"Quicksilver" Retro-Future Scooter from appliances and scrap metal
intro"Quicksilver" Retro-Future Scooter from appliances and scrap metal
Ever since I was a kid I have always loved old scooters. However I have
never really wanted the responsibility of maintaining a
"vintage" machine. I always thought to myself, "why
can't we have the convenience and reliability of modern engineering like
a Honda with the class and styling of an old Lambretta?"
Recently it occurred to me that as an adult, I actually have the skills and facilities to address this important issue that has nagged me all these years.
I am a metal sculptor, and have absolutely no experience with scooters at all. What follows in this instructable is my experience of stripping down a mid 1980's Honda elite 125cc scooter, and totally redesigning it with aluminum scrap metal. For the curious, please visit my web site: www.nemomatic.com to get a look at my other work and see how this beast fits into the bigger picture.
Recently it occurred to me that as an adult, I actually have the skills and facilities to address this important issue that has nagged me all these years.
I am a metal sculptor, and have absolutely no experience with scooters at all. What follows in this instructable is my experience of stripping down a mid 1980's Honda elite 125cc scooter, and totally redesigning it with aluminum scrap metal. For the curious, please visit my web site: www.nemomatic.com to get a look at my other work and see how this beast fits into the bigger picture.
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step 1The carcassTo start out with I wanted a scooter that had a reputation for reliability, and enough power to handle the additional weight that I was bound to add with all of the scrap metal bells and whistles that I intended to heap onto it. My friend Rich Humphrey liked my idea enough that he traded me the fine Honda Elite 125 that you see below for some other mechanical crap I ha…
step 2Picking a new outfitThe beginning stages of this project were very much like that of my sculptures. I gathered up a big collection of large aluminum objects to weld together as the body panels. Street lamp covers worked out to be the best basic shapes. Their teardrop design made them a good fit for the "vintage" look. I took extra (perhaps unnecessary) care to fabricate the main panels…
step 3The "nose"Once I had decided on the what the major panels were going to be made out of, I removed the paint and passed the metal over the buffing wheel for a while to shine it up. If I wanted to get anywhere I had to start making some commitments, so I dove into the front end which I still feel looks a bit "nosey". I had already mounted the street lamp cover to the front, but i…
step 4The "head"Having finished the front panel and air vent, the logical thing was to come up with a steering column head light that looked good with it. The original head light was mounted lower on the frame so I could pretty much make this up as I went along. The original approach was a vacuum cleaner carpet attachment with some light fixtures welded to it. The later discovery of…
step 5Junk IS my trunkIn the spirit of bringing the whole thing along at an even pace, it was time to swing around to the back and deal with how the two motor covers were going to meet together. I should mention that in hindsight I am making this seem much more methodic that it really was. All of these steps overlapped and ran together, but that wouldn't make a very good instructable now w…
step 6Dash boardTime now to look at the instrument panel. The original was a blocky, purple plastic thing, that the world is better off without. Rich suggested that we try to make a nixie tube speedometer. I couldn't think of anything that would be cooler than that so I went ahead and mounted everything up so that he could route the original encoder through a contraption of his own …
step 7Engine workNow that the basic shape had been worked out, it was definitely time to make sure everything was in good shape mechanically. The scooter had been sitting for a long time with old gas in the tank and many rat-chewed wires. I pulled all the panelling off (again) and went over to my friend Wendell Jones's shop. Wendell has been working with bikes for years and provided…
step 8Finishing touchesWith a running motor and attached body panels I was suddenly confronted with all the little details that had been insignificant thus far. Added together they represented a few more weeks of tweaking. The seat also needed to be re-designed / re-covered. I recruited my fiance Nancy to help me, but we just couldn't quite pull it off. Sometimes you just have to hire a p…
step 9Finished!Whew! I had no intention of spending two and a half months on this project, but such are the labors of love. Despite all the hours and frustration it is a real pleasure to have accomplished something that had been lurking in the back of my mind for so many years. Now it is time to get back to making art , and perhaps tackle another bike in the future, maybe electric …
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