Greetings from 'Old'-England

[Wilcycle]

Hello gentlemen all.

My name is Kevin and I hail from Caterham, Surrey, England.
I have been on two wheels as long as I can remember. Bicycles when I was younger and now mix it in with a bit of motorcycling.
I mostly ride road bikes and am just coming up on 1500 miles this year ('11).
My home is in the Surrey hills outside London so cruisers are not practical transport for me, but they are just so cool.
I cannot reel off a long list of awsome builds; the closest to a RatRod was this years quick build of a campsite bike. I was inspired by reading these forums and finding a pair of 6 bend pullback bars from a long abandoned M'bike chop project.
A weekend and two cans of spray paint turned an old mountain bike into a cool campsite roller that turned a few heads

Thanks for keeping me entertained for the last few months, perhaps I can now join in and maybe even add something to the pool of knowledge.

I am also into RC cars and planes and a bit of photography.
I love Hot Rods which is how I stumbled across this forum, but as RatRod himself mentions, that is a game for people with plenty of spare cash. So I will keep on peddlin'.

Best wishes
Kevin D. Wilson

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Welcome! Let's see a pic of that campsite bike!

Cheers,
Dr. T

[Bodge Deep]

Hi Kevin,
A few of limeys lurking on here!

[Wilcycle]

I dragged out a photo of my camp bike and dropped it in the original post.
Not up to the normal RRB standard; but not bad for a two day bare metal strip & rebuild. (saturday saw it stripped & in primer...Sunday the colour went on, with a little help from a heat gun )
The only 'bought in' was the extra long brake inner. The Vinyl cut decals went on at the camp, handy tool the vinyl cutter.
I know the 5 speed setup is not in keeping or the bottle holder; but this treader had a job to do.
Hauling me around the Isle of Wight with my family and the occasional run across camp with my 13yo daughter sat on the bars
Be kind to me guys!
Kev

[kngtmat]

Cool Bike & Welcome Kevin To RRB.



I have a friend in England from another place I go to that has a nice 1956 Schwinn but he is mostly into cars which he will be getting a 1958 Plymouth shipped over there some time next year after it's finished being restored.

[deorman]

WHERE IS YOUR BLACK SATIN FLAME JOB ROD-BRAKE PATH RACER?!?! For God's sake man,... you're in Engand!
But I digress. Old 5-spd cluster + short spacer + cruiser = practical.

[deorman]

Welcome!

[Wilcycle]

Thanks kngtmat. Like I said far from my ideal but it was getting toward the stripped out look I was after; and not bad value at £2 for the brake inner cable and perhaps a £5 for the two rattle cans.
I think that's about ten bucks to you guys, or less than a gallon of gas for us

Well deorman, the last bike I had with rod brakes was a tiny tricycle with a tin boot (Trunk) on the back. but that was 40+ years back.
Have you ever tried rod brakes? they are a nightmare to set up and a whole lot of trouble, My mum had a big old roadster with them.
God bless Mr Bowden and his wonderful cables

Kev

[deorman]

God bless Mr Bowden and his wonderful cables

Kev

X2

[MplsCoaster]

I like the 6 bend bars! Maybe I'm ignorant but I haven't seen them before. Where did you get them?
They remind of a cool combination of ape hangers and cruiser bars.
Nice Job, especially done so quickly!

[Wilcycle]

I like the 6 bend bars! (snip) Where did you get them?

Sorry my friend, the bars are from a long closed Triumph m'cyle shop in S.London (early 80s).
They have been lurking in my basement waiting to go on the BSA chop under a tarp in the garden for too many years.
I came across them after reading RRB forum for months. They looked so cool they were the catalyst for the build.
It was supposed to be a quick tidy up, but before I knew it the gears, wheels & forks were off

I have just bought my refrigeration guys at work an Oxy-Propane set, So I can see some serious hacking coming up. I cant think how those guys use so much gas

Kev

[seadragon]

Welcome from Hertfordshire

[gcrank1]

I like that, 'campsite bike'!; you blokes have a way with words that tickles me.......
Wish you still had that 'boot' bike, mabe you can find another at the boot sale and recapture your mis-spent youth ., Id like to see pics of that.
There is plenty of room here, and past posts, on typical diamond frame bikes (and we have Nottingham men's and ladie's Raleigh Sports roadsters, a BSA 'pubman' and a Triumph in the works as a 'fat tire' coaster), so dont be afraid of working one of those up too.

[GuidoKM]

Welcome to the forum! and greetings from Stevenage. Hertfordshire, what part are you in seadragon?

all the best

[KJV]

welcome.