Iowa is for Lovers

Me jamming alongside Erik somewhere near Cassville into Iowa and Illinois. My 62 ran like a champ all weekend. 800 miles later and she never missed a beat. Erik always gets a good riding shot. Plus I’m fucking gorgeous so that always helps. Fat Guy Bikes RULE

CHOMPER FOR SALE

Built it last winter. Painted it about 2 months ago. Rode is 2500 miles across Oregon, California, Washington and the rest of the pacific north west. Now it’s for sale. I can’t keep em all and I have some other things I’d like to do next so have a look and contact me if you’re interested.

1980 Harley Shovelhead with a 96″ stroker motor. Motor was built last year complete with balance sheet and receipts for proof. Harley cases and heads but the wheels are T&O and the pistons/rods are S&S. Brand new Joe Hunt magneto. Super E carb. It’s in a 70’s swingarm frame with a 39mm front end and disc brake. The bike is a monster and it’s titled in my name. If you want a harley that can run all day and will hang in there for years, this is the one.

Bike is located in Minnesota. Ride it home. I’m asking $6800 or I’d trade for a very very complete Panhead project. Many thanks –

Check me and my friends out on instagram @speed_club

The Palace comes to the People’s Champ

This is the Palace from Brian Durk on Vimeo.

Give us a vote by visiting showclassmag.com, losermachine.com and adding the comment “vote” to our bike on the @Show_class_mag instagram account. We hope folks are feeling what we’re doing.

Thanks!

Peoples Champ – Generator Magneto

I always wanted to make a gen mounted magneto. Never for a fancy “show motor”… just for fun.
I made a cone mounted magneto a few months earlier which really gave me an understanding of some of the basics. I noticed that everyone this year was getting really turned on to the Wico design but when I researched it myself I realized 2 things that I WAS NOT down with. First, you need to alter the inside of the case byP= machining the idler gear boss casting and ultimately removing it. This edit to the case is just silly and shortsighted. Second, the price tag for the kit is $2k!!! I’m a normal person with a normal job who makes regular pay with 2 kids and a wife at home. $2k just ain’t happening. The other option is the Morris H5 which is super rad but again, at $1600, unfortunately I’ll have to pass.

I looked at the inside of my case and the gears and I looked at how the old Harley XR magnetos operated. They were gear driven. Well wouldn’t you know… the Morris design is gear driven too! I bought a shitty FM-XD mag from ebay and butted it up to the gen hole. Surprise, it’s a very close fit! Not perfect but close. More important, the FMXD has an impulse winding just like the H5.

After reviewing the case, the mag and the gears I had a good overview of the project.
1. A collar is required to mount the mag to the case.
2. The magneto needs to spin in reverse.
3. The impulse winding needs to be reversed.
4. A gear set is needed to adapt the idler gear to the magneto.
5. The magneto must spin at exact 1:1 ration with the cam.
6. A fresh FM-XD magneto must be converted to a dual fire coil.

More to come on this in my next blog post.

Peoples Champ – Motor Stuff

Here are a couple pics of where we’ve started. We’re using a 51 panhead right side case and an 82 alternator shovelhead left case. The magneto is a cheap $20 Fairbanks Morse XD from the late 70’s. I made the adapter collar and internal gear set here in the shop.

We are doing a lot here to get the motor to the next level. A generator shovelhead alone is a pretty rad motor but if we’re building a competition level bike, it’s just nowhere near enough. Polished cases, heads, carbs, cam cover, and chrome on everything else. We’re also dual-carbing the heads to run a pair of Mikuni VM36’s. The original distributor hole will be filled and machined smooth to give that area of the case an extra level of detail. We’re rebuilding the motor from the flywheels, up just to make sure the insides match the details given to the outsides. The mag was a crazy amount of work but she’s all set to go. The head work will be a little bit of machining and a whole lot of tig welding.

Both I and Charlie are taking a lot of chances with this bike. The machine work I’m doing is more than I’ve ever accomplished in the past. The frame work that Dorius has banged out was all about mashing together all the best of the different era frames. We’re pushing the limits of our skills and we’re trying to remain fearless as we steadily approach disaster. We just hope folks at home and at Born Free Show can understand and appreciate that, sink or swim – we’re trying to really give folks something interesting to look at.

Give myself (@speed_club) and Dorius (@charliedorius) a follow to see more. Thanks!