Custom sprockets...

As I'm waiting for parts to arrive from Matt, I figured this was a good time to tackle the special sprocket shafts that the Spacke's used... You can't use a simple sprocket like a Harley or Indian. Spacke made their sprockets part of an oil retaining keyed shaft... This pic below shows an original one on the left, and the new one on the right.  I did not make these as I have neither the talent or machinery. But I do know a great machine. shop.

You can see the worn sprocket on the left that was good enough to get me a block or two on the Cannonball... These sprockets were made from Martin commercial blanks.    The process requires a machined shaft with a slight taper on the inside.  You next need to broach a keyway to lock it onto the drive shaft....

The pic below show that the rear of the sprocket shaft has three groved cuts in it. This area holds hemp like material that will soak up oil and hold it in case, and let a lil wick out....

Once the shaft is made, then the sprocket must be cut to fit, welded on and once true, they need to be cut to the 520 chain size.... An amazing process to say the least....     I got one made OEM size of 14 links, and another with 13 for a little extra power when climbing mountains.  

Next up...a look at the front wheel, the "scrub brake" and fender....

Spacke motor...

Here is a video from Matt Olson showing the way the Spacke lifters woek.... You can just see how complicated it is !

Spacke Lifters in action !

...Hopefully I'll learn how to upload a video...

Cyliner Boring....

Here is one of the Spacke cylinders being bored to size....  This machine is top of the line computor controlled...  It's also scoring the cylinder walls to hold oil on them....

I couldn't upload the video, so here is the link.... just tilt you head to the right or flip your screen... LOL

Spacke Cyliner honing...

Take apart- Part 2

Once we got the flys out, I took a quick pic  so I could highlight the 'master ans slave' setup of Spacke.

We'll look into new valves as the original ones had a little wear on the stem.  The wildest aspect of the Spacke motor is it's lifter cage setup. This design has all the lifters operating on a horizontal shaft off of the flys. The compression release is also part of the setup... Here is the cage:

 The horizontal shaft looks like this:

We tried to start matching a good size pushrod for the trip, just to be sure...

The cases themselves will need a little welding. we found this issue on the inside front cover along with a few stress cracks here and there...

Just to give you an idea of what the compression release setup looks like, here is a quick shot of the OEM.

Since we had a score running in one of the cylinders, we'll have to have it bored out, match a new piston head with wrist pin.     Also on the agenda will be welding the case issues...

Well...here we go !

Hey I know it's been a while... but we had to take care of some business before I got into the Spacke motor... First, I had to realise that I was getting the run around with my 'motor guy.'  Sadly, due to the unprofessional way I was being treated, and the list of excuses  I was getting  everytime I inquired about getting my backup motor (1915 Harley) for the Cannonball back....I had to drop "JIM" from going over my Spacke motor.   I could elaborate a little more,  but lets move on... 
I was fortunate enough to run into Sean Brayton, a fellow Cannonballer, at Rhinebeck.  After  speaking with Sean I soon realised that he was a "No B.S." professional who could get the job done. Not only was he more than happy to go over the Spacke, he asked " So when you want to get started?"   We both knew the answer was ....uh, yesterday..."

So off to Rhode Island I went !   Traffic wasn't bad, but the offseason fog was...

Seans "Customer Service Rep met me at the front door...
Knowing that a cayote likes red meat, I threw him a pic of "JIM."
Seans shop is a 'retro' style first class automotive restoration business.  His forte is high end early autos and has a following that includes Jay Leno himself...

We jumped into the top end to see what we were getting into....  The Spacke will need new pistons... This will turn out to be a one week job...    Unlike a Harley motor whose cams run right off the shaft... the Spacke motor runs a horizontal cam shaft operating the lifters from a cage thats located inside the front cover Notice I said 'cover' because unlike most motorcycle motors, the cases do not split. 

A quick phone call to fellow Cannonballer and Spacke motor runner Matt Olson was needed to get the "take apart" flywheels out of the case...  Yup, 'Take apart'    Try goin 3200 miles knowing that your flys are not balenced together and torqued out of the cases....

They just don't pop out either...

... Let's not forget thay have what looks like small flys attached to each side

After 1/2 hour, victory was ours....

.....more to follow.....

Gettin the motor ready

Before I can get into the motor, I had to build a motor stand for the Spacke. Unlike the Harley motors, stands are not readidly available...   Whats makes the stand a tinge time consuming is that the motor mounts are really motor blocks that are part of the case housing... These blocks lay on platforms brazed into the frame and are then clamped down... You just got to calculate the angle of the mounts, and the distance apart.. Otherwise the motor will not sit right for you to work on...

Here is the stand in the raw.... BTW, I'm no welder....  This was my first "practice piece"  LOL

Once the stand was built, a little Sears "Ferrari" red (Krylon) should spruce up the stand...  As for the motor, it will be brought to Jim "THE motor guy" down in Westchester county, NY.  Jim is one of the finest engine builders around Southern NY and has work on many antique cycles far and wide.  He is the man whom Buzz Kantor of American Iron Magazine has trusted to do his "Cannonball" 1915 motor.   He is also the guy setting up my Cannonball "Just in case bike" ... a 1915 3speed Harley...

When I drop off the Spacke, I'll do a lil photo session of his place and record the progress on the motor...

Here is the Spacke ready for delivery to Jim:

 

I will provide Jim's phone number to anyone who emails me... Since his talents are in demand, we don't want to advertise it and have him hit with a thousand calls ! (Well at least till the Spacke is done...)

More Small stuff

Just goin through some more small stuff... Here is the new compression release for the Cannonball bike... It's a lot beefier than the original and should last cross country...

The left side slides into the compression tower in the motor case...It's a 10-24 thread. The right side has a new angle fitting to it that is bigger and stronger... It's tapped to 1/4x24.

As you can see, the carb looks like it's got very limited miles on it... The float almost looks NOS. Just to be on the safe side, I'm replacing it with a float from Competition Distributing...

One more small item is rocker lubrication. Since I'm using the OEM rockers I want ot make sure that greasing is fast and easy... I love the original twist oilers, but when you want to make sure grease is going where it's got to go, nothing beats a modern fitting.. It's also a little cleaner to work with...

The Small Stuff...

Well while waiting for my coveted spot at the motor machine shop, I decided it was time to take a look at some of the small but important stuff needed for the Cannonball... Stuff like light brackets, rods, light setups etc... The first thing I did was check my 1915 sears catalog to see what type of lamp brackets were available to the Sears way back then.... I found this setup the to be the best overall...


For the first 'trial' version, I'm going to place the light supports on the outside of the bracket. The supports I made a thicker than the OEM and wil be hardend so they don't snap 1/2 way cross country... Their final angle has not been set as I want the bike mocked up to dial that degree in... FYI: I'm no machinist, so these were made the old 'old' fashioned way - vice and 5lb hammer ! Here's a look :
>Next project on the day was to start to replicate the original clutch and compression release rods. The original ones are beautifully rusted and a little bit on the frail side. Better to err on the side of caution and prepare new ones for the run... Here is the clutch rod finished. As you can see, I've used modern ends that are slightly larger than OEM. Larger and hopefully stronger...



The Clutch rod:


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I'll tackle the compression release next time...