Hello everyone, we’ve been working hard in the shop so not posting as much on the site. There have been some Facebook updates inbetween the last entry and this entry. The snow has been flying like mad around here these days so testing bikes is being done in the snow and ice, it’s interesting but nothing we’ve not encountered before.
Exciting news!!! We’ve finished Ehren’s 1994 Elefant! The bike is essentially done except for some tuning in the carburetors and a few touch-up details here and there, possibly a little paint too. The electrical harness we rewired worked perfectly the first try and everything else seems to be in very good order. As mentioned, the carburetors (dual Keihin FCR 39 downdraft) need a little tuning, but otherwise they work fantastic. The new rear shock is many times better than the old stock shock and we think will hold up quite well. We’ve even mounted our panniers on a set of attachment pieces so we can attach them to either bike and have them on the bike, everything works perfectly and our racks with our uniquely designed mounting system seem to work flawlessly. They work so well in fact that placing the panniers (or whatever else you have attached to them) off and on the bike is quick and painless, it’s literally a quick pull of the handle and you’ve got your gear in your hand. A while back we did a quick video on how the racks will work:
…since then all the parts have been powder coated and the attachments are done, so everything works as it should now, so well post a video up soon of the final product and how it works.
More exciting news!!! The trailer is finished finally! The build came together really well, it looks superb and everything came out really well. The only issue we have now is, being a single wheel trailer, it is a bit much to handle on the road. We have an issue with some wobbling as we go making riding difficult. We’re doing some work on attempting to stabilize the platform, but if we cannot make headway, we’ll just do some quick modifications and make it a two wheel trailer. We were attempting to avoid this so that we could be more maneuverable off road (dirt roads even) but if the single wheel makes riding dangerous then we need to make a change.
Since we were so excited by our trailer, we didn’t think much to take photos of just the bike, so here are a couple photos of the bike and the trailer and a few of us on our first hookup and test run of the setup:
Starting up the bike and letting it warm up a bit, getting a feel of the bike with a trailer attached to it.
Brittany getting a feel of the bike with the trailer attached.
Although the trailer is big, it’s got a really low front profile and is actually less wide than the bike is.
The bike and trailer combo, note the bike doesn’t have rear racks yet here.
Brittany’s 1995 Elefant is completely torn down (except for the motor and the wiring harness). The rear suspension already has all new bearings and the frame is already being built up. More about Britt’s bike build in the near future.
Thanks again for following along!
– Ehren and Brittany