My 71' Bonnie

[novafrk]

Hey Guys,

Here is my current project.

Starting point one beat up and abused 1971 Triumph Bonneville. My goal from the beginning was a rigid short chop / custom bike.


The first frame we tried...



Problems, lower rails cracked and full of rusty water. Wall thickness in thickest spot, .050"... thinnest... .010". Saved what I could save, shit-canned the rest of it.

The second frame, one David Bird custom frame.



This frame I didn't like due to the fact that it is set up for 62-70 unit Triumph's. My donor bike is a 71... axles and triple trees were different... started to assemble it with spacers and adapters... it was just coming together kind of jinky. SO on to:

The Third frame one David Bird weld on hard tail for OIF (71 and later) Triumph unit construction.


This one is coming together much nicer. After welding it all up, I'm in the process of fabing up engine plates (mostly done) and the rear engine mount. Trying to find 1-3/8" tubing.



i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk43/Novafrk/71%20Triumph%20Bonneville/246869_1745251475766_1373134819_31405268_78748_n-3.jpg

(I don't know why but this pic will NOT show up.)

Here is a pic of the engine.



I have a couple of parts on order to finish up the transmission. Then onto the primary side. I've had the bike 2 years now. I'm shooting for a Spring 2012 completion. Finding a local group of vintage fanatics will certainly help motivate me! That's about it. I have a couple of ideas for electronics... I'm going to try using a 12v battery from a PLC unit. Small, sealed, 7amp hours of juice, should be fine. I'm going to attempt to hide it in an oil tank along with the reg/rectifier, and the ignition box. That might be a bit tricky to pull off but what the hell.

Novafrk / Eric

[leadkrm]

Great build u have going

[cb500bobber]

Man that is gonna be a nice bike when u get done

[sure]

nice start.. On a side note I would hide everything in the tank except your reg/rec.. it needs air flow. Them mofos get hot. This depends on what type of oil tank you use and where you plan to hide everything. I'min the process of doing a rigid triumph also..

[novafrk]

A cooling fan in the plan. Just not sure how it will all go down. As I look at what I have to work with, design ideas come and go. Here is a couple of pics of what I'm thinking of.



i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk43/Novafrk/71%20Triumph%20Bonneville/200461_1578703672175_1373134819_31196226_3801365_n.jpg

i277.photobucket.com/albums/kk43/Novafrk/71%20Triumph%20Bonneville/190395_1578691351867_1373134819_31196205_4142725_n.jpg

(sorry about the links. Problems with photobucket)

I'd like to weld up a rack assembly that I can slide in and out of one end. I have to sit down and start sketching it out, taking measurements and what not.

Thanks for all the compliments. If anyone has an idea how I can pull this off please throw it out there.

Eric

[cb500bobber]

Now that pic is a awesome idea

[novafrk]

Thanks! Like I said I just need to be able to pull it off. I think I'll be able to make it work. It's just going to be a lot of man hours, luckily I'm a man, and I have a lot of time. :-)

[leadkrm]

Hey nova cb 500 and I are reassembling my 350 twin engine when I get my gasket kit in the mail. I was wondering if I could use ur Honda manual and if ud like to help us

[72cl350]

That's gonna be sweet when it's done!

[73cb500]

When its done I'll trade you a nice 62 ford falcon for it..Haha

[novafrk]

Minor update on the project. I got a set of +.020 over piston rings from a guy that were made by Emgo. No big deal they were cheap. My cylinder and pistons both mic'ed out at +.020" The ring gap on a new set of rings is supposed to be between .010 -.014" and you need to file them to get that end gap. Out of the box the Emgo rings had .020" end gap. I wasn't comfortable with that.

This is apparently the normal condition on Emgo rings. There is a ton of discussion about rings and ring end gap over at the Jockey Journal message boards. Many guys have run rings with gaps all over the place with no excessive blow by or loss of compression. I'm not sure what to do. .010" isn't that much of a difference... technically it's only .006" out of spec but it's a fresh rebuild and I don't want to half ass it.

At any rate, I traded some 71 parts for an NOS set of Hastings rings. They act like I expected a set of new rings to act. Just barely fit in the cylinder and will have to be filed for proper clearance. Maybe I'll try them on a different engine when I get a better understanding of this old engine but this time, it's by the book. Late

[novafrk]

Hey All,

I've made a little more progress on my Bonnie Build. I've got all the parts and pieces made to weld up the rear engine mounts. 1.375" tube will be welded onto the origninal swing arm mount, solid end pieces that have been drilled and tapped to 7/16-20, and viola! Rear engine mounts. When I go to weld it I think I'm going to get some 1/2 inch threaded rod and some thick washers to hold everything together nice and tight and straight. Then I'll weld the end pieces in with probably 3 rosette welds, maybe 4. Should be good to go!

[leadkrm]

Sweet man

[novafrk]

All welded in place. :-)

[novafrk]

Hey All,

I've made a little more progress on the Triumph project. Started working on the battery tank.





I will have plenty of room I think. So the little tabs will get bent and welded to the outside inner wall of the tank. They will be drilled and tapped 1/4-20... there will be a rubber/foam pad between the rail welded to the battery frame and the tab. Bolts from the top, nice and tight. I'll make a metal strap that goes over the top of the battery that is screwed down to the rails with rubber/foam insulators there as well. I will probably put an old inner tube over the connectors on the battery... possibly even soldering on wires/connetors and use a plug at the other end. :-)

I think when the rack and the locks are all welded in place, I'm going to weld the smooth end of the tank back on. Just make the filler end removable. I'm going to have to drill the "oil line" bungs out on the top to have enough room for the wires. I'm thinking 3/8ths or if I can drill them big enough 1/2in tubing to contain all of the wires, or at least as many as I can get in.

I should start tacking pieces together tomorrow. Progress... slow but steady.

E