Frankenbike!

[Bigcam59]

In a hidden lab deep in South Jersey...
I saw this picture and it got the wheels turning...

dug these two frames out of the graveyard and started up the angle cutter...

they lined up almost perfectly, and the folks at Marlton Meineke did a crackerjack job of welding the 2 bikes together. Thanks Guys!
A quick mock-up pointed out 2 problems. One, the rear frame was a24" not a 26'

and 2, the frame cuts into the chainline and blocks the chain...

Oh well, back to the lab!

 

[Bigcam59]

Success! I carved up a 3rd frame, a Huffy cadaver thats given frame tubes to 2 other projects and after a little cutting, shaping and another trip to Meineke we have a usable frame

Due to the amount of surface discrepancies (aka mistakes) I painted it flat black with the silver web paint accent.

I love web paint! It hides everything!

 

[jackdaw]

Right on man! As soon as that white one was posted on here I was wondering how long til one was built. Looks good. What is web paint??

 

[Bigcam59]

Right on man! As soon as that white one was posted on here I was wondering how long til one was built. Looks good. What is web paint??

Craft stores usually carry it in black, gold or sliver. It sprays out of the can in a kind of spiderweb fashion. It really does a great job of hiding stuff.

 

[Dingus Khan]

Close up of the paint?

 

[Bigcam59]

Close up of the paint?

This is my build off bike from last year. I used the same paint on it. You can get a pretty good idea how the paint looks from the head tube

 

[Bigcam59]

I had the day off so I could spend a little time in the lab. Bent the forks and bolted it together and everything lines up. Yay!

Found a 24" tire and tube for the rear wheel in the scrap pile. The tube was shot so I went out and bought a new one, only to find that the tire had a cut in it, plus the front tire is starting to split as well. Looks like I'm gonna need tires...and a shifter and brakes. Oh well, if it was easy it wouldn't be any fun.

 

[KOTA]

This has become one of my all time favorite frame mods. The paint is absolutely PERFECT for this bike.

 

[josh_from_ga]

:shock: can't... stop...staring...
seriously cool bike. could easily be a basis for a full suspension cargo bike.

 

[Bigcam59]

Went back into the lab after work today and made a bit more progress.Having a garage full of stuff comes in handy when inspiration strikes. An old thumbshifter with a little modification , and an old tiny liquor bottle found on the workbench combined to make Frankenbike's shifter...

I cut an old pair of handlebars down and added them to make the riding position a bit more lower back friendly...

I then remembered I had this cool tire bell that had yet to be used on something.

another shifter, another little bottle and it's good.

the right bottle shifts and the left bottle activates the bell.

 

[Bigcam59]

I was trying to decide whether to use the bottles or make new skull shifter and the skulls won! Thanks to John the golf pro at work I was able to use cut pieces of a pair of discarded club shafts for the shifters, and a pair of plastic skulls filled with silicone as the knobs.

I also dug through the lab and found a longer stem, so the ride position is set. This old flashlight and a handlebar flashlight mount were converted into the headlight.

Also added a set of shorty fenders, painted silver with black web to contrast the black with silver web frame.

Trust me, that rear fender gets a bunch closer to the back wheel when I sit on the bike...

 

[kingpin]

very freakin cool man.

 

[Endlesschain]

this is pretty cool looking,digging the paint

 

[charliechaindrive]

Way cool, but that canti frame is begging for a motor!

 

[Bigcam59]

Well, I took Frankenbike out for a shakedown cruise and everything works. I stopped for a few pics at,appropriately enough, a local graveyard...

The license plate reads "FRNKNBKE"

The basic bike is finished. I'll just add a few details here and there before taking "the money shots". See you in Collingswood on Thursday!

 

[the_undecider]

That turned out way cool! I must admit, I was skeptical when I first saw this build start. Never saw a bell like that before. So a cable pulls the wheel of the bell into the tre when you want to ring it?

 

[Bigcam59]

That turned out way cool! I must admit, I was skeptical when I first saw this build start. Never saw a bell like that before. So a cable pulls the wheel of the bell into the tre when you want to ring it?

Yup! Found it at, of all places, Walmart online...

 

[Bigcam59]

She's not done yet! Ever since the Our club's Halloween bbq ride, The HATM, I've been toying with the idea of converting the bike to a bigger 26" wheel.
Well today a donor popped up on Craig's list. A short drive and 20 bucks later it was mine...

20 minutes later I had it filleted down to the part I needed...

!/2 hour after that she was sanded, primed and painted to match...

The new 26" swingarm fit like butter...

the front wheel is a bit tight, but with a slightly smaller tire it'll work as well...

and here she is in the 26" version...

Now since I was in the lab anyway, I thought "How would it look with apehangers?" Of course there was only one way to find out...

Oh Yeah!

 

[X-RAY]

very cool, i like it! i also wasnt sure at first, but the paint made the bike. reminds me of car trunks from the 70s. btw, for the first time i read your full username, i always thought it was bigcam400.

 

[MplsCoaster]

That's some major craziness! Nice Job