First off, pics of the bike as I found it in the trash:
From what I understand, this is an earlier model because of the footrests on the fork. Rechroming them is probably not an option, and even if it were, I can get a new one for $50.
Severe frame rust. Notice the seatpost is as far down as I can put it, and the "minimum height" line is still out of the seat tube. This worries me the most, I'm pretty sure I can fix anything else on it.
Everything that is steel is rusted, except for the rear fender. Crank is bent, pedals are chewed up, seat's torn, but it's all there. And man, after riding my aluminum Mt. bike, this thing is HEAVY!
I'll get over it. I won't know how bad the damage is until I actually tear it down completely, but I'm hoping it's structually sound, and the damage is mostly cosmetic.So now comes the part where I figure out what to do with the thing. Essentially, I want it to be ridable and cool. Thanks to you guys, I've got some really great ideas for it. I've got two roads I can go down:
1. Clean it up, repaint it, make it rideable, and call it good.
2. Do something totally wicked with it, i.e. convert it to a multi-gear with all the trimmings, drum brakes front and back, custom frame insert, light on the front, apehangers, maybe some trick pieces here and there. Basically, turn it into a work of art.
Just for fun, a closeup of the logo sticker on the badly rusted handlebars.
Now for those of you with significant others, lemme tell you the choice isn't as easy as you'd think!! I could easily make it ridable for about $30 and rock it up and down the street. But I've got big plans for this bike, I want to do more with it. There's no "freakbike" crew anywhere around here, and I want to do it up nice enough to bring to car shows, and use it as a pit bike at the drag strip/autocross track. And I can't tell you how much it would rock to do a local bike tour with it! It just fits my attitude. All the roadies and weight weenies would snicker, but deep down inside, they'd wish they had the guts to ride it.
The seat's bumper rail. Chrome is flaking off in huge sheets.
So, practically speaking, I'll have to do this in 2 stages: cosmetic, and then spring for the drivetrain upgrades further on down the road, when I have the money. Specifically, I want to convert the rear to a multi-speed hub. I could use the Sturmey wide 3-speed that the later OCC bikes came with... the only places I've found them want exorbitant amounts of money for just a 3-speed hub. For less money, I can get a Sturmey 8-speed with a built-in drum brake, which would let me paint the rims red and use whitewalls. "Oh wait," you say, "That hub isn't wide enough to use on the 4 inch rim!" You'd be correct. That, and the fact that nobody makes a whitewall 20x4" tire means I'd have to go to a 20x3" for the whitewalls and the geared hub, which is still fine with me. I can build wheels, so that's not a problem. As long as the Sturmey 8-speed drum hub clears the 3" tire, I'm good. I'd have to put a drum hub up front too, just for kicks, and to make the younger roadie guys ask what it is. LOL
Here's my inspirations:
And also Randfink's chopper (I really like this!! Though I wouldn't make the fork quite as long)
and Felt's "El Guapo" bike:
So what do you guys think? Would it be worth it to drop a few hundred bucks making this the coolest OCC chopper ever? Or should I just rock it 1-speed?
We're looking for a decently priced MIG welder, and rest assured, it will get put to good use. Not sure if I'm going to be able to use it on this build or not, but heck... if we have one, I might give it a whack.
