starting with it. HS50's only came with larger shrouds and steel flywheels (mid 70's) so I am converting it over to AL flywheel and early shroud so it still will have the look although I wont be able to use the muffler I had hoped for. BUT I do have parts from an NOS chrome package that has a chrome muff that fits the 4-5hp and since the footpegs are forward of the engine, running the side exhaust wont really be an issue :thumbsup:



I also made sure to grab a shroud with studs so they clear a lighted flywheel if I choose that, which I probably will as I have more of them than standards right now.

the Sprocket came in today I tested a chain on it and the teeth are fine, not like the recent bad batch out of OldMiniBikes, definitly not the same manufacturer. I bolted it up for a test fit on the bike and I am pretty happy with the fit, I just spent half a morning trying to straighten up the sprocket to run more true on my Rupp Cub/Econocyle and this one just bolted up looks to be spinning better than my best efforts with the rupp :doah: so that was a nice surprise!!



so I'm kinda getting there, while I let the clear harden for the next day I will finish some of the detail work and get it a roller again :thumbsup:
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#3
Looks great Markus.:thumbsup: Are you using a bearing in the sprocket:doah: I have been trying to figure that out. Thanks
Yea, Kyle had it setup that way when I got it. so I am going to try it that way again. I put it together sort of loose, mounted it on the axle and tightened the 4 bolts up, it seems to be fine, its a little weird looking between sprocket and wheel and seeing no bearing though :scared:
 
#5
So are you just running one bearing in the wheel and the other bearing in the sprocket:shrug: I was told (from a good source) to run both bearings in the wheels, a bearing in the sprocket and spacers inside the wheels:shrug:
 

Bikerscum

Active Member
#6
Spacers inside the wheels are, IMO, a bad idea. You need pressure against the bearings to keep them from spinning in the wheels & ruining them. A spacer in between the bearings takes the pressure off of them.

And I run bearings in both wheels, and the sprocket, with a spacer between the sprocket bearing & the wheel bearing.

:shrug:
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#13
got a little more done this weekend, I was not going to run an inner bearing on the rear wheel, but I went ahead and found a spacer and put one in when I installed the tire:



I still think it would be OK without it, I've got 3/8" fine thread grade 8 and solid spacers etc.. And honestly, if there hadn't been a spacer that already fit in my leftovers from previous part outs and throw aways, I probably would not have bothered!

I also stopped by a local bicycle shop and picked up some white cable casings and ferrule ends and changed those over. I wasn't thinking though and maybe should have waited to do the throttle, Kyle had a little clinton on the bike originaly and this cable may end up being too short to make it to the back of the tec :facepalm: Just have to wait and see.

I am still flip flopping over engine choice, its kind of a waste to run the 5 on it given the tire size so I am sort of stalled on what to do there. I have been hunting for white grips that will kinda fit the bike/time period but nothing just yet.



I also found the kickstand that I had put aside for this bike, crossed my fingers that it was short enough and it pretty much is :thumbsup:



Its a widefoot cecor. I would like the bike to have a little more lean than it does and I feel the foot is too long so tomorrow when I pull it off to disassemble it and redo I am going to cut some off the foot and stick it in the vice and tweak it a touch so its got more bend and will sit a hair higher.
 

markus

Well-Known Member
#17
Been getting a little bit done here and there, today some white hunt wilde grips I found on ebay arrived, They are both 7/8 I figured I would try to stretch one on the throttle. If it was a no go, I could just use them for foot pegs or something. Took some doing but I got it on there :thumbsup:



that was NOT easy to do, it reminded me of trying to put on a "large" condom...they are just too small and take alot of work to get that thing on, and if you rip it, your done for the night!!!! :wink:


the "HSX-50" is getting closer as well, I got set back a couple days from a little snafu with an idea I had that turned out to be an epic fail, but I am back on track. I need to pick up one more long headbolt as this muff has a mount tab that attached to one, finish up a carb and a few other things but this is basically how its gonna look:




Last time I was at the hardware store I also looks for some white caps or something for the footpegs, I hate the big rubber walking cane ends they sell for lil indian pegs and I'm wanting white to go with everything else. I found a set of 4 pretty plain and small caps for $1.79 I had an idea to use chrome plugs on the ends so I cut the bottom off one of the caps and slid it on and put the chrome cap on and one regular style and am trying to decide which one looks better.

Thoughts, or better ideas for the footpegs :shrug:

 
#19
Great job Marcus on the bike. I am about to paint mine yellow and I love the white accents. The foot peg covers are super--going this weekend to see if I can find them. Personally like the solid white cover over the chrome end.The motor is super--this is a great build--thanks for sharing.
 
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