+
The side view looks great. The steering was surprisingly firm, without
backlash or bump-steer. The rake and trail seemed to work. Long
gliding turns were no problem, as were short, hard turns, and it was easy to
pull out of the turns and back to a straight line. I could feel and see the
front suspension move but not too much. Once the engine is back in place I'm sure
the suspension will move more. The rear springs worked fine.
Here's the happy inventor posing with his contraption after 5 runs down a
moderately steep hill. Note the boots, and elbow
pads. Not shown are gloves and a helmet. Without knowing how the rolling chassis
would behave, I took no chances with safety. Road rash hurts. A lot. Fortunately, nothing broke or
fell apart so I'll consider this test a success, but I'll still wear full
gear during all the rides. Road rash hurts. A lot.
Above is the Interceptor instrument cluster supported by a pair of temporary
brackets and using the stock cable to the front wheel. At right is a
nice 3/4 shot. You can see the speedometer cable, the stock kickstand, and
even one of the side mirrors. The seat was very comfortable
and the handlebars were an easy reach. The temporary footpegs are a little
low (I feared scraping them during long turns) so I'll raise them
up a bit.
Here's a satellite view of the test route. It's just under half a mile in length,
with an elevation drop of 95 feet. It's part of a business park under
development, so on a Sunday morning there was almost no traffic. I'm surprised
the local skateboarders aren't using it.
The start was a dirt turnout just long enough for the truck
and ramp without blocking the street.
The next step is dismantling the entire bike, then reinforcing the
welded areas on the frame, followed by fabricating new A-arms to be welded
by a profession. Next will be machined tubes for the forks to replace the
thin-wall conduit. The engine still need attention: at best only the pitted
cams will be replaced, at worst the entire motor will be rebuilt. With the
frame complete I can order a racing-style fuel tank to fit, and with the
motor back in the frame (as a guide) I can start on the exhaust. That's
enough to keep me busy.
The end was a small parking lot.
