Vigilante - Update from Down Under

[Blaxmyth]

Hi everyone

Here is the latest progress on the Vigilante. I'm staying pretty close to the plans, except that I have bolted two pieces of strap together for above the headset of the forks. They are tack welded to the forks and the gooseneck, so they can be taken apart easily.

I found that the holes for where the headset goes through the top tube were a bit of a challenge, but after a lot of careful filing and test fitting, the headset went through with hardly any gap. I have made a tracing of the heart-shaped hole, which might be useful to someone. The angle is very close to that in the plans, with a 72” wheelbase, 26” front and rear wheels.

Anyway, two things – Firstly, building this bike is the most fun I have had for a long time. I can plan it during the day and get in an hour or so in the shed after work. Total enjoyment.

Second thing – it's just coming in to summer here in New Zealand and I almost feel guilty when I read about the temps you guys are putting up with! As I'm writing this, it is 8:30 at night, birds are chirping outside and my daughter is just finishing training at our local velodrome...

Cheers from Down Under!

Phil


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[SirJoey]

Dude, that's lookin' GOOD! YEAH! :punk:

I'll bet that IS tough, gettin' that hole through those corners, & at the right angle, too!

Nice work!


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[Radical Brad]

Wow, that is mint, dude!

I agree, building V was great fun, and the I can't wait until the deep freeze here is over.

Please keep us posted, great to see such high quality work.

Brad

[KoolKat]

AWESOME!! :rockon:

[Blaxmyth]

Hi folks

Here is the latest progress. The handlebars are just tacked together at this stage.

Next step is to make a lay shaft to step out the chain from the bottom bracket. I don't think I'll widen the bottom bracket because the back wheel is 8” wide. My plan is to use an old steel front hub as a lay shaft, with two sprockets welded on, one to each flange. If I weld two slotted bars onto the lower rear chain stay, the shaft can be moved to tension the front chain. I'll post a photo as soon as I get it done – it'll make sense then...

http://img120.imageshack.us/img120/309/dsc03238oq6.th.jpg (http://img120.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc03238oq6.jpg)

http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/9923/dsc03239xz1.th.jpg (http://img389.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc03239xz1.jpg)

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/3741/dsc03240ed2.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc03240ed2.jpg)

http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/8721/dsc03241vl7.th.jpg (http://img213.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc03241vl7.jpg)

Cheers, Phil.

[Sparky]

kool! keep us posted!

[SirJoey]

Man, that just looks wickedly awesome, dude!
Great work! Keep it coming!


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[KoolKat]

That's looking pretty mint! :rockon:

[John Lewis]

Hi Blaxmyth,

That's shaping up to be one awesome machine. I maybe better keep away from this thread or I'll be wanting to build one too.:jester:

Keep us posted on progress.

John Lewis

[Radical Brad]

Great showing!

Brad

[jonnyutah]

g'day phil,

im a newbie to this site, only just joined.
im wondering how u get the insides of the real car wheel removed enableing u to put the 8 spokes in?
p.s. u have a good set up in ur garage, perfect for such projects as this, quite jealous i am!!

[Blaxmyth]

Thanks for the kind words!

The back wheel is actually a lot easier to build than it looks - providing you work in the order that Brad sets out the steps in his plan.

The inside section of this wheel was welded into the angled corner of the stiffening hump running around the inner diameter of the rim. It was pressed out of a piece of plate that was slightly more than 1/4 inch thick - really solid stuff! The stiffening hump was not central, but was slightly nearer one edge. The inside section was pushed against the hump, then welded around the outer edge on one side only. There were three main sections that touched the outer edge, so I used a 4" angle grinder with a cut-off blade and nibbled my way around the outside about 1" from the welds. When the guts were free, I made a series of radial cuts with the cut-off disc, getting as close to the welds as I could without actually cutting into the rim. I ended up with a series of 1" tabs about 1" wide that were welded only on one side. Then I used a club hammer and cold chisel to bend them over so the weld snapped, and cleaned the welds down with a grinding disc and sanding disc. It took a few hours, but was quite easy.

Building the hub is a piece of cake, and it runs pretty true. You certainly don't notice the 1/4" or so of movement when you're riding it. The best advice I can give you is to follow Brad's plans. I've found that he's discovered all the pitfalls and pointed them out, which saves me the trouble of finding them for myself... He has saved me a heap of wasted time.

We had the chopper at my school this week, so I'll post a photo of it in action when I track down the camera.

[h._simpson]

Hey Blaxmyth,

Your bike is looking fantastic. Looks mean as.:punk: