General Category > Bike Builds, Rebuilds And Restorations Only
Little Green Wing - Aermacchi Ala Verde
Chuck in Indiana:
--- Quote ---Thanks Muzz, having the right tool for the job makes difficult jobs so much easier,
--- End quote ---
I've said many times that having the right tool is generally 2/3 of the job. Sometimes, you just have to make it.. :thumb:
Canuck750:
I was still not happy with the rear fender I found, the Ala Verde has a rear fender with shallow skirts set into sheet metal folds of the main fender body, and it has to be suitable for a 17" rear wheel.
I took a look at the rear fender on my Sears Gilera 106 SS, another Italian motorcycle with17" wheels and thought maybe it could be made to fit. I was lucky to find a very cheap Gilera 106 SS rear fender on Ebay, it was split at the rear and twisted buit salvageable. I welded up the original mount holes in the Gilera fender and removed a rear fender bracket from another later model Aermacchi Sprint fender and went to work with the hammer, dolly and welder.
The brackets fitted
I was also very fortunate to find an original Ala Verde seat frame (year unkown) on Italian Ebay, I blasted it clean and then I removed the rear seat bracket to position it over the center of the rear fender main support
I need to remove the front seat brackets and reposition them as well to align with the Sprint frame seat support, should be an easy job
I found a reproduction Ala Verde hump back seat cover in Italy, it fits great, seat cover loosley fitted for alignment
Ebay turned up a correct 1961 Sprint front fender that I will use (the blue fender I have on the bike is from a Benelli) and Moto Italia sent me a complete front hub and axle for the 17" front wheel,
The Honda Black Bomber front hub is now surplus, if anyone needs it let me know, willing to let it go for cheap with a pair of new shoes.
Getting closer to sourcing all the hard to find bits. I need to modify the front fork shrouds to expose the top of the fork tubes and fit the original type clip ons. I would alos like to find an emgine case side cover with "Aermacchi / Harley Davidson" cast into the alloy, this would be correct for the Ala Verde circa 1961, if anyone knows where I can find one please send me a pm.
Canuck750:
I took a closer look at the seat before rewelding the support brackets into position, the years of use had resulted in the hard spring steel cuting the mild steel frame,I rewelded up the frame at the spring mount locations
Two of the horizontal springs were missing, there are four different lengths of springs and the two coil vertical main support springs are missing as well. I had a spare sprung seat that came with another project that is surplus so I removed the missing springs I needed from the spare
All the springs fitted, and the front support brackets were removed from the seat frame by drilling out the spot welds, reshaping the brackets and then cutting down the width of the bike frame seat mount to fit the Ala Verde seat
I used four vice grips and a spirit level on the bike frame and a level on the seat top to level the seat brackets mounted on the bike prior to welding the whole seat back together
I can’t rotate the image but this is the final fixing of the seat, now to paint the frame and then permanently mount the new seat cover
cliffrod:
Sure is looking good, Jim.
I got a 66C a few days ago, to have as another canvas. Don't think it will go as far towards original as yours is going, but you've got my wheels turning.. Thanks for all these great detail pics.
Canuck750:
Thanks Clint! Glad to hear you got yourself a Sprint, parts availability is pretty good and should you choose to go with the Ala Verde look I think Leslie at Moto Italia has one more Ala Verde tank available.
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