Getting a Rat Fink!

[BarnesTO]

As some of you may know, I am the proud owner of an Electra Boney Finger....a friend of mine has the newere version of the Electra Rat Fink, the green and orange one. I bought new (like a sucker :roll, he found his on Craigslist for a great price! We've BOTH wanted one of the old green and white ones for a while. It's the bike that made me want to ride again in the first place, and influenced my decision to buy an Electra.

The planets have aligned, and I found one the other day on Craigslist. We're gonna make the trip and pick it up on Saturday. I can't wait! I already have a few ideas on how to make it "mine" as well! Just thought I'd brag a little.... :mrgreen:

 

[Rat Rod]

They are sweet machines...gotta love the anticipation leading to the pick up. :wink:

 

[olschbp]

here's mine, before,

and now,

 

[Rat Rod]

Here's the one I sold this year...on Craigslist.

 

[BarnesTO]

[/quote]

I have to ask....WHERE DID YOU GET THAT SPRINGER??! Too cool for school, man. Thanks for sharing!

 

[johnny nightwolf]

Looks like one of these:
http://www.choppersus.com/store/product/425/Fork-Kit--Springer-Chrome-Long/

 

[BarnesTO]

Thanks, Johnny! $259....Ouch! Little outta my range...

 

[olschbp]

I used these, got them when they had a sale, http://www.choppersus.com/store/product ... er-Chrome/

 

[BarnesTO]

Again, that looks fantastic. I'm wondering, are those different wheels, or did you just strip the orange paint? My buddy put a whitewall Fatti-O out back with a no name skinnier 24" whitewall in the front, which looks really cool with his orange rims, I think. He really wants an orange 26" wheel up front though. Maybe he'd forget about that if he saw your forks. :wink:

 

[blsm]

I've been thinking of getting one of the new 20" Finks and adding a banana seat and apes, maybe a 26" triple-tree. I would probably look like some monster on an old Roth shirt riding that thing

 

[olschbp]

wheels are as it came, very rare, the reason I bought it also, dont like the orange wheels, then I made the changes to it over a few months time, the bars are Electra's, thank's

 

[BarnesTO]

I called the guy today just to make sure we were still on for tomorrow, since it's a three hour drive for me. He said he'd be ready. I sure am! It'll be hard to sleep tonight....lol

I've already bought a few accessories online for it, to deck it out as well. :mrgreen:

 

[gaskill]

where did you get that front tire? those skinny whites are killer. and i would love a pair on my rollfast. thanks-gaskill

 

[BarnesTO]

The front tire is an Electra Retrorunner....they come in a blackwall, whaitewall, white line (like the ones on the Rat Fink), as well as a red line and a pink wall....I'm sure there are others, too.

I brought home the bike on Saturday, and it's retty sweet. There are a few scratches and dings, so I'm planning on getting some Schwinn Campus Green touchup paint. I'm sure it's gotta be fairly close. It's hard to touch up candy paint, but it's still gotta look better than a scratch!

I'm also thinking about some white Schwinn grips, since the stock white pleather ones are showing their age. The white on the tires is also a bit spiderwebbed, just due to age. I may be replacing them soon, just so the white "pops" as it should.

I've got a few add-ons on order, and this morning I added a Serfas TL-1000 LED tail light, since I ride at night a lot. Soon it'll have an Electra bullet headlight as well.

 

[olschbp]

let's see a pic of it please, like a before, then a after when you are done?

 

[BarnesTO]

What's cool is that the parts I ordered last week came today. I ordered a bracket that goes between the fork tubes for mounting a headlight, and some Maltese cross valve caps. I went over to my LBS and got an Electra bullet light and Serfas tail light.

The other thing I ordered from Amazon.com also came today....a kids' bell with a floating blue eyeball on top. 8)

 

[BarnesTO]

Ok, here are some pics I took this afternoon....

Isn't this the coolest bell? It floats around in there....

I cut down the bracket, drilled a hole in it, and mounted it to a theaded hole in the frame, which was handy! This this is BRIGHT!

Here's a closeup (sorry if it's a bit blurry) of the bracket I used to mount the headlight.

Ready to ride....

 

[BarnesTO]

I just checked my email, and my white Scwhinn grips and Campus Green touchup paint will be here tomorrow, just in time for the weekend!

 

[repoman]

Here is my Rat Fink. I bought battery powered neon lights from Rock The Bike in California so people can see me at night and enjoy.

 

[BarnesTO]

Awesome! I always wanted a single green one for my Boney Finger, and I would love one for the Fink, since I riade at night quite a bit, especially in the summer....