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The tape held the foam padding on like crazy! Time to grab the staple gun. Stapling to the wood on the underside, I found it surprisingly easy to keep things relatively smooth an tight. I say "relatively" because I'm a rat rodder, and my motto, which I borrowed from Jimmy Buffet, is "not to...

I have had this roll of outdoor fiberglass carpet for at least 30 years! It was still sticky, so what the hey?! I tried it. I put some on the top, sides and back of the seat pan, cut some dense shipping foam to fit, and stuck it all on the pan.

For the saddle, the easy way for me would be to just order a new banana seat, slap it on, and call it "done." However, along with the special frame design, another hallmark of the Apollo bikes is the cool seat design. I've always admired serape seat covers on rat rods, so I thought it might be...

FITMENT PROBLEM #7: My next fitment challenge would involve the thick, beefy battery. Not possessing any welding/metalworking skills, it would have to be resolved with nuts, bolts and straps. I attached a rack under the saddle and the battery just squeezed in. FITMENT PROBLEM #7 conquered.

At this point, having the wheels and tires on, and the front fork in place, I took some time out to visualize how the finished bike might look. And I loved the stance!

FITMENT PROBLEM #6: Getting a rear caliper to wrap around the fat rear tire. Not all calipers are created equal, but I did find one that would get the job done, ONLY by adding washers to the back of the brake pads, giving me just enough room for it all to function, with no rubbing. FITMENT...

Since the fork already had a hole for a caliper brake, and I was building a 28 mph e-bike, I thought I'd add a little extra front braking power, bringing on . . . FITMENT PROBLEM #5: a long reach from the 27" fork to the 24" rim. After trying several caliper brakes from my stockpile, an...

FITMENT PROBLEM #4: Long steerer tube in small head tube. Not wanting to cut the threaded part of the steer tube, I cut a piece of tubing to act as a long headset spacer. FITMENT PROBLEM #4 resolved.

Next, I cleaned, de-rusted, greased and painted the plastic backing plate on the original one-piece crank. Before: After:

I'm back from Pinetop, AZ, where we spent an extended Memorial Day weekend. It was lovely, and I did spend some time thinking about the childhood friends I lost in the Vietnam war. Anyhow, I'll now post what pics I have to SORT OF show you how the build went: FITMENT PROBLEM #3: Fat 24" drum...

I'm visualizing a distressed racing number on both sides of that plate between the top bars.

*** MORE TO COME AFTER THE MEMORIAL DAY WEEKEND *** Have a great one!

MY BAD!!! While I've never been good at documenting my builds, this one takes the cake. Here's what happened: As I was getting close to finishing "Fitment," I got a text from a guy who had previously bought an e bike conversion from me (a sweet Giant Stiletto.) I told him I was close to...

I picked this up earlier this week. For $50, I couldn't resist. Good tires, nice seat, and some potential.

I bought a pair of 29" lightly used Thick Slicks two years ago, figuring something will come along that will look right with my new rubber. This week, I finally found the bike for the tires. It's a Chinese Schwinn Midway. I love the frame design. Added some BMX style bars, grips, new cables and...

I had two distractions yesterday. First, my ebike kit was delivered, and, oops, I apparently ordered a 26" wheel by accident! Guess what, it aint gonna FIT!!! No problem, I'll save it for another build. I did re-order the right size, and should have it in 3 or 4 days. Second, I fell in love on...

Thanks, Lee. Yeah, I figure the seat can act as a fender. It sure looks like it's gonna be a great build-off.

As a proud retiree, I had a glorious, full day of bike building yesterday. I get so involved, I miss meals, forget to take pics, and skip personal hygiene. Love Hayzee Fantayzee.

FITMENT PROBLEM #2: Fat E-bike rear motor wheel on Apollo 3 rear dropouts: So close! But I need to grind about 1 mm off the dropout slots. Mr. Dremel, here I come. Done! FITMENT PROBLEM #2 addressed and resolved. I filled some holes in the frame, masked it, primered it,and masked off the...