Merry Christmas.

[EVILDR235]

Me and my family want to wish everybody a very MERRY CHRISTMAS and wishing you don't find any GLOBEMASTER tools under your tree.

EvilDr235

[amecks]

Thanks!  And Merry Christmas to everyone.  I bought myself a sort of present, but not a vintage classic.  Got a pair of Irwin Vise-Grip clamps - the c-clamp style in the smaller size but with the extended reach. Had to reach into the frame of motorcycle Project 39-1/2 to clamp the oil tank bracket for welding.
Still in the "rough draft" stage, this pic is from earlier this year.

[Papaw]

I rode the hell out of one of those in the old days ! Taught me a lot about motorcycle repair !

[Bill Houghton]

That looks like an interesting project.  If I'm understanding the pictures correctly, it's a 1960s or so motor (and frame?) with modern bodywork, forks, wheels, and brakes?  And whose headlight bucket is that?  From here, it looks like a BMW R50 (or 60)/2 with a non-original headlight surround, but I think I must be misinterpreting what I'm seeing.

I rode the hell out of one of those in the old days ! Taught me a lot about motorcycle repair !

Nothing like riding a motorcycle with enough vibration to guarantee parts will fall off to teach repair lessons, yes!  My first bike, a BMW R27, offered the same feature.  If I knew then what I know now, I would not have had to repair the exhaust so often.  BMW rubber-mounted the motor, and then rigidly mounted the exhaust, ensuring frequent breakage.  If I had it now, I'd engineer some flexible mounts for the whole exhaust system.

But then, if I knew then what I know now, I might not be riding...

[amecks]

Yes, Bill and Papaw,  my favorite cycle saying is "Triumph Motorcycles, making ordinary men into mechanics since 1902"!  It was true for me beginning in 1974 when I bought my second motorcycle, a '69 Triumph Bonneville.
Project 39-1/2 is named because of my boss at the glass shop.  I always had some bicycle or craft project I was working on and he would say "What's that? Project 39-1/2?".
The bike frame and bodywork is a 1968 Wards Riverside Mojave, made in Italy by Benelli, sold by Montgomery Ward.  Hence my interest in Riverside and Master Quality tools.  The engine is a '72 650 Triumph.  The chassis - wheels, forks, brakes and rear half of the swingarm are scavenged from an '85 Cagiva Alazurra 650, a bike similar to a Ducati Pantah.  An Italian bike but I believe it was built in Germany.  The headlight is similar to the old BMW but is from a Ural Russian motorcycle.  (It solved the problem of where to put the speedometer!).   The oil tank is a very modified Harley Sportster tank.  There are bits from a Ford tractor and a Howard Rotavator.  I've tried to use metric flange head fasteners wherever possible, many of which came from Jap bike makers.  A truly International project.