You learn from what's killing you.

May 20, 2009

Custom Cycle Engineering

Here are my first bird deflectors cast from Randy Smiths original patterns!
they actually came out beautiful.
the one on the left is for S&S super E or G and the other is for S&S Super B or early Keihin or Bendix Carbs.


I will be doing a run of the ones for Super B very soon.
Not taking any orders til I have them in hand, and hopefully by then I'll have finished fixing up my ordering system online anyway. Its coming,,,


As far as the one for the E and G, its a tiny bit too small for the bolt pattern, It would be an easy fix for me to midify the pattern, but holy crap, modifying Randy's original pattern!?! I can't do it, well, at least I'm not ready to.

What do you people think, should I make it better so it fits perfectly,
(It's just a little thin after you drill it on the bottom 2 holes)
or should I leave it as is from his hands???

I am inclined to leave it, but I'd REALLY like peoples opinion!!!

Read that bottom part, I really need feedback on it!!!
Thank you

28 comments:

B Harlow said...

man Dave, that's a really tough call. It has obviously been proven to be structurally sound, therefore I would let the true original stand. yep, let it be. good luck.

Anonymous said...

First of all they look sweet bro...would love one for my Super E so please do a run of ones you,ve modified...want one...!!!!..

vurmin said...

I think you should make em so they fit right. To buy something that actually IS bot on and ride would be nice.

Milo said...

fix it. they look great.

whizzerick said...

Dave, I would pull the best possible silicone/rubber mold from the original pattern, cast a resin pattern in it (to minimize shrinking) and modify/tweak/perfect the resin pattern...
Hang the original on the wall.

Nobody would be satisfied with an imperfect part: not you, Randy Smith or your customer.

My 2 cent's worth.

Whizzerick

whizzerick said...

Dave, I would pull the best possible silicone/rubber mold from the original pattern, cast a resin pattern in it (to minimize shrinking) and modify/tweak/perfect the resin pattern...
Hang the original on the wall.

Nobody would be satisfied with an imperfect part: not you, Randy Smith or your customer.

My 2 cent's worth.

Whizzerick

DSJeff said...

I say leave them as they were originally.

damion saunders said...

Beautiful! Can't wait to get one.
I'm going to put in my vote that you leave them as they are. These are little bits of our history and should be kept original. Thank you for bringing back them back for us!

Daniel K said...

I would leave it as it is...

Jay said...

Leave it as it is. Its a vintage design. Why fuck with something that would only need a minimal mod.... Are thinking of making them for stock harley CV carbs?

leon holmes said...

if they will hold up the way they are lettem roll.
i bet they will be fine and you will only see it when installing them.hell there just standoffs right?

Unknown said...

If it's purely for cosmetics I would leave it.
If the integrity of the part is jeopardized I'd have to consider changing it.

Sparky said...

Dave,

Those are awesome! would buy one in a heartbeat. The work looks great.

sparky

1%er said...

you know...
I really like old school / vintage stuff ... and i did a lot of work bringing back to life some guitar amps from the 60's...but i always said: if you CAN pursuit perfection, why not achieve it ?

shiftace said...

I vote make it fit right. Ultimately no matter who casted it originally, you are the one who's doing it now. If if fits like shit and the bosses break and the damn thing falls off, dudes are going to cuss you, not Randy. So anyways, one for fixing it.

J-Rod said...

Make it work. It's cool that it's Randy's original patterns, but they are nothing but artifacts if they can't be used to make motorcycle parts. I bet if you asked Randy he'd tell you to modify them so they work, and he'd be proud to have folks running them.

hogtownhd said...

Can you use the original pattern to make a new pattern that fits better?

Anonymous said...

That's a tough call Dave, I would be inclined to leave it too, but man that does look like some thin spots prone to cracking in the long run.

I would assume you would make a entirely new mold from his and then modify the new mold leaving the original untouched? Can't see the harm in that.

Got dibs on one.

drsprocket said...

Dave, leave it like the master made it. Any Linkert one's for us "old guy's"?

Markman said...

WWRD?

Veroland said...

too thin Dave, fix it so 40 years from now some gearheads will use it on their vintage Evo

Scott said...

Make it fit right!

wishbone69 said...

Let the originals original, these parts are for the old stuff...

Chris said...

Make it so it fits right. It will be a defining difference between the originals by him and the ones you do today. I think if its a new one people will appreciate the fit and know that it still came from his original design basically. Great to see you do either way.

Rick said...

Hey man, if nobody ever tweeked anything we would still be riding horses and shittin in holes. Make it fit. Tweekin is what its all about, dude!!

I fuckin dig your work.

Rojo said...

PLEASE don't mess up the original.
There has to be a way you can use a piece you cast from the original.
Better yet, use Randy's original as a go-by and use your considerable talents
to make one from scratch.
Good luck, and thanks for sharing!

Dave

A Pure Water Source said...

Easy enough to make a new mold like Wizzerick was saying. Why not do both? A limited run of originals. I'm sure you weren't talking about changing the original mold. Right? Could always make more if they fly off the shelf.

Jason James Tracy said...

If you want it to be structurally sound and work properly, then modify. No such thing as overkill on a chopper. Only killed, and not killed. I would buy one for my E.