Econo - the final cut

[sunnydog]

I been selling shit for about 6 months and searching the web...found this custom fender handbuilt in Pennsylvania by a guy named James Duffy. As many of you might recall I built my own a number of years ago, but my poor craftsmanship and welding...it was never really what I was after. This thing is beautifully crafted, all tigged and includes seat pan/other mounting accessories.

So I dismantled the old...

[sunnydog]

and installed the new...






Let fly with your critiwiticisms...I can take it

[ratman]

Nice - that's a copy of the Crazy Frank fender from the 70's (with the addition of the seat pan).  How are the internal struts?  

As you know I have a strutless rear fender and there can be some issues with side to side movement due to the flat bar of the internal struts (instead of U channel OEM which is much more rigid)

[sunnydog]

Feels very strong Paul...I think it’s gonna be fine by how stiffly it’s built

[kootenai]

sweet score man it looks really nice on the Econoline crush!

[ratman]

Feels very strong Paul...I think it’s gonna be fine by how stiffly it’s built

Good news - it looks great

[Dennman]

Will be easier to follow the progress here than on the new format US site.
As with most parts on our rides ,if it shouldn't move and is attached so it won't; then no problem.Any slight motion w/ weight on it will cause a waylay down the road.I trust it is well built at the shock and frame mount locations.
Lookin forward to your upholstery work.

[sunnydog]

I'll try to post more here Denn, there's little interest in anything COB or custom over there, such purists in their garage jewelry, while riding twinks on weekends lmfao.  I've been thru many iterations with the Econo and I feel this is where she wants to be.....

for now

I'll roll her out in the sun after work today so ya'll can see the lines....hell, so I can see the lines, it's so tight in my shop im only catching glimpses...

[sunnydog]

Here she look

[Dennman]

Whew just figured out how to see the whole pic.This site likes to cut of the right third or so.
Lookin good in the profile.
I know all about those tight quarters in the shop.Alot of scoot could-be-dones get put off due to the cramped quarters that I have.
Your floorboard mounting has given me an idea if I ever swap all the Weerier's gear over to an FX frame that I have.

[sunnydog]

Hey Denn...how do you get the site to show whole pic...it's got me stymied

Oh, just tap on it lol

[Dennman]

Hey Denn...how do you get the site to show whole pic...it's got me stymied

Oh, just tap on it lol

Ya,just click on the photo and it takes you to the photo source.

[ratman]

Looks good to me John, nice job.

[kootenai]

two thumbs up from the flats dude..

[sunnydog]

thanks men, I appreciate your thoughts...

this fender is number 30 in the production run since he started making em, just found the stamp!


marked locations for a double whammy hole on each side. The bolt will hold the sissy bar in place, and serve as an outlet for signal light mounting/wires...drilled pilot and now enlarging


Here's a pic of the bolt with hole in it for wire...the sissy bar already friction mounts quite securely because of its arrow shape, but these bolts should make sure it doesn't rise up at all...

[sunnydog]

and a look from the outside...


same bullet lights as always...


and then I tackwelded a piece of 3/8 steel brake line inside for wires to run thru...drilled a hole and placed grommet for passage into top/back of fender

[sunnydog]

a look up her keester...


stripped all the wiring and hardware off, now priming for paint...


all for now, will post more pics as progress made.

[Dennman]

That does look like a well designed fender.Every add on is a snug fit and the reinforced seat area plus the rolled (?) bottom edge should make that function problem free.
Keep it up with the progress reports.

[sunnydog]

Put a coat of undercoat on inside of fender, then rattle can black and clearcoat.  She’s not perfect by a long stretch and that’s good cause it’s goin on a dirty black Shovel!!!

[Dennman]

Any red accents getting added later?
Looks OK for a bomb.
I never had any luck with a canned clear.

[sunnydog]

I'd like to do a very simple pinstripe accent on it...but I'm not good at striping...may practice up a bit on mock panel then give it a shot

[Dennman]

I'm not great at fine lines by hand either.I bought some thin,red pinstriping tape.I can't remember what I used it for.Apparently I'm not good at remembering either.

[sunnydog]

Lol...I lose stuff constantly in my cluttered shop.

Here’s the wiring in place, ready to attach lights


lights in place, loom tied in place


Used a piece of mud flap and cut it down to make a...well a mudflap


Here’s the whole shitteree with seat pan n all


Hopefully tonite I will install on bike

[Dennman]

Moving right along there.Your wiring tags are similar to mine under the nacelle.All the wires are tagged with their position in the terminal block.

[sunnydog]

I label the piss outta wiring because I'm electrically retarded and 'short' of filming the entire process I need all the help I can get. When I wire something and it works its an epiphany the likes of man's discovery of fire...I can't wipe the grin off my face.

[Dennman]

I Know that feelin and do the same when pullin off parts with wires.If it worked,tag it and put back the same.

[sunnydog]

mounted and lights hooked up




dats all folks

[Dennman]

It shines.I presume the brake light and signals work too.
I noticed that you have a handy deterent to opposing opinions hangin there handy on the bench.

[sunnydog]

It shines.I presume the brake light and signals work too.
I noticed that you have a handy deterent to opposing opinions hangin there handy on the bench.

Brake light works, very bright too, and my signals both work!  The labelling has succeeded!  I may label the dogs and cat now since it's proven effective in identifying things. Of course now i have everything mounted I'm thinkin of altering the signal posts a bit so maybe I'm not done yet.

PS yep that's my zombie killer...there's many around these parts, some call them millenials

[Dennman]

Signal posts? Semafore flag handles come to mind.Awkward to use on a bike.
Millenials ? This septagenarian doesn't see or have to deal with them.

[sunnydog]

semaphores like on the old citroen deux chevals....that might be a tricky setup...maybe 10 speed cables and a complex system of small levers/pulleys inside the fender...
kinda like my dry sump prim chain oiling setup when I had the tin primary on Econo...Rube Goldberg

[Dennman]

semaphores like on the old citroen deux chevals....that might be a tricky setup...maybe 10 speed cables and a complex system of small levers/pulleys inside the fender...
kinda like my dry sump prim chain oiling setup when I had the tin primary on Econo...Rube Goldberg

There use to be a British Morris back in the '50s that had those waggers on the door posts.
T'would have been neat to see them if they'd had an emergency mode.Flappin away,likin to take off.
Rube Goldberg on my Weerier was a recirculatin oil line from the crank vent back to the oil bag filler.Sheared a key on the scavenging gear in the pump and couldn't afford to fix it. Rode that way for months.

[sunnydog]

I love Shovels

[Dennman]

When I finally got around to a total rebuild,I was gobsmacked at how loose all the part tolerances were and, yet ; she still took me faithfully down the road. Started to think of shovel engineering as Tractor engineering.

[sunnydog]

When I finally got around to a total rebuild,I was gobsmacked at how loose all the part tolerances were and, yet ; she still took me faithfully down the road. Started to think of shovel engineering as Tractor engineering.

How many stories that Shovel pilots relate about their trusty steeds and how they get you home to the barn with so much wrong...running on one cylinder while other is dead...running on one cylinder while wrist pin in other carves into cyl wall...running with valve train in shambles...running with no charging system...running with jury-rigged oiling systems...running with carb literally tied on with leather bootstraps...running with hand-carved wooden parts to replace metal ones that have fallen off...running until they shut down because of any/all of above, and after cool down re-starting and running again until next point of temporary failure.....I don't hear any stories like this about twinks.

[Dennman]

Too many sensors on em to tell what is feckin up.Hell if their fob screws up they can't even start em.

[sunnydog]

Too many sensors on em to tell what is feckin up.Hell if their fob screws up they can't even start em.

two essential tools for touring on a twink...cellphone and credit card lol

[sunnydog]

so decided to build signal light mounts, and I had some brass so I chucked it up and made 1” posts with 5/16” holes in centre to run wiring thru.

Then I cut down some old bolts to around 2” and bored them on lathe for wiring...




then cut threads for nuts

[sunnydog]

Threaded and ready


And fit the brass posts with enuff thread to mount thru sissy bar

[Dennman]

A little ChengaDog work there.Very nice!
Good lookin die holder.My plain one comes from a New Zealand made set that I garage saled for $5.

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