Speedway Clutch Cover (1972 Blue Angel)

cfh

Well-Known Member
#1
I've been looking for 1970s mini bikes and have found several Speedways. But the one thing they are *always* missing is the original clutch cover. I've come up with some creative solutions for replacements, but none of them look anywhere close to correct. Then I picked up a trashed 1972 Green Horn, and it had the original clutch cover! It was wasted, but enough was there that I could use it as a model. My objective was to make new covers for my speedways.

So the first example to see if this would work was a 1972 Speedway Blue Angel. I bought this bike for pretty cheap, and for a good reason. It was pretty trashed. Forks were seized, missing the gas tank, no proper clutch parts, wrong seat, engine plate a mess. It needed a lot, but I figured I could get most of the missing stuff on ebay (turns out I was right about that.) Here's the before picture:



I made a tracing of the Green Horn original clutch cover, and plasma cut the flat part out of some cheap stainless steel. Yes originally it was a domed clutch cover, but that was beyond what I could do. Next I cut a 3" wide 28" long strip, and TIG welded it to the flat cut out. Then I did some more cuts with a cutoff saw to mimic the original cutouts on the original cover. A little more cutting and drilling, and made a mount bracket for the engine. Powder coated the new clutch cover, and what you see below is the result. Originally I was going to polish the stainless steel, but for this prototype, that wasn't in the cards. (And yes this is the same bike as seen in the first picture, with some added parts like proper fenders and gas tank and a HS50 tecumseh motor.)



I'm going to make a few more for my other Speedways. I would love to dome the flat portion, at least a little, but don't have a good way to do that. So I guess it stays flat (at least for now.)



I'll post some more pictures after I finish the bike (still need to make an exhaust and mount a carb to the engine.)
 

f4radar

Well-Known Member
#2
That looks great...functional and built to last. I wonder with all the vibration at those mounting points if a small stiff rubber isolater would make things better or worse? The one I have has shows a lot of stress cracking at the mounting points.
 
#3
I've been looking for 1970s mini bikes and have found several Speedways. But the one thing they are *always* missing is the original clutch cover. I've come up with some creative solutions for replacements, but none of them look anywhere close to correct. Then I picked up a trashed 1972 Green Horn, and it had the original clutch cover! It was wasted, but enough was there that I could use it as a model. My objective was to make new covers for my speedways.

So the first example to see if this would work was a 1972 Speedway Blue Angel. I bought this bike for pretty cheap, and for a good reason. It was pretty trashed. Forks were seized, missing the gas tank, no proper clutch parts, wrong seat, engine plate a mess. It needed a lot, but I figured I could get most of the missing stuff on ebay (turns out I was right about that.) Here's the before picture:



I made a tracing of the Green Horn original clutch cover, and plasma cut the flat part out of some cheap stainless steel. Yes originally it was a domed clutch cover, but that was beyond what I could do. Next I cut a 3" wide 28" long strip, and TIG welded it to the flat cut out. Then I did some more cuts with a cutoff saw to mimic the original cutouts on the original cover. A little more cutting and drilling, and made a mount bracket for the engine. Powder coated the new clutch cover, and what you see below is the result. Originally I was going to polish the stainless steel, but for this prototype, that wasn't in the cards. (And yes this is the same bike as seen in the first picture, with some added parts like proper fenders and gas tank and a HS50 tecumseh motor.)



I'm going to make a few more for my other Speedways. I would love to dome the flat portion, at least a little, but don't have a good way to do that. So I guess it stays flat (at least for now.)



I'll post some more pictures after I finish the bike (still need to make an exhaust and mount a carb to the engine.)
Nice work.
It looks like you have room for an English Wheel, torch set with a rosebud, mallets, shot bag, and a few metal forming stumps. Thats if you can make em in aluminum or steel.
Again, nice work!
 
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