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Hello everyone, my name is Jacob and I live on the Big Island. I recently acquired a what I believe is a Rare Silver Frame Electra Rat Rod with springer forks. She still has the original seat, tires, and everything looks to be in decent condition. Unfortunately the person who had it before me spray painted the forks black. I wonder how the paint is underneath and how easy it would come off to reveal the original silver. I paid a whopping $0 for it. One of my customers gave it to me. He said if I don’t take it it’s going to the dump, so I decided to take it.

So, here’s my question(s)

is this bike what i think it is, or is it not as Sought after as I think?

And how can I restore her while still keeping it as original value, if there is any.

I have not the slightest clue about these kind of bikes, so any help is appreciated.
 

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Welcome aboard! I lived on Oahu for a few years, 2017-2020. I miss all the great places to ride. I missed out on riding down a mountain in either Maui or the Big Island. I still plan on that somehow.
That looks like all original stuff on that bike, just needs grips. The rust is probably just some surface rust that can be cleaned up. Depending on what kind of prep was done on the forks before painting will make a big difference in removing the black paint. If it was sanded down than you might as well leave it black, a lot of the Rat Rod Electras came with black springer forks on a silver frame.
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Or came with black forks.

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Welcome to RRB. Can't beat a free bike. Your bike is one of the later rat rod models with the pedals in front of the seat mast and fat rear tire. Very cool.
I'm not sure if your bike had a springer fork like the earlier model I have. I don't like springer forks and the one on my bike had a factory fault that made the bike veer left. I've left it with the springer because it is the only bike I have with one. Your bike is missing the truss rods for the front forks which are not really needed.

My bike was quite rusty in sections which I cleaned off with alloy wheel cleaner and a scothbrite pad. Don’t rub too hard, let the acid do most of the work and then wash it off once you are done. I then sprayed some crc on those areas to protect it.

You will likely need to clean and repack the front hub, fork and crank bearings with grease. Also check the rim straps and tires as mine were cracked as it was stored near the beach. The tires were still usable so I only changed the rim straps. Replace the chain if it is rusty as it could break.

Hope you enjoy the ride. There’s plenty of good people here to help you should you need it.
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Hmmmm. Must be something in the air on that island, one of the best of my fleet came to me for free from Hawaii.
Regardless of value, that is a solid bike. I have paid much more for much less. It is a cool bike, time to put your personal touch on it. We're not too hung up on "originality" here as much as "cool".
 
Thanks everyone! I have been scratching my head trying to figure out what I have, great to know what it is lol. I will definitely be putting my own spin on it. I’m not too sure on the black forks though. I may try and remove it because in a lot of places the black has scratched off showing silver underneath.

Probably a dumb question, but where do you guys get your parts(chains, forks, tires, etc) from? I get most of my stuff online due to availability on the island, is there any special or am I overthinking it? Lol.

JA331, thanks for the recommendation for removing the rust. It is very light surface rust on most of the frame except the seat. I’ll try that on it:thumbsup:
 
I've bought parts from Planet BMX and ebay when I can't find them downunder. The shipping hurts though!
 

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