I like to keep things professional in terms of the article and portrayal of Kiwi.It’s a hard grind being a bit narrow minded and with a passion for Indian motorcycles, however I do love them and their classic timeless styling.”
“My whole philosophy behind my build is what Ford did with the Mustang, classic styling blended with modern engineering. For once in my life I believe that I have something that is somewhat mainstream (that people will get) and does justice to a past American classic. I have been mentioning it as the 1st retro American motorcycle.”
Sturgis 2007 was a boomer week for the Kiwi crew, not only did we win quite a few awards with our motorcycles but we attended several industry events which is always exciting. One of the 1st industry functions we attended was S&S gathering on Monday evening where they announced they were selecting 10 bike builders to build a bike from the1st 10 X-Wedge engines off the production line to commemorate their 50th anniversary. Wow, I thought how exciting it would be being involved with such an icon company in which Kiwi Indian Motorcycle Co could show off our talents which would move it towards our next phase of motorcycling, designing and building complete productionable motorcycles.
S&S also announced they had five engine classes which would encompass a total of 50 builders with a grand prize of $50,000.00, however in my mind we were already a winner just to have selected to be one of the builders and the $50,000.00 did not mean a thing.
Needless to say the next day I already had a plan put together of the general layout and design of our motorcycle.S&S X-Wedge engine is a totally new platform engine and not related to anything existing on the market. I got word of the X-Wedge just before the Cincinnati V-Twin Expo (dealer trade show) in Feb ’07 and my first thoughts were that it was just another ho hum (unexciting) Harley derivative engine. However upon following it up, I found out that it was far from that, a whole new fresh design, which I feel is what our industry so badly needs. I made it THE point to have at the top of my list of to do’s at Cincinnati and I attended every seminar put on about the X-Wedge, so I could fully understand the engine. In a nut shell it is a 56-1/4 degree air cooled V-Twin engine with an automotive style crank and rods utilizing plain bearings with a high performance Chevy 454 top end designed to meet future EPA emissions standards, absolutely marvelous. In all honesty S&S has taken the lead in the V-Twin engine design which in my mind now dates most of the Harley based V-Twin designs. When we look back in time some years down the road, this engine will be a defining engine in the world of American made V-Twins.
I also noticed an interesting phenomena taking place in the V-Twin market over many years which is Harley’s need quite a bit of money spent on them after they are bought from the dealer in order to get them to run half ways decent. We’re all told it’s due to the new emissions standards, however I see it more as a cheap cop-out by the Motor Co. to avoid re-engineering their product better to make it better.
I believe many people will be asking the same questions as time goes on and Harley will see the results. On the other hand one would hope not too many look at other brands as Harley’s antiquatedness fuels a big aftermarket industry which Harley despises. I feel a famous brand name, pushing American made and a trendy life style product can only work for so long and eventually the consumer gets to the point of being overdosed and checks out other manufactures and models of motorcycles which Harley needs to seriously keep in mind.
It was just a few years ago I was told that my motorcycles and products were not main stream by one of the top magazine editors in the US and that I would never be eligible for any industry recognition. That statement irked me so much, and even to this day I believe the reason many of us ride motorcycles (for me going back to my 1970s riding years) included not wanting to be mainstream. Now let’s just take a short moment to look where all the mainstream chopper builders are, hmm, they’re now chasing the trendy bagger market. Wow, original thinkers aren’t they, building the SOS again. While there are some original thinkers in that market, most can’t. Who gives a hoot about being mainstream. Someone in America must buck the bloody main stream trend. Main stream, FTH.
We received our mock up X-Wedge engine and one of the Kiwi Indian traits of our style is to have a compact power plant unit (engine, transmission, primary assembly). I have never cared for the Harley design with the transmission a ½ a mile behind the engine as my style is to keep the powerplant unit nice ‘n’ tight and compact in design. In one of the S&S sessions at Cincinnati I asked why they had not considered a combined unit (engine/tranny/primary in one case) like the Sportster, but the answer was that all the bike builders balked at it. To me most of the thinking here in America is keeping in the past and not pressing forwards and trying new things. I foresee great new designs if S&S would produce a unitized powerplant as it would allow a greater freedom for us designers.
Aug 22 the mail arrived and S&S formal confirmation, and I could not sign on the dotted line fast enough, even before reading all of the paperwork it got signed and faxed back. We’re gonna do it come hell or high water so why sweet the details.
The builder list showed 50 builders building bikes from across all of S&S engine platforms (Panhead, Shovelhead, Evo, etc) and only 10 selected to build a bike using their new X-wedge engine. Wow, I thought, this makes it even more coveted. This is an opportunity of a lifetime to create a masterpiece and I had my list of design requirements ready which was as follows:
Plunger rear suspension (classic style), seat post (comfort), traditional solo seat (comfort),18″ wheels (handling), PM Marquee wheels (style), Avon tires (the best), dual 10″ discs up front with dual 4 piston calipers (stopping power), compact powerplant (freedom of design), belt rear drive (smoothness and low maintenance), classic fenders and tanks (tradition), oil tank in front right gas tank (clean design), retro instrumentation (style), Kiwi frame and Kiwi Girder forks made in house (quality control).
Over the years of working with James we have been able to develop advanced sealing solutions for vintage Indian Motorcycles and both he and I grew to be close personal friends. He encouraged me to excel and think outside the box and when I told him of my new bike design utilizing S&S new X-wedge he got extremely excited and encouraged me to move forward with my dream. I discussed my design with him however my dream of him seeing it was cut short when he suddenly dropped dead of a heart attack. This was quite an emotional set back for me as in my heart this bike had a lot of James in it. James was a class act, never took any lime light and was a visionary guy whom I could talk to about the industry and its inner workings. My back ground is vintage Indians and over the past 20 years I have designed and created around 2500 different part numbers for classic Indians so entering the modern American m/c industry posed some challenges; however most of the industry veterans already knew and respected me for what we did for Indian motorcycles. Our leaf spring forks were a major step for us in this market as they were instantly featured on all of the top builder’s bikes and new relationships were formed.
I believe in growing a company organically and for us that has been manufacturing all the individual parts to a motorcycle whether it be a brackets, speedometers, ignition switches, gauges, wheels, brakes, handlebar controls, tanks, fenders, engines, transmissions, forks, frames, etc, we’ve done it all organically one part at a time. I love the modern industry for its excitement and opportunities. RIP my good friend James Clark.
Dec 3, 2007 we shaped the front frame down tubes which were tack welded into place.
Christian is an awesome designer and he whipped out a few drawings, one of which also had our Leaf Spring forks. It was so cool, too. There’s a couple of cool dudes right there.
James Simonelli from S&S has always been a huge help with our projects, no matter what question I had. He either had the answer on hand or researched it for us in a very timely fashion even calling me back at 11pm his time with an answer. I can’t speak highly enough about James as he is an awesome individual and a huge asset to S&S.
A while ago Chopper Dave built a bobber with an X-Wedge for S&S to introduce it to the Japanese market at the Mooneyes show in late Nov. I had a few questions and Dave went out of his way to assist going so far as saying that his bike will be back next week so come on down and do anything you want with it and take it for a ride. It was a very generous offer indeed and it’s great to have great mates in low places.
To date (Dec 13) our finished motor had still not arrived. We found out that our special request of powder-coating the cylinders and parts of the heads black threw a spanner in the works at S&S, so James Simonelli took it upon himself to handle our special request. One of our aims with this engine was to simulate the vintage era like on our Kiwi flathead engines. From what I heard most of the other builders had their engine but we didn’t, which in all honesty was no big deal since we had a mock up to work with.
We drew sketches of how we wanted the cylinders and fins to look, and James carried out our wish. I can’t speak favorably enough about James.
Dec 18: The frame backbone was now fabricated and a 180 rear tire was our choice, up from a 150. Our rear fender had to be widened to accommodate our new tire. To me a 180 tire makes a bike have a little attitude but without sacrificing handling, since my aim was to balance looks and handling. I find so many bikes don’t handle because builders and buyers just don’t know what a motorcycle or motorcycling is all about. I might be raving on, but the motorcycle industry is in a market correction and getting rid of the crap that has been built over the last few years which is a good thing and the cream is rising to the top.
Rule #1 for a motorcycle is it has to go around corners, so handling is important and I’d venture to say that was last on many of the custom bike builders lists. Never stray away from rule #1.
Mid Jan and our finished X-Wedge engine finally arrives. Fedex ground delivered it to our old shop address (12 miles away) which we had moved from five years ago and it took them five more working days to have it redirected just 12 miles away to our current address. It became a joke talking with Fedex each day so much so, that I jokingly asked how long does it take for a 215 lb package to get delivered 12 miles?
When the engine finally arrived it was outstanding to say the least. Our custom powder coated mat black cylinders/heads and polished combo made the engine classically outstanding. While it did take S&S/James quite a bit to get it the way we wanted it, it sure as hell was well worth the effort and wait.
When the fender parts arrived we got the bill which was expected as we did not ask for anything free, however we were all stunned at the cost, 50 bucks less than a completely finished off one, that’s a 15% discount, whippy bloody do, you just got to be kidding for just fender stampings!!!
He sells a completed rear fender meaning, stamped, trimmed, welded, drilled, chain guard cut out and mounting tabs fitted all finished and ready for final paint for $50.00 more. Upon discussing this on several occasions to give him every chance to rectify it, all I got was, “Well if I sell you an unfinished fender then I loose a sale on a completed one.” Give me a break and get real!!! I’ve helped this friend out many times over the years especially when he couldn’t find parts for his own personal bikes, so I’d loan him the parts out of my personal collection so he could keep on rolling with his projects. I also started his tank program using one of my venders, sacrificing my own tanks as guinea pigs and organizing the tooling to make it all happen along with countless hours on my part all to help a friend out. Since this is a pretty high profile and unique build, one would think it would be a perfect opportunity to have ones product featured on it but some people just can’t see the forest because of the bushes, ah well, his loss.
I’m happy to have some other very cool companies involved in this project. I just like companies to work with us in a favorable way so that we can still remain friends and neither one gets hurt, it’s that plain and simple. It needs to be Win-Win. Since this has been published the guy has taken offence to this however this is not intended to embarrass anyone, but is a chronicle of the build, its trials, tribulations and honest goings on.
It’s no wonder I build more and more stuff myself, as I can do without the drama. I find life is all about relationships but some just don’t get it. It’s fun building them and if it had not been for building relationships over the years, our business or products would not have been as successful.
March 18, and we’re finished with a bike we built for David Letterman. The bike build was a major transformation of turning a 2002-2003 Gilroy era Indian Chief into looking like Steve McQueen’s replica 1940 Indian Chief. It was a major undertaking as nobody had ever done it before, but it gave us a chance to transform a so-so Indian into something stunning.
To me the Gilroy era Indians had quite a few issues in design which gave me a good inside view of what not to build into our bike.
Girder front ends are nothing new but many just seem to miss the design and style aspect of them. I love tapered and oval tubing, as it reflects art and craftsmanship from a bygone era which is what I wanted to implant into this bike build. Girders are cool if they are built right and their design has to be done right, plus they have their place on certain models of motorcycles and I feel this one was appropriate for our bike, classic styling for a classic bike.
Mar.28, 08 felt like a big day as we made major progress in making all the front end parts so much so that we were able to begin to mock up the front end and see what it was going to look.
April 5, This whole week we worked late and most of Saturday fabricating the front end, so we could see if the bike would sit level and have the right overall look. The rear end also had a lot of engineering involved in it as it had been upgraded to modern hydraulic shocks within the existing spring/plunger rear end.
The rear wheel pulley had to run in alignment with the transmission output pulley (obviously) which is basic and a no brainer, however my requirement included using a classic styled chain guard. While this sounds easy it was far from that. So far it took a lot of engineering and fabricating, however it was taking shape and looking like it captured the looks of the classic American motorcycle I was after.
Fabricating things from scratch was no small feat and while some people design bikes on CAD, I prefer the simplicity of a rough drawing, some basic dimensions and good old fashioned hands-on fabrication. That’s where Mader and Travis rock as they are both excellent at it. I will agree that CAD does have its advantages, but I still like the simplicity of doing some things the old fashioned way in life. What we’re capturing here and creating is a true part of the past of American motorcycle manufacturing by true hands of skilled craftsman.
4/22/08. Time was ticking by and I had my eye on a finish date which was making me nervous. When designing a bike from the ground up there is sure to be set backs, however they are all under control (I think at this stage). The rear shocks were true shocks and were hydraulically dampened. The design incorporating the hydraulics into an existing design was quite challenging, costly and time consuming. Fortunately, Gil at Works Shocks was an outstanding guy and accepted this challenge and made sure it succeeded all the way through. A true industry professional.
Ah well, we’ll just had to see how all of this works out. I have nothing against chain drive as they are reliable, offer good design flexibility and when good components are used, nice and smooth.
May, 08 the 20mm (3/4″) wide belt was dropped in favor of a 1-1/8 which was offered in many lengths and would still fit within our chain guard, well I guess it’s officially called a belt guard now.
I wanted the tanks to have classic styling and Travis and Justin started beating on some sheet metal until the correct shape was created. Sheet metal working is a fine craft and we don’t get along, so I have no quibbles about leaving it to these 2 experts. Hell, even Tiny stepped up to the plate and helped in the sheet metal fabrication dept.
Electronic fuel injection is totally new for me but after seeing Bazza working with it on modern American bikes on his side of the business (modern Harley servicing), I am very comfortable with what it brings to the table in terms of being fully custom programmable and reliable. Designing a way to capture the fuel pump into the tank and making it easily removable for servicing made us all scratch our heads and after a few tries we hit on something that we felt would work. One of the things that needed to be addressed when welding sheet metal is warpage and welding some sort of a fuel pump base into the tank and having it seal up afterwards was a challenge, but we got the job accomplished and we can now offer builders a tidy unit for them to weld into their tanks.
Fenders have been fitted to the bike but a few days ago we had the bike mocked up with the fenders just propped up sitting on blocks of wood. What a moment that was, as it actually took on character for the first time. We fitted the wheels to the bike and the PM Marquee wheels I envisioned set the bike off so well. I was envisioning the curvature of the wheel spokes matching the cut of the fender skirts, which they come so awfully close when viewing the bike from its side.
I opted for 10” discs since my design was to mimic a drum brake diameter. Ten-inch just looked cool and showed off more of the beautiful wheel artwork. Dual disc brakes up front was the only way to go right from the start since about 70% of stopping is with the front brakes. Dual 4-piston calipers coupled to the dual 10” rotors should do the trick I reckon. Rear brakes were also 10” dia and only one was necessary.
May10, 08: We had experimented with a new front shock from Progressive Suspension. All of this week I left phone messages and e-mailed notes, and I finally got a call back four days later. These guys make it tough to do business with them when you are designing something and need a dimension so as to keep things moving along and burning up a week is not acceptable in my book.
I ended up opting for some cool Kuryakyn retro styled lights which they were very kind and professional to work with. No drama, that’s where it’s at, just send me the cool lights that are legal. I believe we as motorcycle professionals, leaders, designers and manufacturers need to provide a motorcycle that is well engineered and designed with parts that meet legal requirements weather it be DOT or environmental. Whether we like it or not it those rules are upon us and we need to step up and be good citizens of our industry and we need some leadership. I feel like I have been preaching to the choir for over 10 years now but when the Feds step in, the stuff really hits the fan and everyone is gonna scramble and it is coming. Being proactive and being a bit of a visionary surely doesn’t hurt but that’s generally two words that are out of place in our industry.
Some years ago I met Perry Sands (Performance Machine) as he had an Indian Chopper in his younger days and he was thinking about building another one. Perry took the time to show me his facility and I was impressed with his wheel and brake testing. He actually had a testing section that would punish the parts in an extremely harsh environment making them meet very strict European TUV requirements. That department within his company has never left my mind. I have yet to see any other company devote anything close to what Perry did. So when it came to the wheels and brakes, PM was my logical choice. Some time earlier I had worked on one of the bosses of MAG group (who owned PM) 1950 Indian Chief and it was a disaster bike that had been jacked up. I had to do a lot of work to the bike in order to straighten it out, and I felt the only way either of us could come out of it was to trade out when the time came. This was the time, and upon contacting Perry he was right there and came through, hence the quality PM components on this bike. Thank you so much Perry. I have to thank Rick also for walking me through the selection process and making sure all my wishes were mated up correctly with the appropriate mating parts.
May 24, ’08, Saturday, Memorial weekend. During the week we had a nice surprise visit from Trevelen of Super Company who just happened to pop in. Trevelen is also building a bike for S&S 50th in the Panhead class and he was amazed at our build and how much work we had done to get it this far.
If a man can’t stand by his word then he stands for nothing. By hook or by crook we would come thru but the tranny delay was just plain frustrating and holding up other fabrication around it. Our chain guard was a related fit up item so until the hydraulic clutch is fitted, the guard cannot be set in place as its fit is directly related to the rear fender. Even though at this point it was set in place, the hydraulic slave system had the final say in the guards final resting place. We’re using a Sputhe 5-speed tranny that has been rotated onto its side for compactness and the shifter comes out the bottom which is near the belt.
The tranny delay was frustrating as it just left so many things hanging that we needed to finish now. It was the one section of the bike that we were not in control of, which for us was odd. We’re used to building everything, engine, tranny, pri, clutch, forks, frames, wheels, handlebar controls, speedo, well, everything ourselves, and not having the finished tranny in our hands was a problem. Something told me that I’ll be paying some hefty overnight UPS charges to get it here in time.
For me I’m up to a challenge and I like results, “Give me results, not excuses.” For that reason I like short little Pommy Paddy. All he does is look out the corner of his eye and say,”bloody Kiwi’s.”
Thank you, I’ll take that as a compliment mate. The fuel injection plate which the pump must sit on is designed to be an independent removable platform that will allow the pump to be easily removed should it ever need servicing yet be properly sealed until such time. It was quite a challenge, since the outer portion that the panel recesses into the tank has to be made rigid when it is welded in place. There could be no distortion and the removable panel will seal without any problems. Between the welded in plate and the panel we designed in a groove for an O-ring to sit into it to handle sealing. The O-ring is made from Viton and is impervious to most chemicals including all the different formulations of gas across the country. Viton is expensive but the cheaper neoprene will come up short and we’re after reliability and durability.
We were in contact with S&S over flow rates and oil capacities as they have stringent requirements to ensure we used the correct size oil lines. Once again it was important to consult with them. Generally a lot of new stuff uses 1/2″ diameter lines but 1/2″ copper lines and fittings are hideously large and ugly especially coming down from the front right side gas tank. What I like about the boys at S&S is that they are true professionals, know their stuff and deal with facts. With our brainstorming sessions they were able to give me some testing scenarios that they had experienced, and a green light was given, which I could rest assured that I had complete confidence in. I like to deal with facts and go straight to the source. so as I can have complete confidence in the answer. Gotta hand it to S&S and I really appreciate the time each engineer has taken with us over each technical aspect.
With these facts now in hand we decided to use the right frame rail as the feed transfer tube and the left frame rail for the return. How this works is the feed line comes out the bottom of the right side tank and connects to the nipple welded into the frame near the neck. The point the feed line exits the frame is under the transmission near the inlet for the engine. Not only will this be a clean set-up but it will also allow for added oil volume which is what S&S kept preaching to me, plus it will allow for added cooling even though our right side gas tank will control the bulk of it. The left frame rail oil inlet is near the outlet point of the engine and its exit point is just under the frame neck with a short tube taking it back to the tank.
The tank and engine breathing uses the frame back bone to do the transferring which avoids external tubes or hoses. A drain plug was installed at the lowest point of the back bone near the seat post should any oil accumulate and need draining.
Our frame was a tad over engineered but I like it to be structurally sound since it is the main platform everything is built off. The tubing we opted for was DOM with a 1-1/4 OD and a heavy wall thickness since this would not only be structurally sound but also soak up engine vibration even though we have been told by S&S that this is a very smooth engine. I’m also figuring in that the oil running through the frame will also act as a vibration dampener. At 74 pounds, it’s not that bad at all. I remember picking up one of the newly manufactured Indian frames that came out of the Gilroy era of Indian and it darn near gave me a hernia, and that was without the swing arm attached, so all in all I was happy at 74 lbs.
Rear fender braces will be installed tomorrow and we figured they could be mounted to the inside of the rear portion of the fender rather than the outside which will make it a lot cleaner. The rear fender has to be triangulated braced for adequate bracing in order to prevent it from cracking due to vibration and road pounding. Everything we constructed from the get- go was designed around a serviceability stand point and secondly with a production view point. Serviceability is something that is quite often overlooked in bike builds. My background came from the automotive/big rig/heavy equipment industry plus my father had quarries and construction equipment which all needed servicing. no matter how well it was built. Anything mechanical wears and will need attention sooner or later, so I feel everything has to be easily accessible.
Here I am again cursing the bloody tranny guy, as it should have been here. I’m sure glad Travis and Shaun are coming in Memorial day weekend (Sat and Sun) to kick things into overdrive.
May 29, 08: The tranny was still not in the shop, but the hydraulic clutch slave cylinder arrived next day air today. It’s a tight compact unit designed by Alan Sputhe which fitted behind our already prefitted chainguard. Now that the chainguard has been finalized we could go about finishing off the exhaust to give it its classic style, foot boards, brake and shifter controls. We opted for a more standard and heavy duty width belt of 1-1/8-inch. Another thing to consider is the ease of fitting replacement parts since this is a productionable bike and if something should go wrong at 100,000 miles, the customer must be able to get parts easily.
As a side note and something I’d like to point out, James Clark and Alan Sputhe were very instrumental in getting things started for me. I’m a vintage guy working with modern American V-Twins is something completely new to me. Ask me anything about a classic Indian carburetion, electrical, engine, tranny, drum brakes, generators, a clunking noise, etc and I’ll know it up one side and down the other. Being thrown in at the deep end and asked to swim with a modern V-Twin with fuel injection would not have been possible without these two gentlemen. James died but a few weeks later on Sept 11, which left a big hole in my heart as he was a dear friend, confidant, business adviser, long term visionary and industry insider.
Saturday, May30, ’08 and we were behind. We had a meeting Friday to discuss the weekends plans and everybody was on board. It was taking quite a bit to figure out the rear brake foot control since there are a lot of things in this area that have to be taken into account, plus different designs in master cylinders for proper placement. The footboards on this bike pivot so if the bike were leaned over into a corner too far they will pivot upwards which requires the brake pedal to be in such a position so when this should happen the footboards will not interfere with the brake operation. These are the things that have to be taken into consideration for safe operation.
Finally Saturday at midnight a rear brake control was finally mocked up. The trick will be on Sunday to see if the engine can be removed from the motorcycle with all the brackets on the bike, hopefully with help. Travis came in on Sunday which was a big help and he took my mock up, right side brake, master cylinder unit mock up assembly and footboard assembly and made it permanent. With the inner and outer primary covers now here and bolted on we can sort out the foot shifter assembly.
Monday, June 2, and we’re working late which will be all of this week. Around 8:00 p.m. I get a call from my roadie girlfriend Marilyn Stemp. Marilyn was at Drag Specialties dealer showcase in MO having a Jeiger Meister with my good friend Brian Klock. They had time to chit chat while Mader and I were knee deep in sorting out some engineering challenges or more like fighting them. If that ain’t enough, Bert Baker and Tom Motsko had to get on the line to chat too. Thanks guys, must be nice to kick back and rub some salt into our wounds.
Brian sent me a cool text message today of Bert’s Bike, Bert Baker for president, Fab Kevin for VP, pretty cool indeed. Aussie Shaun turned up at around 3:00 pm which was a welcome sight. We originally made our handlebars from 1-inch OD tubing, however they looked a little small in relation to the rest of the front end. We bent up another set out of 1-1/8 which suited the bike fine, even though this is an odd size for motorcycles as everyone opts for 1-1/4 which I’m not a fan of. The controls we were using are very high end and come with all the wiring, switches assembled. They are not genuine Harley or typical aftermarket controls. While pricey, they were extremely high quality with switches and master cylinders that actually work straight out of the box, no farting around like some of the aftermarket crap. Cheap ass import crap usually infuriates me even though the majority seem to opt to use it. If a job is worth doing, then just do it once by doing the job properly the first timeby using good quality stuff. End of story.
I have to make special mention of my wife Carolyn and Son Ross. They realized the time gobbled into this bike and everyday Carolyn dropped off dinner for me. I ended up ordering fast food delivered for the guys, as they’re into that stuff, but it sure is nice to have a regular meal every night. Carolyn and Ross have seen me burn the midnight oil before on a few occasions but the last time we burned this much was when we developed the World’s first replica Indian m/c back in 2003.
June 5, ’08. Everything was out for powder coat and chrome plating and will be done tomorrow at noon time. Ah, I love good professional suppliers that step right up. We all knocked off work at 5:00 which felt odd. I even had dinner at home with my family.
June 6, ’08: Picked up the tanks from paint to ship off overnight to Monte. The frame and parts were done at the powder coater at noon and likewise with the chrome. I dropped one lot of chrome off Wed which was going to be done today (Fri) and another larger lot off Thursday figuring that would be done Mon or Tue. When I arrived, on the counter sat ALL of my parts, all done. WOW, this was a big deal and would help us out so much. I guess we had our weekend cut out for us.
Just by chance late Sat afternoon my good mate and designer extraordinaire Brian Klock calls to see what’s up. Good timing there mate, here’s my dilemma which he replies, bling it out, chrome it. Brian in my book is one of the best custom bike builders in the industry who can apply himself to anything and make it kick ass, plus he is no doubt the nicest and most humble guy around. I would be on the chromer’s door step first thing Monday begging for a quick turn around. I really like chromers Pacific Polishing as they get the job done without any drama and above all perfect the first time.
Pacific Polishing is a 50-mile round trip and with gas at almost 4.50/gal for regular I run my bike as much as possible as it gets between 35-40 mpg. Usually I run parts around in my 1950 Chief sidecar rig which is real handy as I can throw a ton of stuff in it and I never have to worry about things having to be strapped on properly. Even it gets around 35 mpg. I really like the guys at Pacific Polishing and the father and son owners Jose and Joe are two of the nicest guys I have ever done business with. I was in a pickle tonight as I forgot to give them a critical part for the forks and I couldn’t get it to them until tomorrow afternoon, so Joe offered to drive out and pick it up at 7:00 pm. That was an extremely cool offer.
June 11, ’08, Wed. Carolyn met our UPS driver Marteen at one of his first stops of the day (again) to get a jump start on the build. The engine and tranny fit like a glove. but we encountered a clearance problem between the engine pulley and cover. The pulley ran into the primary cover by 1/16-inch so we needed to mill it out in order to get the desired clearance.
The convenient thing about having all the right machinery at our place is that we can do anything at any given time with no drama or downtime. We didn’t burn a late night this evening, however tomorrow night will be long as our last lot of chrome and forks are due in. I think today was the first day my ’53 Chief didn’t make a trip to the chromer. I did a mile per gal check on the old girl with 1/2 around town riding and the other 1/2 freeway and it pulled in 40 mpg, not bad for an old bike with primitive carburetion.
Carolyn brought us a super dinner, roast pork with mashed potato and green beans.
I wanted to test the compatibility of the clutch slave cylinder to the master cylinder that we have as it has been bugging me from day-one as our master cylinder is different than what everybody else uses. Shaun hooked it up and my worst fears came true as it did not move the slave cylinder enough to fully release the clutch plates. We were out of our league here. There is a bore/stroke relationship in order for everything to work right and feel right too (light clutch pull). I’m now expected to figure out hydraulic stuff, like volume/bore/stroke stuff so here we go. After some figuring we spun up a sleeve on the lathe that had a smaller bore plus made a smaller piston to match. We pressed the sleeve into the existing slave cylinder in order to reclaim it.
With so many hands being at it over many years I found it best to go back to square one pull the carby apart so that I knew for sure that it was rebuilt correctly. It had a multitude of problems and it’s just a matter of finding and eliminating them one at a time. She fired up at 11:00pm and it purred like a kitten, about darn time too. Off to home and to bed for another long day tomorrow.
I found myself wide awake until about 3:00am. One can of Mountain Dew in the afternoon and I’m wired till the wee hours of the morning, bloody hell, I needed the sleep. Gotta be up at sparrows fart (real early) as usual in the morning. Everyone was happy with the progress yesterday, just gotta get the clutch slave cylinder figured out to be fully comfortable with where we’re at. Dinner was Carolyn’s left over cooked dinner which always tastes good.
June13, ’08, Fri: Clutch slave cylinder is now complete and upon testing, the reduced bore diameter gave us the stroke we needed spot on. What I like about creating, engineering and building motorcycles is learning about new things. I’m not so much into battling stuff and figuring it out at the 11th hour. but this was a cool project to learn about that I can then apply it to future build projects.
General assembly took place and rolling right along. All I see at the handlebars is a whole bunch of wires hanging out and Shaun knee deep in it. I’m just glad it’s his thing.
Forks are on as well as the rear wheel and belt drive. Paddy dropped off the engraved primary cover with our Kiwi logo now in it along with our Chieftain logo footboards, dang are they so sweat, Vidal picks up the foot boards and primary cover for polishing. We’re looking good.
The rear fender has been fitted along with the belt guard and while the tanks have not had their final clear coatings applied, the motorcycle just looks so clean and elegant. It’s taking shape in its final form and looking sooo friggen sweet, life is good.
Vidal turns up with the primary cover and footboards all polished up and they look magnificent. Vidal is a quiet guy and man can he polish, his work speaks for itself. When he delivers it there is no clean up required, no rouge, no crude, just clean as can be, now that’s a man proud of his work.Sunday is Fathers Day and the guys opted to kick back and enjoy the day with their families. We’re all happy and comfortable with where we’re at. Tanks are dropped off to Josh for the final procedures.
June18, ’08, Thurs: There has been a significant amount of process and we’re almost ready to fire the bike up, but it’s all the small details that take the majority of time. Aussie Shaun has been on the wiring for 3 full-long days and a lot of that is due to us using non traditional handlebar controls/switches. While it would have been a lot easier to use traditional controls, this bike is high end all the way and Shaun’s perseverance is key.
Shaun, Travis and Mader have stuck to it late at night committed to produce the most kick ass retro American motorcycle that has ever been created. Shirley from Bad Ass Seats made our cool saddlebag that houses our battery and electrical parts/circuit breakers. Most recognize it as just being a saddlebag however it is far more than that plus it looks so cool. We supplied Shirley with a metal box that we fabricated and she applied her wonderful talents to create this masterpiece which is nothing short of outstanding. It is so gorgeous and she busted her butt once again on one of our projects.
This was the same seat I used on my vintage builds and long distance rider bikes and you will never ever get a sore butt no matter how many hours you put in the saddle. The seat post operates so smoothly that it provides that high-end luxurious smooth ride even over the roughest of roads. The exhaust system took quite a bit of creativity to look right and once chromed and fitted to the bike it was nothing less than stunning and its lines look so darn nice complimenting the rest of the bike.
S&S did an absolutely marvelous job of putting on a super nice weekend and made every builder feel special and welcomed. Motorcycles came from all over the world, which certainly made the bike builds that much more exciting.
And to top all of this off I had to leave my wife, son and rig in Kansas City on the way back for a day, fly back to Calif to take my US Citizenship test and examination at 7am Wed July 2nd. I am now a US citizen which is a nice way to finish off such a memorable build.
Some of the most fulfilling things in life are the things that we once dreamed of that we once thought of were unobtainable become a reality. This bike does it for me.
Bore/Stroke: 4-1/8 x 4-3/8
Fuel Injection: S&S closed loop
Ignition: Electronic S&S
Transmission: Sputhe/Kiwi compact long life 5 speed, right side drive
Clutch: Kiwi/Sputhe, hydraulic
Final drive: Belt
Starter: Stinger
Charging System: Cycle Electric
Headlight/tail light: Kiwi Vintage
Tank features: Oil tank incorporated into front right side of gas tank for cooling and cleanliness.
Sheetmetal: Kiwi
Instrumentation: Stewart Warner/Kiwi
Dash: Kiwi
Frame: Kiwi, 27 degree rake,
Wheel base: 66″
Frame features: Right side frame tube transfers oil from the tank to the engine, left side transfers oil from the engine back to the tank, 1-1/4 DOM (USA) tubing.
Rear suspension: Kiwi hydraulically dampened plunger
Forks: Kiwi Girder, hydraulically dampened dual spring, (Kiwi hydraulic and leaf springs also available)
Handlebars: Kiwi 1-1/8″ diameter
Handlebar controls: Kiwi/Nissin w/optional chrome, PM (standard)
Tires: Avon, Front 130/70×16, Rear 180/55×18
Front brakes: PM 10″ full floating dual rotors (optional), 11.5″ non floating (standard)
Rear brakes: PM 10″ full floating (optional), 11.5″ non floating (standard)
Seat suspension: Seat post (for that Kiwi/Cadillac ride)
Seat: Long distance “Kiwi comfort ride”
Floorboards: Billet polished aluminum Chieftain (optional), rubber covered (standard)
Exhaust: Kiwi
Paint: Kiwi metallic maroon/Kiwi cream peril. Client has unlimited color choices.
Kiwi Motorcycles are designed for durability, minimal maintenance and for long distance trouble free riding. Wiring is purposely run on the outside of the frame for easy access and the fuel injection pump sits upon a removable platform on the left tank for easy access should it ever need servicing.
Owners are invited to fly in at any time throughout the build process so we can custom fit the handlebars and seating to suit your riding style.
Hydraulic forks, see Kiwi replica for design), no extra charge
2 tone paint (shown), 1250.00. Unlimited color choices, price may vary depending on manufacturer
Kiwi/Nissin hand controls, chrome (shown) 1500.00
Polished billet chieftain footboards (shown) 499.00
Chrome forged wheels, matching pulley, (shown) 2999.00 pr
Dual full floating 10″ rotors (shown) 950.00
Dual Chum-me seat (2 person) with springs 1450.00
Chrome/polish package forks, rear shocks, starter, transmission, primary (shown) 2899.00
Windshield and mounts: 499.00Chrome luggage rack 399.00
Leather saddlebags with mounts (luggage rack is required for mounting) 1950.00
Larger displacement engine, POR
Pyro Graphix
Sputhe Engineering
Energy One (clutch)
Nostalia Restyling, paint
P&A Lyons (CNC machining)
Avon Tires
Performance Machine (wheels and brakes)
Pacific Polishing, Chrome
B&B Powder Coating
Vidal’s Polishing (aluminum polishing)
Maverik Custom Paint (tank art)
Works Shocks
Stewart Warner (speedometer)
Irwin Tools
James Clark of James Gaskets
Stinger Starters
Travis Bonde, Mader, Tiny, Aussie Shaun.
Carolyn and Ross Tomas.
Aussie Shree (Shaun’s better half)
Bazza at Kiwi Performance Cycle
S&S guys James, Scott, Jeff, Howard, Niven and Brett
Brian Klock of Klockwerks
Chopper Dave
Negotiable Parts
Ronnie Martinez Graphics
Rick at PM
