Wild and crazy headlight is an ancient searchlight. Bracket to be manufactured!
On every chop there’s a place where the dash, switchgear, headlight, front brake switch, horn and ignition meet. It’s here
Acewell dash does the usual speed, revs and warning lights. Like all electronic dashes, it needs setting up first
Black Box is made by an outfit called Purpose Built Moto. It allows you to use push button switches. Red Boyer box is held with 3M Dual Lock and cable ties
And here are the push buttons, made by Motogadget. They run tiny wires through the handlebars
Ignition switch lives in an old Lucas regulator box under the number plate, with a nest of position and tail lights
Battery lurks behind the motor. When the rear mudguard is on it’ll be almost unnoticeable
Graham’s Triumph T140 chop
Graham brought his bike along about half way through the build. It’s not the easiest point for doing electrics, but it can be helpful in tackling mid-project doldrums (as I know all too well from my own experience).
It’s a Fenland Choppers hardtail frame, originally sold by a place called Lowbrow Customs. Graham has had it several years, building up the motor and acquiring interesting parts such as the Harley wheels, Lucas regulator box and vintage searchlight.
He loves brass, so there’s a fair bit of that dotted about. The most intriguing parts are the position lights on the rear number plate. They have a bayonet-type cap which turns to hide or reveal the light source inside. Maybe they were something to do with WW2 blackouts. These days they have LEDs rather than incandescent bulbs.
The handlebar switches are modern Motogadget push buttons. Fiddly things to wire up and fit, and they need holes in the handlebars which always gives me the shivers, but they look ace when they are fitted. They operate through a new (to me) version of the transistorised boxes you see everywhere in the custom world. This one’s made by Purpose Built Moto. It uses tiny signals from the push buttons to work the indicators, headlight dip and ignition kill. You still have to figure out what to do about the start button (not an issue with a T140 of course), front brake switch, horn and lights on/off, so it’s quite basic.
The perennial issue with a chopper is where to hide all the gubbins. There are two places on Graham’s bike: under the seat and under the tank. After much chin rubbing I made up a bracket to fit the tank recess that carries the Boyer ignition, the coil and the Purpose Built Moto box. I really wanted to add a latch relay too, to act as a lights on/off switch. It would have given the sixth handlebar switch button a job to do. Unfortunately there isn’t room.
As with so many chops, the electrics are easy, but the layout is very complicated. I reckon I spent 90% of my time with this bike thinking, making mountings and modifying. Building the main loom took the other ten per cent. That’s how it goes with custom bikes – especially old ones.
Graham has a fair bit of work still to do, but he has a lathe, a good workshop and a sense of humour, so it should be a charming and intriguing bike when it’s done.
Speedo pickup for the dash sits nicely on the caliper carrier, with a magnet in the disc
Graham is fond of brass, and may use it for the rear wheel spacers when he sorts the alignment. Tiny Motogadget flasher above the chain adjuster screw is incredibly bright
I reckon these brass lights must be from WW2. Check out the pegs in a slot. They control the movement of the tops to hide or reveal the light inside
Tiny space under the seat hides the connectors for the rear end
Still a fair bit to do, but it’s getting there
