Projects from THE COMPOUND

[DRIVEN]

As if I needed another project...

This actually belongs to my brother's soon-to-be-ex brother in law. My brother went through it a few years ago and BIL rode it twice. It's been sitting in my brother's shop ever since. Actually pretty low hours for it's age. We made the decision to get it up and running again and I'm going to do some riding. It's been forever since I've been on a dirt bike so I'm pretty stoked. Looks like I'll need to change the fork oil, recharge the nitrogen in the rear, and figure out why the front brake is stiff. Was running fine when it was put away so I don't expect too much trouble getting it fired up again.

 

[Mike P]

Your price on the T5s is about ½ of what they go for out here without mods.


“……My suggestion would be to hold out for a WC if you can…….”


Yeah, it would have been nice, but S10 T5s are not so easy to come here. The project was stalled because I needed a transmission to be able to set the motor and get the mounts built. I ended up with a NWC one from a 92, with the fine spline input shaft. The price was right (I traded a bare 350 block for it). As long as I don’t get exuberant with it, it should probably last behind the 283 in a light mini truck. I looked at extending the splines but in the long run ended up just ordering the adaptor plate to space the transmission back ……I still had to trim the end of the input shaft and bearing retainer plus buy the special clutch disc.


I had figured on retaining the original gauge cluster which was in pretty decent shape.






Unfortunately I didn’t have any luck locating an earlier cable drive tail housing and other parts I needed to run a cable speedometer. I’ve read mixed reviews on the Cable-X units so I ended up just going the electronic speedometer route. In the long run it worked out for the best as it gave me an excuse to add a couple more gauges (tach, oil pressure and volt gauge) the original dash didn’t have.





All told it turned out to be not such a bargain when all was said and done LOL. That being said, I’m keeping my eyes open for a spare transmission “just in case” and am still looking (which means the project would have still been in the wait mode).

 

[DRIVEN]

My brother picked up a Coleman canoe yesterday. Even came with a MinKota motor and custom made mount.

Just so happens that one of our buddies gave him a set of Yakima stands. Since his bus already had gutter mounts on it when he bought it, all he needed to do was add some 2" spacer blocks and cut some tubing.

 

[DRIVEN]

Idaho '36 update...


He changed a few things under the hood.


Painted some small parts. Different wires (because he didn't like the yellow) and better routing. Replaced the Holley with a Carter. Some heat protection on the wiring by the starter. Note the temp gauge sender also. Lots of little things.
Once the engine bay was deemed good-to-go he stripped the dash to install the gauges I gave him. Also got the windshield crank freed up so it would open.

He had a couple cans of aerosol paint mixed up to match. There were a few holes in the dash that weren't going to be used so he got some 1936 coins to use as plugs.




Then it was burnout time...

 

[DRIVEN]

I've been following a mower around in circles here for over 30 years. Mosquitoes are brutal this year. Behind the shop is an engineered wetland about an acre in size and behind the house is a swampy valley/gulley what has a creek running through it. The mild winter and early spring has really created a great breeding environment. I must have sweet blood because mosquitoes have always loved me but this is the first year that I've had to bathe in bug spray just to mow the lawn in mid day. It's nuts!



Just got a text from my dad. He has some pretty decent interest from guys in Seattle, Reno and Sacramento. Hopefully someone flies in and drives it home.

 

[ssn696]

Winner is the truck. Runners-up are the mosquitos. They and poison ivy are two reasons I don't miss Connecticut.

Hang in there...

 

[DRIVEN]

Just about added an Indian Chief to The Compound yesterday. Was kinda cosmetically challenged but had a fresh 96" S&S rebuild that sounded great. It's been for sale for a few weeks and I suspect the color was a deterrent to most potential buyers. I looked at it at 10am and went home to price some parts. Was about to email the seller a couple more questions when he sent me a message that it had been sold. Bummer, I've always wanted one. Oh well.

 

[chophead]

Shame I brought a Indian just for the s&s motor and trans before. Stong, stong motor. The bike was a theft recovery and it was so far gone I didn't want the hassle of the enhanced inspection to have it back on the road plus with a rebuilt title it would never have any value. Right before Indian went under the last time the bottle cap motor looked like a kool item. I have riden a chop built with one using a 6 speed baker trans and wow. It would have been nice to see if that would have made any difference to the company staying around longer. While I like victory / Polaris and I also worked and was a certified tech for a dealer here in pa I really don't like the new looks of the power plant. But knowing how well built victory bikes are I would seriously considering buying the new bagger they have out. Even my wife thinks it has more room. Not sure about there but pa roads suck and long rides get uncomfortable without room and good shocks lol.

 

[DRIVEN]

The S&S is really what draws me to the Gilroy era bikes. A lot of guys refer to them as glorified kit bikes but to me that's not a necessarily a bad thing. I like the Indian styling and I like the parts availability if HD. The Gilroy bikes have both.
I have a feeling that with Polaris behind the brand they'll be a huge success. As much as I'd love a new Chief, it just isn't in the budget right now. I do plan to keep an eye out for an older on though.

 

[chophead]

It was basically a kit bike. But so was big dog and so many others. They just had the ability to make a few parts and pay people to build them.

I still look for bikes from those days. Why? Because most guys never rode them and the were built using some really good parts. S&s motors did all of harleys rebuilds and most folks dont know that. Baker transmission is the best usa made trans ever made. You can buy a bike with under 10000 miles using these parts for 5000 and up to 9 around here. Just because the ad says 12 or best offer trust me the store brought bikers have moved on and now want rat rods. Which is good for guys like us.

I just passed up a shovel s&s built motor in a fxr frame because bike ocean city md bike week is in September and I need the cash for that. But the guy had the paper work and he said he would take 4grand cash today.

Maybe one day I will find that bottle cap motor. Even if I make a coffee table outta it I just think they were bad azz and I to believe Indian will now live one. Victory/Polaris imo are great American made motorcycles. Sad part not many people know...... more vic/pol parts are usa made then a harley. 85percent of victory parts are made here by Americans. How many hd parts are made here?