After stumbling onto this site last month I was infected with the need to build a bike. Or at least re-invent one.
And what better candidate than my wife's old cruiser!
The history of the bike, for us, is short. We bought it at a garage sale two summers ago for $16. It was rattle can black, but had been red in a former life. The tires needed air and a new set of grips as well. The black just wasn't doing ot for my wife, so I tore the bike down (somewhat), and she went to town with some primer, purple and to top it off, some glitter over coat. The nickname of "sassy princess" was supplied by those kits of rhinestone stickers, "bling" that she found at the dollar store, prepackaged saying Sassy Princess. She rode it and loved it for a summer, we took it to the Oregon coast, replaced a couple parts and nick nacks..... and then I bought her a nice big cruiser last Christmas. So the "Sassy" sat hanging from the garage ceiling, waiting for some inspiration or a third rider in need of bike....
I have always been a fan of the rat rod type of hot rods. But not being much of a knuckle dragging monkey wrenching kinda guy, regular old, plain jane, vanilla cars have filled the garage...
So that brings us to today. Or, rather, yesterday, since I once again tore into the Sassy Princess.
The stem is stripped and I am still working on getting it off fully. I am hoping to re- cut the threads and be able to utilize it. Everything else came apart easily enough, once the shackles of (at least) three coats of paint were removed.
Original red color:
And the working idea:
The loose plan is to strip it down, hack off the upper girls bar and reweld it onto a more "manly" position. I may or may not add the second piece of swoopy flair... Then it'll be painted flat black or flat primer brown. The rims will be red. Not sure about the seat yet, but I am thinking a little bit of layback on the seat post'll do the bike some good.... just a good, solid basic rat rod type of scheme...
I don't think I'll use fenders.... what do you think?
I really like Cman's build with the ammo boxes for storage, and I may just rip his idea off and use it for my own purposes:
And that, for now, is it. Parts are soaking in degreaser and some in paint stripper.... and the fork'll be off today....
More build updates as they happen, but like the title says, a slow build...
Thanks for tuning in!
Mike, out
And what better candidate than my wife's old cruiser!
The history of the bike, for us, is short. We bought it at a garage sale two summers ago for $16. It was rattle can black, but had been red in a former life. The tires needed air and a new set of grips as well. The black just wasn't doing ot for my wife, so I tore the bike down (somewhat), and she went to town with some primer, purple and to top it off, some glitter over coat. The nickname of "sassy princess" was supplied by those kits of rhinestone stickers, "bling" that she found at the dollar store, prepackaged saying Sassy Princess. She rode it and loved it for a summer, we took it to the Oregon coast, replaced a couple parts and nick nacks..... and then I bought her a nice big cruiser last Christmas. So the "Sassy" sat hanging from the garage ceiling, waiting for some inspiration or a third rider in need of bike....
I have always been a fan of the rat rod type of hot rods. But not being much of a knuckle dragging monkey wrenching kinda guy, regular old, plain jane, vanilla cars have filled the garage...
So that brings us to today. Or, rather, yesterday, since I once again tore into the Sassy Princess.
The stem is stripped and I am still working on getting it off fully. I am hoping to re- cut the threads and be able to utilize it. Everything else came apart easily enough, once the shackles of (at least) three coats of paint were removed.
Original red color:
And the working idea:
The loose plan is to strip it down, hack off the upper girls bar and reweld it onto a more "manly" position. I may or may not add the second piece of swoopy flair... Then it'll be painted flat black or flat primer brown. The rims will be red. Not sure about the seat yet, but I am thinking a little bit of layback on the seat post'll do the bike some good.... just a good, solid basic rat rod type of scheme...
I don't think I'll use fenders.... what do you think?
I really like Cman's build with the ammo boxes for storage, and I may just rip his idea off and use it for my own purposes:
And that, for now, is it. Parts are soaking in degreaser and some in paint stripper.... and the fork'll be off today....
More build updates as they happen, but like the title says, a slow build...
Thanks for tuning in!
Mike, out
