Wards Project Bike - Build

[Skibike69]

Hello everyone! I have been watching this forum for a month and it is great to see all of the cool bikes people have built and restored.

Here is the story of my customized Montgomery Ward/Gilson ride:

Given to me by a coworker with the 10HP Briggs in the frame, carb missing, oil leaking:
Just for a point of reference, notice how high the handlbars are on the garage door...



Installed used TAVII (had to machine the crank and engine case to make it fit):





Motor set in frame, now maybe my spare Honda Trail 70 wheels will fit? At first I attempted to find a way to make this work without a jackshaft. With the wheel centered in the swing arm, and the motor as far right as it could go, the spockets would never be in alignment. I gave up for an evening, then decided that using a jack shaft was the easiest way to make it work, while retaining the original swing arm (building one from aluminum did cross my mind...).



Had to move the motor as far forward and to the right as possible to make everything fit - had to cut out the original motor mount channels and replaced with a one-piece motor plate, made from scratch. There are reinforcement gussets welded to the underside that do not show. At this point I was planning to retain the original foot pegs for that "vintage" look, later I decided to upgrade. The new jackshaft is 1" diameter. The original 5/8" was bent, so I decided overkill was better than underkill. Sealed ball bearing replaced the original stamped pieces.



Frame, swingarm, fork sand blasted clean, everything assembled for a test ride: Later I sand blasted and repainted the wheels and hubs, the rusted pieces you see here are the same as the ones in the final pics.



To bring this beast to a stop, I ditched the jackshaft brake and used the Honda Trail 70 front and rear brakes. Modified the Honda rear hub to accept a brake cable, modified the front fork to accept the Honda brake hub. Misc. hardware for attaching the brake cables was machined from scratch out of stainless steel.



Could feel the rear swing arm flex when cornering, so gussets were added: Also note that the area where the rear axle passes thru was reinforced, doubling the thickness. Wheel spacers were machined from scratch.



Time to upgrade to a real front fork... Tripples, steering stem, and handle bar riser machined from scratch. I reattached the original serial tag where it was on the original lower tripple. I used sealed 1-3/8" ball bearings (with snap ring on the OD) in place of the original stem bushings with a bronze thrust washer top and bottom:



I was planning to reuse the handlebars that were on the bike when I got it, but I hated how they looked when I got the bike together. Also decided to put more work into the stainless steel gas tank my bud Jeremy roughed in for me.



Rounded over the front edge of the tank, and machined a filler neck and gas cap from scratch: I looked and looked around my place, and my place of employment, and the industrial supply catalogs, and the hardware store, and my folk's garage for something to use as a gas cap, but never found anything that I would be happy with.



Upgraded to some dirt bike style spring loaded foot pegs, and built the kickstand from scratch: The jackshaft/swing arm mounting plates were made from 1/4" steel scrap, jackshaft repositioned to better match the steeper angle of the swing arm with longer than stock shocks.



All painted up, new seat made from scratch. Headlight was added using stainless steel mounts made from scratch. Rear fender was a last minute addition before paint, for protection and for that "vintage" mini bike look.



All put together: BIG THANKS TO MY BUDS CHUCK AND JEREMY. Chuck is a master painter (who painted this beast and donated the stellar Torch Red base/clear paint) and also a very talented fabricator/welder/bodyman/drag racer/dirt biker/snowmobiler/mechanic. Jeremy built the Stainless Steel gas tank, provided much of the raw material for this project, and did most of the welding for my frame modifications. I could not have done this without their help and patience. Also gotta thank Chuck Sr. for lending me his boring head so I could complete my tripple clamps. THANKS GUYS!



A few minor improvements: Heavier rear shocks/springs, added batteries for the headlight, heavy-duty drive chains, and added a fuel pump to prevent fuel starvation. Check out the handlebar height now campared to the first photo.



Now on to finish my 1971 Honda CT-70 project:

[minidragbike]

Man those are some sweet minibikes. And they have plenty of torque to get moving.

[Hent]

Excellent job skibike.

Looks like ya made it for MBOTM!

[jesse8931]

wow thats some nice work good job

[Oldsalt]

Stainless buttonheads on the rear brake anchor! Perfect knurling on the gas cap. Wonderful planning and perfect execution down to details like these. You gotta like making chips! Beautiful!

[Skibike69]

Originally Posted by Oldsalt

Stainless buttonheads on the rear brake anchor! Perfect knurling on the gas cap. Wonderful planning and perfect execution down to details like these. You gotta like making chips! Beautiful!

Oldsalt: Thanks for noticing the little details! By the way, I attempted to check out your web site, but it does not seem to be working...

There are many parts on this bike that I made from scratch that do not show in the final assembly. I used Stainless Steel whenever possible or practical. The fuel tank will outlive us all!

Most (but not all) fasteners are Stainless Steel, including the steering stem that I machined from scratch. I love making parts from stainless, not because it is easy, but because no finishing is required, other than a pass with some scotch brite or emery cloth, and the beauty will last forever!

[GTO]

Great job on the resto and I like the all squared look of that mini bike . The gas tank just makes you smile.

I saw that pic and an army bike on line (Hents?) and started to get the mini project fever. a week later I owned two! In the 60's- early 70's I should have had a mini as a kid but never owned one., maybe because we were poor. Money ain't a problem now but I need to learn to put a weld down like you.

[RuppParts]

Ski............I see a 69 Camaro in the backround with an aftermarket intake.....how about a pic of it?

[Oldsalt]

Skibike69 I use stainless for the same reason. It becomes really useful on a salt flat car. I put together a 41 Knucklehead last year. As I'm not a restoration nut stainless was used extensively. Polishes up better than chrome. By the way, the web site for the Bonneville Studebaker is being redone to make it look better and get it up to date. That will take a couple of weeks. I attached a picture of the car being that you were interested.

[x-90 rider]

Skibike,

Great job, all of the little details are a nice touch. That thing should be a torque monster with the 10hp motor.