Excelsior-Henderson Super X 1:8 Scratch Build

Started by Matt Minnichsoffer · 102 · 9 months ago · 1/8, Excelsior-Henderson, motorcycle, Scratch Build, Super X
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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    To me this is absolutely scratch building, Matt @coondog
    Maybe in a different way but still very challenging.
    You are doing an amazing job on this build.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    This is amazing job and it is absolutely scratch building, my friend @coondog!
    Great pic!

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    George Williams said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Definitely scratch building in my dictionary, @coondog.

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    Louis Gardner said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Matt Minnichsoffer (@coondog)

    This is model building at the next level or two up from my pay grade ! Dude ! This is SO freaking awesome.

    You know that I have owned numerous motorcycles over the years, but this one is absolutely incredible, and it looks like my all time favorite "Softtail" Harley Davidson bikes... only better. This one is a custom bike right from the factory.

    I can see some of styling cues from other manufacturers, like Indian, Victory, and HD bikes. But this is only the baseline for it. It rocks with good old American V Twin power. Yeah I'm biased... even though I have owned Japanese import bikes too. They performed better, but they don't have the styling (or sound) of a big heavy V-Twin American cruiser.

    Does the front fender move with the front wheel or is it stationary ? I see so many incredible styling features on this bike. Each time I take another look at it, I see something else and go "Ahaaaaa !" I worked as an automotive machinist for several years in the past, rebuilding engines, so I'm always fascinated with the engineering part of it. Sometimes you can look at a part and understand right away why it was designed as it was... and other times not so much.

    The engine in this bike looks a lot like the HD "Evo" engine. It has a lot of the same features with how the cylinder head and valve / rocker covers are attached to the top of the jug. Going from memory, my Fatboy had a 105 in it. Don't quote me on the displacement though. It's just a guess on my part.

    I'll bet you are very proud to have been involved with the actual bike from the ground up. I can see you are very personally attached to this project. That will make it even better.

    Count me in as watching this one. I'm sorry I missed it in the first place. Better late than never though.

    I'll definitely check in from time to time. Two thumbs up !

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    Matt Minnichsoffer said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Louis,
    The front end works very much like a Harley springer, the springs on mine are not modeled yet in the drawing. The difference is the E-H front axle sits behind the suspension where the H-D springer the axle sat in front of the spring fork. Thus, the “leading link” distinction.

    A side note. To take the stress of the front end the rigid forks were hammer-forged steel. That baby was stout. Also, we had a great engineer that figured out the angle of the front brake caliper in relationship to the fork angle to create an anti-dive feature. So, unlike a traditional front end the Super X stopped flat. Great control.

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    Rory Wilson said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Fantastic work Matt @coondog. I have never seen anything like your work. For me, if it doesn't come in a box, it ain't happening. Also great that you worked on the original prototypes... must have been amazing!

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    Anthony Ricco said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Wow Matt @coondog, this is seriously another level of building - incredible. This is mind blowing stuff.

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    Matt Minnichsoffer said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Not wanting to bore everyone with each piece I build in the 3D world, I decided to hold of on posting until I had something big to share. Well here it is—the full engine with the exhaust.


    This took hours but feels so great when I figure something out and can see the parts come together. As I continue to model I venture into parts "I thought" I would scratch-build out of styrene and/or pipe and manage to pull it off as a 3D model so I keep going. I'm really proud of the exhaust. That took some time to figure out how to build pipe in 3D space.

    As always, please comment away.


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    George Williams said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    That looks so like the real thing, @coondog.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    Looking super so far, my friend @coodog!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 5 months ago:

    You did an excellent job designing it, Matt @coondog
    Great progress.

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    Matt Minnichsoffer said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Another Friday and another progress report. This week I took the step of actually modeling the frame. As posted at the beginning I scratch-built a frame but really wanted to try and fabricate one in 3D space. It still needs some details, but the engine fit into the cradle perfectly.

    Secondarily, I tightened up the joints a fitment of the front end assembly. I knew the biggest challenge in this build would be to model the front fender. With the flowing curves and forks plunging through the fender it offered some major challenges. I thought about carving a 15/16th version and making a vacuum form and then decided all I have to loose in trying to model it is time. So, after a bunch of trial and error I actually pulled it off! Praying that once I move all of this work to the 3D printer I can actually make the parts… Keep building.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    This is looking really good, Matt @coondog

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    Louis Gardner said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    Matt Minnichsoffer (@coondog)
    This is some INCREDIBLE stuff you have going on here ! Now I see how the front fender works. It's solid mounted to the springer part of the front forks. Very cool. That way it keeps the wheel tucked up nice and neat and it looks much better.

    Otherwise it would have looked more like a racing dirt bike with a big 21 inch knobby tire on the front, where the fender has about a foot of clearance between the tire and the fender to allow for the movement of the suspension.

    I don't know how you do it, with the 3D printing and CAD stuff. This is something I would really like to learn how to use.

    Keep it going buddy. Very impressive.

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    Cricket said 1 year, 4 months ago:

    @coondog. Holy smokes man! This is the most amazing thing I have seen! I’m gunna go smash all my kits now ;). Great work Matt!