1982 Diamond Back California Klunker

[neo_pop_71]

Finally done!!! This has been by far the slowest build ever in my 25+ years of turning out bikes!

This is a 5th anniversary special edition 1982 Diamond Back California Klunker; I found it wasted, rusted, and in need of rescuing.

Once I tore it down and tossed out everything except the frame, fork, original handlebars, original Dia-Compe levers, and original grips it was ready for sandblasting and powder coating. The powder coat color is Wet Black, I really wanted it to shine like it did back on ’82. Originally I was sticking to a purist build with only period correct parts but I started to realize that I was very limited on part options from a performance standpoint. That bothered me because I fully intend to use this bike and I want it to perform well on the trail. So, I had to get creative and blend new with old… I definitely did not want it to look like any of the garbage from China that I see everywhere today!

1982
Diamond Back 5th Anniversary Special Edition California Klunker
FRAME – Tange CrMo
FORK – Tange CrMo
HEADSET – NOS Tioga Bear Trap
REAR DERAILLEUR – NOS Shimano 7 speed drop out mount
HUBS - Shimano Deore DX
RIMS – Ritchey Vantage Comp
TIRES – 2.1 Kenda Nevagel (unhappy, going to change)
BRAKES – Suntour Roller Cam with Tektro center plate mount
BRAKE LEVERS – Original stock – Dia-Compe MotoX
CRANK – GT one-piece 180mm with new Tangent chainring
PEDALS – Primo magnesium platforms
SHIFTERS - Shimano Deore XT thumb shifter
HANDLEBAR – Original stock
FREEWHEEL - AJ-AM 7 cassette (11-30)
STEM – NOS GT BMX 4 bolt
SEAT POST – Diamond Back Tange CrMo (Tioga made, Japan) with Odyssey Pozi-Stop
SEAT - SDG USA “Big Boy”
GRIPS – Original stock - A’ME BMX

 

[neo_pop_71]

This is what it looked like after I got it home and got started... it was a long way from these images to the final build!

 

[scrumblero]

thats sweet! never seen one before..

 

[neo_pop_71]

Thanks man, I appreciate the kind word!

Coming up in SoCal in the 70's, it was BMX central with races and tracks all around... it was the best! My good friend's older brother won the bike along with the first place trophy after he won a 3 day bracketed event in Long Beach. It took a long time to track down the bike and as you can see from my follow up post, the DB had seen better days! It's sort of been a labor of love bringing it back over the last two years... I dig it!!!

 

[sleepy]

That turned out very sharp....nice work! 8)

 

[neo_pop_71]

Thanks sleepy!

I'm pretty happy with how the build came together, there was a bit of a struggle to not deck it out with early D.B. parts, but from a functioning standpoint (and a financial too) it simply didn't make for a good rider that would be trail worthy. I wish there was more info out there on these bikes but this model seems to have fallen through the cracks. Oh well, I still dig it in a big way!!!

 

[wheelbender6]

Does the front brake adaptor work well? Looks like it would work best with center pull brakes like you have.

 

[neo_pop_71]

Thanks for the question...

Yes, the Wilderness Trail Bikes (WTB) roller cam brakes that Charlie Kelly, an aeronautical engineer from Berkeley, CA and founding partner at WTB, designed work amazingly well. The original WTB brakes sell for a small fortune now but Suntour did license the brakes and later Odyssey came out with their Pitbull brake that is basically the same thing. I also have had great luck with the Shimano XT u-brake, it too uses the nontraditional cantilever spaced brake mounts. The Tektro brake boss mounting plate attaches through the same hole (front-fork and rear-seat stay brace) for a standard side pull BMX brakes. I wanted to get away from those lousy brakes and get something that I felt secure running on downhill sections. The plate mount was my only option because I did not want to weld brake bosses to the frame... this proved to be a great solution... easily bolted on and preserved the originality of the frame.

 

[oldcruiser26]

Now this is killer R eally good job on the resto

 

[Hammond Eggz]

Very cool. I think I'm getting Klunker Fever again here... 8)

 

[Jpromo]

I thought my '83 DB Sand Streak was cool. But this...! Nice work.