1950 something jc higgins custom "THE HIGGINS"

[karfer67]

well lets see if this works. anyways hey everyone i am new to this forum found it totally by accident. my name is adam copeland and i work at college cyclery in sacramento ca. this is the first full ground up custom i have done for myself normally i build bikes for others and never have time for my own projects. here is some info

frame:1950 something jc higgins not cut in anyway
front wheel: specialized sealed bearing hub on a alex offset hole rim
rear wheel: felt 58mm wide dished to work in the frame
tires: electra fatio 24X3 these were the only tires that would fit in the rear. the felt tires looked awsome but the electra tire when mounted is about 1/4 of an inch thiner.
drivetrain: nothing special profile 42t blackwidow sprocket, 18t rear, phat crank, cheap kmc chain
fork: kruzer king double crown
stem and bar: raceface oven cleaned, redline monocog bar turned upside down and narrowed 3 1/2 inches

any other questions feell free to ask. thanks to all for all the cool bikes to look at as well

 

[Clothespin n]

sick ride...very nice..
welcome aboard Karfer67

Kev.

 

[fattroy]

Yeah thats a cool ride Adam! Got a real fat stance to it. I like! Troy

 

[Vroom]

WELCOME!


Good looking bike Adam , you just gotta love those 24 x3 Fattio's

 

[soloace]

yeah I love the look of this bike! very good job....
~Joe

 

[thehazmatguy]

Very clean looking set up.

I'm curious, How did you mount the headlight? Was there a fender tab on the lower triple clamp or did you add something?

BTW, the handlebars look super sweet.

 

[yeshoney]

Tight Ride!!!

That is very cool! I dig the fattio O's on both ends. Gives it an Old S'Cool look. Would look cool sitting next to my AMF Cleveland Welding Board Track bike for some pictures! :shock:

Joe
aka YESHONEY

 

[62Higgins]

Very cool indeed.

I had a similar fork/stem/bar set up on one of my rides. By using a slightly longer stem I was able to stack the stem and bars under the top triple clamp and have a really clean look on top.

Due to the length of the top tube I had to go back to a standard set up. If the legs on your fork are long enough, I think yours might look cool with that set up.

I have a 60's Higgins I am working on and the headtube is an oddball size. I actually used 1 1/8 inserts with a 1" h/s to change forks. Any similar experience on your bike?

Did you use a starfangled nut inserted from the bottom for the headlight mount?

Looking forward to more of your work.

 

[karfer67]

thanks for all the good words guys. this whole project started about 7 years ago when my friend bought the frame at a vw show. he then sandblasted it and proceded to stick it in the cornner of his bed room saying he would get around to building it someday. well a few months ago he told me he was moving and had to unload some stuff and instantly i asked about the frame. at first he did not want to budge but i had a vintage long skateboard he had been after and i offered to trade so thats how i ended up with it.
The light mount is rather simple. it is a marzochii fender mount which is just a rubber bushing with a nut and bolt that goes through it so when tightened it expands. no moving but i do have to tighten it every so often. a star nut would have worked better but i thought of that after i had already mounted it and it worked so if it ain't broke don't fix it right?
Ah yes i ran into the same issue with the headset as well and still to this day don't understand what jc higgins did. the frame is most deffenetly
1 1/8 but a 1 1/8 FORK won't fit through the frame. maybe if you shaved some material off the iner lugs but i did not want to do that as i did plan on actually riding this beast. yes it is a 1 inch steer fork 1 inch headset with those trick press in addapters.
I thought of going with a longer stem as well to drop the bars more in front of the clamps as well but once i had it all mocked up with this set up it was just so right visually as well as how it felt i could not go back.
Again thanks for all the kind words and i look forwards to contributing more to the board as well as showing off my projects. things are a bit crazy at my shop i have three bikes i am building for my boss all of which are going to look somewhat like the higgins at least with the drop bar setup. i myself am working on my 1998 schwinn cruiser 7 which sadly was stollen and lucky for me i was able to get it back but all the cool and very rare accesories i had on it were stollen. so now i am going to turn it into a true 1920's looking boardtrack bike where as i consider the higgins more of a cafe racer.

 

[razzerx]

That thing is way cooool.

 

[chimichanga]

man you brought this one from a long time ago.

 

[Clothespin n]

Karfer hasn't been on in a while.

I sent him a PM and he's never opened it..
any one in The Scremento area????

...go to College Cyclery and bring him back on board..

He bought an Old Ranchero so he's prolly doing the Car thing..
that's a Bug that's hard to get rid of :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Kev.

 

[theboywonder916]

mhmm

i talked to him a couple of weeks ago for just a second. he said his computer is broken. he didnt say when he'd be back online.

 

[fattuna]

SWEET!!!

 

[Clothespin n]

Re: mhmm

i talked to him a couple of weeks ago for just a second. he said his computer is broken. he didnt say when he'd be back online.

Thanks boywonder..
I was worried he got Gaung Green in his Leg or something :shock:



if yaa see him again,
let him know I said Hello..

I'd like to make it to Scaramento this Summer and I'd
love to set up a Big Cruise with all you Norcal Yahoooo's
:mrgreen:

Kev.

 

[CCR]

looks like a bull gettin ready to ram ya, i like the little rake triple tree look !!!

 

[ricksterr1221]

Haha i told karfer bout this when i was new here, I Had this bike as a background on my computer for MONTHS never knew nothing about it.. I seen this post on here and was like HEY I SEEN THAT Before and then we got to talking and yeah, I love that bike.

 

[mastershake916]

It looks even nicer in person.

 

[gravediggerjason]

that bike screams tough into the face of every bike on the road!

simple, yet as subtle as a jack~hammer, it makes me drool, now i wanted build one so badly!!


thanks for posting it up

Jason

 

[superflygeoff]

fat and heavy.