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Andreas' Story Behind
We have built countless bikes – but this is by far the most expensive and uncompromising Thunderbike. This bike has moved so much here!
This bike is incredible. I understand that now, where a little peace has returned.
Already when the first parts came back from the nickel-plating, I became aware of what we had built there.
It is the sum of things: every little detail is an absolute highlight in itself. I planned many bikes, made lists, made sketches and coordinated parts. I tried to count by, it’s incredible.
Nothing that can be found on this bike has ever existed.
Frame, engine, swingarm, fork, ignition, brake, bump, tank, fairing, oil cooler, steering damper and handlebars are new and different not only in their shape but above all in their function.
It is the art of technology – the pioneering spirit – not only to redesign something, but also to re-create functional processes at the same time.
Shooting: Dirk “the Pixeleye” Behlau
"I could not wait to see the bike finish."
The Making Of
It should be a real old school racer. The theme had already inspired us on the King Kerosin bike. There came a used Iron just right.
First, we cut the gearbox off the Ironhead engine and put a WLA gearbox behind it. From the first sketches, a sheet metal silhouette was derived, a few wheels were added and the gross proportions were determined.
I found the ignition system at E-Bay: a Bosch Magneto from 1928!
This thing had to thrive in front of the engine – as in almost all legendary racing machines.
Then it went to the frame. The metal shoe for engine and transmission combined with the pipe cover brought the necessary racing character into the bike.
After we started this way, a combination of flat steel and tube was also available for the swingarm. The first holes were drilled ……
Since we wanted a freestanding hump, we had to find another type of swing deflection. Shock absorbers arranged on the side under the bump fit perfectly there.
- Owner Thunderbike
- Model PainTTless
- Construction Year 2012
- Construction Time 8 Months
- Engine Harley-Davidson Sportster Iron Head 1984
- Capacity 998ci
- Carburetor Amal Monoblock
- Ignition Robert Bosch
- Manifold Thunderbike
- Transmission 750 WLA
- Primary 750 WLA
- Sekundary Thunderbike
- Painting Ingo Kruse Kruse Design
- Nickel A. Kruse Metallveredelung
- Eloxal Fischer Oberflächentechnik
- Finishing BEWICO Oberflächenveredelung
- Frame Thunderbike
- Steering Head Tilt 36°
- Swingarm Thunderbike
- Fuel Tank Thunderbike
- Oil Tank Thunderbike
- Grips Thunderbike
- Brake Cylinder K-Tech
- Forward Control Kit Thunderbike
- Elektric Thunderbike
- Speedometer Motogadget
- Upholstery Warmsbach
- Front End Thunderbike
- Front Rim Thunderbike 2.25×19
- Front Tire Avon Roadrunner
- Brake Thunderbike / Honda
- Rear Rim Thunderbike 3.0×19
- Rear Tire Heidenau 4.0×19
- Brake Caliper Thunderbike / Honda
You can find Thunderbike Parts and original Harley-Davidson Parts in our online shop.
The hump and tank were first shaped with plywood and cardboard. The sheet silhouette and the first sketches served as a guide.
At the same time, wheels and triple clamps made of aluminum blocks and the final tank shape were milled out of plastic and an exhaust model was bent and a detent model was built. The first swing cover made of pipe had to give way to a drilled flat steel version ….. oh well ……… and the fork of a different kind, a combination of jumper and fork with two shock struts, became a real one Gem and works very well. With shortened springs of a Street Bob fork combined with two shock absorbers, the bike offers a clean response with a suitable negative path ….. hit!
That already looked good. We were well on schedule. The best thing about this feeling is to make a list, which is equipped with all unfinished work. But one comes over again the “that we never create” feeling.
After the chassis and the engine were rough, it went to the functions brakes, clutch, clutch, choke, Zündversteller, gas, notches, levers, deflectors, linkages, trains and much more. Just all the controls.
Speaking of ignition. The way there was very rocky. The Lima away and the detonator: That sounds easy, but of course the translation does not fit. The ignition must turn 1: 1 with the crankshaft, which means that the matching sprockets have to be made and the bearing seats have to be rearranged. On the occasion you have to mill a new camshaft cover, because the old man does not fit anymore. The Magneto also needs a rotating mounting so that it can be adjusted afterwards.
One of my favorite parts is the hump / oil cooler / oil tank all together in one piece.
Milled from an aluminum block with cooling fins. Oil sight glass on the side filler neck on top and recessed oil lines …… totally tightened
The bump gets its first Blechkleid then it’s going on with the tank this component is already more difficult. Especially because after all everything should be “paintless”, so the surface must be absolutely clean without the slightest dent. The milled plastic tank serves as a mold block. Hours of careful hammering and welding pass …….. the result is impressive.
But the hardest part of this project is the disguise. The same game as with the tank only viiieeeel consuming. First mill a plastic model and then knock the tin around it without wrinkles. With an air hammer, the sheet is stretched extremely at the curves and thus brought in millimeter shape in some places, the sheet must then be cut and rewelded clean and so on ……….
Finally, a deduction of carbon fiber to specify the exact cutout for the fork.
To the engine – If already a Bosch Magneto, then Amal carburetor and even TWO! That must be possible somehow. Not very easy …… take a second rear cylinder head, turn it 180 ° and install it in front. The side effects are not completely without. New oil wells have to be put into the cylinder, ram guides have to be re-milled and the rocker boxes had to be reworked.
At the same time, the lower cooling fins can be turned off and the rocker boxes split. That brings the real old school look. For the primary side, there is also a new cover with adjustable chain tensioner and a new pinion for the crankshaft with Sportyschaft and WLA duplex chain pitch. Oh yes, and send new ram pipes and brass pipes outside for the toggle lubrication as well as ribbed intake s are of course also.
Huge, ventilated brake drums (which have brake discs inside) are just the thing for this project. The brake discs and saddles were available at E-Bay (Honda parts from the 80s), the “drums” with matching cooling ribs we have milled to match our wheels.
It’s the many technical solutions that make this bike so special. Now that the first things of nickel plating, anodising and vibratory finishing are back, you can only see the size of the parts that we have built for this bike in the last 8 months. It’s incredible!
Only the control of the carburetor, the scenes for circuit, air piston and ignition, the clutch control, the off switch …, the tachometer, the fairing holder combined with the steering damper, the brake deflector front and rear, the brake anchor struts, the air intake on the hump. . !! the defuser, the throttle cable, the brake levers, the clutch levers, the brake anchor struts, the pushrods, the adjustable catches, the clutch and brake pedals, the clutch cover, the primary chain tensioner, the exhaust … !!!