VCCA Home Forums GENERAL DISCUSSION General Discussions Honda+Harley+Indian+Triumph+Ford+C adillac

In June, I started to clean out all my motorcycle stuff to sell on Ebay. I soon Realized I had enough stuff to build one, weird Bike. I wanted it to look like a bike from the 40's so I used only old stuff. It has got bits from almost everything imaginable, including Ford Coils & Cadillac HEI Pickup & reluctor. No Points. It has a Chrysler Voltage Regulator. Keith Harmon Cam, and Homemade Rocker arms. Model A Tailight, Indian Handle Bars, Triumph Throttle and Brake/Clutch. Headlight is supposed to be a Baja Light for a roll cage. Fog Lamps are supposed to be an add on for a boat. I chopped 4 fenders up to make these long-skirted 2. Sprocket is a wonder to me, I have no idea where I got it, or what its for. I am making a new seat for it, but I have to goto the 7 mile fair to get the new leather for it. The new seat will be a one seater, that way everybody can see my long fenders. I picked out that shade of brown, based off of one of my waitress' eye color. They are a lovely Brown/gray, I have never seen eyes that color before, and I thought it looked nice and vintage. (Don't tell my wife) Other than that, its mostly put together from junk. Sounds good too. Total investment of about $400 recent dollars. I am sure I paid money for some of the other stuff years ago. I would have liked to have one nice original bike, but, All I had was those scraps, so I did the next best thing.

Oh yah, and the springer front end is parts of a Recliner.

Boyyyyy....do I have a magazine that you would love. Have you ever seen "OL'SKOOL RODZ"? Check it out next time you go to Barns and Nobles. Your bike would make the cover story, no problem!

And some people think that Orange County Choppers build nice bikes. They look like junk compared to this one.

What eng is in it?? Tank looks like a Honda Scrambler unit. I'm looking at left side, no gear shift, but looks like hand shift setting next to tank, and right side shows brake lever so no right foot shift. How you shifting it?? Kinda hard to pull in clutch with left hand and than shift with left hand at same time. What am I missing??

Great looking bike and shows a lot of good ol' ingenuity and talent!!

Jim.

Thank you,

The tank started off its life on a Honda 360. But I Enlongated it by 2 inches under the seat, (for when I finish the new seat) The Motor was off of a '71 Honda Scrambler. Ported&Polished, Keith Harmon Cam, Electronic Ignition, Homemade Rockers, And I tuned the tailpipes with sections of copper pipe from an old waterheater stuffed inside. I started off with 1.5' section and cut it down until it felt right. I ended up having to buy new pipe cause I cut it down past the nominal operation point. Trial and error. The Clutch is on the left where it should be. It has a suicide shifter on the same side. But, After you start off, you don't need the clutch to shift. It is fully syncro'd, and if you bring it up to the right RPM, it shifts as smooth as silk.

Around here they call it Frankenstien. But, its an endearing term.

Thanks again!

I missed the Old School Rods Post,

I have a subscription to that Magazine. I love the cars and bikes, but, I have a hard time enjoying it, because of the grotesque women they have in there. Give me a Judy, Bette Davis, Marilyn, or Lona Turner!

It was worse but have cleaned it up allot from the first issues that came out.

I think they have a sister magazine called Deluxe. Both have yucky looking women, but, a great variety of cars in them. I think the part I like about it is, None of the cars are 100% perfect, and they drive them, I love that. I respect and appreciate Trailer/Show/Museum cars, but whats the fun in having a car you can't drive, Its like buying a steak you can't eat. Or a Beta Tape, when all you have is a VHS!

I'm with you on that thought. I like the mag. because it reminds me of the way that it actually was for me and most of my friends when it came to personalizing our rides with very low cash.

I worked in a body shop and so had an endless supply of used "junk" to customize my cars with. My garage gives testimony to that and also to one who just can't seem to part with any thing that may be of any use some day. The Mrs. tells me my garage can give any junk yard a run for their money.

Just another man's treasure and a Guy thing I suppose.

The second you throw something away,Somebody (Possibly yourself) Will need it. It has always been that way for me. So the lesson learned is, never throw anything out! Unless its the wife, unfortunetly, wife prices are down right now, you'll be lucky to get $2.25 a pound. Just kidding.

And just what is it about your bike that is not at least unique and nice?

The trouble is, I can't seem to find anything when I need it. It always turns up later when you no longer need it. This is an entertaining and amusing show for my wife to watch, as I franticly search (through, in her eyes my garbled mess) for what I know I have but just can't seem to find. I guess I just lack the skill of organization, ya think?
The wife> Me>

I love everything about it. I can honestly say that every single bolt/nut/screw was done by me. Not to mention all of the home-made stuff on it. The thing about having a nice original bike, is more like, having a nice original Indian.

When I was building this thing, only one song got stuck in my head-Johnny Cash, 1 piece at a time.

FinDct,

Is that by chance in refering to '59 Cad?

Do you mean my name (findoctr)? It was my original log in for dial up service I had yrs ago through the library. It was a Linux system and could only be 8 characters as opposed to (findoctor).

In general, I have always been partial to all fin-mobiles as they were good representations of the American dream!

What you did with that bike I consider to be a culture, one that I can appreciate in that it's personal and one of a kind. Frankenstein or not.
I gotta find a steamed crab to put with that beer.

Here I thought you were big into Cadillacs. My favorite car of all time is the 1959 Cad. I don't care how many doors, or roof style it has, I need one. I would love a Miller Meteore Hearse/Ambulance.

Actually I do like the Cady. I have never owned one but a long time ago considered buying one several different times. A 51 coup, 49 hearse, 58 Eldorado and a 72 deville. Sorry to say I never did get one.

the mention of hearses caught my attention. as a 17 year old, my buddies(ten of us) and i chipped in 10 bucks a piecs and bought a 47 caddy ambulance for $110 bucks. Bright red, flathead, three speed. we raised more hell than enough for a year or so till a rear axle broke in two one nite(alcohol may have been a contributing factor as the lawyers say). it would easily haul the eleven of us hoodlums and a 16 gal keg, along with the gurney that came with it. one of our favorite pranks was to pull into a drive inn restaurant at about 40 mph, slam on the brakes, hop out in our undertaker hats and unload one of the guys on the gurney from the back door, then set the brakes on the gurney. we then spped off into the nite, leaving the gurney/body in the middle of the parking lot. after i grew up(maybe not complete as i speak), my new wife and i bought a 53 Caddy hearse. i tired of the 331 caddy engine in short order and swapped a 455 Olds/ turbo 400. gas milage was about 5 mpg. the wife and i used it all thru college, hauling the three daughters to school et all.my mother in law hated both the vehicles and would get the green apple shits every time we pulled in front of her house in the caddys. glad to have experinced the meat wagon days. might get another one before my last hearse ride--who knows. mike

See, I am 30 years old. I think minivans are stupid. I have been married for 5 years, and in those five years, my wife and I have had 3 kids. I want a hearse, so I can bolt the 3 car seats to the rack, put the kids in them. Roll in the rack, close the door and go. No more horsin around trying to get into the back seat to buckle up the monsters. And to top it off with, I could really torment my kids when they are being naughty. I could ask them if they knew the last person to ride where they are, or how he got there...FROM BEING NAUGHTY IN THE CAR!

In the early early 60's we had a 1940 LaSalle Herse. At the time we were attending lots of auctions. It made a good truck. Another advantage was several times on the highway other cars would pull over and let me pass. I wish I still had the herse.

Do both parties have to be living to use the carpool lane?

It's not a '59, but it's close.........
Belongs to a friend of mine.....


Enjoy....

It is hard for me to identify the years of the ambulance/hearses. Because, the combination of grille, and windshield had no rhyme or reason. That is the '59 &'60 windshield. The car looks like a '62. I know that they used those windshields up to '63 on some of the hearses/Ambulances. They must have had a pile to use up or something. Still its a honey no matter what!

Hey guys, a hearse is the last thing I want to take a ride in! :vcca: