'78K Resto-Mod-"HaCkJoB"

[shinyribs]

Rich,I love the street tracker style. I'm leaning that way mostly,but I have a few aspects of cafe that I like,too. I'm not sure which way I'll go to be honest. Just for fun I grabbed the tracker style tins off Hackjob and mocked them up on here. I kinda like it. And it gave me a good idea of what tank length I need to look for at 22''. it's an extremely rough mock-up,but you get the idea.



Dark Side Update:

Got the solenoid rebuild kit and points in today. Never got around to researching  how to set the points up on this bike yet,so didn't fool with that. But the solenoid went well. It looks purdy and it actually works now.

Beautiful...

Odd dark side HD engineering. Instead of the solenoid bolting directly to the starter housing it requires this spacer to make it sit right? Why???? Oh well, rebuilt and working like it should.



Dark Side Tab:

Previous               $400
Solenoid kit              18
Points                       9
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Current tab           $427

[shinyribs]

Hackjob Update:

One step forward,two steps back.

All seemed well in the world of hub adapters...


...until I went to lay out the rotor mounting holes. Believe it or not ( trust me,believe it) 5 will not go into 6.


See?


Believe it now? lol. Total oversight on my part. I assumed the larger mounting pattern of the rotor would give me some slack in this area.I assumed wrong!Looks like I'm on the hunt for a 320mm 6-bolt mount rotor now...

[TOOLS1]

Why don't you re-drill the holes in the rotor? You can even weld up the old ones.
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[shinyribs]

I will only have enough meat to redrill the rotors if I do weld up the old holes,but then I'm worried about warpage. They're awfully thin and I have no idea what alloy the centers are. I don't have alot of money tied up in these discs ($56)so I'm not too worried about it. I would like to get a pair of rotors on without having to modify them just for sake of being able to replace them easily in the future if needed.

[TOOLS1]

shinyribs wrote

I will only have enough meat to redrill the rotors if I do weld up the old holes,but then I'm worried about warpage. They're awfully thin and I have no idea what alloy the centers are. I don't have alot of money tied up in these discs ($56)so I'm not too worried about it. I would like to get a pair of rotors on without having to modify them just for sake of being able to replace them easily in the future if needed.

But that's no fun!
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[shinyribs]

I know,but i wanna do this right. If I don't take the time to do it right now I never will later. You know how it is.

Dark Side Update.

Worked on the points and timing tonight.

Mechanical advance was stuck. Not surprising after sitting all those years outdoors with no points cover.


All cleaned up,working smooth and greased with a dab of silicone brake grease.

The points cam is pretty pitted. That'll eat the foot off the points in a hurry,but it's good enough for now just to see if it'll run. I just looked in the Biker's Choice catalog and a new one is $15.99,so not too bad.

Sorry for the crummy pics. I need to get the digital camera back out. Anyway,all back together,static timed and ready to rock. Bummed that the carb kit never showed up this week. I got the itch to hear this thing run

[Hoosier Daddy]

shinyribs wrote

Rich,I love the street tracker style.

Ahem...
http://www.storzperf.com/
http://phillittleracing.com/motorcycle/sxr-street-tracker

[shinyribs]

Very nice link Hoosier! If I owned that bike I'd be a proud Poppa,but if I'm gonna build one I hate to do another XR ''copy'',if you know what I mean. I dig 'em,but it almost seems expected.

Dark Side Update:
Not much to report really,but helps to keep up with the tab. Got the carb almost  into to fighting shape. I need a couple parts.

I have to find an accelerator pump arm and a main return spring. Which I actually own,but dropped while putting the kit in the carb tonight. Apparently when I dropped the spring a wormhole opened up by my feet and swallowed the spring. Hour and a half of looking and still no spring.

How about a hi-res pic of the crusty beaut?


Dark Side tab

Previous              $427
Carb kit                  50 (ouch!)
-----------------------
Current tab:         $477

[TOOLS1]

I used to get kits for those Bendix carbs from JC Whitney, they were about $10.00 back then. Also some of them had leather diaphragms on the accelerator pumps.
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[shinyribs]

This one has a leather seal too. I didn't expect anyone to still be using leather. The accelerator pump seal on the Olds(the '49 engine) was leather.So were the front and rear mains. It amazes me that it holds up so well.

Trivia fact: The "CR" in CR Seals Co. Stand for Chicago Rawhide.

Ricky,the guy I got the chopper from is a HD nut. He had an accelerator pump arm for this carb that he gave me today And I found the return spring! Actually my neighbor PeeWee did. He came over to borrow some tools and was looking at the barrel full of metal shavings beside the lathe. " Bout time to empty that thing ain't it?.....is this s'posed to be in here?" And he reached in and pulled out the return spring.  PeeWee got good eyes!

[shinyribs]

Dark Side Bull****

Ok,feel free to rib me here. I walked in to this one head first.

The VIN numbers have been ground off of the steering neck on this bike.The engine has it's VIN still,but the frame VIN is obviously ground off.These bikes are not like our Honda's,the engine numbers and the frame numbers match from the factory.

I had an eye opening phone call concerning the VIN situation on this bike today. Before I went on a search to see if this VIN was clear I was going to procure a Bill of Sale from the guy I bought it from. Maybe it was selfish on my part,but I figured if the VIN came back ''dirty'' and I had to hand over the bike it might give me a leg to stand on as far as getting my money back.You know..."Hey,i didn't know it was stolen,I want my $400 back"! I don't know,just a thought. Selling illegal stuff is pretty looked down upon. Plus,just the fact that I have a bike with an altered VIN in my possession is a criminal offense on my part.

Now,typically,I never buy an untitled anything unless I either: A-know and trust the individual I'm buying from ,or B: I am familiar enough with the machine that I can make a judgment call on the situation.

In this instance I went with option A. Sorta. Here's the deal. Charlie is a racing buddy of mine. His neighbor,Bill Sr., is the man who ''owned'' this bike. He passed away about 3 months ago and his son,Bill Jr, is selling off all the accumulated junk in his Father's yard. This bike included.I've never met either one of the Bill's,I was dealing directly with Charlie-Bill Sr.'s neighbor of 25 years. I knew there was no title for this bike before I ever went to look at it. Not a problem,I thought,but I'll check and make sure it does still have a VIN. I am at least that smart...so I thought. Being unfamiliar with these bikes I called a buddy who informed me where to find the VIN on the engine. He also told me that Sportster's dont carry a frame VIN. Who was I to question? Oh well,I know better now!

Anyway,so I called Charlie yesterday. No answer,so I leave a message telling him I got the bike running and was looking at getting it titled. In the message I told him to call me back with Bill Jr's info so I could get with him about getting a Bill of Sale. So Charlie calls me today.

Charlie: "I told you there was no papers for this bike"

Me: " I know,that's not a problem. I just wanted to get a Bill of Sale stating that I paid $400 for the bike. That way the DMV wouldn't try and hit me up for book value on the taxes. I can always apply for a lost title."

Charlie:" He's not gonna do that. Bill Sr used to ride with the Pagans. The frame numbers could be gone off that bike or anything."

Hmmm....very interesting thing to say since I never once mentioned anything about ground off frame numbers to him or anyone that he could ever talk to. Very interesting....

Me:"hahaha! Oh, no big deal. I'm sure nothing like that happened. No problem,I'll just apply for an Abandoned Vehicle Title then"

-I was just feeling him out at this point.Just to gauge his response.

Charlie: "Better not son. Forget about that frame. You'd best just part out what you got,or find you another frame for that engine. "

Well,how do you like that?! Seems my old "buddy" was savvy to this all along! Thanks pal. A big ol'  $!@#$% to you!!!


So...what do you guys think I should do now? I honestly am at a cross roads I've never been at before. Now,the bike has not been inspected since 1985 according to the sticker on the fork leg. I'm sure insurance has reimbursed whoever the rightful owner of the bike is if in fact it is stolen. Should I just toss the frame and get another? If I use this engine in another titled,legit frame am I clear? Ideas,please. I'm bummed out,lost,pissed and confused all at the same time. This suuuuuuuuuuuuucks!!!!!!!!!!!

[TOOLS1]

"Charlie: "Better not son. Forget about that frame. You'd best just part out what you got,or find you another frame for that engine. " "

This is good advice. Give Red a call at Cycle-one. He can build a cool frame. Or build one yourself with one of his new necks.

Also Harley's were not titled to the frame until 76 I believe.
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[Hoosier Daddy]

Nortster!

[shinyribs]

Harley's starting putting VIN's on the frame in 1970 according to the research I've been doing.

Do you think getting another frame would be safe?

I was planning on modifying this frame anyway so I thought about just getting an Assembled Vehicle title. But I'm not sure if they want to use the engine number or not in a situation like that. I just dont want to walk into the DMV and try to use this engine number incase it's dirty.Especially since I have no paper trail showing I bought this bike from anyone...ever.

Me: "I need to tile this bike,please"

DMV: " Sure......Sir,this bike is stolen"

Me:   "Um...uh...um..."

     Later that night....

"Some idiot tried to title a stolen bike today"

"Really???"

"Yeah,and when I called him on it he tried to say he bought it from Bill Jr"

"What did Bill Jr say about it"

"Said he's never heard of the guy"

"Haha,what an idiot"

And now the DMV thinks I'm the dumbest bike thief in the world. I don't wanna go down that road.

[Hoosier Daddy]

Pfffftt.... Like you'd be the first.
 DUDE! I may be bustin your chops with the Nortster comments but the world is your oyster! You got a classic powerplant and all you need to do is decide what to do with it!  Sure, you can buy a stock frame with a title and build it... or a custom raked hard-tail frame, a reverse trike, a cycle-car, or a motorized bar stool!
 Shit, you could have a bad ass air compressor for that matter. Focus on the POSITIVE!

[seestheday]

Dude, I'm sorry but I have to disagree with what others are saying.

You have to look at risk vs. reward.  So currently you're about $500 into this.  That is effectively your reward.

You're currently guilty of having stolen goods in your possession.  You have also basically admitted this on a public forum, and we know that there are some members that are cops.  If the stolen bike crossed a state line I'm pretty sure that you're also guilty of a federal crime.

I don't know what kind of penalty there is in the states for receiving stolen goods, but I'm pretty sure it usually involves jail time.  I imagine that a prosecutor could argue that the bike is worth more than $1K even though you only paid $400 for it.

Are you willing to do jail time for $500?

Now, I'm guessing that no cops are going to chime in, because if they do they do then they may have to report it.  I'm not sure how it works in the states, but in Canada I'm pretty sure that they have to.  If they don't post then they can likely deny knowledge.

Now, you also have the potential issue with the Pagans.  Do they have an active chapter around?  Are you able to talk to them to let them know what happened?  In my mis-spent youth I had, ahem, dealings - with Satan's Choice (Ontario gang patched into HA in 2000).  Statue of limitations is long past on anything I was involved in.  That said, my experience with Satan's Choice vs. other common criminals was night and day.  Those dudes were businessmen.  They did not suffer fools, but they always cut square deals, and never fucked around.  Real pros.  Anyone fucking with them was dealt with swiftly, but it almost never came to that because of the presence of overwhelming force.

I'm sorry to say that Bill Jr. has seriously fucked up by selling you (a civilian) a stolen bike that could be linked to the Pagans.  You have no idea what that bike could be linked to.  It could be linked to a murder for all you know.  No statue of limitations on that.

I figure you have 6 options.
1. Go to Bill, tell him to give you your money back and that you want no part of this (you already know that he is not your friend, he basically fucked you over for $400) - get back $400
2. Go to the Pagans and tell them your side of the story (Bill gets potentially fucked here) - maybe get back $400
3. Go to the cops, tell them what happened (Bill and the Pagans might get fucked here) - lose $500
4. Find a cop you can anonymously turn the bike into - lose $500
5. destroy the bike, wash your hands - lose $500
6. Keep the bike, risk going to jail over it and/or turning states evidence if it is linked to a serious crime

If you have a good friend or family member that is a cop, then you might be able to get him to run the VIN to see if it was involved in a serious crime and then decide what to do at that point.

[shinyribs]

Thanks Sees',and I'm kinda thinking the same way you are.

As far as posting on a public forum,that doesn't bother me. In a way I guess it's a way to prove that I was duped on this deal,not trying to get away with something. If that makes sense at all.

As far as the Pagans go that's a no-go. PM sent concerning that.

I do not know for sure that I am in possession of stolen goods. I do know for sure that I am in possession of a vehicle with an altered VIN. <- That is a criminal offense that I can walk away from by simply turning the bike in to the authorities. So no worries there. I guess what I'm really asking is if the engine is safe to keep. I'll gladly turn the frame over to the cops. I don't need it. All I want is the engine. I just don't know if the engine is clean,even if the frame is not. Since there is no frame VIN there is no way to tell if the engine is original to the frame or not. Whatever number was on the frame may be dirty,but the engine number might be squeaky clean. Who knows??  Thanks for your input bud. I really appreciate it.

[TOOLS1]

Do what I do. Call the police station on their business phone, and ask them to run the number, for you (they do it for me all the time.) They will tell you if it is clean, or not. You do not even have to tell them who you are. If it is clean, build a new frame. If it is not, (PM sent with this info).
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[cdaiscool]

Depending on the year (I forget what you said it was): https://www.nicb.org/theft_and_fraud_awareness/vincheck

Another way to check if it's dirty. If dirty, cut your losses and move on boss.

[shinyribs]

Engine number came back clean on that site. Not sure if that puts me in the clear or not.  Thanks Craig.