freedom or death machine build #5

Here is an email I received from Jeff late last night:

OK dude, just home from Chris’s at 12am. First time to sit today at ‘puter. Here’s what I can scrounge from my last burnt brain cell.

The bars I used to morph with Elswick’s bars were old vintage Tomaselli bars which had the levers welded and smoothed into them so they are sleek and have no clamp. I’ve had them in the rafters for a year waiting for something special and we all know how special you are, so BAM! I grabbed them to make a bar I liked more on the bike.

[UPDATE 05.18.12: if you scroll the above image to the top of your screen you will discover the handlebars are off by about an inch and the controls at an impossible angle to grab. wish i would have noticed that two years ago, but i trusted this schmuck. you cannot see, but the steering neck is also crooked.]


The downtube is a 2″, .120″ wall tube. I had two pieces bent already to make another frame or two, but again, since you’re special, I whacked them, made a 1.75″ slug, and mated them for the top gooseneck and bottom cow catcher that you behold. I reused the old Yamaha downtubes that used to curve up and curved them in to meet to cow catcher bottom of the down tube. I’ll create a little steel or brass scoop there to visually flatten the bottom.

The seat is a pan from Accufast2d. He makes killer, thick seat pans for a very affordable price. I welded the studs on for FabKevin’s hinge, then made and welded the tabs on for the monoshock. It’s a killer seat on a budget.

The headlight and mount is a 1930’s Mazda unit. (editor’s note: mazda began making trikes in 1931, their first vehicles since the company started in 1920)

The mount is what caught my eye, we wanted the light out in the breeze and a bit up front so it can have the small brass fairing you want while still having the After Hours brass risers showing, not hidden under the fairing.

I reduced the rake a bit before nailing the neck in place. If you notice, the front of the tanks, where they are cut and angle down, is the exact angle of the neck. I will now cut the bottom corner of the tanks like the top to be the exact same angle as the downtube. I know it’s hard to see from these pics, but trust me, there’s more going on than you’ll catch in them.

The top of the tank flows into seat at exact same line. The front tank angles will match the neck’s rake and the downtube. I will make you like the tanks. Even if you still hate them, when you see them in person, you’ll like it and say thank you. You may even faint. ****, if I make it there at all with a semi-finished bike it’ll be a miracle!

There is more coming. The re-formed tanks, the brassJ

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