SpaceLiner: DevilWing - build completed.

[fast eddie]

man that looks GREAT!!!
fast eddie outty

[Rollin Double Sixes]

Awesome pictures! Thanks for the new desktop image.

[dangratsdan]

GIVE ME THAT BIKE! Great job, I,m not that crazy about bright red tires, but with the other red pieces on that polished chrome Spacliner, your Devilwing just changed my way of thinking. That is one RED HOT RIDE. And some nice pics, it looks so peaceful setting there. But , we know the truth, the DEVILwing made you do it.

Looking forward to seeing the Angelwing completed, and to see the cool pics of the two bike together.

Dangerous Dan

[aka_locojoe]

I really like what you have done with this one and what you have planned for the other.

[JoeyMac]

Is there a human Angel counterpart to ride Angelwing when you get it finished? Need riding pics too btw.

Only Angelwing can save your soul now!

My girlfriend will likely be piloting AngelWing when we launch for intergalactic battle with our battle cruisers. When that takes place we can take riding pics of both of the bikes.

Are the truss rods off of a J.C. Higgins?

Can't be sure but I believe so, based on others I have seen. Keepin it in the Sears family.

awesome build! I really love the background! What camera did you use?

I used my Canon 10D digital SLR, with an el cheapo Sigma 18-50mm wide-zoom. The trick is getting the pictures at the magic hour right after the sun comes up or before it goes down, when everything is lit with a sideways glow.


And thanks folks for the feedback. I have a few finishing touches to do, but I am pretty darn happy with how it came out. And I really didn't expect to be this close to finished yet. They way my builds have gone in the past I expected to be riding this thing in September.

I am looking forward to seeing everyone else's finished bikes, this has been the first build-off I have been a part of, but looking at the past ones, I think that everyone has raised the bar (so to speak) this time around and they're building some high-caliber machines here.


One other thing, what are your favorite photos of DevilWing? I took a lot and I had a hard time deciding what to keep, help me trim the selection down the the best few. Thanks guys!

[BrigmasterA]

hope its the cool one !!!

How do you pick the cool one? they're spaceliners. They're always cool.

[MadMick]

Great bike, an inspiring build and a real nice set of pics. My vote the best image is the one before the first 'Bristol Gears' pic, the low down rear 3/4 viewpoint. You can see all the great detail and I love the road leading off into the distance.

[BrigmasterA]

I love the bike, man. Loved it when I saw it over on Flickr, Love it here. Thanks for telling me about this site too, by the way. SpaceLiners Rule!

[Heavy Pedal]

That is one of the best bike builds I have seen! I like the black and white pics, but my favorite is the Washington Heights 666 pic! Very clever! You must of had a blast with that build!

[37fleetwood]

well I finally took the time to let all the photos load and I must say it sure is stunning! where Godzilla is kinda non flashy earth tones yours is downright fiery! nice Photography! very good choices of scenery, it really shows off the bike well.
Scott

[CCR]

i agree, its h*** on wheels ... in the space age

[JoeyMac]

I appreciate the kind words guys!

I plan to use this weekend to try and get finished with this guy. I had bit of a tragedy last week ago when I was about to ride it to work and was tightening a couple bolts, and the bolt on front of the stem snapped off . It's a specific size and thread, nothing I have will fit, I am taking the stem to the hardware store tomorrow to find a replacement. While there I am picking up some paint for some detailing on the chainguard and sprocket cap. Another goal is to wire up an LED in the headlight.

With any luck, I will have a finished bike at the end of this weekend. But I'll be happy if I can just ride it again.

I had an idea though, does anyone know where I can get a custom bike license plate made?

Thanks again guys, I am having a lot of fun with this!

[BrigmasterA]

Sorry to hear about your broken bolt man... Good luck. I'm getting more and more anxious to ride my bike... It's driving my crazy how close it is... I've had a lot of fun building it and enjoyed the commraderie here on this site. Thanks again for introducing me to it man. I owe you. Big time. Thank you.

[JoeyMac]

Sorry to hear about your broken bolt man... Good luck. I'm getting more and more anxious to ride my bike... It's driving my crazy how close it is... I've had a lot of fun building it and enjoyed the commraderie here on this site. Thanks again for introducing me to it man. I owe you. Big time. Thank you.

Hey I am happy you are having so much fun here, I hope it's not keeping you from getting any work done


So I went to the Home De Pot to look for a replacement bolt. Not a single bolt in the nuts-and-bolts aisle would fit, standard or metric, and I even had one of their experts help me look. Apparently Schwinn had their own specific thread size on their bolts.

I finally gave up and just took a longer bolt and stuck it through with a nut and washer on the back. I tightened it as much as I could, to the point that I started to round off the nut and bend the washer. But the bars still move when I put my weight on them (the original reason I broke that bolt was because the bars were moving and I had to tighten it too far). I ended up wrestling with it for hours, trying different things, till I finally said Heck with it and just put some quick-set metal epoxy in there to keep the bars in place. Not enough to permanently attach them there, but hopefully enough to at least be able to ride it. I had a similar problem with the seat clamp, it would see-saw on me when I was riding it, and I stripped the bolt trying to tighten it down enough. So more quick-set epoxy, after I replaced the clamp bolt.

Anyway, last night, in the middle of the night, I took it out for a long ride, on the dark deserted streets of my neighborhood. The last time I took it for a longer ride I was preoccupied with stopping to take pictures and finding other cool places to take pictures, I hadn't really just gotten a feel for the bike, to see how it really rides. I spent a couple of hours out there, going up and down hills, circling parking lots, going through back alley paths, and just riding, without lights or music, just me and the bike. I had a lot of fun, and this is what I learned:

1. Those tires are actually a lot faster than I expected. I got that thing flying at certain points, especially going down hills. And those wide tires were also a lot of fun going around turns, I could bank pretty hard.

2. That Brooks is really comfortable, especially for as old as it apparently is. The only problem is that it would still tilt back on me after a while, even with the epoxy in the clamp. I might have to replace the whole clamp.

3. Hills... hills are kind of a problem. The lower riding position makes hills hard on my knees. Today I am a little sore in my legs, I guess I was working different muscles than I normally do. Also, my back was starting to get sore from being bent over so much with the bars positioned where they are. I guess there is a trade-off between looks and comfort.

4. The kickstand has got to go. Not only is it too short to truly be effective (note the use of the rock under the kickstand in all the pictures I took), it would keep slipping down while riding over bumps and got in the way of the pedal (clank... clank... clank...) I had to keep kicking it back into place. I might just find a longer one anyway.

5. It's impossible to keep these bikes clean for very long if you're riding it around, especially with the back alleys and half-finished sidewalks that turn to muddy paths. The bike needs a clean-up before I take more pics.

Anyway, I still have the same issues, the bars still move if I put my weight on them, and the seat still tilts on me. But if you can ignore those things, it's a lot of fun to ride. If anyone knows a good trick for that, let me know.

I also picked up some supplies for detailing this weekend, but didn't get anywhere with that because I was trying to sort out the parts moving on me. I will update with detailing work soon, I hope.

I ain't giving up yet.

[cman]

I really like the flipped moon bars. A very subtle and fast look.