Tweaker's Rehab

[tjwilson]

Tacking up the Frame Center Section

This is the second build that I've used this fixture on.

Awesome tool, a laser helps too. The main backbone tube on this build has a very hard to find center. Image on the left shows the misalignment of the initial tack that I had of the head tube/backbone. I cut that loose, re-aligned and tacked everything into place.

 

[mikeeebikey]

Sad I haven't caught your builds before!
This is going to be cool.

 

[OddJob]

Sad I haven't caught your builds before!
This is going to be cool.

It's def worth a look back, @mikeeebikey
You should be able to put TJ's username in the search bar and see some of his former work.

 

[tjwilson]

Rear Dropout Extensions

I've moved the rear triangle from Tweaker forward and changed the original angle. Made a template to extend the dropouts, cut them from 3/16" sheet metal, welded them on and ground the welds smooth.

 

[tjwilson]

Non-Drive Side Extension

When I welded the one side of the non-drive extension on I must have accidentally hit the settings, or something. Not really sure. In grinding down the inside weld there were voids where the two pieces met. I ended up using a cutting wheel to cut into the weld, re-welded the section and re-ground the welds down with much better results.

 

[tjwilson]

Top Stays

Backing up a little... before I did the final welds on the dropouts I cut the top stays to final length and rounded the front ends.

 

[tjwilson]

Bottom Main Center and Downtube Connection

Before getting into the bottom stays I cleaned up and welded the rear bottom frame connection.

 

[tjwilson]

Bottom Stays

More modifications to the rear triangle. I had a five speed derailleur on Tweaker that cleared these but, with the angle change (and a slightly wider hub) I wanted to make sure I had room. The new stay legs come courtesy of some old handlebars.

 

[tjwilson]

Rear Hub

Still haven't had time to order a new rear rim or figure out spoke lengths yet but, I do have a hub in hand. For simplicity in figuring out the braking I went with a Sturmey Archer drum brake / freewheel hub.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

Those Suntour GT Series derailleurs are solid gear. I always save them for later use when stripping basket case frames. Also, great choice on the rear hub too.

 

[kingfish254]

it's amazing the level of detail you have covered in just two pages!!!! Thanks for sharing your idea around the solid rod design tester. That's a great idea. Love seeing your work details man.

 

[tjwilson]

Those Suntour GT Series derailleurs are solid gear. I always save them for later use when stripping basket case frames. Also, great choice on the rear hub too.

Thanks. I can remember fifteen years or so ago seems you could find that kind of gear at the curb every garbage day. Me and that specific derailleur have a history. It first served duty on the overweight contraption below. Man, I have cut up and repurposed parts from some really nice bikes in the past thinking I could always grab another at the curb!

 

[tjwilson]

Seat Base - Fender - Sissy Bar

Started out with some half inch tubing to create a seat support. A bottom pan and fender skirts will eventually by welded to the tubing.

Pieces trimmed from the main curves.

Sleeved and positioned.

 

[tjwilson]

Seat Base Loop

In the past I've always had tubing deform too much at the point where the die presses against the tube in a pipe bender. This time around I tried stepping down in die size gradually after filling the tube with sand. Didn't create a smooth circular bend but I liked the curve that I did get. Hopefully I'll be able to duplicate something similar when I bend the sissy bar pieces.

 

[tjwilson]

"This Indecision Bugging Me..."

"...Esta indecisión me molesta". I've been struggling with the design of this and feel like I've been stuck in a Clash song on infinite repeat. The first pass (and multiple variations) just weren't cutting it. I think I've at least determined that the whole fender and seat needed to be rotated forward to shorten the overall fender some. Confident enough anyway to start to weld up the base and get the sissy bar pieces bent.

Sketching out the fender side.

First cut.

Seat profile added.

Just didn't look right to me so I shortened up the length by rotating the seat base and tried offsetting the fender opening. The idea was to try and give it a more aggressive forward motion, something less static looking.

Threw on the tubing I'll use for the front forks. Wanted to see if things were visually balancing overall or if the rear end was getting too heavy. I left them long for now. I think the fender/seat might work.

 

[tjwilson]

Finalizing the Seat Base

The tubing that makes up the perimeter of the seat base was just loosely taped together. I made a paper template, tracing one side, folding it in half, and mirroring the traced side. I then transferred that template to 20ga sheet metal, trimmed and bent that to match. The finished sheet metal then became a guide to make sure the tubing matched side to side when I tacked it all together.

Clamping and tacking the seat base top.

In position.

At this point, especially from the front three quarter view, the front of the seat looked far too wide to me. Guess I was a little too overconfident when I made all those tack welds! I ended up cutting the tack welds from about the front half of the base and adjusted the width.

Ahhh... much better.

 

[tjwilson]

Sissy Bar / Seat Support

Started this out by bending 1/2" tubing to try and closely match the solid bar template I had been using for mock-up.

Top loop from three sleeved pieces of tubing.

The bottom ends of the side pieces were coped and short sections of tubing were cut for attaching the sissy bar to the rear dropouts with 1/4" bolts.

Pieces welded together.

A few overview shots in position.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I like your thread, it's like a step by step manual for making a rad bike. "All you need is tubing, a jig, welder, and a little bit of amazing design skill, and you too can be tjwilson!"

 

[tjwilson]

Seat Base Front Mount

Started by trimming up the main curved tubes and then making a paper template. I know that this attachment needs to be pretty solid so I made sure to give myself enough room to get a socket onto the bolt/nut.

 

[tjwilson]

Sissy Bar Fix

This only hurt when I looked at it! The non-drive side of the sissy bar kicked out further than the drive side. Should have taken a closer look before welding it up solid. Required some cut and re-weld.

During surgery.

Before on the left. You can see the difference here, it was worse in person. Final still has an odd little "chink" at the bottom attachment point. Building "character" right?