346 Basman "Silver Bullet"

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Hadn't much time to work on a project today, but had picked up the laced rear wheel from LBS!
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Looks nice with all the shine and reflections!
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Two rim tape strips should be enough :)
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Looks awesome with the tire on, and it is not too heave either. According to RRB forum recommendations i have put 26x3.0 tube inside.
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Couldn't hold from another quick mockup! The rear wheel looks good, fills the frame well, solid and wide, but still being kind of neat.
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In future i might have some clearance issues when i put the fenders here.
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So far so good. Left side is polished already, now i need to finish the right side and make one more final fine polishing, then i am ready to put the bike together.
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Some parts for the bike have arrived to me. The surprise came when i have checked the kickstand.
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It did not fit! Honestly, i did not measure the distance beforehand. I know there are two side-mount kickstand standards out there - 18mm and 40mm by the distance in between the holes. This definitely did not seem like 18mm (they are very close to each other) so i just bought 40mm kickstand.
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I have double-checked the pictures to make sure this is a kickstand mount. I found no pictures of newer alu basman online, guess mine is one of the first ones, but electric version, the Ruffian, has same mounts and yes, indeed it is made for kickstand. Screenshot from some youtube video from Eurobike with 2019 Ruffian model on it.
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Anyway, the mount measures 30mm and the kickstand does not look like anything i have seen so far. The specifications on their website say it is some motorcycle kickstand, probably because the electric bike is so heavy. There is nothing i could find online to buy that fits that mount and means i'd have to modify the stand i have built. Pity that Ruff have failed to inform me about it beforehand, did not write this one the bike description on the website and did not offer any compatible stands options. Pity that they are not using any of existing standards too. I might write them a mail about it, but that thing is like completely unclear.
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The good news are that i have ordered a preassembled 28 inch front wheel at LBS (funny, it is just cheaper then getting a new one in components) and picked up some parts. Among the others it is a new version of BOA-G, they are all black. I thought you guys may be curious to look at them.
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No service so far can polish my bike up, so i guess i am sticking with the second option of leaving it roughly polished.


I for one am interested in this new BOA-G tire. May I ask where you got it ? As far as I can tell it is not available in the United States yet. Cheers
 
I for one am interested in this new BOA-G tire. May I ask where you got it ? As far as I can tell it is not available in the United States yet. Cheers
I live in Europe, so i got mine here, in a polish online shop. That is the only place where i have seen all-black version so far. They also have a no-lettering creme ones.
 
I live in Europe, so i got mine here, in a polish online shop. That is the only place where i have seen all-black version so far. They also have a no-lettering creme ones.

Thank you. You guys over in Europe have access to some cool parts that we don’t have here. Your build is shaping up nicely.
 
Thank you. You guys over in Europe have access to some cool parts that we don’t have here. Your build is shaping up nicely.
This fact is rather exceptional i would say! :D Because we have no vintage cruisers/parts available here at all, all those CWC frames, blade/springer forks and stuff, lowrider and oldschool BMX parts are mostly to be ordered from states and to be paid tons of money for shipment over the ocean :)
Considering the fact that boa-g is made for 3g bikes, and 3g is American company, you may try contacting them, maybe they have a spare all-black set for you somewhere ;)
 
So, yesterday night i have finished polishing the frame. No more patience i have! Here is the result, at some places it is quite well done i would say. Some spots like the inner side of the seat stays i have left unpolished just because i liked it that way :)
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Here is aluminium Neco headset on industrial bearings i am using for my build.
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Masked the lettering with the tire marker. Still wondering how is it going to look when it gets some wear.
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You could still read the name actually. The marker is more shiny then the rubber surface. Maybe it will be better after some kilometers done? Or after some silicone spray treatment? We'll see.
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Front end thrown together.
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Polishing a fender does not go so easy because it is difficult to hold it firm. Probably i am going to try to tape it to the wheel and polish? But the surface is nice and smooth, i think i can get somewhere with that.
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The BB cassette is installed. Here is how the bike looks nice. Sorry for a mess in the garage, i am going to clean it up soon! :D So much contamination from the polishing, the felt and fiber from the pads is everywhere!
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OG 346 Indian Moon bars, my favorite!
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The fender would actually sit a bit deeper, i don't want to make extra holes.
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Looking nice so far! At the moment i have got most of the parts to assemble it completely. Need to figure the cranks out and still waiting for the correct locking washers for the hub to arrive. Then i would need to figure the front brake issue.
 
Yesterday i have started by assembling this baby bee light from pieces of few different ones. The one i used chromed body from was once presented to me at the chopperdome.
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I found out that the pedals i have bought for this build are 1/2' instead of 9/16! But it is not a problem, i have taken the other ones i had. Those pedals i brought with me as a souvenir from last years trip to China. Bought in a bike shop in Hong-Kong.
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The cranks are temporary, just to check how the bike sits.
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Then i have cut the seat tube. Hope i did well with the length, but huh, this is not the easiest bike to adjust the height for. The frame does not allow a very deep post installation, so i am feeling a bit unsafe with it, trying to put the tube as deep as possible.
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That's the light installed on the disk brake mount.
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And here you can see my temporary kickstand.
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Simple and elegant seat post clamp. I might change it if i decide to put the rear rack on the bike, otherwise i stick to that one.
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The saddle takes place. Taken from 2007 Kustom Kruiser Glide. I love those looks, but probably going to change for Electra XL, since their pans fit me better.
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Here is how the bike looks while standing.
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All of it makes me think of changing the wheel to 26 inch, the look of that setup is a bit disproportional for my taste and the idea i had about this build. Appears that i do have longer legs then Bas, so i also would try to find longer cranks so i can put the seat post even deeper in, and change for a flatter sitting saddle. But hey, i like how it comes out!
 
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Started the day before yesterday with finishing the fender. After i have polished it i dropped the fender and it left few awful scratches. I sanded and polished it again, but it was not as good as before. Then it got couple more little dents and scratches while assembly and seat post experimentation. The aluminium is so soft, ugh. I might polish another one like that when i do finish the build, since i have few more sets of those fenders in my garage. Or better i just learn to accept it, since i am going to ride the bike a lot, and it would inevitably collect more scars. Here is my fender-selfie.
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Mounting the fender on the frame i have realized, that clearance would be an issue here. It clears, but barely. We'll see how it behaves in future, for now it is kind of fine.
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The normal fender stays did not clear the tire, all of them were either too short or too narrow, or both. I have used the stays made for the axle mounting in the end, since they are significantly longer then the frame mounting ones. Some bending and it worked, used washers to attach them to the frame.
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Second crank and the chain now also are installed. For the first time i am using a narrow 3/32 chain on my bike. Light and very well done chain by a Polish manufacturer "Dartmoor".
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Did not want to cut the steering tube of the fork yet, so i threw a whole bunch of spacers on just to try it :)
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And here the time comes for the first test ride! Woo-hoo! This was on the only snowy day in Poznan so far, so i was testing it on the snow in front of my garage.
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Here is what the test have shown: the front wheel is for sure too big, even without a fender i could touch it with my toes while turning. The seat post is not sitting deep enough, i do not want to destroy the frame for sure, so i had to figure it out somehow. But the bike rides!

So, first i have decided to address the post issue. There are three difficulties that i had to solve. First thing is that there were little blobs of metal on the inside surface of the frame tube from welding the seat stays and top tube to seat tube. Second is that there is a threaded rivet inside of it that holds the fender. And the third is that the tube is only straight for the first few centimeters, actually it is already bent after the top tube.
I have asked Karim from Custom Cruisers Zwolle for advise, since he is the other owner of alu Basman frame, and he came up with this idea:
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I have bought another seat tube at LBS (In my town it was a bit difficult to do on a Saturday before Christmas vacation starts) in case if i mess mine up. Also i had an assumption, that after i deepen the seat post i have, it would be too low for me to sit on the bike comfortably. From that point i did not manage to take pictures, so i will upload them next time when i am at the garage.
Anyway, i did cut the post up, a little messy because i have measured it by my eye. I made a 7mm cutout on the back of it, so it can go around the rivet, and i also cut the front of it in a curved line to repeat the frame curve. The blobs inside of the frame were removed with a small drill and a sanding pad. And it worked! With my first attempt and without a proper measurement :D Surprisingly for me, even after getting about 8cm deeper my sitting position is still fine! So i am happy i do not have to use my backup post in the end, they only had black ones left :) The only flaw is that trough the cutout on the front of the frame seat tube you now can see the imperfections and cuts on the seat post, but i guess i can fix it by just drilling the hole there and masking it with some cap.
And then i have started migration process to the second fork i had and 26 wheel with thick slick. I believe this part would still need more experimentation. But the good thing is that the bike gets more and more complete every day! If i keep the tempo like that, it would be finished soon! Yay! :D
 
So, first i have decided to address the post issue. There are three difficulties that i had to solve. First thing is that there were little blobs of metal on the inside surface of the frame tube from welding the seat stays and top tube to seat tube. Second is that there is a threaded rivet inside of it that holds the fender. And the third is that the tube is only straight for the first few centimeters, actually it is already bent after the top tube.
I have asked Karim from Custom Cruisers Zwolle for advise, since he is the other owner of alu Basman frame, and he came up with this idea:
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Karim's a great guy. I met and hung out with him at Bike-a-Licious earlier this year.
 
Really like the looks/components you’ve chosen for this build.

Question, instead of changing the front wheel size, why not look into a shorter crankset?
I would think something 10-15cm shorter will let your toes clear the tire during turns.


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