5-Ball Factory Racer, Part 7

It's resting on the tail end of June and I'm riding to Sturgis on 27th of July. I'm burnin' daylight. Assembly will begin this 4th of July weekend, if I don't party the whole weekend away. This tech will take you through all the final preparations for shipment to paint, since I'm avoiding chrome. In this case, we're hauling down this old school road with only flat powder coating and pinstriping from George the Wild Brush.

No bondo, hand-rubbed lacquer, heavy clear coats, just some pinstriping and graphics from the master will insure this vintage Factory Racer peels to the badlands. Let's kick this tech square in the ass with the basics. We will cover an Exile rear brake mounting, Paughco footboard bracket gussets, welded pipes, final mods to gas tanks, fork stops, LA ChopRods wiring guides, and some fender-wiring guides.

This is the stage of bike-building that's frustrating. It's the notorious time of little bullshit obstacles hindering progress at every turn. I need to clean and seal the tanks. I must hunt down a couple of vintage parts and FlatheadFern.com is helping. I need the parts painted before I can begin my Phil's Speed Shop wiring, but I need to relax. It will all come together, I say, brimming with confidence as I drink more whiskey.

Let's get movin', so I can figure out what I'm missing as the weeks peel by, like deadlines to a Times sports writer. First, we installed the Exile black sprocket brake kit with a 48-tooth highly polished sprocket for the proper gearing.

Amazing, they didn't roll under the lift. Wait, one is missing.

I dropped the special, chromed 7/16-inch supplied flathead screws on the deck. I bolted up the sprocket and prayed for alignment with the JIMS transmission sprocket, which was a ¼-inch offset. They distribute a number of trans sprockets with a variety of gearing and offsets from zip to 1 inch. I ordered another JIMS sprocket with ½ inch, since I feel it will afford me perfect alignment position. We'll see.

Russell Mitchell mentions in his Exile directions to consider a spacer between the hub and the Sprotor for alignment or tire clearance. The Black Bike wheel spacing seemed to be very cool.Next, Exile recommended machining the axle spacers so when the caliper and the bracket are installed and the axle nut is tightened, the caliper can run centered over the Sprotor.

I didn't want to machine the spacer and make it dangerously thin, so we bored out the caliper bracket.

I bored out the caliper bracket to allow it to float into the proper position over the axle spacer. Then I positioned the steel anchor tab against the frame. Exile supplied a fastener and a spacer for mounting, but I was able to weld the tab on the inside of the frame, very close to the caliper, which had its drawbacks. I also made sure there was some space and some chain adjustment space, so I wouldn't be caught without adjustment flexibility.

Russell made certain to point out that the tab needed to be absolutely parallel to the caliper, or braking efficiency will be hindered. He also pointed out the need to bleed the caliper before it was installed, but lifting it, so air could escape. I often take a file and slip it between the pads, to mirror the rotor surface. We'll get to bleeding over the weekend, I hope.

I'm having a problem with my shop camera. Can't be operator error…

That's better.

Moving right along, I spoke to Gard Hollinger like a panhandler at a coin convention. He offered a couple of his cable guide bungs for the project and I took him up on the notion. The code is to build a bike without using tie-wraps.

This LA ChopRods bung was going to work perfectly to connect the spare handlebar gas tank to the Paughco flatsided jobs.

Here's the patch for the tanks, to allow for simple fork stops.

With the tank cut away, I had room for stops.

With Gard's bung welded in place I can run a line from the handlebars to the spare gas tank. It's gonna be interesting.

This is the bottom of the spare gas tank. I used another ChopRods bung to hold the line when it's not in use. The good Dr. Hamster brought me a quick-release in-line fitting.

Gard makes a terrific product line of cable guides, tank bungs, and wiring loom guides. I crept through his shop slipping this guide and that runner into my pocket, and then I slithered out the back door.

Gard's cable runner and a standard tab.

finished final speedo cable runner.

Some of Gard's hose or loom runners.

I made fender wire loom guides with thin tubing and welded them into place.

Guides tacked into place, spaced evenly and aligned, I hope.

Hope I remembered all the needed wiring loom runners.

I made a final speedo guide runner and tried to figure out my wiring system with the Phil's Speed Shop wiring harness. I tacked several loom runners and made some tubing runners for the fender.

Then I moved onto installing the new and improved LA ChopRods internal throttle. They simplify handlebars and since no clutch lever was in the mix, my bars were destined for cleanliness. Gard, the boss of La ChopRods, the designer, welder, and janitor, went out of his way to redesign the LA ChopRods internal throttle with builders in mind. It has double bearings that won't fall out during installation. All the measurements were clean and simple, such as you cut a simple 4 inches off the bar and drill a tiny 9/64-inch hole just 1.5 inches in from the end and tap it to 8-32 thread. It was finished in a hot flash. I used an emery grinder on the inside of the bars to allow the internal throttle to slip in easy.

The first hole drilled for the internal cable exit. I made in larger and rounded the edges with a Dremel tool.

You can order the throttle cable from LA ChopRods. They recommend a Barnett 6B or similar universal throttle cable. They sell them in black vinyl or clear-coated stainless steel braid. In case I'm too harried to shoot the assembly, Gard suggests that the adjuster be collapsed and the cable installed in the carb first. He pointed out that the inner cable needed to protrude 1 11/16 inches beyond the outer cable.

I'll run my front brake lever clamp over this Allen set screw, and it can't escape.

Insert it into your bars and out the right end. Remove the screws holding the bearings in place and disassemble the ChopRods internal throttle. Gard designed a 3/4-inch brass sleeve to grab the internal cable and not damage it. In the past, I was concerned about screws coming loose and finding myself alongside the freeway. It happened to me on my way to the Exile open house. Gard made sure all the fasteners have no place to escape. And the handlebar fastener can be secured by running my GMA front brake lever clamp over the Allen 8-32 set screw. Done deal.

I think I'm going to seal the pipes with Kreem sealer just to be on the safe side.

Shortly before teardown.

I ripped the Factory Racer apart after thoroughly thinking through the oil line placement, wiring, brake lines, and battery cables. I made a throttle guide and guesstimated it the best I could. With the bike in pieces, I finish-welded all the tabs and bungs in my sloppy MIG welding fashion. I drilled the frame for fork stops and busted the fender tab off the Paughco battery box. Positioned too close to the battery, I made another tab and welded it 3/16-inch closer to the fender. The head of the fastener won't rub against the battery. So far, it's the only item I forgot to weld completely. I missed the inside weld. Not sure what I will do, maybe panic. Maybe I'll grind away the fine Worco Powder Coating and weld it anyway. Or perhaps I'll just go for it.

I made a support gusset for the Paughco footboard bracket. This was a prototype for mounting footboards to the new Factory Racer frame.

This is a shot of the bracket with the gussets welded between the motormount and the mounting arms. Should be seriously strong.

Don't forget to take shots of the parts going to powder. I took a print out to Tony Pisano of Worco Powder Coating, so he could keep track of what was being painted what.

In the next couple of weeks, I'll deliver on the Baker kicker system installation. What a fine piece this puppy is. Then you'll witness George “the Wild Brush” pinstriping various components and final assemble. Of course, you'll also experience the ride to Sturgis. Hang on.

I'm using standard brass fittings for the hoses. The nipples shown here were designed to be used without clamps. I decided, since I will use clamps and take the lines off and on, to trade these in for the regular jobs.