There are thousands of new tools made by hundreds of tool manufacturers. Some of these tools are extremely specific, some work on a variety of parts,others are straight out of a catalog, and a few are handmade, but all of them can make your life easier. Each month, STREET CHOPPER will feature a new tool that will help builders of all calibers, from garage to professional, get their bikes finished faster and with less hassle.
Transmissions need to be stored properly when not in use or installed in a bike frame. Instead of forking over your hard-earned cash for a stand you might not need for a while, why not build a temporary stand that might not cost you a penny (if you have a few nuts and bolts lying around your garage).
Many frames don't have a transmission mounting plate built-in; it's a separate plate. Using just the trans plate and four 2-inch long bolts with like nuts and washers, you can build a stand in five minutes. Check it out.
 This ain't no kit, but most...  This ain't no kit, but most of the parts you probably already have in some form or another-a tranny plate, four washers, four nuts, and four bolts (these bolts used to be the collector flange bolts for my '73 Mustang Mach One). |  We secured the bolts, washers,...  We secured the bolts, washers, and nuts to the tranny plate with a pair of wrenches. |  We then mounted the tranny...  We then mounted the tranny to the stand with a few trans mounting bolts, and that was it! Note the fifth mounting bolt under the kickstarter doesn't touch the table, so there's no risk of damaging the threads on any of the critical mounting studs for the trans. |