67 Bonneville 650 Chopper

[Psycobilly]

Thank you Eagle. I hope so too lol. I'm still trying to figure out if the frame is aftermarket or not. There seems to be several unneeded brackets on the frame. Extra tabs above the engine that look like possible Harley shovelhead style motor mount points and a large flange on the front of the downtube that could have been a mount for an oil cooler. Then there are the frankenstein bolts sticking out of both sides of the neck...
Logic would say that if someone went to the trouble to fabricate such a clean tank mount, they would have deleted the unused brackets as well... The only reason I can think of for them to still be there is that the frame was designed to mount several different engines and the original builder just finished the bike as is with the bonny 650 engine...

 

[grandpaul]

My ARD box is a small back one, bout 1x3/4x2.
The bolts sticking out the neck are fork steering stops.
Can't see which tabs you are talking about, but they may be for head steadies that aren't installed. They are important to long life of frame parts, or the engine will shake stuff till it cracks.

 

[Psycobilly]

I don't have any small black box anywhere on the bike, but it looks like all the magneto wires do run to that finned box. What would that plate on the downtube have been for?

 

[grandpaul]

That must be a slightly different electronics module (probably the same internally, but with finned cooling, a plus), but the rotor/stator lump is identical to mine.

 

[Psycobilly]

I also realized today that I was wrong about when this bike was built. I had thought that it was built in the early-mid 80s, but then I realized that if that were the case the assembled title would say so. Assembled titles automatically date the bike to the year it built (example if I built a bike this year with '65 panhead, it would be titled as a 2016). This has a title dated as 1968, so it is a true vintage chop .

 

[Psycobilly]

Can't see which tabs you are talking about, but they may be for head steadies that aren't installed. They are important to long life of frame parts, or the engine will shake stuff till it cracks.

These are the extra tabs I was talking about. Also adding a pic of the numbers on the engine, but I'm reasonably certain that they are the custom assigned VIN numbers from the BMV. Sadly, it seems they put them right where the original engine numbers would have been, so there is no way to accurately date the engine

These are the tabs above the engine. There is absolutely nothing for these to attach to that I can see...

The extra tab on the downtube

 

[grandpaul]

Top tabs are for standard "dog bone" OEM head steadies. You need to buy 4 of them, with 4 spacers, and perhaps some new head bolts if yours don't have the male threads on top.

Front tab mount appears to be for a feet-forward aftermarket highway footpeg crossover bar.

The engine can be fairly nearly dated by certain details including internal threadforms of various female threaded holes.

I don't remember enough details without reviewing parts lists and cross-checking the differences in fasteners.

You can narrow it down with other details such as the bolt hole for the TDC & timing notches in the flywheel (behind the cylinders), and underside (way up there, in front of the drive sprocket) or primary side (right on top over the front of the clutch basket) breather holes.

 

[Psycobilly]

Well, I intend to use that front bracket to mount forward controls along with the front motor mount. With the pipes routed the way they are, I'm going to have to hang the controls pretty far in front of the frame. Which doesn't hurt anything since I am bout 6'4", the further out the better lol.

Where can I get the dog bones and do I absolutely need them for the bike to ride reliably? As for the head bolts, it looks like there isn't any threads on top of them... I did notice that I will probably have to replace the head gasket, so if those are needed that would be the perfect time to do it.

 

[grandpaul]

The head steadies in place, with proper spacers, kept tight, will keep SOME stuff from cracking and SOME stuff from rattling loose.
Any Britbike parts supplier should be able to get those for you.

I try not to do onsie-twosie parts deals, as the time it takes almost always means I'm making like $2 an hour. If you decide to do a careful pre-planning, and a one-time go at ordering all the parts you'll need (including tires, and/or battery, chain, etc), I can save tyou some money and still make enough for it to be worthwhile. However, if you'll be paying as you go, I need to pass.

 

[Psycobilly]

If I had the cash to order everything at once, I would do it in a heartbeat. Sadly, I don't have that luxury