Doing Cart-Wheels

One of the toughest things that I've had to deal with is the rear axle.  The DPO (Damn Previous Owner) had rigged some ridiculous replacement axle bolt with some nonsense part and a big crappy stripped nut that wouldn't come off.  The wheel was wobbly, poorly attached and just plain boogered up.  It was something that I had tried to repair during bike build 1.0 in 2004, after putting in new wheel bearings, but never got right.

My dad, when he had the bike in Texas, started to tackle the issue and thankfully was able to track down the right axle part and bought it.  Of course, in true aftermarket style, it didn't fit with the new bearings, and got boxed up.  (Technically called a Fixed Spindle: 68-6121)

Last week, I took the wheel and axle over to Mark's garage, since I wasn't sure if I was supposed to press fit the axle into the bearing or not.  I was not.  He helped me set it up in the lathe, and we shaved a few thousandths off, and lo and behold, fit right in perfectly.  The wheel, including the speedo and everything, went together like a glove in about 10 minutes.

Yes, the rear brakes are fitted perfectly, the axle is straight as an arrow, the wheel is perfectly centered and I'm very happy!  If only the rest of the build would go the easily.