We Are Getting Close!!!!

It's been a while since I posted, mainly because I haven't had enough information for a full post; but now lots of thing have happened and I have lots to report.

The mad scientist-Elvi David
fabricating some parts for my bike.

When I last posted I spoke about finally getting all the parts I needed, but not being quote sure how to put them all together.  That's where the Elvi came in.  Every few months or so the Elvi have a very informal moto-tech day to get together and work on their bikes.  They let me know about this and Bobby (the head Elvi) told me to come over and bring Bacon and my parts.  I was a little nervous as I didn't want to be the new guy showing up with a bike that was barely rolling and asking these guys to show me what to do next.  Bobby assured me that these guys would love to help and he wouldn't be surprised if I left that day with the bike running.

Elvi Clint working on Bacon

The moto-tech day was back in Denton at David's mad scientist lab, which I had been to get my fork only a few weeks before.  Sure enough I showed up with my bike and these guys swarmed like flies very eager to get me rolling and on the road.  We worked (I say we but it was many David and another fellow Elvi Clint) who did most of the work while I held the bike steady all afternoon and into the evening and while it wasn't 100% done it was darn close.  It turns out that I needed a few more parts to get it fully running.  I've included some other pictures of from the day and the bikes that were there at the bottom.

The parts came in and Clint who runs his own motorcycle repair business told me to come on over and sure enough this thing is up and running.

I've been riding it as much as I can to prepare for my first parade which will be the State Fair of Texas Parade in Dallas at noon on September 28th.

Now all I need is a jumpsuit...

 

 

It's Going Slowly

There hasn't been much in the way of forward progression on the bike this week, I've decided if a Harley is called a Hog then mine will be called Bacon from this point forward.  I had big plans to get down to work last weekend in hopes that I could at least have the wheels and handlebars on the bike so I would then focus on getting the engine on when it came in.

Last Friday I forwarded my offices phones to my cell and got out of here about an hour early in order to get some work done.  I had all the parts ready to go.  They were labeled, unwrapped, and I'm sure they were as eager to do their job as I was for them to do it.

Of course this is where I commonly run into trouble.  When I begin to attach the forks to the frame of the bike I notice that the nut that holds it into place won't go past halfway down the stem.  I look closely and find that the stem has been stripped flat on one side for about an inch.  I was stuck.

Did I mention that my frame and fork set are 44 years old and were only made for 1 year before the design was changed?  That was going to make things hard.  Bacon is a 1968 Honda Mini Trail K0.  There are some of these bikes out there still in mint condition with all the original parts that sell for close to $10,000.  Finding the correct fork by itself was going to be hard.

In 1969 Honda began producing the K1 which is identical in almost every way with the exception that they added a battery and a light.  The forks had brackets welded onto it to hold that headlight, and the frame had a place for the battery and the wiring.  Mine of course had none of that.  This design wasn't changed for almost 10 years, so a fork from one of these bikes would be much easier to find.
Luckily for me I had a place I could turn, The World Famous Wheelie-ing Elvi.  I sent out an SOS e-mail to the group and was flooded with ideas.  Most of them, while helpful were difficult and expensive ideas, but on Sunday I received an e-mail from Elvi David Mo.  He had 2 extra K1 forks lying around that we would part with cheep that I could use until I was able to locate an original K0 fork.  I told David I would be right over.

I headed up to Denton to David's house and he took me back to his "workshop."  Now I say "workshop" with caution because I don't know if that word really does David's set-up justice.  This is a 2 story air conditioned space where David has an amazing area for working on his bikes.  That's right bikes.  Plural.  David has no less that 10 running bikes and numerous others in various states of repair.  He also has the ability to sandblast, powder coat, and weld.  It was mini-bike Mecca.  To top it all off David was an extremely nice guy (as are all the Elvi I've spoken to thus far) who was willing to show me his collection and give me all the advice I could absorb.

On Monday I headed right back to Top Koat in Kennedale and Joe got right to work getting that baby sandblasted and powder coated for me.

So here I sit ready to put it all together.  I think I have all the parts, if only I had the know-how...

Why Kennedale is a Magical Place

So here I was ugly old frame in hand. When I really looked at the bike I realized that I wasn't going to be able to save anything on it other than that frame/fork set and the wheels, which meant removing the old handlebars, brake lines and tires. I set up this thing with a furious vengeance using screwdrivers, my amazing socket set that my Dad gave me for Christmas a few years ago (I'm serious, it's amazing. Check this thing out) and even occasionally a rubber mallet.  There was over 40 years of rust on some of these parts and not everything wanted to come off easily.

The bike as I bought it

After an house or so I had the whole thing taken apart with the exception of removing the tires from the wheels.  It seems after 40 years steel and rubber can become one.  I knew that before it was powder coated it was going to need some welding, and before that it was going to need to be sandblasted to remove the original paint and rust.

The frame after being sandblasted

Now I didn't know anyone who did powder coating or welding personally, but I knew where I could find someone, Kennedale.  Now if you aren't familiar with Kennedale, TX it is a small town that borders Arlington, Mansfield, and Fort Worth.  At one point I had heard that Kennedale had more junk cars per capita that any other city in the world (I can't find any facts to supports that, but that's the rumor).  Aside from junk cars Kennedale has an abundance of paint & body shops, welders, tire shops, auto parts dealers, used car lots, salvage lots, etc.  I knew that I wouldn't have any trouble finding the right guys for the jobs.

A quick google search for "powder coating Kennedale" and the top match was Top Koat less than 5 miles from home.  I loaded up the parts and headed that way.  There I met the owner Joe Galvan who was a little curious about the project and what I was bringing him.  I explained what I was building and he got the sand blasting started.

Joe called me the next morning, Friday, and said the parts were ready to be picked up and welded.  He sent me about a mile down the road to Riley Machine & Welding who did a top notch job on the areas I showed them, and even found a few others that needed fixing.  I expected the job to take 48 hours or so, but I got a call the same afternoon that the bike was ready.  It looked solid so back I headed to Top Koat and Joe and I went over the colors and what needed to be done.  I left my new baby in Top Koat's very capable hands for the weekend.

Joe Galvan the owner of Top Koat in Kennedale with my powder coated frame

Monday afternoon Joe called and told me he was done.  I dropped everything and headed that way.  Man was I impressed.  These guys did great work at a very reasonable price.  I'll be back to Top Koat again for sure.

So now that the bike was back from the cleaners it was time to figure out how to put this thing together and what I needed to do it, but more on that next time.  Here are the pictures of the bike after getting powder coated.

TWFWE at the Ranger Game!

The World Famous Wheelie-ing Elvi posted this video of them at the Ranger game on Friday.  I'll post the second part when it is edited.  Just a little taste of that they do.

The Search

Well I'd talked to the Elvi, and now there were only 2 things left, talk to the wife (Priscilla), and find a bike.    I knew that Priscilla would have lots of questions so I wanted to find out as much about these mini bikes as possible.  Most of the Wheelie-ing Elvi ride Honda Z50 Mini-Trails.  The problem with that is that Honda doesn't make these bikes anymore, and they really haven't for a while.  There are Chinese knock-offs, but they aren't cheep.

I looked around a little bit to price these new reproductions.  Bobby from the Elvi recommended both Craigslist and EBAY.   The prices on the knock-offs were ranging anywhere from $1200 up to $5000.  I knew I was going to have a hard time justifying those prices to Priscilla so I continued to look.  On Craigslist I found a lot of old bikes that weren't running, and that put an idea in my head.  How about I build a Z50?  Seemed reasonable, right?  Sure I know nothing about motorcycles.  Sure I've never worked on an engine in my life.  But still, how hard can it be?  I mean I have a garage.  In that garage I have a very nice workbench and some pretty great tools.  I looked around online and found that other than the frame every single part was still being made (not by Honda, but they looked and ran the same), plus I should be able to bring in the whole project in under $1000.

With a little convincing Priscilla agreed and the search was on full steam ahead.  I ruled EBAY out pretty quickly, because shipping the bike was way too expensive, so I started looking on Craigslist.  I'm sure that I don't need to describe the perils of Craigslist.  There are some people on there that are downright scary.  After days and days of unanswered e-mails and phone calls to guys that had a few Z50's I was interested in, I heard back from a guy that had a 1970 Honda Z50 Mini Trail in Rowlett.  We exchanged e-mails back and forth and agreed on a price.  His bike was complete, but since it was all original and in pretty bad shape I was only interested in the frame itself.  I told him I would be there Saturday morning by 10, cash in hand.  Rowlett is over an hour away from my house in Arlington so I left early enough to run by the bank and have time to spare.  I pull up at the to the location about 9:45 and I see a guy with a black truck pulled in front of the house loading MY bike into the back of it.  He pulls off as I get out and ask the seller (idiot) what happened.  He told me that the black truck dude offered him $25 more than I did so he sold it to him, but forgot to call me and tell me.  Welcome to buying on Craigslist.

I left rejected, dejected, and just downright pissed off.  I had promised Priscilla that I would take her phone to the Apple Store in Fort Worth when I was done, because that's just the kind of great husband I am (you understand this if you've ever been to the Apple store on a weekend) so I headed that way.  As I pull into the parking lot I get a phone call from a number I didn't recognize.  The person on the other end told me that I had called him last week about the ad he had on Craigslist for his Z50 frame and wanted to know if I was still interested.  Was I?  Of course I was!  I told him I was getting my wife's phone looked at then I would head over to look at it.  "Where are you located?", I asked.  "Far north Dallas."

After the Apple Store (Priscilla ended up getting a new phone) I dropped off the phone at the house, kissed the wife and kid and was off to very close to the same place I was that very morning.  I arrived at his shop where he buys old motorcycles and rebuilds them.  There must have been 30-40 bikes of all makes and models in various states of disrepair all over the place.  In the corner he had my frame sitting there.  It was a red 1968 Honda Z50 Mini Trail.  Just what I had been looking for, it needed some work, but it was perfect for my planned project.  We agreed on the price and I was out the door on my way home, finally.

When I got that bad boy home I quickly realized just how much work it was going to take to get this bike worthy of riding it with the Wheelie-ing Elvi.  Upon first inspection, the bike was going to need, a weld job on the frame, sandblasting, powder coating, new gas tank, new tires, new handlebars, new engine, new brakes, and countless other mechanical parts that I still have no idea about yet.  Needless to say I have my work cut out for me.

What I saw at the Pickle Parade

A few months ago my hometown of Mansfield, Texas held the first annual Best Maid St. Patty's Pickle Parade.  It was an exciting and fun-filled event.  The whole family went down to Main Street to see the floats, people dressed as leprechauns, eat corn dogs, and enjoy what would surly become an annual tradition in Mansfield.

We arrived downtown to find a prime spot about 30 minutes before the parade was scheduled to start to find Main Street roped off at either end to stop traffic.  It also provided the perfect space for the pre-parade entertainment, the World Famous Wheelie-ing Elvi.  Now at this point in the story you may be asking yourself, what is a Wheelie-ing Elvi?  Well the World Famous Wheelie-ing Elvi in their own words are:  for all intense purposes, a band of over-aged, adolescents, who dare to venture out in public dressed in white polyester jumpsuits and hideous pompadour wigs, while sporting clumsy gold sunglasses, and Converse All-Star sneakers.  All... while riding tremendously-tiny vintage 40-year-old Honda Minitrails in a daredevil manner to the sound of pretty cool music. 

After about 2 minutes of watching the Elvi streak up and down Main Street on one, two, and in one case 3 wheels I was sold.  I wanted in and I wanted in in a very bad way.  These guys were having a blast entertaining the crowd and the crowd was loving every second of it.

In the months following the parade The Wheelie-ing Elvi were always in the back of my mind.  I knew I wanted to join them, but I didn't pursue it until we attend the City of Arlington's downtown Fourth of July parade and I saw the Elvi again.  Once again having a blast and the crowd eating it up.

After the parade we walked down to one of our favorite downtown Arlington spots, Twisted Root for lunch (my wife LOVES their turkey burgers).  My wife (my soon to be Priscilla), son and my mom all grabbed a table while my dad and I headed for the line to place our order.  Well guess who was there in line right in front of us?  That's right it was the Wheelie-ing Elvi.  We talked to them in line about what they do, about their bikes, their jumpsuits, how they got involved, and the joys of being an Elvi.

I left lunch that day with the intention of joining their ranks.  I found their website and exchanged an e-mail with Bobby Ornelas to get some more details.  He had me give him a call and he filled me in a little more on becoming a member and told me that the first thing to do was to find a bike.  I told him I would begin my hunt and promised to be in touch.

Little did I realize just how hard that hunt would be, but that will have to be saved for next time.