In this WIP I’m trying to build a Christmas gift for my dad… Well if he reads it, he’s gonna have no surprise…
You see my dad and me we grew up in socialist Poland. Many years ago my pops build himself a ride:
You see in socialist Poland if you didn’t want to walk, or ride a bus or train, you had to get creative. In case of my dad he bought a piece of scrap that was Indian frame with engine and gearbox and rebuilt it as seen above. Al my life I had to listen about the story how when the baby was born (and that would be me) the bike had to be sold.
As only one photo survives I’m not going to build a 1:1 replica of my pops’ ride (yet), but I’ll try something simpler - I’ll take Italeri’s 1:9 Harley WLA, many of which were delivered to Poland after the war by UNRRA, and try to show how an ambtious young man could have rebuilt it in the early 1970s in socialist Poland.
So I’m starting with the wheels - I glued the rims, filled, sanded, drilled and Alcladed them (the colour came out on the dark side). I made a little rig for those wheels:
For the spokes I took 0.5mm silver coated copper wire. Here’s how the wheels look like after I’m done:
Reminds me of the early choppers you used to see in the 60s biker movies! Guys built them with what was available as there weren’t all the aftermarket parts there are now days. Rode with a few of them. Buddy of mine built trikes out of Volkswagons. Wayne
Thanks a lot for your comments and for your kind words - they mean a lot to me!
@namengr - in socialist Poland those biker movies could be seen with considerable delay (a few years) but they impressed the viewers a lot! You can bet anything you want there were no aftermarket at all, neither, but we had a surprising numbers of ex US Army stuff like GMC and Dodge trucks, Jeeps and bikes like Harleys WLA and Indians that were given to Poland as post war aid. All those were heavily used and when they landed in a scrap yard they were right away snatched by tinkerers who then proceeded to rebuild them. Many such people were working at state owned factories and tried to used machines of those factories to fabricate missing parts or for stuff like sand blasting or chroming parts that “needed” it.
And today I have a small update for you:
I have dry-fitted the front wheel. I want to put one more coat of paint on the fender for better gloss, but you can already see the base colour - this is according to what my pops told me he used (I didn’t tell him why I’m asking).
As you can see I’m already working on the frame and also on the engine.
hey Pawel, that is kina how we were building our bikes back in the 60s and early 70s. My buddies worked at a factory that built industrial racks and shelving.They paint them pale blue and yellow. Guess what color 2 of my buddies bike were? And another guy built VW trikes in the tow motor shop. A lot of guys worked in welding or machine shops or were mechanics, so we were always helping build new bikes. Fun times back then. Wayne
@18bravo - or chain guards, for that matter… Mommy, what’s that spinning thingy here… OW! Dang, now we have to fit you a hook for a hand, like in that Peter Pan book…
Hmmm…Spinning thingy only spins when I’m riding. If he can keep up on his skateboard I suppose he deserves what he gets.
On the other hand, if the bike is parked in front of a dive at 1:30 am, nothing is spinning, but I would submit “mommy” is not being nominated for “Mother of the Year” award if her kid is with her.
Guys who build choppers like to eliminate the unnecessary. Chain guards are for riders who aren’t in tune with their builds.
Had a friend who thought an open primary drive was badass. Had it all chromed up an looked really bad. Unfortunately, Bell bottom jeans were in and when he put his foot down it caught the pant leg and slammed his foot down into the street. Severe broken bones and wrecked the bike. Looks aren’t everything! Wayne
Or did you hear about the beach car racing that was very “in” in the 1920’s… I’ve heard a story about a driver trying to break the land speed record and being decapitated by a snapped drive chain…
Here are more details:
Turns out the chain was faired (a little sheet metal would be no problem for the chain if it broke) and it isn’t confirmed, that it was the chain indeed, but that’s the way I heard it the first time around…
A few more inspirational pics from the days. my bike in the kitchen, the living room, some trikes,bikes and my suicide shift with the glass door knob. And me and my old lady back in the day! Hell gettin’ old! Wayne
Perhaps it’s time for a short motorcycle lesson. That not an open primary, not even close. It’s an exposed sprocket. This is a one off build - there are no mounts for a chain guard or a sprocket guard. If I’d wanted them I’m fairly confident I could have designed something, as I did with the whole bike. But they weren’t necessary. One can tell that by noticing where the foot controls are. What I do usually find necessary is a front brake. The only people I know who run without them do it for looks, as in the above photos. There’s no good reason not to have them - they supply most of the braking power, not the rear.
But ultimately we have to factor in one final thing - I’d never be caught dead in bell bottoms.
That is one unlucky mofo. I’ve never seen that happen, and a lot of guys in my MC ride open primaries.
As for me - I’m looking forward to more of this excellent build.
Not sure if this was directed at me, but I started riding in 69, so I’ve been around bikes for a long time. As I said we built bikes back when there was no guides, just making them as we went. A guy I knew made a hardtail section for a Honda 305 scrambler out of heavy wall conduit! And rode the hellout of it. Springer front ends were lengthened with old Ford radius rods. My first one had a piece of rebar stuck down in it to strengthen it. Wayne
@18bravo - shoulda told me right away this bike was your own little baby - I would have shown more respect for it and for you, too!
@namengr - thanks a lot for your great photos! Looks like you’ve been having your well deserved fun after leaving the army! As for the shifter knob I didn’t quite catch it in the photos… I would like to put something special on my bike, too - but it would have to be something possible to get in the socialist Poland. I guess a shell of the “pineapple” grenade would be too heavy…
I’m working hard to make it on time for Christmas.
Hence another update - I started putting the engine together and dry fitted it to the painted frame. I also started working on the fuel/oil tank:
I also have the rear wheel almost done, so of course I couldn’t resist the temptation to make some more dry fitting:
It’s starting to look like a bike! In this shot it’s evidently visible, that the gearbox is also necessary
Thanks for being with me on this one, have a nice day!
Shifter is on the right in front of the oil tank in the first picture. Yeah, you need something light ffor the knob, I tried a beer tap handle once, but the weight kept causing it to vibrate it out of gear! Bike is coming along great. Wayne
