The Wonky Donkey

[MattiThundrrr]

Out driving with my little guy, and what do we spy, but a dad-type guy carrying a little mountain bike out to the curb. 20" wheels, some stupid gears out back, a cruddy shock out front, blah blah blah, whatever MegaliMart was pushing about a decade ago. Bad, but garbage? Not in my neighborhood! Brought it home, used it as a learning tool as I could rip it apart without concern.

The little one mentioned above is on a balance bike, soon to make the move to training wheels, so I need something slower to stay with him. Enter the Donkey.
Plans include layback seatpost to give me space in the cockpit, flipped out cruiser bars, just cuz I got em, 26" wheel out front on a cruiser fork, keeping it 20 out back. Not sure yet about what drives it, either a ghetto fab single speed, or no pedals or crank, pegs or floorboards instead and rock it strider style. Also, might have a little fun learning to paint. This one might take a while, I gotta get other projects moving to free up parts for the Donkey.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Here's the layback seatpost I made. Ground down the stem where the bars mount so it would fit in the seat's guts. I am concerned about wether this will be enough to hold me up. Maybe I'll figure out some sort of support later.
Cut the steerer of the garbage shock to shim the stem. Thinking of leaving the shim chrome, with the threads exposed, just to show how stupid this thing is.
Plan to recover the seat with some old Levi's denim. Tough enough to survive my motorcycle crash, tough enough for the Donkey.

 

[kingfish254]

I like the idea of making it an adult strider next to your kid. Have fun

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Got a mock-up done. Now I'll stare at the pics and wait for ideas to come.

Strangely, the 26" fork is exactly the same length as the suspension fork for the 20" wheel, so all the height increase is from the big wheel.

 

[Klunkruiser]

I got one of those labeled as Schwinn Delight.

Bought it for the acorn nuts, stem, and caliper brakes, and maybe the bars and bearings and front sprocket.

Never thought about building it. But maybe.

Looking at it again, it's a little different. But very similar.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Yeah, mine has that missing section of the seatpost. I thought it looked a little bit like a Specialized FatBoy BMX, thought I might make a FakeBoy out of it, but the Donkey didn't want that, and I don't have any parts laying around for that

Brother from a FAR better mother? Who knows, maybe in its next life, it'll be a bmx

 

[horsefarmer]

Mostly I use kids bikes as a parts resource for bigger bike builds.

 

[toro1978]

Ok, what you could do with that stem/seat post: flip the seat clamp so the seat nose is closer to the top of the stem. Then get a longer tightening bolt and drill the seat nose, use a washer and run the bolt through the seat nose and then tighten it. (Use maybe another seat you could sacrifice if it doesn't work) .

This will take the load from the seat clamp, otherwise I'd say your weight will make the seat rotate counterclockwise. (the stem's bar clamp has very little contact surface for the seat clamp).
By the way some people use a bolt on handlebar extension (those on MTB bars, you know) on a regular seat post, but it may not hold very long, depending on the quality.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Nice little sketch... I appreciate the shading. I was thinking it would rotate in the other direction, the nose of the seat going down to the stem. I was thinking about stacking washers on top of the stem bolt for it to rest on. But I think I like your idea better. I might do that and put the bolt through after the seat has been covered, the bolt showing could look kinda cool.

 

[toro1978]

Well I don't know for sure, it could be in the other direction. It depends where the load (your weight) rests. I am curious what will happen myself

 

[MattiThundrrr]

You might have to wait awhile, I don't see it getting done before winter, and there is no way I'm out in the shop in -30! Stupid hockey season!

 

[handyandy1100]

I'm using a stem as a lay back seat post on my Monark. It was the only thing I could find that came close to matching the odd sized seat post. I used a couple of black pipe nipples (3/8 x 2 & 3/4 x 2 I think) to center the seat clamp bolt. Still needs work to prevent the seat from tipping back some when I ride. the pipe fittings are a little longer than the width of the stem. Going to grind the pipe down so it's even with the stem and give me more area for the serrations on the seat clamp to bite into.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I'm using a stem as a lay back seat post on my Monark. It was the only thing I could find that came close to matching the odd sized seat post. I used a couple of black pipe nipples (3/8 x 2 & 3/4 x 2 I think) to center the seat clamp bolt. Still needs work to prevent the seat from tipping back some when I ride. the pipe fittings are a little longer than the width of the stem. Going to grind the pipe down so it's even with the stem and give me more area for the serrations on the seat clamp to bite into.
View attachment 105216

You don't need to tell me about your layback seatpost, I downloaded two of your pics as inspiration! Thanks

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Before:

During:

No glue at all, nothing but staples holding it together.

After:

Easy peasy.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Eventually, all of this will be an ugly seat. The jeans survived a motorcycle crash, should be a pretty durable seat cover

 

[Grant]

View attachment 110361
Eventually, all of this will be an ugly seat. The jeans survived a motorcycle crash, should be a pretty durable seat cover

HEH

 

[RustyGold]

I read an article in a motorcycle magazine years and years ago that had a shootout between denim, leather, and I think some synthetic materials for road rash protection. They used old and new denim and leather. Old denim won the shootout...tough stuff .

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Those Levi's are at least fifteen years old, you don't see them made in Canada very much anymore. I didn't trust the new ones as safety gear.

 

[RustyGold]

yeah...anything with spandex or nylon listed in the materials ain't gonna cut it

 

[MattiThundrrr]

...sorry!