World's Smallest Flying Merkel!

Got a wild hair and built myself a Flying Merkel.  This is, without a doubt, THE COOLEST motorcycle to ever grace this planet.  Merkel built "motorcycles" in the early 1900's.  You can read all about them on the interewebs.

Here is my very favorite:  The 1911 board track racer.








I've dreamed of building a version of this bike, and even went so far as to design one around an old Honda XL 350.






I still hope to be able to build that bike someday, even though someone already beat me to it and built one around a Yamaha XT 500 engine.  You can see his entire build here:  http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=619303  There is some incredible craftsmanship there.  It turned out GREAT too:

Oh, right, so the one I built.


Lets see what we can do with all of my wifes jewelry stuff.







Frame was bent out of little bits of wire that are supposed to be made into earings. The rims were pre-rolled just like they are there.

See that lump of aluminum?



Thats the gas tank.



Forks done. Look familiar?


Engine was made from the bottom of a 1/4" bolt and the tops cut from two spark plugs.



Test fitting.



Painting was a real pain in the hiney.




Starting to come together. Used this fancy wire from Walmart to add some detail.






Took me 4 tries to get the pedals right, 3 tries to get the mag and plug wires right, and lots of tries for various other bits...






Made some custom decals with water transfer paper. Took several tries on regular paper to get the size and curve right but I think they turned out okay.



Voila! Done.











And to get a better idea of the size:






"Final" pic.




Now if only I could afford the REAL one!

Going GREENE.

2 weeks of school to go. Been working on what was supposed to be (story of my life) a quick refresh so I could use this mower and sell one of the others.  Pics from the seller:









Been phising for parts and implements for my 314 and this little gem popped up. Owner's sister gave it to him about 3 years ago. He planned on restoring it but was tired of it sitting in his shop. Dickered a bit, oggled his awesome collection of Deere junk, and loaded it up.





Drug it in the shop with the 314 and got busy.



Some "before" and during shots to help me remember where everything goes.



Pulled the motor down today. Oh look! Rod Soup!



To make a long story short, this:



Eventually became this:

.









The motor is ready to bench test.  Complete rebuilt.  Well, mostly.  Brand new standard size piston, rings, and rod, newer block, new gaskets, seals, plug, points, belts, and of course a ton of John Deere green paint and some expensive stickers.  I have quite a bit more info in my thread on the mytractor forum here:  http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=528857

I'm also making really good progress with the rest of the tractor.  Its torn down to almost the bare frame and ready for sanding / paint.  Apparently, I've been bitten my the green bug pretty hard, but in all honesty I came by it naturally-

Jealous.

My neighbor at school ordered a Shop Bot CNC router several weeks ago- it FINALLY showed up.  I don't know who's more excited about it- him or me. 


















Now if only I could find enough donors for my CNC plasma cutter!