Look who's back

Someone's idea of a cool looking bracket

João loves us so much , he decided to bring his project back to us for some more work. Stuff that needed to be finished like shifter linkages , brackets, intake manifold , exhausts , etc. Since Monday  he drives 2 hours a day to work with us from 8am to 10pm, sometimes 12. It's been really knackering but to be part of such a project it's worth every effort.

The beggining of the end

This project started with a rolling chassis listed on ebay UK.  João, who runs OldBridge Motorcycles, ,bidded and won the auction.  He had a 5 speed Sportster engine he wanted to throw in the frame and a month later came to us.  We realised that there was nothing straight in that chassis and that it would take the same amount of work to straighten things out as it would to build it from scratch.
Slowly, the frame was built, the gearbox was (literally) removed from the engine, wheels were skimmed down, forks were fabricated and upgraded , brakes were machined ,tanks were made from sheet metal and cut and welded and cut and welded and cut... Many months of hard work were put into this so that it rolls as good as it looks and we can proudly say that this is a true hand made bike with no "bolt on" bits.

João picked up the bike today to finish it off at his HQ. He says he's going to ride it to Faro this year...

You can follow the whole process by clicking the OldBridge Project box on the right.

OldBridge project

Finished today assembling the chopped gearbox Sportster engine. Looking good, let's see if it runs.

OldBridge (cont.)

OldBridge project updated

The engine is being put back together "as we type".

 Norton front hub laced to a 16" Harley rim and Avons

OldBridge Project

 In the attempt to fit a drum brake to a solid cast wheel, we had to machine a Golf drum and narrow down not only the drum itself but also the shoes. Tricky, time consuming and clever enough for us not to repeat it.

 We thought the engine was too heavy and bulky...

Old Bridge Tranyless Sporty

Custom made frame housing Sportster engine with chopped gearbox chained to a 4 speed kickstart gearbox pulling modified Fat Boy wheel (not the one in the photo). Custom made oil tank to fit the frame and leave room for the exhaust pipes (soon to come). All this and more to be seen at the Faro Rally , this summer (we hope). Stay tuned for more fun and games.

Fat Boy Wheels

The birth

Each day a new challenge

When a new Monday starts, we kind of know where we need to be by the end of the week, in a given project. Usually we start by looking at things  and taking mental notes on how this or that should look or work. The contemplating and imagining process can take several hours, depending on how the weekend went.
Because we rarelly do the same sort of work twice (unless cock-ups occur) we face every new task as a new challenge trying to sort out wich process/tools/solutions we're going to use to get the job done. Usually we get to the end of the week with feeling of accomplishment and some pictures that prove how we did it.
Live to learn another week.

Tranyless Sportster continued

If you're patient enough to go back  in our posts you'll find a Sportster engine that lost it's gearbox in the name of religion  and devolution. The gearbox was machined out to fit an independent gearbox off another Harley as you'll be able to see in the near future.

The start to a new frame