Sickles & Customs

Triumph pics

2011-03-13T12:22:00.001-07:00

Sorry its been awhile since the last post, work on the BSA has come to a stop due to cash flow issues, good thing i have my trusty Triumph to ride while i wait and save. Ride it, break it, fix it, that's British bike ownership. I love this thing and I beat the piss out of it. shots of the Bike in the ghetto of Colton, one shot of the A10 at the shop and us at the Mooneyes show in Irwindale earlier this year.

Hood Repair

2010-10-23T15:35:00.000-07:00

Well lets just say not every one is cut out for metal work, at least in the case of the guy that ruined the hood by Mig welding a sheet metal fin to the peak and then filling it with lead. Another hood was found with bent corners but had a good nose, since the pancake work on the hood was really nice I decided to use our hood and replace the nose, Cleco pins are used to hold the replacement nose into place, hammer welding with a Tig makes it easy to keep the shape from going out of control. More later.

1949 Cadillac Custom

2010-09-25T07:58:00.000-07:00

I'm changing things up here a bit and getting away from the BSA project, this car has been my on and off project at work for three years. The customer has taken it home now due to lack of funds to finish the project. This car has undergone extensive reconstruction due to previous lack of talent in prior shops that had little or no experience with sheet metal work. I had to fab about 70% of the sheet metal on this car, that is not counting the inner structures and floor. the intire front group of this car was handmade by me, the nose of the hood, the 39 ford headlight openings, the grille, The front and rear valances, the drip rails, the deck lid, even the front and rear bumpers are all handmade by yours truly. I will show details of this work in upcoming blogs, I am bummed that this car has left the shop but life goes on and so do other projects.

BSA Going Home

2010-09-04T13:04:00.000-07:00

With most of the fab work done I am taking the bike home, the mechanical work can be done in the garage and I will have more time with family that way, I won this Dynamo on Ebay, (Did I mention how much I hate Ebay) I must have bid on 10 of these only to be outbid, just have a buy it now dude, I will pay more, I just need the part. It is just a core so I will take it apart to see if it is rebuild-able and go from there, then changing it from 6volt to 12 volt will come into play, more on the rebuild next time.

Fuel Lines

2010-04-02T17:30:00.000-07:00

Fuel lines are my favorite thing to make, stainless line and aluminum aircraft fittings with a extruded heat sink fuel filter, I had to make the banjo fitting at the carb, since I cannot find one. Looks good.

2010-04-02T17:27:00.000-07:00

We don't fake it we just make it

2010-04-02T17:08:00.000-07:00

Made this oil bag cap from fence post material, I think that dome piece cost .50, then I cut grooves in the DOM using my drill and a die grinder, (we don't have a lathe) weld it together with silicon bronze, cut off the mandrel after finishing, install "o" rings...Done

2010-03-28T08:42:00.000-07:00

Making everything on the bike has been the best part of the build, more of you is into the bike, very little catalog parts makes it unique. The brake now functions, next I will have to Make a brake switch trigger, I will use a micro switch like on the last bike.

Brake Pedal Fab

2010-03-28T08:14:00.000-07:00

Because of the Length of the bike, the stock brake pedal will not fit and the pivot point has been removed with the swing arm anyway. It will be the only brake so it has to be comfortable in placement. This is 3/4" wall DOM tubing heated and bent to shape, the pedal pad was left over scrap from the bin. Next is the brake rod and cantilever.

Oil lines

2010-02-19T06:14:00.000-08:00

Making the oil lines was the next thing to do on the list, these are -5 oil lines and fittings, not a normal size, the only way to get them is at a aircraft supplier. The BSA just like the Triumph gravity feeds oil to the motor the is pressurized back to the tank and then scavenges oil to the rocker box. This thing starting to look good, can't wait to ride it. More later.

Oil filter intall

2010-02-12T18:37:00.000-08:00

After a ridged search I found an old Stilko Oil filter, this filter comes apart and you use a roll of toilet paper as the filter element. I made the bracket to fit in place of the trans mount spacer, hard lines are next. More to come...

Foot rest

2010-02-07T13:16:00.000-08:00

Sometimes saying your a "Fabricator" in a world of Technicians and crappy Cable bolt it together T.V. shows, the word looses its luster. I am a Blacksmith, we make things out of nothing, we see the part in the stock metal, bending and shaping it to our will. We make the part because it is more personal and because it has style. This is the foot rest I made, the stock ones were hard to find and expensive when you do find them. These will fit around the exhaust better. The bike is getting closer and closer to being done. Not looking forward to the machine work or the bill that comes with it. More later.

The Bean Bandits at El Mirage

2009-11-17T20:30:00.000-08:00

This was the last meet of the season, a 2 day event, we camp on the lake bed and hang out, this is my racing family. It is a honor to be a part of this team.
There are several cars on our team, the San Diego Bean Bandits have been finishing off this belly tank that runs a flat motor.
Our car did well, there are so many aspects of lake racing and the weather is one of them, the wind especially can either be your friend or enemy we dealt with cross wind and head wind, any time there was a tail wind we were in the middle of the line, The track condition is the next obstacle it gets ripped up and can have soft spots that can spin your tires, no traction no speed. It takes experience to run a car successfully out here. Our best time of the weekend was 178.94 mph the record is 192.00, we will get it and bump it next season, the game plan is in effect, and yes that is a chain steering wheel on our car.

304 stailess Exhaust

2009-10-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

The Bike has been on hold for a while, I made a new bench for it so I can get to both sides instead of the frame jig I had it on. The exhaust on the A10 presses into the head so it will have to have extra mounts to hold them into place at the frame. "U" bends are cheap, and are easy to get the shapes needed for the pipes. The stock exhaust is kinda ugly and does not flow with the frame, strait back drag pipes look the best to me. A little jig set up makes the routing go fast. I tack them together in case I need to move them later, exhaust tips will be made from brass to finish them off.

Pre Unit Install

2009-08-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

Well I finalized the front end and made new Rockers, they were easy to make and fit awesome. Since nobody seams to make a 1"-14nf
acorn nut I made one from some half round steel ball stock and welded it to my nut, then cut them down to make jamb nuts out of them. My trans mount plates came from England, I'm glad I never tried to make them because they offset the trans a bit and we would be in trouble trying to line up the primary chain. The motor needs much attention, the pistons were stuck in the jugs when I got it, so I soaked them in trans fluid for about 6mos, I broke them loose with a impact hammer and had very little damage. Machine work will be necessary anyway, I mocked the motor up and started in a new list of things to make.

More Springer

2009-08-14T11:06:00.000-07:00

I stopped buy Fred's Frames and picked up my new springs. Freddie Hernandez is a legend that never sold out and is the sweetest dude ever. Mock up is almost done as I wait for parts to trickle in. Now that my bearings I ordered finally came I can now set ride height and start welding the tubes up. I took a break from the springer to make the taillight and license plate mount. I had a mirror housing from a Sunbeam Tiger, a park light lens from a 57 Chevy, made a socket can that removes like a cartridge, a plate of scrap aluminum and a red l.e.d. bulb. Cheaper than Ebay.

Clip on bars

2009-07-19T13:27:00.001-07:00

Next thing on the list was to fab the clip on handle bars and to test fit the front spring perch. I mocked up the throttle and clutch just to see more of a final look. I think it looks pissed. Now I'm waiting for more parts.

More front end

2009-07-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

After the main trees were fitted, the front spring perch was made and 12" bolts were welded to the base. For cheap insurance 3/4" slugs pressed in to the base to give the tubes strength. Then the tubes are drilled on the sides for rosette welds, pressed on the slugs and welded to the base. Fitment checks are done as we go to insure nothing has moved during the welding process. More later.

Building a Springer

2009-07-19T12:17:00.000-07:00

Now I'm working on the Springer front end. Taking measurements from the other bike, I made templates and stated cutting out the trees for the stem. After much grinding we have nice parts ready for assembly. The top plate is made from 2 pieces so it can index on the 1" tube and act as a cap. Finally a fixture is made so we know all the pieces will fit before we weld them. More later.

2009-07-05T21:06:00.000-07:00

The Bean Bandits hanging out at the Fathers day
Roadster show in Pomona. Some body else took the pictures and posted them on the H.A.M.B. We were just chillin and having a good time. The Roadster belongs to Tom Branch The Sedan belongs to his wife Diana and the 50 Chevy belongs to Fabian Valdez. My bike got a lot of attention, Road that thing there and back, like your supposed to. I don't have a trailer.

BSA update #4

2009-06-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

The oil bag was next on the list of stuff to do, I found some old baby moon hub caps and reversed them to give the dished look, welded in some scrap tube for the filler spout and stainless lines for the vent, notice the vent to the frame for a cleaner look. Then the seat pan was made, beat it over my radius dolly real quick, it's got a realy good look to it and the hinge mounts from under the frame, low and flat, it also holds the mount for the fuel tank. I will use hair pin style springs on this one. It's comming together.

New BSA Update

2009-05-26T19:07:00.000-07:00

The hard tail is finally finished, only the small brackets need to be fabricated to mount parts.

The front down tubes were removed and remade, I added gussets to give the hard tail strength and they look like the factory made them. We made a trip to the Long Beach Swap Meet and found a random fender, welded up the holes, planished out the dents, and made the lower fender mount. Now it's starting to look like a bike. More later.

BSA Update

2009-05-09T08:04:00.001-07:00

This week was kinda busy, after the rear wheel finally arrived I went to work on the hard tail. Cut up the frame and threw away the swing arm. Kinda did a quick mock up for ride height and length. Made the rear gussets, built the frame jig and started to bend up the tubing. More later.

1938 Ford Truck

2009-04-30T20:02:00.000-07:00

We also have a Ford truck project going. This one is for my wife. Were kinda at a standstill until more parts are collected for the chassis. We pulled it apart, removed the 221ci Ford Flathead, installed a 1957 Ford 292ci with 3-2's and a Borg Warner 4 speed trans, chopped the roof 4". My daughter and I fabricated the back panel due to rust.

New project 1962 BSA a10 Rocket

2009-04-24T19:35:00.000-07:00

Building the prism tank 70's style, I decided to make my own sprint car fuel cap.
It's easier for me to make it than to save up and buy one, and this one is smaller than
any of the cap's I've seen. The frame is stock now, but I'm going to make a ridged tail
section and a springer front end. The engine needs help, the pistons are frozen to the
jugs and the motor plates are missing.

We race tradition style, V4F BGS 140mph world record holder

2009-04-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

I am on the Bean Bandit Racing Team, we restored this streamliner originally built by
Juaquine Arnett. Stock Model "A" motor with a blower built by Tom Branch, Driven by Fabian Valdez. World record holder at Bonneville.

My toys

2009-04-19T15:52:00.000-07:00

My 1960 Biscayne, I have had this car over 15 years, I have restored it twice. I love it, I did everything on it accept the interior. My 1966Triumph 650 Bonneville took about 2 years to collect and fabricate parts to complete.

It all starts this way - Addiction

2009-04-19T15:49:00.000-07:00

650 Triumph Bonneville, started out as a basket case. Stretched the mustang tank 2", fabricated the shifter and linkage, made the seat, even laced the rear rim. The frame was bent so I cut off the ridged section and had to make a new one using some of the old pieces. Paint was done by me. Modified the springer and made all the missing rockers and upper trees, I made the exhaust from 304 stainless "j" tubes, shortened the rear fender and fabricated the oil tank, fabricated the battery box from 304 stainless, and made the seat pan, and hinge. I ride the crap out of this thing.