Thread: 2/3 scale Indian Straight Four.

Good onya Steven.
The sparks are still flying here, not very woodworking PC!
I finished cutting and shaping all of the gussets for the frame today.
Even had time to start wielding them up.

I'm staying a little under the radar at the moment, I'll show the frame a couple of
times a critical points.

There's a couple of reasons for this
Point A: this is a wooden toy and model making forum "Not A Blacksmith's Shop"!
Point B: probably the most important point, I'm a useless wielder.

Cheers.

I'd just gone outside to start working on the frame when I heard the postie.
I thought I'd better check and see what new bills had arrived.
But surprise surprise it was from Eddie.
A post bag with 23 of the smallest screws you ever did see in it.

I needed some small screws to finish the oil gauge on the engine.

IMG_1638.jpg

Although I found some in the end, Eddie offered to send me some he'd found.
And their brilliant, I'm only say there's 23 because even with my glasses on I
couldn't tell if I was pushing screws around or just bits of dust!

Mate thankyou so much that is really appreciated, and it put a big smile on my face.
I'll make sure to use some of them in the speedo.
When the bikes finished and people ask me what kind of speedo is it?
The answer will always be Indian Eddie!

Thanks again mate you made my day!

Cheers.
Trevor.

That's excellent work Eddie, a true country gent.... WELL DONE, SIR... .....

I've been working on the frame for awhile.
It didn't take long for the first of what will be many problems come up.
The hub of the bicycle rear wheel I wont to use wont scale to the real thing.
It's to narrow so when it's all put together the chain wont line up from the gearbox to the wheel.
I'll either have to space the sprocket out on the wheel, or horror of horror's cut the gearbox down
to make the drive sprocket closer to the centre line.

I could turn up a hub to the right size, but in a lot of way's that takes away from what I'm trying to do.
If I go to far down that road I'd be engineering the Indian and not building it from pretty much just what I can find.
So I'll have to find a way around the problem as I go.

This is pretty much were scale goes out the window in regards to the original motorcycle.
The trick here is to build a frame that looks like the real thing, but fits the engine I've made.
The bicycle wheels I have are as close to 2/3 scale of the original Indian as I can get.
But they are just slightly over sized, it's only by about an inch but it makes a big difference to the way things line up.

I've cut a template for the engine to help in laying out the frame.
The red arrow shows were it would be on the engine.
It's the same one I used to build the sump.

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I've made a very crude jig to hold the base tubes of the frame in place.
So I can get an idea of were things need to be.

IMG_1654.jpg IMG_1658.jpg

It gives me the location of the wheels, engine mounts and the overall length of the finished bike.
Which is pretty close to 5 feet or 1.5 metres.

IMG_1655.jpg IMG_1657.jpg

I'm working on a lot of other pieces the main back bone, the rear struts and supports.
But it all comes down to getting them to form around the engine, and look like the real deal.

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I'll just keep working away at it.
Cheers.

Nothing has stopped you so far, can't see this little hiccup stopping you now

Some more progress .... looking fine my friend. I've been a bit scarce of late but almost back to normal routine now. Got some spare space in my cave for you to use my bench now


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

Great to see the beginning of the frame work. It is always good to do a mock up as it gives a better idea where everything is to be placed.

I had a go at making the first of the rear wheel carriers.
It was a bit tricky to position the parts in just the right place.

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There is some timber hiding in it, the raised area around the slot for the axle is made from hardwood.

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Later on I'll run some more thread up the shank of the bolt, and shorten it to make the proportions a little better.
Just looking at it now I think tomorrow I might take some of the shoulder off the lower tube to centre the bolt more.

IMG_1663.jpg IMG_1664.jpg

Overall it's come out fairly well, all I need to do tomorrow is the
same thing backwards.
Making sure to match the angles.
I've got a funny feeling it's going to be a long day.

Cheers.

Love it Trev!!

I've lost the like button on the app update so you now I have to do more than tick like


Dave the turning cowboy

turning wood into art

Thanks Cowboy glad your liking it!
I spent the morning reshaping the lower tub to give it more clearance.
And a friend had mentioned that the carrier for the axle adjuster may be a little to far back.
So I've made the modifications and I think it looks a lot better.

IMG_1666.jpg IMG_1667.jpg

I couldn't not hit it with some red just to get an idea of how the frame will look.
Anyway back to making one for the other side.

Cheers.

I used to ride an Ariel Square Four in my younger (and wilder days) ,christ it had some torque ,you could nearly drive it up a wall!!.They were the good old days ,mates had Triumphs ,BSA Road rocket,Norton Dominators,Sunbeams and the good old Harleys with un sprung frames.Not many of them survived that era, deaths were numerous among them and I virtually ran out of mates,Ahhh they were the days used to have a mate lived at Rose Bay ,local copper there had an old Dodge as a police car, he used to do two or three circuits of Rose Bay about 6am in the mornings, especially on the weekends,enough to wake the copper up to chase him ,nevercaught him though.
Met up with him years later ,retired ,related a few experiences about retirement, got the motor cycle bug again so bought a brand new Harley and side car,set off for the Gold Coast, rained all the way up and all the way back ,bike was in the Sydney Morning Herald the next Saturday for sale.But he got it out of his system.Then took up clockmaking had a man cave full of clocks,movements etc.Noticed he had been slowing down quite a lot, running out of patience ,sleeping a lot,wife then confessed she had put something in his porridge to slow him down.
You wouldn't be dead for quids!!!!!

Originally Posted by Repliconics

I couldn't not hit it with some red just to get an idea of how the frame will look.

Now they're the same colour as my old gal!

I dunno 'bout the Indians, but on my old WLA I believe the carriers were cast; they still have a trace of sprue line around the outside edge. Are you going into that level of detail?

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Now they're the same colour as my old gal!

I dunno 'bout the Indians, but on my old WLA I believe the carriers were cast; they still have a trace of sprue line around the outside edge. Are you going into that level of detail?

That's making it extra tough on this scrounger extraordinaire Skew.....
BUT I'M SURE TREVOR IS MORE THAN UP TO THE CHALLENGE!!!

Originally Posted by Skew ChiDAMN!!

Now they're the same colour as my old gal!

I dunno 'bout the Indians, but on my old WLA I believe the carriers were cast; they still have a trace of sprue line around the outside edge. Are you going into that level of detail?

Not so long as I own a file!