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1915 Flying Merkel Copy & 1913 BSA Copy

Hi guys,

In talking to Gary yesterday, I thought I would send these pics along for a laugh. Sort of 'winter projects' from last year.

When I was a kid I spent a lot of time gazing at my grandfathers collection of old Mechanics Illustrated magazines and always thought it would be really fun to put an engine on a bicycle... but having no engines kicking around and no money either it just never happened. I never liked those kit motors you can buy and thought a Briggs & Stratton 5hp would work better. I did the first motorized bicycle build in 2010, the 1913 BSA was my third crack at 'antique' bike building...

I figure if you can't afford to buy the real thing, why not build one instead. It kept me busy during a very slow winter 2010/2011 and was finished in early April 2011. Mike asked me to help him build the Flying Merkel Copy, that was started last spring and was finished in the fall of 2011. These machines are single speed chain drive with centrifugal clutches and will comfortably cruise along at about 50kph, top speed is quite a bit more, but way over the recommended engine running speed. I have another one on the drawing board (Indian Board tracker?) that I intend to use a variable ratio belt drive transmission in, I have a motor and donor bicycle, but no start time in mind... I guess I'll do it 'whenever'.

Not a whole lot of real motorcycle stuff on them, but there are indeed some odds and ends that I can thank you folks for. I posted build threads on motorbicycling.com under the DIY Home Built section... a search on that site of Merkel Board Track Copy and 1913 BSA Copy will take you right there.

Cheers,
Bruce



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>>>> Click Here for a HUGE Picture of the Flying Merkel [400kb] <<<<





>>>> Click Here for a HUGE Picture of the BSA [600kb] <<<<