Wow Syziph, that video was a real pleasure to watch. I already have started making better use of my Merge and Mulitcut functions. The method works beautifully!
Wow Syziph! The method works beautifully. The video is a real pleasure to watch. Very impressed with how you are using the Merge and Multicut operations. Great Job.
I’m glad you liked it!
If you have other modeling puzzles, please share them with us 
Just to close the thread: Thank you all for your help, especially Syziph. They ended up looking like this:
Blender and old BMW motorcycles have the best user communities. Huzza!