Schwinn Build II (straight bar)

[lillback44]

Thanks for your response K-wad. Much appreciated! I wanted to share this build on this site to show people this is not a hard thing to do and maybe spark an Idea in someone and to learn a thing or two myself." Looking good!" is not what I was looking for. I was hoping for some valuable feedback. I know the bike looks good. My last build had nearly 9000 views and only 1 person took a minute to say what he thought about the bike. Very disappointing. I spent many hours taking pics and trying to share a little info with people to try and put a little something on here worth looking at and all I hoped for was a little feedback (not a pat on the back).
This bike has changed a lot from what I started out in my head with. I was just going to put the flex pipe exhaust on it, but I had the old exhaust pipe from a pacemaker 11 laying around so I decided to try it. I put the shield on during the mock up and decided not to use it for the finished bike, but when I started getting it together I realized I needed to cut down the screws to discard that shield but just didn't feel like jacking with it at the time.
You know a build like this takes a lot of time and it's sometimes hard to maintain a high level of enthusiasm for so long. I can't even begin to estimate how many hours I spent on the web searching for parts and watching auctions. Besides the motor, frame, fork legs, steer tube, and seat post clamp, everything else had to be acquired one piece at a time! Can you imagine doing a project like this before the internet?
I still need to do some tightening up, adjusting and hooking up the cables. The chain needs to be re sized as I changed the belt,and rear sprocket. Throttle is a motorcycle jackhammer style grip and brake lever is also a motorcycle part. I had to figure out how to make a Sturmey - Archer bicycle brake cable fit a full size motorcycle brake lever. Not easy but I got it working perfectly and will post more on that later
Chris

 

[lillback44]

Panther or Whizzer?

I recently began collecting parts for a new project. I can't decide just yet what it's going to be, a Panther bike or another Whizzer. I don't really need another bike but it's become a sort of addiction! I may just do a little redecorating on this build as it looks a little bit plain to me. Anyway I have mostly every part I need to get started.

 

[Quenton Guenther]

I recently began collecting parts for a new project. I can't decide just yet what it's going to be, a Panther bike or another Whizzer. I don't really need another bike but it's become a sort of addiction! I may just do a little redecorating on this build as it looks a little bit plain to me. Anyway I have mostly every part I need to get started.View attachment 54963View attachment 54962View attachment 54964View attachment 54965View attachment 54966View attachment 54967

 

[lillback44]

Good to hear from you Quenton! If you notice the pic above, there is a skip tooth crank, chain and those heavy spoked rims I purchased on eBay for a price you wouldn't believe! They arrive tomorrow. The frame and forks were also purchased from a local eBayer in Geneva, IN who delivered them in person yesterday!
I'm going to powdercoat the frame and repaint the red myself but before I sent it off next week I'm going to do a little practice painting on it to see if I can do the pin striping myself! Don' worry, it will all be sandblasted away. Have you ever noticed the poor job they did on original paint bikes? I picture little old ladies on a assembly line in Chicago churning these out at a break neck pace!
This bike is going to be pretty and I was thinking of putting the H-motor from this bike on it, but have been also thinking of a J- motor as well. Do you know where I can get one??? If I could get a J for a reasonable price, I'd be a buyer!
By the way Quenton, do you know the name of the guy at the Portland show that sold me that bowl and fitting allowing me to put a bowl on a repo tank? Metric on one side standard on the other. Sure would like to get a few more. I think he sold me his last one but he said he was going to make some more this winter. If so, PM his address and number if you have it?
I'm still interested in one of your auto clutches for my H. Maybe even 2. You never really gave me the info on this I asked you several times about? No hurry on that now as winter is here. The Wc-1 bike is running very good now, thanks in part to you! A new carb helped also. I hit a top speed of 35mph about 2 weeks ago. I was wondering if a 19MM carb would improve any thing?
Glad to see you back on the site! Was starting to think you got booted! lol I guess we all need a break now and then. Just look at Paula, I noticed today it's been a year since her last post. I wonder how she's doing? Keep in touch,
Chris

 

[Quenton Guenther]

Hi Chris,


Sorry didn't notice chain hanging near the sprocket.
Haven't had any time to visit site since starting the Whizzer automatic clutch project. Have been behind in orders every since Portland show. We have shipped over 300 of the new American made automatic clutch drives since July, and I have been working almost around the clock to stay up with the orders. We have shipped almost as many for the vintage Whizzers as we have for the new edition Whizzer version. I am currently working on a conversion for the New Edition Ambassador from CVT to American made auto clutch.

Hopefully you will be able to convince Gerd to make more of the adapters, as I would like to latch onto a few for myself. I don't know if you know this or not, but Gerd has one of the fastest New edition Whizzers in our group, and I mean really fast. I am talking about his "flat head" motor, not his OHV.

I saw a "J" motor on Ebay, but don't remember the price. I only have enough motors in stock to finish up a few current projects, however if you could find a good "J" case, I could easily build a complete motor from parts inventory.

Remember there are very few differences between the "H" & "J" motors [carb, cyl, & case].

The original WC-1 carburetor can be easily tuned to take the WC-1 to speeds above 40 MPH. The original was listed as a 19MM. They are rated at mouth size, not venturi.

As an example the early 2005 carburetor was a 26MM, but the venturi was 22MM.

Have fun,

 

[chainmaker]

Great to see another project in the works Chris! I am also starting a straight bar whizzer, going with the black and red combo as well but not a restoration more of a Boardtracker type. Will you be starting a new thread for this build? Keep the pics coming.

 

[lillback44]

Thanks Chainmaker, can't wait to see your build in pictures. I hope your using a whizzer motor?

 

[jbcruisin]

Sounds like good stuff guys. I bet those bikes will look good at my Rally next August.

 

[lillback44]

The parts are starting to roll in now and I got something today that I've been wanting for a long time. No vintage Panther should be without one of these! I can't wait to paint this!

 

[lillback44]

I was going to take my frame and forks to powder coat Monday morning when I realized that I won't be able to do the painting till spring so I decided to slow my roll a little. I took the fork legs, dogleg crank, and chain ring to work with me Sunday and sand blasted them. I then ran all the parts on a wire wheel to smooth and polish the metal. the forks came out pretty nice. Here is a few pics of 1 raw and one polished fork leg.

You can see light pitting on the top right side fork. My plan is to lightly grind and sand off all areas like this until all is as smooth as possible before powder coat. I also plan I doing this to the frame.
Next I did the same to the crank. The crank looked pretty good on ebay and I didn't realize till after I bought the rims that this and a skip tooth chain were also included in the purchase. All for $70 ! Anyways it wasn't until I recieved it did I realize that it had been painted silver. Doesn't matter though because I'm going to have this re-chomed unless I can find another just like it that's already been done.
The crank is a bit wider than the Schwinn one it's pictured with. It's also a Wald. I'm wondering if anyone out there knows any info on these? I looked on the web at pics of old Whizzers and a lot of them have dogleg cranks. I've had clearance problems with the regular Schwinn ones and I'm hoping this will be the answer to that problem.
I'm pretty sure the chain ring sprocket is a Schwinn clover sprocket. It's cast not stamped and the holes line up identical with a newer one. I could not find a similar one made by Wald. The funny thing is that when I was a kid we regarded Wald parts as cheap replacement parts, however vintage Wald parts are far superior to today's junk and today's repro parts.