The Mystery bike rebuild

[markus]

I tore the mystery west bend powered bike down today and am going to start redoing it. Still have no idea who made it but after the teardown I feel this was not a mass produced bike. It very well may have been a Prototype, or maybe a technical school/college project, who knows:shrug:

I was able to get the bike to start within 2 pulls once I got some fuel in the carb. I got it to run briefly even though everything is gummed up. As far redo goes everything is in working order, just all needs detailed, cleaned etc..

Heres where it starts:

it came apart easy thanks to alot premix buildup all over it :thumbsup: the whole time I was trying to find any indication of builder, or at least something to sort of date the bike.

Marking on front wheel (6")

Bendix rear brake/sprocket assy (this has been welded to the rear hub assy and rear wheel does not match the front)

I've never seen a master link like this one, I thought it was cool:

the motor tag:

Fuel cap has a cork that holds it in the fiberglass underseat tank:

Disassembled in half an hour:

Getting a better look at the bike they slugged the frame in spots for strength, some things were brazed and some things you can tell they improvised while building. Nothing other than one handlebar has been altered after completion.

I did find one small crack in the frame that I need to address:

Thats it so far, Most of the paint is just flaking right off, so a good cleaning an then I will do some blasting and repairing. Hard part will be the tank, it has some leaks and will need some attention. Worst case I guess I can run a small round tank on it, who's gonna tell me its incorrect:thefinger: Of course if someone can come up with the origins of this bike.....................:bowdown:

 

[bandit 40]

Needs some attention for sure, but its in good hands , nice project:thumbsup:

 

[DZLBIKE]

I wonder if the stamp on the wheel is from Western Auto?:shrug:

 

[Harleys Papa]

That master link is old school for sure :thumbsup:

 

[bigrob]

Neat bike love the old westbend , the fibreglass under seat tank is diferent.
But back when fibreglass was a relativly new product people were using it for everthing, from custom cars to furniture
Rob

 

[Neck]

Am I blind? Because I don't see a swingarm, but I see shocks! No wonder the frame is cracked.

 

[TomH]

I think the tank and the motor are one of the coolest parts. made me do a double take. hope you can save the tank

 

[bigrob]

I must be blind too , your right Neck shocks but no swing arm, must have been an option on the delux model LMAO.
Rob.

 

[Outlaw Ace]

The stress of the suspension seems to have caused little damage other than the one crack. That design perplexes me, Arco made a similar setup that had the frame flexing rather than hinging it. Weird but cool. Markus you have some very cool stuff, this little gem will be a nice addition to your vast and varied collection. I know you'll do it justice!:bowdown:

 

[Clayon]

That's a real neat little bike. :thumbsup: Can't wait to see it all finished up. :thumbsup:

 

[Neck]

You know, from the looks of where the frame meets the rear axle flange, it doesn't look like it's plugged, it looks more like solid bar stock! Does the frame seem a little heavy?

 

[KustomKartKid]

Am I blind? Because I don't see a swingarm, but I see shocks! No wonder the frame is cracked.

:doah:

 

[markus]

I tore the west bend down this morning, went smooth with the exception that my snap ring plier set is at Toyota in my other toolbox so I had to improvise with some picks and screwdrivers:doah:

internals look good, I don't really have any knowledge of these but they are pretty simple. I plan to contact the guy that did the west bend on my other bike and seeing if he can assist me a little with it and what I should be doing to it. I also want to see about switching to maybe a diaphragm type carb as this motor sits at an angle in the frame.

Far as the bike goes, I got most all the hardware cleaned and ready to start detailing.

For those that were asking, yes it is a screwy setup, frame is intended to be "sprung" i guess you could say. It is definitely hollow tubing. For some reason all 4 bends near the fork neck have been worked on, at this point I am not sure why, it was all under that original layer of paint. Either they possibly did some sleeving there upon assembly, or they put it together before paint and busted the hell out of it while testing. I dunno, I'm just going to avoid taking it off any "sweet jumps" while riding it :wink: I have to carve a little bit to get that crack repaired maybe I can discover what they did then.

Here's some shots of the fork and handlbar mounts. The one side came loose and was repaired by drilling a and putting a screw though the tube. It gives and indication of the "creativity" they used in building this bike.

 

[markus]

little bit done today:

I blasted, detailed and painted the wheels today, also serviced the mercury clutch, and finished blasting the frame out.

the wheels were silver painted factory so I stuck with that. the front hub was aluminum so I polished that and installed new bearings. The rear wheel I need to take back apart and modify. they had it installed wrong and hub was not centered. I totally forgot about that till I was putting it together (I need to make notes:doah I need to drill a hole for the valve on the other half so I can install the hub the other way, so the acorn nuts will seat and center the hub.

I decided to use some old school Good years I had for tires, still need to detail them out but they have good tread and the dryrot is not bad on them.

cleaning on the motor parts right now.......

 

[Clayon]

Looks good markus. Everything cleaned up nice so far. :thumbsup:

 

[markus]

Well I'm patiently waiting for a piston and rings to arrive from Canada, its taking its own sweet time getting across the border though:doah: I should have just ordered a set of rings from Bills, but I got a good deal on an NOS Piston and rings...if it ever arrives

I got the motor ready to go other than that. Everything cleaned up nice, blasted and painted the shroud and motor mount. Shot some clearcoat on them tonight. I could not find a west bend decal so I taped over the original when I sprayed the color and cleared over it. I polished the fairbanks pull start along with most all the hardware, some light buffing on the block and backing plate as well after I cleaned it.
before:

after:

Still trying to figure out a carb to use, I am going to opend up the intake ports a little as well. There is alot of excess meat in there. Not going to go crazy but at least make the transitions smother into the pedals. I was tempted to get a 6 pedal reedplate/intake but I dunno if the dinky 510 piston can take it.

Far as the bike goes, I did repair the crack in the frame

]

I'm trying to work through a problem with the forks right now and the crazy way the handlebars are mounted. I'm temped to just nix it and install a regular set of bars, but I really like the way the bike looks with the setup it came with..... Have not got paint for the frame yet either.

 

[tomanator]

thats a cool little bike were did you find it anyway good job:thumbsup:

 

[Clayon]

Damn this thing is sweet. Can't wait for more pics. :thumbsup:

 

[Mr.GhettoRig]

that thing is cleaning up real nicely, your not gonna put the shocks back on it are ya? :doah: It would be a shame to get it all neat and tidy and have to take it apart again :no:

you got any ideas for paint?

its looking great so far, I really like the stock handle bar's too, it adds to its uniqueness

 

[KustomKartKid]

I love a good mystery.........:detective: