MadModder
The Craftmans Shop => PowerSports => Topic started by: Powder Keg on March 05, 2012, 09:25:41 PM
-
I've been riding my Bicycle to work and back every day. I ride a Mt. bike that I saved up for and bought when I was in high school. My wife and I are trying to change our shape. We've been walking and riding our bikes a lot! I've been wanting a nice looking road style bike for a while now. This old beater has been hanging around my place for a few years now. It will have to do.
Here is a before picture. Riding to work in the snow in the dark is pretty peaceful. Accept the ambulance whizzing by with its siren blaring.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser.jpg)
I walked over on Sunday and bought some paint stripper. This stuff is great!!!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser002.jpg)
Here she is all cleaned up and ready for a fresh coat of paint. Or Not? I haven't decided yet. Maybe a coat of WD40:o)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser003.jpg)
Me being me, I needed to customize at least something on this so here it is. It will make a new fork to look like this one.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Cruiserspringer5.jpg)
I need to build a functional rack also. I carry a thermos and sometimes my laptop computer with me. So I will need to come up with something that will hold both of those.
This is going to be a quick project because I want it out on the road and there really isn't that much that needs to be done. A friend is making some wheels for me. The back one will have a 2 speed kick back hub. So I can change gears and I won't have to have any cables running back there. I have a new seat already. I need to make a new post for it. And I might try out some new handlebars. That's about it. It should be back on the road when my wheels are done.
Later,
~Wes~
Feel free to post pictures of bikes you have built here:o)
-
Paint it silver and white. Add some down turned handlebars and add one of these:
ENGINE (http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-80cc-Bike-Engine-Motor-Kit-Gas-Motorized-Bicycle-2-Stroke-Silver-T80-40-MPH-/280821319860?pt=Motorcycles_Parts_Accessories&hash=item41624148b4&vxp=mtr#ht_5842wt_1110)
Eric
-
Don't tempt me Eric! I want an engine so bad. But I'm really trying to loose weight. Fifty pounds would be Awesome!!!
I'm kind of thinking a early muscle bike like a Schwinn Stingray that got hit by a board track racer? This is the seat I got. Mine is light brown.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/6620_VictorHairpin_saddle_01.jpg)
Here is an old stingray. I always wanted one of these!!!
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Greenie.jpg)
The down turned handlebars are really cool looking. But on a bicycle, bent over like that, my knees (Motor) Hits my belly when I pedal and that just looks funny.
~Wes~
-
Here is an old stingray. I always wanted one of these!!!
I had one when I was a kid. Metalic green paint, chrome fenders, whitewall slick in back. Seat was white with silver sparkles and silver stripes. It was a sharp looking bike.
Kept it in perfect condition, too. Washed and waxed it when dad was doing the car. He sold it for about 10 bucks. Nowdays it would be worth hundreds.
-
I love the Stringray - hard to get hold of at a reasonable price here in the UK though - In fact cruisers and parts, in general are hold to get hold of.
That fork looks good - have you seen the brain fork? Can be made with a minimum amount of materials and technology - plans are free, online.
Nick
-
I have a couple junker bikes here. I'm trying to come up with a good set of cranks. The set that was on it had been ground on :Doh: I have another set that is fairly rusty. I might clean them up and paint them to use for a while.
I have the wheels and handlebars ordered. I should probably paint this but I kind of like the metal look. I'm still thinking on this.
I'll get some pictures when something exciting happens :zap:
~Wes~
-
I think the bearing races can be saved? It's probably not worth my trouble But If I cant get them to work I'll just pick up some new ones. I bought new balls for $2. Here is a frosty picture:o)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser004.jpg)
~Wes~
-
My Bearings cleaned up pretty nicely. I also have a layback seat post made. I'll get a picture with the seat on as soon as it cools off:o)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser005.jpg)
~Wes~ :wave:
-
I got the layback seat post made up. Here is the bike reassembled. I still have new wheels and some new Ape hangers on the way\o/
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser006.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser007.jpg)
The seat seems to be super comfy!!! I hope it stays that way :ddb: :ddb: :ddb: :ddb: :ddb:
~Wes~
-
Looks pretty good Wes. You gonna keep it that color?
-
I'm thinking green :wave:
~Wes~
-
This color to be more exact:o) Sublime Green pearl:O)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/SublimeGreen.jpg)
Maybe some white diamonds or some pin-striping.
Later,
~Wes~
-
A neighbor gave me some bicycle stuff. In it was this old Rat trap springer. It needs cleaned up and some new pivot bolts, but it should work fine. Too bad the chrome is gone:o(
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser008.jpg)
This will save me some time:o) I'll probably end up painting it.
~Wes~
-
I pulled the springer apart and am going to have a buddy bead blast it for me. I should have a couple days to find some shoulder bolts. 2 are missing and regular bolts were installed. The other 2 are in sad shape.
I talked with my buddy and my wheel parts should be here on Wednesday\o/ I still need to decide what I'm going to do for a rack. After that I want to put everything back together and ride it for a week or so before I paint everything.
It won't be long now:o)
~Wes~
-
This color to be more exact:o) Sublime Green pearl:O)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/SublimeGreen.jpg)
Maybe some white diamonds or some pin-striping.
Later,
~Wes~
That's almost Kawasaki Racing Green
I had a motorcycle that color...
(http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/5316/zx7ryv5.jpg)
-
I was torn between the The sublime green and the Hugger orange Eric. But Green is my fav color
Today I had the springer bead blasted. It cleaned up great!!! I ordered new bearings also. The cone on the stem was all beat up. The bolts in this thing are non existent. You can't buy them. I'll be making some spiffy new stainless ones.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser009.jpg)
My new wheels and tires showed up also\o/ Here is the new front one next to the old one. Nice and skinny:o)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser010.jpg)
All the parts for the back one are here also. Were going to lace it up on Friday :D I'll get pictures.
~Wes~
-
Morning,
A man after my own heart, a great looking bike.
Ive never seen a suspension fork of that type before, any chance of a closeup of the mechanism that does the 'springing'?
Nick
-
I am trying to come up with a nice looking, functional, smallish rack to fit on my bicycle. I think I'm going to have to compromise with a nice looking one. To be functional and be able to carry stuff it can't really be that smallish. I'm going to try and paint her up this weekend. That way I'll be closer to finishing something.
~Wes~
The spring is just like one in a spring mouse trap. Just bigger:o) I'll get a picture next time I have it together.
-
Thanks Wes,
Im looking forward to seeing it finished.
Youve given me some impetus to make a start on my spare frame :)
Nick
-
The rack is ready to braze onto the frame. I brazed rivets on the bottom for Bungee lugs.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser013.jpg)
I was going to paint today but the humidity is too high. Don't want to chance it.
~Wes~
-
Hey Wes,
Looking good. Just a quick question though... on your rack, is the only means of support going to be the 2 rods to the front? You might want to consider, if you haven't already, to triangulate it. Add a support on each side (around where the boards are) heading down towards the rear axle. That way you can put more than a few ounces on it.
Eric
-
I have some 3/8" tube bent to fit underneath. But I just had another thought:o) Maybe some wood stays to match the top slats?
-
Wes,
I'm not sure where your bent 3/8 tubes are intended to go, but the carrier on my old bike has stays running down to bolts through the holes in each side of the frame, behind the axle slots.
The bolts also secure the stays for the mudguards.
Andy
-
Like this:o)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser014.jpg)
~Wes~
-
One of the chainstay tubes that the dropout is spot welded into was cracked a little. I decided to braze them all up while I had the torch out:o) Better safe than sorry. Now I just need to file them down a little and clean everything up for paint.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser015.jpg)
Weather is supposed to be better later this week\o/
~Wes~
-
...I decided to braze them all up while I had the torch out...
That is something I have always wanted to learn to do. Would you do a little write up on brazing?
-
Brazing is super simple:o) Make sure your pieces are clean and watch your heat. Too hot is bad. After you are done resist the urge to bang the part in water to cool it off. That will weaken a brazed joint. Just let it cool naturally. There are a ton of videos on YouTube.
Brazing video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZojIpKCo4TQ)
This one was pretty interesting. I'll have to ty it.
Copper wire Brazing (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m678-clpbjw&feature=relmfu)
~Wes~
-
I've been cleaning up the brazing a little the last few evenings. almost ready to paint. I am thinking about adding a mount for a rear caliper. Just in case I need to add a hand brake later on. With the seat so far back It might be a wheelie machine :med:
~Wes~
-
It's been slow going the last few days:o( I went and got me a Cold :bang: To make it worse the weather has been Awesome!!! I might go out and poke around in the shop today though :wave:
~Wes~
-
The stainless for my new springer bolts showed up\o/
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser016.jpg)
The old bolts were just barley long enough.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser017.jpg)
I wanted to go with stainless Ny-locks. They are a tad longer than the old nuts that were on the springer. The nylon part wouldn't have touched the bolt.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser018.jpg)
It's nice to be able to make your own parts. I'm making the shank a few thousandths of an inch bigger to take up the wear in the bushings.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser019.jpg)
Here I am single point threading the end.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser020.jpg)
I cut them off and faced the end up so they look nice:o) I made the heads a 1/16" longer than the originals so that my wrench would stay on better.
More later\o/
~Wes~
-
I put it back together to see what it looked like all cleaned up. I'm liking it:o)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser022.jpg)
I think I'll have to make a couple spike nuts?
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser023.jpg)
Maybe I'll be able to start squirting some paint on this weekend:o)
~Wes~
-
Wes,
I'm liking it too. :clap: :thumbup:
Looks great, nearly a shame to paint it.
:beer:
DaveH
-
Thanks Dave! I think I have a classy looking paint scheme figured out for it so It should be fine:o) We'll see :wave:
~Wes~
-
Its coming together\o/ I got the white sprayed on today. Here's a sneak peak.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser024.jpg)
The green will go on as soon as I figure out my mask:o)
~Wes~
-
Today I started masking off my design. I had an idea to make a cardboard template that I could trace my design onto the masking tape. I stuck the masking tape to some waxed paper, traced my template, then cut out the design. My way of thinking was that this would be perfect. Not so! The wax paper didn't have enough wax on it or the tape was too sticky? The tape would tear the paper if you could find an edge to separate the two.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser025.jpg)
I ended up using a scrap of plastic that I had lying around. I marked my design out and cut it out with a razor knife.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser026.jpg)
This actually worked very good. After a couple I started to get a little fancier with my design.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser027.jpg)
After it was all masked I sprayed my Sublime Green Pearl on. I took a lunch break and let the paint set up a bit. After lunch I unmasked everything. Here is a sneak peak at the fork.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser028.jpg)
I'll be able to wet sand it and squirt on the clear coat tomorrow after work:o)
~Wes~
-
Here's another peak:o)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser029.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser030.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser031.jpg)
This was pretty fun to paint. It's went pretty good so far. It takes a lot of work to make sure everything comes out nice. Especially the masking of the designs I put on. I'm using a $10 gun from harbor freight and pre-mixed paint. I can't wait to get the clear on:o)
~Wes~
-
I was able to get the clear shot on after work today. It turned out pretty nice. Bikes are hard to paint. The sun was going down in this picture:o(
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser033.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser032.jpg)
I'll start putting things back together Thursday or so. I want the paint to cure a little. I ordered some Green pedals. They should be here tomorrow. All I have left to buy is a chain and a kickstand.
~Wes~
-
Very smart Wes :bow:
Looks great :thumbup:
:beer:
DaveH
-
Love what you have done to the bike Mr Keg (or may I call you Powder :D) Love the paint scheme and patterns you chose will make kermit look realy smart :)
Pete
-
Almost done\o/ I'm waiting on a chain and my pedals still. I'll get the cranks in today.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser034.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser035.jpg)
~Wes~
-
Wow, Wes, it looks great; what a transformation! :clap: :clap:
Will it have brakes, or is there a backpedal one in the rear hub you mentioned?
Andy
-
Brakes????? Who needs brakes???
LOL!!!
The hub has a coaster brake built into it. I'm making a clamp for it today.
Thanks,
~Wes~
-
Hi Wes
That bike is looking darn good. It is going to turn a few heads and they will be asking where you got it. Hope you have as much fun riding it as we have all had watching you build/rebuild it. It has been a pleasure watching you and has brought back a few memories.
:D :D
Cheers :beer:
Don
-
Wes
A very nice paint scheme looks terrific :thumbup: :clap:
Great post and photo's :bow: :bow: :bow:
:beer:
DaveH
-
Today I cut out some white oak to make the back rack out of. Here I'm checking things out. Dig the pedals:o)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser036.jpg)
I'm liking the looks of things. I want to try something with the seat though.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser037.jpg)
Here I have the boards shaped and sanded smooth. I'll start applying the finish tonight. It will probably take five or six coats of Tung oil.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser038.jpg)
I can't wait for that chain to get here:o)
~Wes~
-
Wes... That bike looks fantastic!
Eric
-
Thanks Eric!!! I still think it's missing something though? Besides a chain :smart: I drew up some neat looking aluminum and wood grips. I'll make them and see if that's it. Maybe it needs a bell also? We'll see :wave:
Thanks!!!
~Wes~
-
Perhaps 2 things...
1. A leather tool wrap on the handle bars
Something like this:
(http://lh4.googleusercontent.com/public/VSet4eEZs8SpBKKXSE5Kxu4SAloxJY20dSX_LVXlAATUSDY2SCvv-JTVsrbt9B7iWL0JXzHatBe7l6mS8zQOPh_FbMCZ2FsI9Qcc09dwWGtnQqSN-KxK_2LtnBJMuXy7lES3-bvjHOANvPWFKDXnx-c6ZPB7or6G5VrDpWbp)
Mounted to the front...
2. A playing card in the rear spokes....
-
Got my Green chain today and installed it\o/ The bike works/looks great!!! The kickback hub is kind of fun. I'll post a few more pictures this weekend. I have a little art work planned for the wood rack. I have a lot going on right now:o)
~Wes~
-
A couple of bolt-on's. My new Alien horn and chrome headlight.
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser039.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser040.jpg)
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser041.jpg)
More to come.....
~Wes~
-
Gorgeous!
I love the attention to detail on this one.
Nick
-
Thanks Nick!!!
The new bike has been working pretty good. I finally found some Rams horn bars for it:o) They are a little narrow but I think they'll work. I've been riding it nearly every day\o/
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v652/Powderkeg3418/Street%20cruiser/Streetcruiser043.jpg)
Later:o)
~Wes~