Easy Rider

[johnp.smith]

Tonight I drilled the frame for the tank. Im only using the rear bolt to attach it with and its fine. I use some strips of old inner tube taped inside the tank to center the front and prevent vibration. For fork stops, Im going to drill the front of the tank and use the little bottoms found on some tables. They will be painted with the tank and barely noticeable. When I get the kickstand to work the way I want, it wont turn anywhere near the tank. The Stingray also uses a much wider crank than the WCC bikes that the tank came from so knee clearance is plentiful as if the tank isnt even there. I also drilled a hole in the lower triple tree to mount the headlight to it directly instead of on the reflector bracket. I then took it for a 5 mile ride around the country club at the corner, yes, with no brakes. Its very comfortable and coming out better than expected.

[Uncle Stretch]

The bike is coming right along.....Your trains are awesome.

[Dr. Tankenstein]

I can't WAIT to see this bike! Are you going to strip the paint,polish and clear coat to emulate the chrome framed original?

Cheers!
Dr.T

[johnp.smith]

No, Im staying with a black destickered frame. All the chrome ones I have seen had rust spots somewhere on them. Painting the tank is going to be difficult enough. We live in a town house with a finished basement and no garage. Sanding and painting will have to be done in a small closet on my deck. I have no talent or resources to do any kind of welding or metal modifications. I have to stick with whats commercially available and finish bikes how I see their destiny should be.

[johnp.smith]

Just came from looking at 2 other OCC choppers with no front brakes and chrome rear fenders. Both people told me there was no rust. Both bikes had chrome pitting on the forks and one on the fender. Maybe I just got lucky with this one. If I find a clean one great, if not, I will call it good with a front brake and black rear fender. I also stopped on the way home and ordered an axle bolt mount side kickstand. It should work with little or no modification. I also cut the bottoms off the sissy bar and filed the edges smooth. Its a straight cut. I wanted to file it round but with the way the ends are piched, I didnt think it would look very good.

[rnchoppers]

its looking pretty good i like working with them occ choppers and west coast choppers you can do alot with them i just finished a red white and blue stretched occ chopper i did the stars the same way lol .i have a few pics of a couple i did over in my intro i put motors on a couple of them ... when your done with your bike you should send a pic of it over to.. buildabikeandmore.com..in the chopper section i want to see it finished

[johnp.smith]

I ended up getting a green one late last night. The bike itself is pretty trashed. It is a kids bike and was ridden hard. Amazingly though, the forks where not rusted. The rear fender has some stains in the chrome that I cant get out. I dont think Im going to use it. I have a little too much time and money into this already and am not going to settle for a less than perfect part at this point. The fork tubes where cleaned, stripped polished and installed. My wife is out of town right now with the camera so I'll get some updated pics when she returns.

[johnp.smith]

Just picked up my side axle mounted kickstand, rear brake cable and the tailpipes came in the mail. Once all that is installed and it stops snowing, I will get some new pics posted. The bike will basically be done except for painting the tank. I haven't spray painted anything in years so Im going to practice on some other pieces before masking and painting the tank. With the bike and tank all destickered, it actually looks really good as is. The Red, White, and Blue are really going to stand out. I decided to keep the center stand on it as well for ease of working on the bike.

[johnp.smith]

I had some time to play with the bike this morning. The tailpipes wont work like I thought so I put 1 one each side of the frame mounted upside down using the existing holes on the lower rear triangle. The are tilted up a little and cover the top holes. Not the look I wanted but still pretty cool. Now, not to break anyones heart but Im not going to paint my tank. The bike has really grown on me as it is and I admit, my painting skills are terrible. I tried painting a fork. It came out like crap and made a huge mess. If someone wants to paint a WCC tank and sell it to me, that would be great. Otherwise, it is staying black and all destickered. Another problem Im having with it is storage. I told myself I didnt want any bikes in the trainroom but thats the only place this one fits leaned against the train table. All my other bikes hang in the laundry room out of the way.

[johnp.smith]

I played with it a little today. Still have to install the new brake cable, shorten the kickstand a little and get some better hardware back there. I have a new idea about painting so it may still happen. I dig the brakeless front end, a lot cleaner looking.

[baalberry]

Looks great! I really like the seat and sissy bar. The kickstand makes the bike sit really nice. I am partial to black, but the Easy Rider paint job would like killer on it!!

[deorman]

Do a white base, get some stick-on stars to shoot the blue over, and some plain old masking tape to shoot over w/the red.

[KOTA]

Do a white base, get some stick-on stars to shoot the blue over, and some plain old masking tape to shoot over w/the red.

Just make sure that plain old masking tape is "BLUE".

[johnp.smith]

My other idea for painting was in the attic. Thats not going to happen either. I painted another fork that came out great but the ventilation is poor and it made the whole house stink. Anyone wanna paint a tank for me? I could pay cash or maybe parts?

[deorman]

Listen up, dude. You've still got a month. Just READ the can for recoat times, put just barely enough for it be wet and don't worry about it showing through. Do another coat. Separate taping of each color stage by at least 24 hrs. Again, consult your "bomb" for exact time. Do a clear coat the same way, give it extra time and then buff it thoroughly with some steel wool, then a final clear. Wait again, take buffing wheel to it. I'm found of Rustoleum, but not for this job. Duplicolor is way better for masking work. Besides, it's a rat-rod, remember? It sounds to me like you need a fan blowing out your attic vent. Also less paint flying , just do a little bit at a time, like 2 or 3 passes and quit. Who says you can't take three or four days to finish one color?