Bulldog

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I bent the fork ends, using a block of wood and clamping it flat to the workbench. I use a 3 foot section of square tubing for the bending bar. It worked fine, but I had hoped to not chip the paint. It'll be easy to touch up.
The fork didn't have much of a bend as it was.
fork angle.jpg


I set the forks so the edge of the bench would be the point where the bend would be, then put the bar over each fork end and bent it downward.
fork in clamp.jpg


Now the fork looks almost perfect. I added some upright bars because it has skinny tires.
fork bend.jpg
 
The new derailleur was incredibly cheap, so cheap I was going to just make it a one speed on the 16 tooth cog. Then I remembered an old Suntour derailleur with worn pulleys in my junkpile and cleaned it up. It isn't perfect but it works. If I find the right pulleys for it then it will be permanent.
View attachment 153144
Now just the brakes and an inner tube. I'll test ride this this week.
View attachment 153145
Super cool bike!
 
I would like to find somewhere to buy a nice large clamp like that, but all they sell around here are like toy sized...
 
I finally put a chain on and got it roadworthy. I may add a front or rear caliper brake, the Chinese coaster brake has almost no stopping ability, at least for my 200 lbs. Other than that it rode well, and will be suitable for shorter riders.

24 bulldog done - Copy.jpg
 
I put on a new set of tires, the old ones had flat spots that couldn't be worked with. The coaster hub was making noise so I took it apart. When I bought it I added grease but didn't tear it all the way down. This is cheaper than I thought, it had a ridge sticking up in the shell!
Hub 1.jpg



I used a coarse sander on my dremel to get it smooth but it still made noise and rolled rough.
hub2.jpg

The only way to get it near normal is to run it with the bearing cones a tad loose.
 
The bike did very well on it's maiden voyage. It didn't get the lowest gear again but 2nd was low enough. It needs more braking too. It's just the right size to ride around the neighborhood.
View attachment 153393
The seat post has plenty of height adjustment.
View attachment 153394
The hard part is the walk uphill back to the house. It's steeper than it looks.
View attachment 153395
It'll be complete when I get the front rack on it. And the extra brake.
Looks real steep to me.
 

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