"Orange County Rat Chop-Suey" Update 9-12

[Fireproof]

. . . about the back end... the rear stays are hugely wide, they swallow up even the 4" tire with room to spare. I'm wondering how funny it would look with a 3" rear in it. You could almost put two 3" tires side by side in there!

Here's something to think about. RatRodBikes forum member, olschbp, told me that a MT-90x16 tire will fit on these rims. That is a tire from a Harley Davidson! Note that bicycle tires are measured differently than motorcycle tires . . . something like the motorcycles use wheel diameter and bikes go by outside tire diameter. I want to find someone with a Harley that has whitewalls and follow them around until they need new tires. Even a bald Harley tire would last a long time on my Schwinn!

I really like the Hairpin saddles.. I'll have to try one out and see how it feels.

Keep in mind that the OCC bike uses a Huge seat post. If you care to see, I have pics that show how I modified the OCC seat post. I shortened the “sissy bar” and redrilled the four seat mounting holes. The seat now is almost an inch and a half farther back for more leg room.

heres mine. wish i coulda chopped it up and built a burrito with some of the parts but..no welder. so i just gave it a face lift. turns alotta heads in the critical mass ride. good luck with the build!

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11470&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=the+filthy+rat

I have liked "The Filthy Rat" since the first time I saw it!

[FunkyStickman]

Here's something to think about. RatRodBikes forum member, olschbp, told me that a MT-90x16 tire will fit on these rims. That is a tire from a Harley Davidson! Note that bicycle tires are measured differently than motorcycle tires . . . something like the motorcycles use wheel diameter and bikes go by outside tire diameter. I want to find someone with a Harley that has whitewalls and follow them around until they need new tires. Even a bald Harley tire would last a long time on my Schwinn!

I figured it was based on a motorcycle tire, as I tracked down the company that makes it (Innova) and everything on their site is for motorbikes and ATV's. I couldn't quite figure out what size it actually was, so thanks for that info! Oh, they also make tires in crazy colors... check it out! They also make a 16x3" tire, that would look killer. They're under the "electric bike" section. http://www.innovatires.com

Keep in mind that the OCC bike uses a Huge seat post. If you care to see, I have pics that show how I modified the OCC seat post. I shortened the “sissy bar” and redrilled the four seat mounting holes. The seat now is almost an inch and a half farther back for more leg room.

I've found a few places that sell the 31.8mm post. I'd love to see what you've done with it to move it back. Since I haven't been able to drop the seat on mine yet, I haven't been able to see how it fits. But I'll definitely check out any ideas you have. I could go with a bannana seat, but I probably will want something with more padding.

I have liked "The Filthy Rat" since the first time I saw it!

Agreed, great bike! Love the pinstriping on it.

[FunkyStickman]

found a whitewall MT90x16 tire...
http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Item ... 0000209276
Ouch! It's $100!!!

(EDIT)
Found a few others online, they're all about $90-$115. That's because they're all 4-ply, load and speed rated. I bet they're heavy, too. Still, you might be able to find one overstock, or second hand... if you could find one cheap enough, it would be interesting to ride it and see how different it would feel.

[FunkyStickman]

I've been researching comfy seats, and I ran across the recumbent world (no shock there!) The prevailing "best" recumbent seat is made by a company called "Rans" and recumbents are exclusively what they do.

They have a line of bikes called "Crank Forward" which I've never heard of before, so I looked into it, and lo and behold! It's a cruiser/chopper geometry!


Well, it turns out they developed a seat specifically for this bike, and made the frame geometry around it... so I immediately started looking for places that sell the seat, and I eventually found one. They sell the "pan" part separately from the cusion, which lets you get either a plastic or carbon pan, and several layers of cushion.


They also sell the regular recumbent seat pans for about $35, which would be well worth it for an extremely comfy ride!

[thesuicideride]

i added a pic with the 6 pack holder to the filthy rat topic. heres the link. im excited to see which way you go with yours!

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11470&p=171790#p171790

[Philphine]

i just made a couple seats similar to that last week, from exercise bike seats. i still have to figure out how to upholster them, but i rode about 5mls on one and it was pretty good even without padding. the transition from comfort to discomfort was pretty quick though.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=16662

it really helps make the bike though. those old exercise seats are now on my constant watch list so i can experiment with it more. like the back height and angle and such.

[FunkyStickman]

Definitely want a comfy seat on this, and I'll explain why... basically, I've got a great friend who's wife possibly may have been diagnosed with MS. She's in her late 30's, two kids, love their whole family to pieces... they're great folks. So I'm preparing myself for riding in the local MS Tour in the beginning of October. I'd like to have the chopper done by then, but if not, I can always ride my trusty hardtail.

Anyway, on to the build pics. I stripped the frame Thursday, and Friday started attacking the frame with a wire wheel to get the pounds of rust off it. I thought I might be able to save some of the chrome, but it's actually pitted the steel in places, chrome is not salvagable. I was planning on painting it black, anyway.


Pile of parts on the floor of my shop. Some of this stuff weighs a ton... I've got some tricks up my sleeve for getting the bike's weight down without ruining the "rattiness" of it.


And more inspiration:


I've borrowed a sandblasting gun from my dad, I'm thinking about hitting the frame with fine sand or baking soda to make the job go quicker. We'll see.

[Fireproof]

. . . I'd love to see what you've done with it to move it back. Since I haven't been able to drop the seat on mine yet, I haven't been able to see how it fits. But I'll definitely check out any ideas you have.

Hey Stickman, I haven't forgot about you. I put the pics into Photobucket last night but my son dragged me away from the computer before I could get them posted. I'm off to visit my Mamma in the hospital now, so i'll try to get them posted tonight.

[Fireproof]

Hey Stickman, here's what I did to my seat . . .


First, unbolt the seat from the post/base and remove the four small screws from the back trim panel. Set the seat back on the seat post and measure from the top of the "sissy bar" to just under the top edge of the seat. Add about another quarter inch to your measurement. Remove the seat and mark the amount to be removed on the straight section of the "sissy bar". I used a cut-off wheel and then dressed the ends of the tube on a belt sander. Now place the seat back on to get an idea of how far back to drill the new seat-mounting holes . . . it's about an inch and a half.




I welded the tube with flux-core wire in my mig and then ground down the welds with an angle grinder.




A little sanding and a squrt fron the rattle-can to get here.




Those four, raised screw posts on the back of the seat will need to be cut down. they were no match for my wire cutters! This is what it looks like from the back . . .




A viewfrom the bottom . . .



On the bike . . . BEFORE.



And AFTER!



The "sissy bar" now provides support to the top of the seat, and I use it as a handle when moving my bike. I also found that a carded, Schwinn tire patching kit will tuck in between the seat and the bar . . . very handy! This seat is not super comfy, but I have ridden over 15 miles at a time on it.
Let me know what you think and please keep us posted on your progress.

[FunkyStickman]

Ran across something cool... I was window-shopping at http://www.mooneyesusa.com for ideas (don't lie, you know you've done it too) and I found "fake" whitewalls for motorcycles... I thought "Man, they don't have a 20 inch whitewall" and then it hit me, it's a 16" motorcycle rim!!! Dudes, listen up! This looks like it would work with a 20x4" bike tire! They're $14 each, though.

http://www.mooneyesusa.com/Store/produc ... ts_id=1872

I may have to buy a set just to try it out... you know, take one for the team! What a cool discovery!

[FunkyStickman]

Thanks for the tip, Fireproof. I don't have a welder handy, but we're working on that! Also, I found a cheap Bell comfort saddle in the trash down my street yesterday, and the covering was worn out... I pulled the skin off and now I'm thinking about recovering it with snakeskin Tolex, costs about $17 a yard.

Anybody have experience with using Tolex to recover seats? I'm thinking you could heat it a little and get it to form to a saddle pretty easily.

[Big Fat Whitewalls]

Go to your local Harley shop, and ask them if you can have two takeoffs. They have to pay to get rid of them. Tell them what you want to do with them, so they don't think they will get sued. I have about 10 of them in the barn, I'm going to do the 16" tire on the OCC wheel too.

[Philphine]

will it still fit on an occ frame? the only one i remember was a guy who put one on a spoiler.

[ratina]

I have a motorcycle tire on the back of my occ, the fender doesnt fit anymore. I'll post pics tomorrow

[FunkyStickman]

Can't wait to see the tire, should be pretty large.

Also, I tried out my sandblasting setup during lunch today, it's been 2 hours and I'm still finding grains of sand on my person! However, it cleaned up the rusty OCC handlebar (which I probably won't use) fairly quickly. I need to play with it some more, but it takes the rust off quickly, takes a bit longer to peel the chrome off. Once I've go the technique down, I'll hit the frame and start painting it. Pics will come as well.

I caught myself eyeing a Brooks 109 saddle today.... man, those things are sexy! I'll have to settle for a cheap recover, but maybe I can make some "hairpin" springs for looks to put underneath? Hmmm...