Nothin but Rattlers and Thistles out here!

Mail Run

Great Ride, Fantastic Scenery

45. Left front view.

43. Right side view.

42. Left side view. Out enjoying the day.

41. Headed up a back road on a test drive.

40. Out for the first test drive. Everything is getting closer to being finished.

39. Front suspension arms ready for the upright pillars and the sliders and springs. This style of suspension is known as the sliding pillar suspen

38. All the components of the windshield ready for assembly.

37. Windshield frame fabricated from channel and then chrome plated with the glass pattern.

36. Work on the master brake cylinder and wiring being finished up.

35. Right front fender with the fender light/turn signal mounted on top. Also shown is all the sheet metal around the cam cover and exhaust pipes.

34. Right side with sheet metal removed showing the auxillary alternator. Also shown are the brake proportioning valve for the rear brake.

33. Rear section of the drive shaft mounted in pillow blocks with pulley driving an auxillary alternator.

32. Two piece drive shaft. The rear section to be mounted in pillow blocks with a pulley to drive an auxillary alternator.

31. Rubber seal between the air dam and radiator shell to force all cooling air from dummy radiator core through the original bike radiator.

30. The stop lights and tail lights are mounted behind the boat-tail louvers. They are not noticeable till they are turned on.

29. Dash complete with all gauges, ready to be wired. The gauges are from Classic Instruments and are their Vintage series.

28. Aluminum dash covered with a Cherry wood veneer.

27. After getting the gauge layout correct, I made the dash from 10 gauge aluminum.

26. Using foam board, laying out the gauge pattern so that there will be no blind spots when looking at the gauges.

25. Wiring terminal behind the dash with some of the wiring. The arm rest has a lid but no lock yet. The side storage box on the right just got a l

24. Using the cardboard patterns, the side dash and arm rest are made from metal. The side dash will carry most of the switches

23. Fitting cardboard patterns for the side dash and arm rest-glove box.

22. Aluminum gas tank welded up from 10 gauge sheet aluminum. It has internal baffles to keep the gas from sloshing on hard corners.

21. To get everything to fit right, I made a cardboard mock up of the gas tank for a pattern

20. Boat-tail mounted on the Thistle and ready for finishing.

19. Formed pieces along side the egg crate ready to be welded together and smoothed out.

18. Forming the sheet metal pieces to the egg crate form for the upper section of the boat-tail.

17. With a little primer, things are looking good.

16. Drilling rivet holes in the belly pan, and holding it in place with cleco pins.

15. Priming and smoothing out the cowl and hood (bonnet) area

14. Forming the cowl piece to fit properly with the hood (bonnet) sheet metal.

13. Fitting the engine hood (bonnet) sheet metal to get the right curve and spacing.

12. Fitting the outer sheet metal skin.

11. Egg crate form to work the rear boat-tail sheet metal to.

10. Working out the proper profile for the top section of the boat-tail.

9. From cardboard patterns to sheet metal, also fabricating the steering shaft to fit around the engine.

8. Making and fitting cardboard patterns for the firewall and foot well sheet metal.

7. Fitting a Honda GL1100 Goldwing engine for the power plant.

6. The boat-tail taking shape. This will give the body a nice streamlined shape.

5. Forming the upper rail of the boat-tail the hard way. There are machines that do this much easier.

4. Two wheels on the ground, and only one more to go. Still working on the front suspension.