Engine

An engine for this bike had to be something out of the ordinary. Original Harley and Indian motors were not within the budget. I plan to have this bike finished for what a basket case motor would probably sell for. But also having a common everyday motor in the frame wasn't the goal. I decided to find a motor that's not really known in the Car Show/Cycle crowd. One that would not be easily recognized and would have people scratching their heads. So the hunt began, the motor I wanted for this bike had to have the following:
>Vertical Single Cylinder
>Overhead valves
>4 stroke
>at least 350cc,
>able to mate up to a separate transmission
>Horizontal crankshaft
>Simple mounting points.
>Available Service parts
>Correct crank rotation
>Charging system that could handle lights
>Look like nothing else.

       I searched though hundreds of different engines, Farm engines, Industrial engines, Stationary engines, Hit or Miss engines,Lawn Mower engines, and on and on. Not finding anything that fit the bill. I did however start to look more and more at Overhead Valve industrial engines. These are used in many applications and are made by the likes of Tecumseh, Briggs & Stratton and Kohler.

      I found a 16 hp Tecumseh OH160 ohv engine on ebay, which I was the high bidder. And it was 45 minutes away from me. The specs looked good:
Cast iron block
OHV
16 hp 500cc single
20amp charging system
1'' crank shaft with keyway
4 bolt bottom mounting
And Electric Start!

These are the actual picture from the ebay auction