RE: New video
By the way, here is an english translation of building the bike (according to the video):
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[size=1]By todays standards, travel in the 20's was no picnic. Motorcycles had useless front forks and the rear had no suspension whatsoever. And yet they brought with them an almost limitless thirst for adventure.
In the Fall of 2003 I sat down with my biker buddy, Hery, and talked about an unusual vehicle: my dream combination. The specifications were strange and brought back memories from the past rather than the present; Hardtail frame, reliable motor, Springer front end, fat rear wheel and genuine period lights. It was not to be a combination to be trailered from show to show, it should be capable of surviving a North African rally.
We decided on a Harley-Davidson Sportster engine. The reason: we couldn't find a frame for a Japanese V-twin. We ordered it from a company in Holland called V-Twin, they make all kinds of Harley frames. Another advantage, it would be delivered with a TUV certificate. We agreed on the specs, 50mm trail, room for a 185 tire on the rear and a ground clearance with the Springer forks of at least 13 cm. I could have saved myslef the work on the construction timetable however, because the frame delivery was delayed by several weeks.
In the meantime I began to look for a used Sportster. It was a nightmare, the market was either empty, or the prices ridiculous. The I found a 883 on Ebay. I bid blind and won it for 4850 Euro. The tiny pictures on the Internet were a godsend, not many were interested enough to bid. It was a snap. The bike was immaculate and only had 6000 miles on the odometer. After the transfer we stripped the bike down in a day and removed everything that would be needed for the rebuild. A naked rolling chasis remained. It was a compromise to use as many original parts as possible but I wanted to remain in budget.
In the process of the engine rebuild we increased the size to 1200 and reduced the compression. Meanwhile the Springer forks arrived from V-Twin and the rear wheel from Jürgen Roth. Slowly the machine was taking shape. We were under pressure; new emissions regulations meant that we needed to register the bike before 31 July 2004. We kept the dealine and the bike was registered as a (custom) Yesterdays model, manufactured by Martin Franitza.
In August I took it to Jürgen Rothhe was to costruct the sidecar accoring to my design. Working drawings flew back and forth via email. It was to resemble a 1918 Harley Davidson sidecar. The rear was to have a small trunk for my photographic equipment with the rest of the luggage being stowed on the foldig luggage rack. The drawings were very detailed. I envisioned myself trekking fully laden throughout the Sahara. We agreed on November complettion, I could have saved that planning too. Weeks and months went by. To try to explain the delay would be beyond the scope of this article. It wasn't until Christmas 2005 that I was able to see Yesterdays on 3 wheels.
The sidecar met my design requirements, despite the unacceptable delivery time, Jürgen Roth had done a good job. Meanwhile however, my buddy Hery had closed his shop. I had the remainder of the owrk to do alone. Front and rear brakes had to be optimized for the sidecar combination, the electrical system had to be expanded and improved, and a thousand other bits and pieces were in need of attention. I still needed a large fuel tank, as well as a spare wheel mounting point, interior upholstery of the sidecar, paint and a thousand other things that filled two whole letter size pages. Procurement and planning ate up another 3 months.
I began by dedicating my time to the sidecar. At the back of the garage I had a blank seat shell. It was fitted to the sidecar by Jürgen Mayerle from the company Schöne Linie. wo weeks later it went straight to the upholsterer Kirschbaum in schwäbischen Reutlingen. Meanwhile I stripped the bike again. The long
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http://www.project-yesterdays.de
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