Nautilus (Beached Bobber) - WBO 2018 Scratch Built

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This build is basically an opportunity to use parts from the bottom of the pile that wear their experience a little more prominently than most. Hopefully I'll be able to convincingly age the newer pieces to match.

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That is gonna be slick. Sort of has a similar stance to a TSP Oldster. This is gonna be cool to see.
 
I particularly like the treatment planned for the top tube. Inverting cutouts to give a scallop effect is genius. Not sure of the thickness, but could you find 2” bends of exhaust pipe?


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That is gonna be slick. Sort of has a similar stance to a TSP Oldster. This is gonna be cool to see.

Thanks. The Oldster and, also kinda reminds me a bit of the Ruff Cycles Hard Time frame. Both of those have the bobber feel I was trying to get.
 
I particularly like the treatment planned for the top tube. Inverting cutouts to give a scallop effect is genius. Not sure of the thickness, but could you find 2” bends of exhaust pipe?


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Thanks. I stole the cutout idea from images I found when searching on old school bobbers. Saw a lot of examples were the sides of the tank were sliced off and swapped side to side. Thought it looked pretty cool, hopefully what I'm planning will look cool too.

Funny you mention exhaust pipe. That was exactly what I started to think of as I "attempted" to start bending the top tube...
 
Top Tube

So I found the limit of what I can do with my tubing bender! Didn't get too far before I realized something would probably give way before the tubing (in fairness I went with .065" wall, a little thick). With nothing to lose I switched to the hydraulic bender. I managed to get close to the shape I wanted but the tubing looks like its been in a pretty rough fight.

Not sure but, I'm beginning to think that might not be a bad thing?

The vision I had from the beginning for this build was that it wouldn't be finely finished. Wanted to give the cleaning, polishing, smoothing a rest (starts to be work after a while). Plus, really wanted to try a bike that if it gets scratched, it just adds to the look. The feel I'm after is an old school / vintage bobber motorcycle. A bobber basically has everything non-essential stripped from the frame. Many times the frame itself is left as is. Especially older neglected examples. Extra tabs, a wrinkle or two on the frame (wrinkled because it was never intended to be seen), aren't cut off, ground smooth or filled. So, why not just leave a few fabrication bruises? At least this is the story I'm getting close to selling myself on.

What's the worst that can happen? If I can't stand it I can always replace it or come up with a different solution. I've got quite a bit of work planned for the top tube. In the process I should be able to minimize some of the worst. Should be able to hide some too (underneath that top bend looks like a potential shifter location?). Hmmmm.

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Fork

Work on the fork went far smoother than the top tube. I have sleeves cut that I'll use to join mountain bike fork shocks to 1" tubing. I've seen stems used as attachments for handlebars / grips before. I left the top of the tubing long to give me that as a potential option for bar placement later on.

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