Putting in some work!
StratoFlite (Spaceliner style)
- Thread starter ParkRNDL
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I thought they'd look silly on that bike too, but holy cow, they actually look pretty good! Those just might work! It's just like I said, you never know if it'll look good or not without mocking it up!
They look great 
What I really like about those bars is that they have a similar shape to the original bars, but they're curvier. I think that works even better, since this is a curvy bike.
I think the sweep of the bars really suits the bike.
I didn't think the bars looked good on the orange bike, and was expecting them to look weird on the strat.
BUT,,,,,,this just proves you gotta try any idea that pops in your head. I like them! They may not be sporty or angular, but the big sweeping curves of them flow so well with the big sweeping curves of the frame. And on top of that, they look to be in a position where the bike will be super comfy to ride as well. Love the grips too. Have you taken it out for a ride yet?
BUT,,,,,,this just proves you gotta try any idea that pops in your head. I like them! They may not be sporty or angular, but the big sweeping curves of them flow so well with the big sweeping curves of the frame. And on top of that, they look to be in a position where the bike will be super comfy to ride as well. Love the grips too. Have you taken it out for a ride yet?
yes, and it IS comfy! I'm not a huge fan of bars shaped like the original ones for this bike... it's like you have to hold the bars down low right against your stomach and there's no room to stretch out and breathe. Part of why I like those Schwinn bars better than the ones that came on the bike is that they're more comfortable. They sweep forward before coming up and back, which gives you a little more room. These are kind of like an exaggeration of the Schwinn bars, they gently sweep WAY forward, then WAY up and WAY back.
Shame about the grips... I kind of like the gold grips that are on there, but they're just a ruined set of grips I use to avoid photographing bikes with nothing on the bars. They were slit open when I got them. Anyway, I think I have a line on a white seat in better shape than mine... I will have to ask the guy what he has for white grips while I'm there.
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Found a better seat and some grips today.
Not a huge fan of the seat. It looks the part, but it's even less comfortable than the one that was on there. Actually, the Troxel that was on there wasn't uncomfortable at all, just shredded. This one is a Persons and it's tall and wobbly. It's roughly the same form factor and is white vinyl like the original, so it'll do... for now.
Then the golden hour hit and I couldn't resist.
My daughter is a photographer and I'm sure she'd pick apart my composition, then complain about having to edit out extraneous stuff in the background, but I was having fun.
Not a huge fan of the seat. It looks the part, but it's even less comfortable than the one that was on there. Actually, the Troxel that was on there wasn't uncomfortable at all, just shredded. This one is a Persons and it's tall and wobbly. It's roughly the same form factor and is white vinyl like the original, so it'll do... for now.
Then the golden hour hit and I couldn't resist.
My daughter is a photographer and I'm sure she'd pick apart my composition, then complain about having to edit out extraneous stuff in the background, but I was having fun.
The seat and handlebar grips look good on there! Hopefully you'll find a seat that strikes a solid balance of looks and comfort. I know how unpleasant some of those old seats can be!
Those big handlebars are really good on this bike. This is a cool bike in every respect. Keep up the good work.
So here's my dilemma with the chain guard on this bike:
This bike is Murray's own version of the Spaceliner that they produced for Sears. The problem is, some of the Sears bits are cooler than the ones on Murray's own bikes. This chain guard is AMAZING (pic stolen from the interwebs):
Between the faux-exhaust louvers and the awesome SPACELINER font, I love everything about this guard. It just SCREAMS 1960's.
The Murray version is kind of blah by comparison. This is my guard:
And this is what the graphics are supposed to look like:
YUCK. The guard isn't too bad by itself; I guess it's just okay as traditional guard designs go. But THAT SCRIPT... ewwwww. The font looks like something you'd see in a 1965 furniture polish ad. Definitely does not evoke visions of space-age technology like the Spaceliner script does.
The graphics are faded completely off my chain guard, leaving just a white painted panel. In certain lighting conditions, you could just about make out a shadow of the old script. This was "Strato:"
The "at" is just to the left of the gouge left by the pedal, and the "o" is just to the right.
And this was "Flite:"
The "e" is just right of center.
Well gee, all that white space that looks like a blank canvas, doesn't it?
So the wheels started turning. I cruised 1001 Fonts to find a font with a similar vibe to the Spaceliner font. Then I took some measurements off the guard and broke out the Cricut software. Didn't take long to come up with this:
I made up a stencil and placed it roughly where the old script was, then sponge-painted it in. This is how it came out:
Then I fogged and dabbed some chrome paint on the sprocket cap, and this is where we are now:
I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. Looking at it now, though, I'm thinking I should look for older pedals that fit the look of the bike better. Sadly, the ones that came with the bike are pretty trashed.
(Oh, would you look at that. You could see the old "Strato Flite" script a lot better in that pic. Wonder if the oxalic acid bath bleached it out.)
Besides pedals, I think maybe it's time to start engineering a way to install some LEDs in the headlights.
This bike is Murray's own version of the Spaceliner that they produced for Sears. The problem is, some of the Sears bits are cooler than the ones on Murray's own bikes. This chain guard is AMAZING (pic stolen from the interwebs):
Between the faux-exhaust louvers and the awesome SPACELINER font, I love everything about this guard. It just SCREAMS 1960's.
The Murray version is kind of blah by comparison. This is my guard:
And this is what the graphics are supposed to look like:
YUCK. The guard isn't too bad by itself; I guess it's just okay as traditional guard designs go. But THAT SCRIPT... ewwwww. The font looks like something you'd see in a 1965 furniture polish ad. Definitely does not evoke visions of space-age technology like the Spaceliner script does.
The graphics are faded completely off my chain guard, leaving just a white painted panel. In certain lighting conditions, you could just about make out a shadow of the old script. This was "Strato:"
The "at" is just to the left of the gouge left by the pedal, and the "o" is just to the right.
And this was "Flite:"
The "e" is just right of center.
Well gee, all that white space that looks like a blank canvas, doesn't it?
So the wheels started turning. I cruised 1001 Fonts to find a font with a similar vibe to the Spaceliner font. Then I took some measurements off the guard and broke out the Cricut software. Didn't take long to come up with this:
I made up a stencil and placed it roughly where the old script was, then sponge-painted it in. This is how it came out:
Then I fogged and dabbed some chrome paint on the sprocket cap, and this is where we are now:
I'm pretty pleased with how it came out. Looking at it now, though, I'm thinking I should look for older pedals that fit the look of the bike better. Sadly, the ones that came with the bike are pretty trashed.
(Oh, would you look at that. You could see the old "Strato Flite" script a lot better in that pic. Wonder if the oxalic acid bath bleached it out.)
Besides pedals, I think maybe it's time to start engineering a way to install some LEDs in the headlights.
fantastic meticulous work.
The white seat may not be comfy, but it looks the part for this build with those white grips!
Great photos too.
I agree that the bullnose vented Spaceliner guards is super cool. This is RRB, you can put any guard on there that you want. Maybe even change the lettering to read STRATO FLITE on one of those.
However, you did an excellent job with the new lettering on the Strato Flite guard. The jet sprocket cover looks awesome too. Killer work, this one is a beauty!
Great photos too.
I agree that the bullnose vented Spaceliner guards is super cool. This is RRB, you can put any guard on there that you want. Maybe even change the lettering to read STRATO FLITE on one of those.
However, you did an excellent job with the new lettering on the Strato Flite guard. The jet sprocket cover looks awesome too. Killer work, this one is a beauty!
This has occurred to me, and I already decided that if I ever come across one of those guards (especially if I can get one cheaper because the original graphics are gone) I would do just that. It'd be easy to shrink the script down to fit the painted section on the front of that guard.
And thanks! I've been using the stencil and sponge technique for a while now, and it's produced some really interesting results.
Dang, that new Strato Flite script came out PERFECT! And sponge painting it to give it a more authentic patina... that's just too cool! You even left it unpainted where the crank rubbed against the chain guard! How'd you make the stencil for that? The "A" and "O" are throwing me off because I don't see any lines where the mask for the holes would be. I'd love to try that on a bike someday!
Thanks! My wife has one of these gizmos:
https://www.babysavers.com/cricut-explore-air-2-review/
I have used it to make some fancy stickers and stencils. Here are some examples.
Coppertone Fastback guard: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/threads/coppertone-fastback-a-penny-saved.109699/post-1123465
Faux Manta Ray II guard: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/threads/manta-racer-mbbo-class-2.107733/post-1095661
Scrambler banana seat: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/threads/77-78-scrambler-tribute.108196/post-1120808
Scrambler frame graphics: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/threads/scrambler-beater.107933/post-1096354
Murray retro scallops and graphics: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/threads/murray-jetcruiser.108734/post-1110929
JC Higgins guard: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/threads/1951-j-c-higgins.110426/post-1128072
Duuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuude!!! That is AWESOME! Both the tools you use, and especially the previous work you've done with it! I've got to get me one of those and start playing with it! Thanks!
few more full-bike shots with the guard and sprocket cap done
Agreed, the results look very nice!
I'm not wel versed into the world of stickering and paper sheet cutting, (so you can paint letters for example?), but this machine makes me very curious!
Love the bike, great work! The bike looks light compared to some same era bikes, maybe due to the relatively small diameter tubing.
