built not bought – Wreck Rebuild Repeat

November 9, 2017May 6, 2020

Oils well that fairs well?

The TSM-SP now has its tools in place and the convertible pannier mounted. Then I realized I didn’t think of a spot to keep oil. In my lovely bag, no way. Jacket pocket, sounds like a recipe for a ruined shirt. There has to be a free spot on the bike. Under the seat is the answer!

There is a hollow just big enough to house 2 vials of oil. Leah and I are (were) Flaviar members and I’ve been saving the little booze tasting bottles. Now I just needed to make something to hold the bottles in place.

I still had a ton of marine vinyl and some dog leash left so back to the sewing machine!

I ended up making a tiny pouch that straps around the frame and leaves the vials suspended as a bit of a shock absorption system. I made one for each TSM and they fit perfectly, even with the different seat mounts.

Just when I thought I was finished with the TSM-SP, Benji and the guys from Treats find tiny fairings. I need one! Bonus they were having a sale! Yay!

In a couple days I had the magical fairing in hand…well in Leah’s hand for these shots.

I made a quick mount for it out of some 22 gauge steel and poof!

https://www.instagram.com/p/BNDzci0DM6_

It is only attached to the spot where the plastic rivets connected the windshield to the headlight surround. After sleeping on it for a while I painted the brace black and added a camera mount. I also added velcro ties that attach to the triple-tree.

Now it looks like this…

https://www.instagram.com/p/BTWi6IJBuuC

So for now I’m calling this project done. Is there something else in the works for the TSM-SP…of course there is! I need to get out and ride this thing more. To give you some perspective I started the process in October of 2015. It was tuned and rideable June of 2016. Finishing touches April 2017.

Ok, Gotta get out riding and shoot some fun rides…and don’t worry…I’ll still be wrenching.

October 9, 2017May 6, 2020

Sew this is it!

Beautiful moped…check

Beautiful convertible bag…check

Beautiful tool roll…che…oh crap!

The tool bag I had didn’t fit in the pocket I spec’d. Probably because it’s more of a tool wallet than a roll. It’s supposed to be worn by the rider not strapped to the bike…poo.

No wait, Yay! A new challenge. I wanted Tia (from VayaBags) to make this too but I wasn’t sure when I’d have the time to get myself and my tools out to her to design something. I tried making a template from a grocery bag but that was a failure. I decided to use some safety pins and an old fabric bag to mock things up. I had a lot of marine vinyl left from recovering the TSM-DR’s seat so I figured I’d try sewing one myself.

Leah has an old school Kenmore sewing machine from the 50s or 60s and it can pretty much sew through anything. I set to work taking measurements from my mocked up tool roll, sewing and checking for fitment. Let’s just say I was glad I had some junk vinyl to practice on…I’m not good at building with fabric. I also think that old sewing machine needs a tune-up. If you know of anyone that does that kind of work in the nyc area let me know.

Slowly but surely it started to look like what I wanted.

I needed to find some webbing that would wrap things up and secure it to the moped. I looked online but everything was expensive unless I bought a lot. A quick trip to Michaels and PetSmart solved my problem. A dog leash and some paracord bracelet clasps solved the problem.

Then some fabric was removed from the cover flap and I reinforced the other stitching and made a handle.

Not too shabby. I’m going to wear this out and then I can just hand off the roll to Tia to get something indestructible made.

Next up…keeping things well oiled and faired?

September 6, 2017May 6, 2020

A triple-tree grows in Brooklyn

I repainted the last of the seat plastics and recovered the seat. Then put things together.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXEIKmYFE-F/

The long seat trim pieces were a little long and needed to be trimmed down but overall with the rear fender on this build was coming together.

The big issue was that my triple-tree stem was too short. I had a long bolt holding things together but I needed something permanent.

To solve this I found a piece of steel tube that fit perfectly into the stem. I then cut the stem in half and slid the tube in between the halves. I then adjusted the length so it was about two and a half inches longer and drilled some holes between the old stem halves and the tube. I then riveted everything together. Finally I welded everything in place. There will have to be a catastrophic failure to sheer the rivets and the weld. Once on the bike everything looked perfect.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXGPB-Ilukl

I put things back together and then mocked up where the taillight was going to go. I ended up going with the higher mount.

The only things to figure out now is how to mount a backwards freewheel. I won’t put an engine on this guy until the pedals are working…one alignment problem at a time.

Next up…panniers days…it rhymes if you’re French, I swear!

July 24, 2017May 6, 2020

Dual sport goes dual variated

With the tank, headlight, seat plastics and frame painted, it was time to put TSM#2 together. This is when I remember that I have a dual-variated swingarm hidden in my parts pile. Why make another TSM when I can build a TSMR or in this case a TSM-DR!

The swingarm needed a thorough cleaning, a little grinding and welding and a couple coats of paint. After that it was time to put it together

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXehqxoFD5e/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

I wanted to use a Puch Magnum pedal crank so it would pedal more like a BMX bike but that didn’t fit right. (Keep an eye out for an upcoming post as I’m working on a custom crank for both TSMs.) Spacing things correctly is the next challenge and I’m sure before I’m done I will have to take this apart a couple more times to get it right.

I mocked up some fender mounts on the CR80 forks, made a temporary adapter to mount the forks, and bolted everything up.

You might notice that the back of the seat is missing. Well I dropped it before the paint cured and knocked a chunk out of it…so time to repaint it…grrrr.

Next up…tree lengthening, marine vinyl, and me.