Everyone Doubted that we could Fix this: WLA Junkyard Rebuild

[@BikesandBeards]

Guys dont forget to vote on the WLA color forms.gle/7ngKHFjEz2Uxy2NY7

[@MrGMawson2438]

Brown

[@ayedee6681]

if you can't keep the old red you have now, then go full WLA Army

[@Biblecrusader]

I'd say heat treat the forks and make it tempered so it has resistance to bending again.

[@rickstout7626]

IMHO a Harley should be BLACK !

[@lefty2660]

You should get a Simson imported at some point please😁

[@thomasheer825]

You guys surprised me on this part of the project, you can actually do precision work when required. Have gotten into these types of projects to many times, basically over my head, and had to dig my self out of the grave I stuck myself into. But you learn and can take pride in your work. Good JOB.

[@BikesandBeards]

We are learning and trying to step up to the next level on this. and having fun in the process

[@sunnycloudy1337]

precision work all the while wearing sunglasses lmao

[@thomasheer825]

@@sunnycloudy1337 Oh, in this instance simply call them non standard welding glasses. Keep several pair of wrap around shade 5 style so the kids and grandkids will wear them. Have one stepson who believes "I can cut and weld fine with a gas torch without them", is fun to watch him fumble around the shop after he makes a cut or how shitty the cut is. He also needs not a piece of angle iron as a guide either for a straight cut. These guys often leave me scratching my head but hey it works for them.

[@thomasheer825]

@@BikesandBeards Keep up the good work, would love to send you some of the pictures of some of my off the wall projects I think you guys would get a laugh out of them. One is a motorized bike, yep one of the ebay special engine type, with a homemade sidecar. It works like a champ and it is powder coated bright red. Made my own powder coat oven which you guys would probably love for your shop. Some say I am cheap but I just say I am creative. If you had a e-mail site I could send a few pictures.

[@garymucher4082]

Bottom line is, IF you don't try, how will you ever learn? Trying and even failing some times, is always a learning curve. But that lesson will be with you forever than... JMHO!

[@sharplessguy]

There's an immense amount of satisfaction in doing what others tell you "can't be done"... To watch you is to become invested in your success. I feel like I'm standing next to you trying as hard as possible to make this project a success. I'd love to see it in person once it's finished. To quote Sean "Awesome"

[@leiser71]

good luck straightening steel can be tricky, I'm a retired heat treater a lot depends on the type of steel and whether its been hardened or not, too much heat can change the rockwell hardness

[@mebeasensei]

@Alfred Wedmore I thumbed up, but I have no idea what you are talking about. Sounds good though. Carry on.

[@EJDRIFTZ]

@Alfred Wedmore would the structure of the steel be compromised from the heating and bending process ?

[@basilwatson1]

these things aint heat treated ... they can be straightened

[@basilwatson1]

@@EJDRIFTZ no if you keep the heat low

[@basilwatson1]

@Alfred Wedmore well said

[@Lowdime]

I honestly love your channel, your so wholesome and so honest with the reality of things. When I first got into motorcycles I came across your channel and got hooked right away. Quality content and your a Pennsylvanian like myself which makes it even better. Can't wait to see the wla done and on the road again.

[@BikesandBeards]

Thank you so much

[@Lowdime]

@@BikesandBeards absolutely, I hope I permanently set the idea in your head about the airplane bike as well 🤣

[@Lowdime]

@@BikesandBeards how much to change 2 tires on an 02 v star 1100?

[@joshcaldro6169]

Can we take a moment to appreciate how awesome Craigs shop is

[@ssenssel]

Craig shop is hallow ground. As is anywhere he sets his foot on.

[@Tibiansgarage]

I love how Craig is actually working on something, and Sean is just playing with a dirt bike.

[@ssenssel]

Craig is the best thing about this channel. Maybe the universe. We must protect Craig at all costs

[@lothre]

I work on bikes not nearly as cool or desire able, but old and getting rarer every day. I felt such satisfaction watching you guys go all out to save a vintage part that most would just toss and buy a replacement for. I try to do the same whenever i can, even though it costs me loads of time. The satisfaction cannot be over stated. God loves motorcycles, and you two are definitely doing God's work on that bike! I have thoroughly enjoyed yours and Craig's quest on this bike! Thanks for taking us all with you!

[@leetester8612]

I'm pleased for you guys. Your doing great job of proving people wrong and I can't wait to see the finished bike.

[@hotrodZack1948]

Also you can remove the chrome and rust quickly with some muriatic acid and 50% water solution. Then rinse with water and baking soda solution to stop the acid. Then have the springs oxide coated or gun blued.

[@crazyyuri]

What a spectacular piece of history! I, personally, love this original patina look of old metal. Great job, gentlemen!

[@jordansbikes819]

By

[@BikesandBeards]

the patina is cool, but it was covering up all the damage haha

[@keithlewis5713]

The original service manual has instructions and proper measurements to straighten the forks

[@seancooney1310]

"patina" is a cute name for corrosion. Plain and simple. It's and oxide... It's metal cancer if you will.

[@BikesandBeards]

@@keithlewis5713 really ? I need to get one then

[@gayle4804]

Wow!!! I can hardly wait to see how it all turns out, I congratulate you two guys on the due diligence!! God Bless 🙌 🙏

[@47MasoN47]

I'm so glad you guys are fixing what you have instead of just immediately buying replacement parts. To me fixing what's there makes it all the more special. Keep up the good work guys!

[@daveco1270]

Good job, guys. You two can start a side business fixing old bent forks When I do something like this I worry that I won't remember how everything goes back together. I take tons of photos. I also bag and tag each screw, bolt, washer, bracket, etc. There's something a little horror movie-ish about the vapor blaster cabinet open and the gloves hanging down. 14:37

[@DDGVET4]

Doing this type of stuff is hard work and a love of labor (AKA self-induced human torture), but it really is satisfying when you get to the end of it. Mainly because sometimes you think you may not get to the end of it. My last one was a 1963 Harley XLCH Sportster basket case that had a frame that was triple dipped chrome from the old days. It took from 1988 to 1990 to restore. Great Job Guys!!

[@BikesandBeards]

Wow that’s awesome

[@DDGVET4]

@@BikesandBeards Go with red oxide primer. I swear it looks cool and if you scuff it. Break out the Spoof Can and she's all pretty again. Pair it with gangster whitewalls. You'll love it! I rode my 74 FLH Police Special that way for 5 years. No one had anything like it and it just made the bike look even more antique.

[@thumpershd]

Can't get enough of this rebuild. So glad you cut those chain hooks off, UGLY! You guys did a great job straightening the rear, now go for the front! Excited to see the results!

[@Oooo-bi7bi]

Your a caretaker of this machine for future generations. Your doing a good job. 🇬🇧

[@jwat2396]

Just got here. I'm amazed at the effort you're putting into this. I don't know the costs or the price you can get out of this scoot but if it's being done for yourselves and the love of originality I get it, but if it's a customers bike the money, time and effort has got to be tremendous. If possible I'd like to follow this to the end and find out. You gentleman have to have the patience of Job.

[@timdavanzati7510]

Patience truly is the key to be a master mechanic.

[@mikefrech1123]

I had a WL many years ago. I put a mid-sixties Triumph front end on it. It worked really well.

[@TheOldaz1]

Nice job straightening the forks, took a lot longer than I expected, but if you haven't done this type of thing before, you did very well. You're on the right track, strip it right down, make every part as it should be, then put it back together. When the parts don't quite fit you'll need to fine tune the angles.

[@57torg]

You guys are doing a great job. There is no doubt that this project can be done by anyone. But to get it done without professional help with expert advice and attention to detail that is doubtful. With the right tools and close attention to detail anything mechanical can be restored to original or better than original condition when done properly. I think if you can straighten an antique springer front end you can restore any old motorcycle with your resources. By the way, that Corvette pictured on your cell phone is a 1964 C2, not a C3.

[@pastorbobncc365]

I had total confidence in you two. Have a blessed week my friends.

[@JMc.D]

You’re killing it guys. Bravo.

[@Nzchimeran]

Good for you. Learning as you go. Saving another one. The bonding of mates and just being part of something that was hand built sharing a vision together, that's priceless. What were the hooks for on the forks, tie downs?

[@etteyafed]

Sean seems like a great guy but it’s clear that he does need to work with others to get things mechanically sound. Best sign of an excellent businessman and entrepreneur in Sean is he dives in and asks for help from his friends and employees but shows that he wants to know what’s happening. Great involvement and real interest in the work.

[@shackman1306]

Thank you again. Have another blessed day.

[@maglor124]

Love the videos, you guys are literally living the dream. Jealous of all the hard work and blood, sweat & tears you put into your content and bikes.

[@stevenhawkes9471]

I’m so glad you’re painting it blue ☺️

[@tomcleghorn4005]

Nice job ! Great patience!! Straightening can be frustrating, and that’s when it goes well

[@jbezel7249]

Loving this. Great job guys.

[@JMKGarage]

Nice to see you got them straight. I’m sitting here watching though with my eye on that sweet YZ in the back, then get excited when you hop on and start kicking it over… but a complete let down when you give up. Come on Sean, I can’t be the only one who wanted to see you hit the power band on that and pop a wheelie.

[@thomasmurphy9514]

That's cool you saved the original forks great job man. Thanks

[@nkeet89]

I love the early Harley/Indian content. I put off watching your videos for to long and I am upset I didn't watch them sooner. As a Christian that works for a Motorcycle parts company this is as cool as it gets.

[@craigstreetzel7743]

Amazing to find a museum quality bike in junkyard with a super rare motor

[@mebeasensei]

Loving this format now.

[@ttrumpakaTim]

@Bikes and Beards love the videos just ordered my first thing from your shop cant wait for it to come in

[@slipknotrob666]

The way Craigs' blast cabinet opens up reminds me of a bunch of movies that I may or may not have seen in the past, with the gauntlet gloves hanging down like that.

[@slipknotrob666]

...I'm kinda thinking about the "helping hands" from the Labyrinth...

[@bryanrb21]

I want to try the sandblaster so bad. Looks like a ton of fun and so satisfying 👍👍🔥🔥🔥

[@straightener2001]

If you are in doubt about the integrity of your fork you can have it checked for cracks. A magnetic particle test would show cracks you would miss by looking. Not very spendy either.

[@zacharysolarek8618]

I’m so excited to see this bike done !!

[@EvilRubberBiscuit]

This project has been so forkin’ cool! 😎 👍

[@fearsomename4517]

When Sean says only me and Craig can fix it, he means Craig. I'm no braggart but I was right about everything I said about this project. It took me decades to learn vintage bikes.

[@BikesandBeards]

What were you right about ?

[@Souperkire]

Been watching from the beginning....can't wait to see ya riding this beaut again. God speed

[@murdoc6501]

Nicely done! Keep moving forward.

[@johnfonda985]

Good things take time. great job on straightening the front fork wow👍

[@Woodworkingnurse]

Hey guys nurse Eric back again. Once again love watching you guys take apart and put this old bike back together learning new things along the way. Can’t wait to see the finished product. Quick question though, do I keep seeing that 07 gsxr 600 I’m Craig’s shop that you’re sending me here. 🤣😂😂🤣 love the grey fairings on that bike, was wondering where it went, glad it’s still with you guys!! God bless. Keep up the great content guys. 👍🏼🇺🇸

[@BikesandBeards]

we have big plans for that bike , it turns out that it has more of a checkered past than we thought

[@keithfenwick5502]

Love it keep it coming ,god bless you all 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🍀🙏

[@DirtyDiezel]

u and Craig work well together, and good funnies too

[@bernardmcmahon351]

When you first rode the bike back from the yard (where you bought it from), the bars and forks looked a bit out of line, unit was just the position of your body cam. Anyway great presentation, thanks

[@tb33man82]

Nice to see you fire up the sandblaster and it actually works lol great video guys thanks

[@hotrodZack1948]

Getting there, the front fork leg isn’t as bad as it looks. The top rods unscrew from that casting and you can buy them new along with the springs all black oxide plated n all. So you just gotta mount the casting to a plate and then just heat it up with a oxy acet torch and bend it around till it’s straight. Replace the rods and you’re done. Or paint the leg first then put the oxide coated parts on it after would be the proper way.

[@Slick1G3]

The pink under the crome springs is a copper coating applyed first before chroming

[@brev5057]

Absolute legend video lol. Attempting the doubted is always worth the endeavor.

[@BikesandBeards]

Absolutely

[@captnsquid8151]

Nice work and dedication. Perseverance will always get what you want. Pause and smell the coffee once in a while and get 'er done. High ^ 5 guys. I like this one

[@pyro323]

That forkin awesme you guys!

[@jaratt85]

You're supposed to have a spray gun looking nozzle on the end of your line for your blaster. It makes it work a LOT better and it's much easier to hold onto it. (I did a TON of blasting in high school, so rewarding.. including most of the parts for our 46 Indian) The reason that spring looks "pinkish" is because they plate with copper before chrome to act as a primer and fill in any imperfections. If you want the coolest trip ever, go down to Chattanooga TN to Advanced Plating and have them give you the tour and watch them replate your parts. They are the best in the country, they actually go back and forth with hard and soft copper until all the imperfections are filled and then nickel plate it then chrome. It's more expensive that way but a FAR better finish.. And in fact on that bike you'd probably want to stop at just nickel plating to fit the era as they didn't use true chrome on most parts back then, most parts were nickel plated.

[@BikesandBeards]

Interesting. Did it get clogged up a lot ?

[@jaratt85]

@@BikesandBeards if it does just cover the tip with your hand and hit the pedal a couple times and it'll clear itself out

[@gorgosanma]

Nice to see you guys doing this. Great video.

[@Tibiansgarage]

Sean: smacks his finger Craig: "bloods?"

[@doug3805]

Love this bike. Great channel and video!

[@milesjcarter]

Tune at the end is a real banger

[@claysmell]

those hooks/horns - ai carumba - no like!! what relief to see them ground off

[@TwoWheeledHepkat]

I believe in the, Use whatcha got, method of building. I don’t replace something unless there are no other choices. It’s a pride or maybe an ego thing for me. I’m glad to see you guys trying to save the original forks.

[@dylisa]

Man these are the best videos… keep ‘em coming fellas 👏

[@fishingkingNJ609]

Would you guys ever do a bike meet or something like that? Would love to take a trip from NJ and meet you guys and the community!!! Who’s in?

[@paulos20030]

Brilliant video guys!!!!

[@jamesgnarkill3112]

Heck yeah guys ....great work!!!

[@motorcyclegarage2307]

That was brilliant work.

[@garymucher4082]

Media blasting is a great way to remove paint and rust and whatever. However, it isn't an instant ordeal. Some times it takes hours of blasting to accomplish that clean metal finish. I know, been there done that... Thumbs Up!

[@peterburke5174]

Thanks, guys for another entertaining show, so nice to see each step and not as some do a 30min show and it's done, again thanks

[@ladeseddy5994]

The pinkish color is copper. Where you chrome (or nickel) plate a spring, you first plate copper (strike) layer. That layer of copper provides some ductility under the chrome plate, which by itself, would be very brittle and easily flake off when it.

[@ChrisJohnson-ob3xr]

Keeping the bike original is a good idea and fixing it yourself it will just give you more pride in the bike

[@jeffreystpierre6898]

WLDR WLA labor of love 👍 Blue is the right color

[@buffdoc46]

I was hoping you gents would start doing some work on the bike yourselves. We all start out nervous thinking we will make things worse or that we are not capable of doing it. Just take your time and trust yourself and the process. Taking a break and walking away is the best cure for frustration and limits mistakes. Well done.

[@simpsonkid100]

Another dose of morning motivation:) thanks for the wicked awesome video’s gentlemen 👍🏼💯

[@FOOKYOUTUBENUMBERS]

Great vid! Am just watching in the toilet in work, You always drop a vid when Am in Work Big Hi from a toilet in UK

[@joshc1291]

Great move removing the hooks, also great job straightening those forks!

[@BikesandBeards]

thank you

[@tomlee432]

Well guys as a tech that has been straighting harley and various other makers frames the work on the forks was pretty good. Not a fan of using heat but in this case and considering the small amount supplied by the propane torch I'd say your completely safe. Now an oxy acet torch is a whole different animal. Someone suggested it could change the durometer hardness and to a small degree it can. But its also dependent on the length of time heated, to what temp and then how its cooled. My question is why so quick to remove the tiedowns? You seem to be putting a lot of effort to stay original but then removed them. Anyway keep on humming along. Keep the vids coming. By the way i was able to spot what you needed to fix the bends a mile away. But then I've been at this for 40 years. See ya.

[@BikesandBeards]

i guess the question is what original are we referring to ? and thats something that we have no really answered yet

[@BloodPlusPwn]

I'm impressed honestly lol. I ain't gonna lie, I would have thought it kind of silly too but shows what I know

[@donaldhalls2189]

It's guna be perfect by the time you finish all the best to you all

[@timothysmith5769]

The pink stuff on your springs is very likely Copper. Copper and Nickel are common substrates for chrome.

[@rubenott9288]

The psa don’t inhale fork smoke got me so good😂 you guys laughing at the perfect time like u were up in the sky

[@jameshart9734]

Keep going even when I dont own a Harley and ride a Honda I think it great what you are both doing 👍

[@ROTV-DanLockhart]

Really interesting video. Great job, guys!

[@gg33312]

VIDEO REQUEST: BUY A RAZOR MX650 AND UPGRADE IT!!!!- it is an electric dirt bike

[@MikMech]

WLA ----- WHOOOOT!

[@moneygooddude]

It's not what you're riding but where you're going!

[@mrwhite7222]

Double spring setup acts like a jounce bumper in a new car today. Just for rebounding purposes, they didnt have digressive technology back in the day. But you knew that already lol

[@juliancrooks3031]

Worth it to try, you can always spend money later for replacement if it doesn't work

[@johnchathas1957]

Super cool alter ego sean at 10:21

[@billbaxter2914]

Awesome measuring words.

[@danhawkins2912]

its that time of day...

[@dutchy213]

Got that blaster Asap 🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿🙌🏿

[@NavyGuy2OO7]

It's going to be totally worth it!

[@caesarillion]

"The substance of the diligent is precious." Lord.

[@ww2animechick198]

I would vote for WW2 Army green with markings but blue works

[@Sherry-jx9hs]

Most Chrome processes use copper nickle chrome 3 stage process therefore the pink would be copper left over from the original plating process

[@sicjob]

You guys make my day. God bless

[@OurDee]

Always with the needing us to decide for you.....YES!, Keep the horns.

[@robinward3003]

Use heat on bends, NO QUENCHING, or you'll make parts brittle, and prone to cracking. From an old tool & die maker.