Mudflap Girl Part 1a

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There’s nothing like a Mudflap Girl, so I was intrigued when brothers started building Mudflap Girl products. Mudflap girls are the workingman’s escape from constant asphalt treachery, workin’ eight hours everyday on a construction site or hauling containers from some dank port to a train depot or concrete distribution center. Where are the girls? There ain’t any, but there are Mudflap Girls to remind us of softer times.

So we’ve collected a handful of mudflap girl products from Billy Lane, at Choppers Inc. , 2-wheelers in Denver, Sturgis and Daytona and Nick from New York City Choppers. Then we needed a fitting bike project, and one surfaced. Seems a Bikernet babe grew up in the San Pedro projects with eight brothers and sisters. The oldest one, and most supportive, hardest working, was Brad Olsen, a longshoreman crane operator in the LA Harbor.

Those kids grew up on the tough side of the harbor and Brad took the brunt of the hard life, became a fighter and family member defender. He worked the ports, went to school, became a tugboat captain and ultimately, a crane mechanic. For eight years he trained under Richard Bustillo, who worked with Bruce Lee, and Brad became a master and owner of his own dojo, Harbor Kick-Boxing in San Pedro.

Brad fought for his brothers and sisters, and then worked with inner-city kids to build their self-defense abilities and self esteem. Brad has owned a 1961 Panhead for 25 years and keeps it pristine. It’s his baby, but his kicking knee is damaged and he needs a long-distance touring bike with an electric starter. That’s where the mudflap girl came into play.

The project started with a salvaged 1998 Dyna Glide basket, which we tore apart. We sent the engine to Harley-Davidson for a re-man effort with the help of Fullerton, California H-D. The transmission was rough and we wanted a 6-speed for those long Mudflap Girl highways. I had a JIMS 6-speed, which I returned to the JIMS factory. We switched and twisted the Dyna Glide 5-speed transmission into a JIMS FXR, 6-speed and a Softail 5-Speed for another project (my 1915 5-Ball Factory Racer).

I’m not a big Dyna, fan so we dug out my last Quantum, Kenny Boyce styled Pro Street FXR frame and went to work finding parts. I bought a used Arlen Ness FXR swingarm from LA Chop Rods and dug out a wide Custom Chrome inverted front end with turn signals built in. The overall design element called for building a tough and reliable touring motorcycle for Brad.

Doherty wheel spacer kit. They come in ¾ and 1-inch axle sizes. I throw in any spacers I stumble across to replace the ones I’ve used.

Another key element for the overall package was the bags we ordered from Redneck Engineering. Once we had a set of Renegade Wheels like we used on the Assalt Weapan, mounted to new Cobra Avon Tires we were ready to begin the mock-up stage.

I beveled the axle to fit the contour of the front end.

machining a rear axle to work up front.

Of course, I used Doherty Machine wheel spacers to center the wheels and had to machine a stock axle to fit the Custom Chrome wide glide.

Handling is an issue with any rubber-mounted bike and we pressed in Custom Cycle Engineering swingarm bushings to tighten the ride. Plus I’m still trying to work with a tougher swingarm axle from www.Glide-Pro.com.

The Custom Cycle Engineering bearings come with their own press plug tool to press them in the perfect distance.

These CCE inserts slip in against the bearings.

Bearing in place.

I spoke to a couple of builders about installing the driveline in a FXR frame and some bolt the engine and trans together, then lay them on their sides. They slip the frame over the top and install the swingarm, swingarm axle, rubber-mount biscuits and transmission to the frame. Unfortunately, I don’t care for that system. It’s against the Code of the West to lay a Harley engine on its side on the ground. Bad mojo.

We mounted the front end and front wheel to the frame, then put a jack under the frame. Then we mounted the swingarm and transmission together in the frame with the axle. Next we installed the Renegade wheel. I moved the jack. with a chunk of wood to lift the transmission until it was level.

The Quantum (out of business) offset front motormount plate.

Then came the Quantum front motor mount, which was offset. We may replace it with a stock touring mount. Here’s what Rogue had to say about it:

No, they are not specific to the frames you have. They can be used with anyrubber-mount FXR frame to offset the engine 3/8ths of an inch to the left.We originally used them with the frames Kenny Boyce made for Quantum.

Bikernet high security, Cash, the dog. His brother Tank was watching the other end of the facility. Ears out means high alert.

Looking back over some old paperwork it appears you got two blackpowder-coated Quantum frames that were made for Quantum by Kenny Boyce.

My thug, tagger, grandson was helping out, when he’s not on the run.

These frames were used with the front offset mounts and had the transmissiontail shaft modified by removing 3/8ths of an inch from the left side and useda spacer of the same size on the right. This moved the engine andtransmission equally to the left.

Caught him tagging our building.

Later, Quantum used a set of offset rear swingarm end caps as opposed tomodifying the transmission. If a stock front motormount was used, no changes had to be made to the rear.

My notes say you also got a bare Quantum frame made for them by Kraftech. The mounts were usually used when using a fat tire on the rear.I had a bunch of them and figured you could use them for something. You donot have to use them!

The Swingarm attached to the trans.

I was confused by the offset, so it’s always a smart notion to check with someone who knows. Rogue worked for Quantum back in the day. We will eliminate the offset front motormount plate as we roll forward.

With the trans jacked level and the front rubber pad mounted loose with the front engine plate, mentioned above, snugged to the biscuit with a ½-inch bolt, we dropped the engine into place, like we would in a rigid or Softail frame.

Next, we’ll replace that front motormount, shave off the existing tank mounts, start to mount a Custom Chrome gas tank and rear fender and prepare Redneck Engineering bag mounting brackets.

We are not running a beach ball tire, but a 150 Avon.

This is a good shot of the Redneck Engineering bags. If you ever want a state of the art custom built, see Don Hotop (319) 372-6216. He’s a true master.

Above is a bike built by Don Hotop for his wife using Redneck Engineering bags. The fiberglass bags are designed, and come with mounting rails for Softails. We will need to cut the bags for Progressive Suspension shocks and build very sturdy basketry.