Day One - New Project

[hodakamax]

Ah. 19'' front wheel cleaned, polished and trued. Front forks in place along with refurbished brake assembly and backing plate stay built. I still have to find/make a bushing for the left side axle end to reduce the 15mm hole for the 12mm axle. Anyway a bit more progress.

Maxie

[dcooke007]

Max,

I really like the looks of the front suspension.

Danny

[ossa95d]

Max,
I may have a spacer here specifically made for that purpose that will work. Let me check and get back to you tomorrow.

[hodakamax]

Thanks Danny and Ivan, I am getting caught up in this project, it reminds me of the good old days for sure. I'm not getting anything else done though. I need to take a day off to work on real world projects like fixing my wife's car. (she says.)

later,

Maxie

[hodakamax]

Hey Ivan, I just found exactly what I needed, thanks for your search!

Max

[ossa95d]

Great news Max! I really have enjoyed watching your project come together.

[hodakamax]

Grrrrr, Someone has rolled their project in front of the most important project in the shop. That someone would be my wife and her Camry with the maintenance required light on. Worse yet its time for a tire rotation with just one jack. Boring huh. The Day One project is patiently waiting in the background though and I am still waiting for some parts. (Be patient Paul, the cart is growing at SH.)

Maxie

PS--I did get the front tire on and I am trying out my wife's camera with a wide angle.

[hodakamax]

OK, Camry service done, the wife is happy again. Now that I've lengthened the swingarm 2'' the brake rod is now 2" too short. I've already made a longer brake plate stay. Rather than extend the old rod it looked about as easy to build a new longer one. I had some 1/4'' rod which was a little larger in diameter than the old one which made cutting the new threads a bit more difficult. The die would clog every 1 1/2 turns which required backing out a few turns every time. Time consuming but it worked. Not a big deal but a good excuse for a mini-report and definitely a necessary item for sure.

Max

[hodakamax]

Since the chatter is low on the Forum, I'll post the tool box project progress just for fun. I found a cool stainless drawer pull to mount on the film canister lid and a bronze medallion from an event that pressed in the lid with a nice interference fit. Looks less like a film canister lid than it did. I know, pretty mundane, but small details are fun and I'm just trying to keep things moving. New tank coming, next we can do bars and figure out fork stops, I'll keep you posted.

Maxie

PS--that second step on the lid was slightly small for a tank emblem--too bad.

[ossa95d]

I love the little details. I even make my own brake rod nuts out of billet aluminum on my lathe. I make the little drum that the rod goes through too but don't have pics.

[hodakamax]

Cool for sure Ivan!

Max

[hodakamax]

Wow Gang, a great Hodaka shed find today. I was looking for controls and found these solid aluminum bars hidden away. I'd taken them off the last project because the were way too wide. I compared them to a set of Wombat bars and the bends were almost identical but they were just 3'' too wide. A little sawing and polish plus some controls I'd been saving for this kind of project and two problems solved at once. I'm happy for the day!

Maxie

[hodakamax]

Yay! the new Clarke tank has arrived. It's starting to look like a real motorcycle. Soon the mock-up stage will be done and I can move on to blasting the frame and paint. Then there's a biggie in that I need to start on an engine. Also now with the tank on it seems to long for a custom seat rather the the stock one. One step at a time. Things seem to be flying together at an accellerated rate. This was supposed to be a long term project!

Anyway that's the report for the day.

Maxie

[Dale]

Max,
Looking really good. I am wondering how great that would look with a seat like this on it. It comes up over the tank. It works as well as it looks.
Dale

[hodakamax]

Thanks Dale, We are thinking alike, it does need something along those lines. I've got the SH race seat on my 94 but it doesn't look like yours. What seat is yours? I'll mock something up soon and go from there. It's part of the fun!

Max

[Dale]

I'm guessing that Paul would know the details on the race seat differences if indeed they are different. I was not aware of different versions of them... I just know that I would have several more of these seats if my Hodaka budget would allow for it.

[hodakamax]

It looks like there's just one model of that seat, probably the design changed in its evolution. I've got the shorter Ace 100 seat at about 17 3/4'' whereas the R seat is 20 1/4''. I'll figure something out along the lines that we're both thinking. Everything else is modified, the seat doesn't seem like too big of a problem--maybe.

Max

[Bullfrog]

Those race seats are SO good for being able to move about on the bike . . . especially in the forward direction . . . really helps to keep the front tire grabbing in the turns! I could hardly believe how well the scooter turned that Paul provided for me to ride in the New England ISDT Reunion Ride a couple of years ago!

Ed

[hodakamax]

It looks OK with the stock seat pan. After studying several videos on YT about seat building, I think I'll buy the stock stuff from Paul. Maybe a project for later. (the worst that could happen is that I would have too many Hodaka seats). I think it's time to disassemble the mock-up and move on.

Later,

Maxie

[hodakamax]

Alright, frame stripped and time to fix the last (hopefully) frame problem.The fork stops miss on one side and are at the wrong place on the other. It looks like I'm going to have cut off this crudeness and start over. I knocked out the lower race with this special tool I reviewed in the volume 2 number 18 Resonator. (Another reason to be a Hodaka Club member). It's getting late and any more progress is is not going to happen tonight.

Maxie

[hodakamax]

I think there's probably a easier way to build fork stops but this was more fun and I didn't have to go bother my welding friend and it does look a little more hi-tech.(I think.) Anyway the issue is resolved and yet another challenge is behind me. Off to the blaster.

Max

[Bullfrog]

Interesting "no weld" design! Nifty!

Ed

[hodakamax]

Thanks Ed, I also got to thinking about a severe blow to the stops and with aluminum on aluminum the chances of damaging the stops on the lower tree are somewhat less than striking welded-on iron stops. I think my aluminum bracket would fail first. Hopefully none of this will happen.

Maxie

[Bullfrog]

Yeah, hard fork stop tests often involve other factors . . . like helmet replacement, the problem of shoulder and ground trying to occupy the same place at the same time, etc. Best to not test 'em hard.

Ed

[hodakamax]

After a rush of posts about the project I was reviewing the photos and began to see what appeared to be some apparent severe corrosion and blistering of paint around the fork head. I began to poke around with a screw driver and discovered that the DPO had not gotten around to washing off the mud before his last paint job. All is well and sound but it just makes you wonder. Between that and Tom's screwdriver case split, what will the DPOs think of next?

Cheezz,

Maxie