1960's Öglaend Strada

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....... I would kinda want to purchase the Whizzer spring regardless of how the original works, but there's the usual dilemma of shipping and customs cost from US. It would cost me over 50€ in total which is quite steep for one part. I'm quite certain I could find something similar closer by and much much cheaper. (Classic-cycle in Germany are selling the same spring I already have for a tenner.) I wouldn't want to pay my ... off for one simple part like a spring. Perhaps I should look into finding something from a moped or vintage motorcycle. the old school mopeds are quite popular hobby around Finland, with little luck I may find a suitable spring. All it takes is similar size and just being sturdy enough.

The one that came with the fork seems quite stiff already, its pain in the ... to install with the adapter I made and there's also a 1mm thick washer in between. Required some effort to compress it enough to make the locknut grab it.

EDIT:
I asked a friend of mine if he has some moped springs lying about, he has renovated several old Suzuki PV's and used to have other ones too and he with some luck he might have some. Perhaps something suitable even. :)
 
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Ok... Last things I'm going to spend money on. I ordered a really nice bell, more powerful front light and a double legged kickstand. I had some trouble installing the original integrated kickstand as I don't have a decent tool for putting it back. Works fine on removing though. Anyway, there's just enough space behind the integrated stand tube and back fender attachment for it.

The shifter has been shipped, likely it wont take long from Germany, seems like that person uses some sort of priority mail so it should take less than a week. The cost of this project has got so high I'm on the very limit of pushing any more coin into it. The reason is to keep it a bit more simple, more new parts than usual. A lot of it is from Classic-cycle and they know their worth.

If I wanted to, I could think of more things to get, but I got to put some limits to this. Its ironic, spend 700-900€ to build a bike with a frame and hubs which cost me nearly nothing.
 
Skateboard truck rebuild kits use urethane bushings you could stack inside the spring to stiffen it up- it might take a few kits, or some skatepunk could have some leftovers. Here's a new set:
https://www.amazon.com/Skateboard-R...ocphy=9061273&hvtargid=pla-570821776309&psc=1

Thanks for the tip, bookmarked for later. :)

I haven't been posting for I haven't been doing. Just finished my job which is godsend as now I got all the time I need for anything I want for some time. I'm waiting for the last bike parts to be delivered. Painting and drilling the back fender are the next in line once I get the masking tapes.

I think I will still do a bit of tinkering with the fork and replace the spring bolt. I don't trust the original to be all that good and I got a decent bolts for that, bit longer so the thread might need to be cut down a bit.

Also found one guy who's selling really awesome chain guard. Its not the one in the picture, but same model and in about the same shape, intact and usable, but rusted. I might switch to this one as its just sooo cool and would leave the chain + chainwheel somewhat visible. Its from age old Pyrkijä bike, one of the best bikes we've had in Finland btw, I used to have one of these until the frame broke due to corrosion and tough riding, still my favorite bike of all time.

I can already think of a really neat looking paintjob on it. Anyway, I asked the guy for a price which he didn't tell me yet and he said it will take a while to get it as its in his parents place. I told him I can sure wait.
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Whadda ya know, I got unexpected help. My gf helped me to put really cool leopard print fabric on the saddle. Turned out awesome, I'll take pictures tomorrow. :D This is really something, fits very nicely with the backrest, even though the color is slightly different.
 
Ohkay, the saddle is ready. Look at this beauty, turned out way better than I imagined it would. I got unexpected help from my girlfriend, she helped sew it in place so its quite decent fit. I wouldn't have done such great job. I'm very pleased with the looks.

But then something good and something bad, I did a little experiment with the front fender and the paint I'm using is not sticking to it which means I need to grind away all the original paint and do the base for it... Means more work, more time taken, but it'll turn out way well. I got the masking tapes I ordered and they seem like quality stuff. Update on paint job coming up later this week when I have the time to delve into it.
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I got the gear shifter today. This old model is way better built than the newer one. I didn't know it has such an intricate setup with the springs, apparently the lever always returns to a neutral position and the 'snap' when shifting is far more apparent. The only problem I can think of is one of the springs breaking, but I think that's unlikely to happen. The one I got is is nearly pristine condition. It has nice patina on it, but no rust at all and it has clearly been lubed with something good. Works like a charm. The side being open is a nice touch, seems very easy to install the cable on it.

Again the German engineering on these old school parts is just amazing. I will definitely treat this gem gently and keep it lubed and clean so it will last.
 
Did some more work today. I did some testing with the masking tape on the chain guard, the tape is awesome and works quite well. There was some mistakes there but all that was me messing things up and not applying the tape well enough. Also some paint peeled off while taking off the tapes. Apparently the paint I'm using doesn't stick well on rough clean aluminum, likely it should have been drying even longer. It dries forever. So likely I might need to sand the darn thing clean, add primer and do the paint job even slower. The masking tape is amazingly bendy, its easy to make neat curves and when its applied well, it wont allow a hint of paint seep below it. I'll take some pictures tomorrow.

I did the drilling on the back fender, front fender is sanded rough, being smarter now, I'll paint them with primer first and go slow and steady with it all. Some white and brown stripes coming up for those babies. :)

Rims are drying, I think I'll let them sit for day or two more before I finish painting them. Next time I'll surely pick some other paint for this stuff. Something that doesn't take ages to dry. Its been a learning experience like always. Also pain in the ... and a lot of work and going back and forth. But I guess this is why its good to try out new things, each time things get smoother and easier. But the painting is a bit problematic. For sure its much more sturdy paint than rattle cans, but I have no clue how many times I must go and fix things to make it right. I have put so much effort in this bike I want it to be just right.

Another pain in the ... is the kickstand. I might go on to try to get the original back there, I tried already once and couldn't do it. I should have the tool for that in one piece or get extra pair of hands there to help me out with it. I'll explain some time what's the issue there. I bought a dran good kickstand, but that wont fit unless I cut the tube for the original out of there and I'm not sure if I want to do that. That kickstand wont be wasted though as I have a Swedish 1930's bike frame waiting renovation and that doesn't have the kickstand tube.

Alright, more later. :)
 
I had a productive weekend. I made some stripes on the rims, worked out like a charm. The other has some little mess but I will fix that with the ink pen which just happens to be exactly same white as the paint. (And also sticks on it very nicely.) The front wheel is ready, I think I will still do some more truing, its good enough to ride, but I want it perfect. With my amazing "truing stand" it will take a while. :D Anyway, its good to go by now, back wheel still needs to be finished.

But I finally got to the point of being able to test the wheels and set up the saddle and see how it feels and I got to say, I found a new low interest in banana saddles! The backrest and the angle is just amazing, so laid back and comfy I can't believe it. The back tire just needs decent pressure, I think when I'm done, I'll just go to the nearest gas station and fill it up to 4 bar. The dunlop valve adapter pieces are fantastic little detail, as are the valve caps with little chain hooked on the spoke so I wont ever loose them.

I decided to do just one thin stripe on the rims, saves time and I think it looks bad ... with the black tire which just happens to have the reflector stripe there. I think its a good combination. :) The fenders will have way more fancy detailing for sure. The bike frame I decided to keep black only, this one will have all the details in the parts while the frame will be plain and clean.

The fauxtank/name tag came out pretty cool, still have to make the other side. Yea, the bike now has a name.

I think I'll get this baby on the road in day or two. Wont go far until I'm done with everything, heck I don't even have a lock for it yet.

EDIT:
I was surprised about the feel of the fork, all I did ofc was just to sit down and push it around, no idea how much of suspension it gives, likely not much but hey, rule of cool. The feel is sort of smooth, but definitely not as responsive as a rigid fork. It wont matter, this one is built for cruising, not racing or going off road much. some sand/gravel paths for sure as those are part and parcel around my neighborhood. I'm totally in love with the saddle and posture, the handlebar could be few inches further back to be even better. (Straight stem might do the trick.) Its a funny feeling to sit so much further back than usual, I may drop the saddle post a tiny bit lower. The good side is that its definitely easy to drop lower, stand up and get some real power in there. Very nice so far. I hope tomorrow I will get to test it on the road a bit. If I get the back wheel built, then I most likely will. I want to adjust everything before some real deal riding. ;)
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Painfully slow as always. I didn't get everything done I wanted to... But something, both wheels trued, I got the chain cut to right length and attached and that's pretty much where I'm at. I was supposed to put it together to the point that I could do a little ride but no way with my messy way of working.

And then I got a problem, the original kickstand didn't want to go in place, I just couldn't do it alone as the spring is just insanely tight so its not there, the one I bought which is amazingly good doesn't fit because the tube for the original is on the way, it would need about 0,7" more space so either I cut the original tube, install the original somehow or buy yet another one which fits in there. (The problem is the attachment, the kickstand must have small enough footprint or it wont fit there no matter what. Unless its some unconventional one. Anyway, this must be fixed, there's no way I will have a bike with fat tires and no kickstand.

So yea, Tomorrow I'm hoping to get it on the road, there's still plenty of tinkering left before that and its likely that I must have the saddle + sissybar in place first. I wish I wasn't so absent minded and a total mess when working with this stuff, would get things done faster.

Btw, what do you think of my really professional 'truing stand'? :grin:
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Ratillac has hit the road. Finally.

I did quite a lot of work today. Still stuff to fix around and few parts are still missing, but its on the road now. Fenders will take few more days as I'm letting the paint dry for a good while. For some reason the back rim still needs more truing, something made a slight bump in there and I'm not sure how that happened, I was sure I had it done well yesterday. I guess its just the old as heck rim and new tire and all settling in place... Anyway, there's some minor truing to be done.

The feel of this bike is so weird, its definitely not rigid. The sissy and the springer fork both have some 'life' in them which took a while to get used to. But this bike is probably the most fun thing to ride I've ever had under me. And its FAST, its so insanely fast I don't dare to try full speed. There isn't a long enough straight road close to my place. I rode back home, about two miles and I didn't use the third speed at all. The gear ratio is just too much to be practical. On third speed its like a racer and this bike is not built for that. So 16T gear has to go, I think 18T would likely be the best option. Now the first speed is like ordinary one gear grannybike, second is already fast, good for most areas without steep hills and third speed is total insanity. I don't there is a place here to go full speed with it, no long enough straight road and no hill I would dare to go down full blast. :43:

The springer works, I was amazed on how well it responds with bumps. Smaller ones completely disappear and larger ones make the fork kneel nicely. The spring is definitely sturdy enough. The fork has the weird sooth and lively feel, definitely not even close as responsive as rigid fork, but what a pleasure to ride.

Tires are nothing short of amazing, the 2,35" was definitely a good choice, they could use higher pressure though, specially on the back. I think I'll visit a gas station and use the compressor and see how much is good. They're rated for 2-4bar and I'm sure they're not even close to the limit yet.

Shifter is great, no looking back, the old model just rules. Interesting little detail, the old model requires the cable to be exactly right tightness or the hub will start bouncing to second speed all the time. This is different from the newer one which seems to be more forgiving. Overly tight and there's no way to use the first speed at all, too loose and the hub will start going nuts and bounce between first and second. After little testing I found the sweet spot for it, thank god there's the quick lock for the cable so its easy to adjust if needed. (Thanks German engineers, well thought.)

Oh yea and I got a mascot too, found a cool plushy toy tiger on the front. Oh and that fur thing on the backrest, that's what my grandmother used to wear on her neck back in the day. I wonder what she would think to see it like that. I miss her.

Yea, tomorrow, its fenders, chain guard, toolbox and all the little tweaks I've forgot about. Oh and its likely that I need to buy one more kickstand which fits, I can't be arsed to tear down half of the bike to get the original in place. I must say this is the most fun bike I've ever built so far. And definitely turns heads out there. ;) I love it. Its pretty much everything I wanted it to be and turned out pretty good after all the trouble.
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Taping and painting fenders today. I can see one little thing I missed but I have to fix it afterwards. I hope they turn out good. Looked quite neat with colors inverted and adjusted. I decided to let them sit for a day before I remove the tape, it worked well on the rims so should work now too as there's no huge layer of paint.

Then I'll add some details in brown and perhaps I got some little surprises in waiting. :)
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I got to say, this bike is a beast. I haven't even tried yet how fast it can go, but it is VERY fast for such bike. I just did some calculations. 28"/653mm rims, 2,35" tires, front 48T, back 16T gives a gear ratio of 3.00. Gear inches 89.10.

I first thought I'd switch to 18T cog, but now after few days of riding it, I'm starting to get used to it. Kinda like the idea that the third speed can really make it fly. Yesterday I had the most fun moment so far. I was on the riverside gravel road coming back home and saw this older spandex sporty dude coming up quite fast with his race tuned fatbike, I instantly threw the second speed in and picked up the pace. He barely made it past me and I let him go....

About a mile away he ended up in the same crossroads waiting for a car to pass and I ended just behind him. Then I did it, second speed in and as much power on the pedals I could pull and I went flying past him. His face was priceless. I bet he didn't expect some neat looking cruiser granny bike go racing him. I had such a laugh on that, it was funny. The guy was clearly in very good shape for his age and his bike looked new and likely well maintained. Here its quite easy to know who's a real bike enthusiast as they all look the same. :D

Yea, I think I'll keep the crazy gear ratio just for kicks. Its a good exercise too, the bike is so far stronger than me, its been a while since I did some extensive riding. One thing though, I didn't build it for taking a real beating so I'll be gentle with it, nice flat roads and downhill, then its full blast ride fast fun for sure.

Today I removed the tapes from the rims, they came off nicely. The stripes ended up quite ok, but there was some leakage in few spots which need fixing. I have to be more careful with the masking tape. Nothing wrong with the tape, its fantastic, just bit of a sloppy job on my part. The minor fixes I will likely do all with the ink pens as that dries fast and the cream white is spot on perfect, doesn't have the same gloss but in tiny little spots it wont matter anyway. For some reason the brown paint on the chain guard has now peeled off for the second time, I don't know why but black and white both stick up to the rough clean aluminum pretty well, while the brown does not. my mistake as I didn't do priming on the chain guard. I should have had, definitely. so minor fixes coming up and then more detailing in brown on the fenders. I'm getting very close of being at the finish line with the parts. The remaining paintjob is the biggest thing to deal with now. Also getting a suitable kickstand asap.

And then there's another cool little custom part I need to make, a holder for the toolbox which goes below the saddle. I will take pictures to show you the details on what and how I'm going to do with it. When I'm done with everything, I think I'll make a picture show video o the entire process and post it here. Its been such a fun project I think its worth making that. :) Oh yea, and I'll do maintenance on my previous build, that is a thing for its own thread I guess.
 
Doesn't look like much yet with the tapes still there and there's some details and fixes still missing... But I guess this gives an idea what I'm messing here with. Next step, fix all the tiny mistakes and the last detailing and then I'm done. :grin:

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Moi! Hauska nähdä täällä muitakin suomalaisia!
Pitääkin tsekkailla sun postauksia. Missäpäin majailet?

Edit! Ratillac! Taidankin tietää kuka oot...
 
Moi! Hauska nähdä täällä muitakin suomalaisia!
Pitääkin tsekkailla sun postauksia. Missäpäin majailet?

Oho, katos vaan, tää tuli puskista. :D Mie luulin olevani ainoa. Mie asustelen Imatralla.

Well now, this came as a surprise. :D I thought I'm the only Finn here. I live in Imatra.
 
Soo... What should I do with the kickstand? The one I already bought is so awesome and would fit this bike like nothing else. But to make it fit, I must make space and remove the tube of the original kickstand completely. Likely it wont screw up the sturdiness of the frame much, old bikes without it hold pretty nicely and that part isn't there to keep the frame together.

Getting the original back in without better tools is likely a lot of work. So is removing the tube by hand. Yep, all I have for that is a hacksaw. Not even an angle grinder.

Anyway, I need to take quite a lot of things apart before final assembly so I might as well just take almost everything off, including the crank and boldly remove the original tube. otherwise I need to get yet another kickstand with smaller 'footprint' to make it work. Or something that attaches somewhere else. Darn I can't decide.

Ratillac sounded familiar...
Maybe some other forum...

Ootko sie Vanhat Velot ryhmässä facessa? Oon sinne postaillu kanssa, muilla pyöräfoorumeilla mie en olekkaan. En oo muita kiinnostavia löytäny. :)
 
Soo... What should I do with the kickstand? The one I already bought is so awesome and would fit this bike like nothing else. But to make it fit, I must make space and remove the tube of the original kickstand completely. Likely it wont screw up the sturdiness of the frame much, old bikes without it hold pretty nicely and that part isn't there to keep the frame together.

Getting the original back in without better tools is likely a lot of work. So is removing the tube by hand. Yep, all I have for that is a hacksaw. Not even an angle grinder.

Anyway, I need to take quite a lot of things apart before final assembly so I might as well just take almost everything off, including the crank and boldly remove the original tube. otherwise I need to get yet another kickstand with smaller 'footprint' to make it work. Or something that attaches somewhere else. Darn I can't decide.



Ootko sie Vanhat Velot ryhmässä facessa? Oon sinne postaillu kanssa, muilla pyöräfoorumeilla mie en olekkaan. En oo muita kiinnostavia löytäny. :)
No siellä.
Sä oot Lari. Kiva tavata täällä kansainvälisesti...
 
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