>>>Elliminator 20" Muscle bike<<<

[Peatbog]

This is my first build-off. The original plan was to take a Bratz bike I obtained in a swap for two truck tires and repaint it so it actually looked like a boys bike. I figured I would paint the bike, make a few changes and be done early. After the painting was done, however, I found I had more time and things got out of hand quickly. So more things happened. Anyway, the paint is Rustoleum spraycan yellow, black, white, and clear.

Most of the close up pictures shown here are taken where I work because the lighting is good and the gray floor makes a nice background. Almost all of the other pictures, which show trains, wall paintings, train stations, antique shops, or big cows were taken in Orrville, Ohio. It is a town about 1/2 hour from me that has a bike shop I like, so I took the bike to show the owner what I was up to and then rode around the town for about an hour taking pictures. When you ride around Orrville, Ohio for about an hour, you have pretty much covered the entire town.

Here is a link to the build thread (on the page where I made a taxi fender that had to be repainted):
http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=67&t=56351&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=120

Anyway, here is the bike:





I ended up with a working drag chute (also know as the "Jake Brake." Thanks, Jake, for the inspiration!):



Here is the before picture. The bike was in pretty decent shape except for the normal scratches and a light coast of rust over all the chrome.

[Peatbog]

Starting at the front, here is what I did to the bike:



The tire is from the Bratz bike, just cleaned up. The origins of the fender is unknown. It was an old rear fender which I cut shorter and squeezed to make it narrower. The springer fork was rusty, but cleaned up very well. The parts on the Bratz bike are higher quality than what I have seen on other Walmart bikes.



I planed to use the front wheel from the Bratz bike, but it was pitted bad in places, so I used this wheel which I had. I do not know what it originally came from, but it cleaned up well. I made the axle nut spinners from stainless steel.


The speedometer is a reproduction from China (I think). It seems cheaply made, but it looks good and works well.




The windshield is plexiglass tinted red. The brackets are made from aluminum.




The headlight I got from somewhere, but don't remember where now. I tinted it red.


The hand grips are old grips I had. I made the tassels from leather shoe strings and mason's line. The holder gizmos for the tassels, I made from aluminum. The handlebars are original to the Bratz bike.


The "head badge" and lettering is vinyl. Here is is before it was clearcoated:

[Peatbog]

Moving on to the middle of the bike...



The black and white checkerboard is paint. The lettering is vinyl obtained from diylettering.com where you can design your own. The crank and chainwheel are from the Bratz bike. They were rusty but cleaned up very well. The chainguard is also from the Bratz bike.




The pedals are made to look like drag racing Christmas tree starting lights. I used yellow, green and reds beads to do so.


The paint on the fender is done to line up with the paint "points" on the seat stays.




The rear fender is something I had, but I don't know its origin. It had some minor dents and a hole that needed filled, but it wasn't a difficult fix.


I replaced the purple velour of the Bratz bike with a black and white vinyl one. The seat post is from the Bratz.

[Peatbog]

Moving on to the back of the bike.



The reflector holder is from the Bratz bike. The reflector is an old one I had.


To cover the opposite side of the reflector/reflector bracket I made a little back rest from aluminum, wood, foam and vinyl. Since the pictures were taken, acorn nuts have been put on the exposed bolt ends. The sissy bar was obtained from the Orrville bike shop I mentioned earlier.




If I remember correctly, I obtained the whitewall slick from Amazon.com. The wheel is one that matches the front. It seems worn some internally, but cleaned up like new.


The seat tag is made from aluminum. The jack rabbit is brass, and he is very speedy. You can see the drag chute cord attachment rod in this view. It is made from aluminum.


The wheelie bar is made from the sissy bar of the Bratz bike and some modified strut rods for a springer front fork.


The brackets are made from aluminum. The wheelie wheel I bought at a farm supply store.




The decal plates are plexiglass tinted red. There are brackets made of aluminum (hard to see n these pictures) holding them in place.




I kept changing the decals, so you will see various decal layouts on the final build pictures as I was considering how the various layouts looked.




Here is the drag chute set up:


The lever and the brackets holding it and the cable are aluminum. The bracket holding the chute bag is made from 1/4" diameter steel rod bent to shape. The ends of the rods were heated and flattened so I could put 1/4" bolt through them. The spring loaded chute launcher concealed inside the bag has aluminum, plastic and wood parts.


I sewed the bag up from material I bought at JoAnn Fabrics. Yes, I went to the fabric store. The little wire loop thing that holds the chute release cable is made from a piece of 1/8" diameter steel rod I bought at a farm store. It keeps the cable from falling into the wheel once the chute release lever is pushed and the cable end is pulled out of the chute cord loop.


The chute works (well, not every time, but I'm working on it). Here it is when it opened correctly on one run. You can see the round plunger plate sticking out of the chute pack. You can also see the round hole in the middle of the chute. This chute was originally made to drop flares. With the hole, the chute drops straight down better without blowing off course. However, that hole just keeps the chute from opening as easily as it should for me, so I plan to sew a patch over it.


Okay, that is end of this tale of building the Eliminator drag chute muscle bicycle…



…other than some more pictures...

[Peatbog]

The light wasn't right for this photograph, so I took a few quick snaps and vowed to come back the next day before the sun was slamming the scene and washing out the yellow on my bike. The yellow looks great in the sun, but does not photograph well therein. But when I went back the next day, all of the stuff in the window was gone! In place of the bike scene there were pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, and other fall stuff. Man...


However, the train was still there.

[dogdart]

There is sooooo much cool engineering here , it's mind blowing hard to believe what can be done with a " Bratz " bike .

[kingfish254]

This build has been a blast to follow!!
With that seat brand , it looks like you got a "Wild Hare" up your butt.
There aren't enough adjectives to describe the coolness and masterful engineering behind this wicked muscle bike dream!!!
BRAVO BRUDDERMAN!!!!
congRATs!

[texasbigjon]

masterful engineering seems to be the key word here! the fabrication work is truly amazing and the paint and details are too.fantastic bike!

[JoKeR63]

Definitely my favorite build this year. Awesome engineering and great use of colors.

Excellent!!!!!!

[54shadow]

Super cool and double groovy!

[FatBoy]

Best Brat ever Hands down!!!!!Great Work

[KOTA]

NICE!...I'm liking this one a "lot". ...Looks like a Custom Concept bike from the sixties.

[Mr. Kool]

Love it!!!!!!!!

60's drag racing at its finest!!!! Awesome build!!!!!

[Peatbog]

Thanks for the kind words. I appreciate it.

[bean]

Great bike ...........lots of cool fab stuff here.