The Saturday Morning Special-6/16 fork chop

[Daddyar]

Ok, so I've decided to participate in my first buildoff after being a forum member for about 4 years. I'm going to have a slow start, but things should pick up in a couple weeks, so stay tuned!
Here is the frame I will be using;

I think it's a Micargi. This was a freebie I picked up at a bike swap meet a few months ago. Why use this frame? Because I don't think anyone else is doing one! Also, this frame is kinda cool-The top tube is oval, but goes from horizontal at the seat tube to vertical at the head tube. And there is room in the back for a 24x3.

So where did the name come from, you ask? Easy. Most of the parts for this bike came from Saturday morning yard sales, swap meets, and thrift stores. Not sure what exactly I'm going to throw at it, but my favorite motorcycles are bobbers, so I'm leaning that way. Good luck to everyone and their builds!

 

[herr_rudolf]

Re: The Saturday Morning Special

...Why use this frame? Because I don't think anyone else is doing one! ...

Besides that it looks cool on its own. You liking it should be the main reason why you've entered it. I like it. Don't remember seeing one in it's original set-up.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Re: The Saturday Morning Special

I like it too, I can easily see it going 'bobber style' (then again, I can see any frame as a bobber :mrgreen: ).

Good luck and welcome to the buildoff! (It's my maiden voyage this time too)

Cheers!
Dr. T

 

[Daddyar]

Re: The Saturday Morning Special-5/21 first mockup

First mockup pic taken last night;

A 24" mountain bike gave up the forks, bars, stem, kickstand, and seat post.
The rear fender is actually a 24" front balloon fender that is going to get bobbed, and the extension cord is my spacer between the fender and the tire. I don't really want to run a banana seat, because I think a sissy bar and rear fender brace will look too busy. However, the shapes flow really well, especially once I chop down the seat tube. I also don't like the gap between the front wheel and the frame, so the forks are going to come apart so I can see if I can shorten them. I also need to remove the brake mount.

I'm also going to run this chainguard. I had to trim the back to fit, and still need to trim it a little more so it matches the contour of the seat stay.

 

[herr_rudolf]

Re: The Saturday Morning Special-5/21 first mockup

I like the beefy backside. The seat looks like a perfect fit also.

 

[Jake Sensi]

Re: The Saturday Morning Special-5/21 first mockup

Oooo That chainguard is killer. I'm watching this one also.

 

[Daddyar]

Ok, finally got some time to work on my bike. First up was chopping the fork to bring the front end down. These cheapy MTB forks come apart by removing the headset, popping off the plastic covers on the top of the legs, and using about 3 extensions, unbolting the lower legs from the top legs. The top triple clamp is held on by the headset, and the bottoms clamp is welded to the fork legs. I cut about 1-1/4" off, which is about half what the gap was originally from the top of the tire to the bottom of the lower triple clamp.

I used a chop saw for a nice clean, straight cut.

Voila! Too late to turn back now!

Looks better, I think. I can't go too far because these are suspension forks, and they will compress a little bit. Kind of hard to see the difference from this angle.

This is a better shot. Big difference from the mockup shot.

I also cleaned up the back of the chainguard to flow with the seat stays. I'll drill a hole and fine tune it once I decide on a sprocket and install a chain.

I also chaged the handlebars from the straight MTB drag style bars to these. I feel they flow better with the lines of the bike. I was going to try a set of bullmoose bars, but the stem diameter was too large to fit in the forks. Plus, my wife thought they looked too angular for the frame, and I have to agree with her.

I still need to find a seat. I'm hoping to find a WCC or maybe even a Stingray chopper seat to modify. If not, I'll probably use a cheapy nanner seat and cut it up. The seat in the pics is for my '65 Sting Ray.

 

[yoothgeye]

I had one of those forks with the welded on bottom "clamp" before I found the one I'm using on my build (with actual removable clamps) I considered finding tube or pipe that would slide snugly over the fork ends (shocks removed) and then welding them up under the bottom clamp. There would be a difference in diameter between the bottom and top, but you could do away with the suspension bits for a little cleaner look and the ability to go lower.

 

[Daddyar]

I had one of those forks with the welded on bottom "clamp" before I found the one I'm using on my build (with actual removable clamps) I considered finding tube or pipe that would slide snugly over the fork ends (shocks removed) and then welding them up under the bottom clamp. There would be a difference in diameter between the bottom and top, but you could do away with the suspension bits for a little cleaner look and the ability to go lower.

I have one of those adjustable forks too, a threadless one. I wanted to use it, but I'd need to buy a threadless stem, headset and probably handlebars. For the cost of the donor MTB ($15), I got forks, a headset, stem, seatpost, and kickstand that are all usable on my buildoff bike. I like your idea about using some pipes to make the lower legs. I think lower would definitely look cooler!

 

[yoothgeye]

I have one of those adjustable forks too, a threadless one. I wanted to use it, but I'd need to buy a threadless stem, headset and probably handlebars. For the cost of the donor MTB ($15), I got forks, a headset, stem, seatpost, and kickstand that are all usable on my buildoff bike. I like your idea about using some pipes to make the lower legs. I think lower would definitely look cooler!

I was just lucky that the 2nd junk mountain bike that was given to me with a triple tree fork had the correct clamps, threaded, and the 1 1/8" cups fit my old frame with 1" fork perfectly.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Really liking this bike, the frame goes well with those forks. I like the banana seat on there too, maybe you could bob the fender just beyond the rear of the seat and use the sissy bar as a fender brace too...

I too scored a pair of these forks (for a future project), haven't done a thing to them yet (Double Nickle was nice enough to remove the brake bridge for me, so I just need to grind the legs smooth). But thanks for the advice/tutorial on how to shorten them, when the time comes.

Good luck with the rest of your build.

Cheers,
Dr. T

 

[Daddyar]

Really liking this bike, the frame goes well with those forks. I like the banana seat on there too, maybe you could bob the fender just beyond the rear of the seat and use the sissy bar as a fender brace too...

I too scored a pair of these forks (for a future project), haven't done a thing to them yet (Double Nickle was nice enough to remove the brake bridge for me, so I just need to grind the legs smooth). But thanks for the advice/tutorial on how to shorten them, when the time comes.

Good luck with the rest of your build.

Cheers,
Dr. T

Thanks. I still need to remove the brake bridge, and also need to put some caps on the fork legs that I cut. If you notice, the cut off pieces have a hole in the bottom that the bolt passes through. I plan on getting some push in metal plugs at Home Depot, and drilling a hole in them for the bolt. I'll post pics when I do that, hopefully this weekend.

 

[slow rider]

starting to look real cool keep it going.