I took advantage of possibly the last nice riding day of the year to cruise around town on The Bride a bit in the afternoon. I strapped on a GoPro chest-mount and … On-board video & glamour shotsRead more
The Bride
An experiment to recombine and repurpose cast-off parts from other projects.
Based on a 1974 SST Panther Black Shadow 175 frame and 6½ HP LCT 208 Honda GX clone.
Fuel Tank Graphics
I tried adding some heavy-duty 3M vinyl sheet to the tank to cover up the ghosted Can-Am decals. It went on impressively well and looked great initially, but it kept developing bubbles … Fuel Tank GraphicsRead more
The Bride hits the streets
I am happy to report that I have been able to put some miles on The Bride, and I feel it’s fundamentally a success. I traced the CVT’s erratic behavior to excessive … The Bride hits the streetsRead more
Instrument mount
I finally fabricated a permanent instrument panel, something I had been struggling to make both functional and reasonably attractive. The process required a number of iterations, and what I ended up with … Instrument mountRead more
Tachometer calibration
I installed a Runleader RL-HM032C tach on my bike. It’s a fairly generic battery-operated, inductive, digital tach of the type you find all over Amazon and Ebay. The simple ignitions on these … Tachometer calibrationRead more
Muffler modification
On the first couple of test rides, The Bride’s exhaust was clearly too loud—even at low speeds—and had a very sharp, unpleasant bark. The muffler was from an old Bultaco roadracer I … Muffler modificationRead more
Improving rideability
Acting on the theory that the Nibbi 24mm carb might be on the large side for my motor, I picked up the same carb in 19mm (Nibbi PE19FL) to play around with … Improving rideabilityRead more
I RODE THE BRIDE!!!
IT FINALLY HAPPENED! I rode “The Bride” on a short 2-1/2 mile loop through the neighborhood this morning. There’s still a lot to work to do, but I can now officially say … I RODE THE BRIDE!!!Read more
Getting close!
The engine has been buttoned-up and mounted back in the bike. I checked that everything is re-wired properly, and the electric starter works! The carb mounting needs a bit of tweeking before I … Getting close!Read more
New crankshaft installed
An internet commenter encouraged me to substitute something better than the stock crank, rather than go back to using stock engine innards. I decided that was the right move, so I ordered … New crankshaft installedRead more