1960's Öglaend Strada

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Yep, that's me.

Anyway, back on the horse today and as usual, things aren't as easy and simple as it seems. I got some trouble fitting the back fender, the bike end attachment has to be changed a bit, luckily there's four spots where to attach stuff so that's rather easy to fix. Then the bigger problem is that just behind the crank, the low attachment for the fender is a bolt and rather big one. It leaves tiny tiny clearance, no matter how far I pull the wheel, something like 2-3mm which isn't enough for my liking. That could end up in trouble. So that must be replaced. I thought about ditching the bolt and putting a small screw and nut there, that should give some more clearance there.

Another thing is attaching the sissybar. It was difficult already and I knew this was ahead. Just didn't have time or energy for it today. I will make extension pieces and have the sissybar sit about an inch further back, also its not on the wheel axle so I wont need to disassemble half of the bike to change tires etc. So yea, more slow hand crafting of parts ahead. I'm gonna use the same iron bar I used for the fork, simple as it gets but very slow to make.

I thought I'd on the same go make them long enough so the sissybar sits about an inch further back and another inch lower. I'm starting to be so done with this bike, it has taken way too long. Typical, nothing is self explanatory and takes awful lot of time.
 
Hello lovelies. <3 It took me ages, but guess what, Ratillac is now on the road, first ride coming up today. There's still some details I wish to tweak a bit but almost everything is now done. I made kinda neat connecting pieces to put rear fender and sissy bar in place, same kind as I did with the fork spring adapter piece. I've gained some weight during winter, it appears I might need to find a heavier spring to the fork or make up something so its a bit tighter. Other than that, everything works like a charm.

I might post something about the details on what and how later today. Now I got to get another coffee or I wont wake up.
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Well. . . Ummm. . . Springs do weaken with age you know. ;)
Yep, they definitely do. :grin:

Today I'll ride my bike back home, I was supposed to do it yesterday but other things came up... There's some things I still want to do, I'm undecided what kind of a tool box or bag I'm gonna have on it. Experience has shown its a good idea to have some wrenches and keys on the road just in case something breaks or needs adjustment. And I thought I would make another sign thingie between rear fender and the saddle. There's empty space there which needs something. And then a heavier spring or something inside the spring to make it bit more stiff.

Big ladies and fork springs for kids don't mix too well. :21: Oh yea, have I ever introduced myself other than talking about my bike enthusiasm? My name is Lara, I'm 38 yo, I'm a musician and an artist but neither pay my living so they've stayed as a serious hobby or semi professional job. I love hand crafting all sorts of things including bicycles and fish traps etc., I have a soft spot for gardening and I'm a big time chili head. And of course I love to ride bicycles a lot. :heart:
 
Going on a ride soon. I dropped the front of the saddle a bit, feels nicer but the shape is kinda nasty. The angle on the sides hurts my butt like crazy. Same thing as last year, just needs to get used to it. I was wondering if I should modify the saddle, add some quite stiff foam or something to the middle so the sides wouldn't dig into my rear. :giggle: Or maybe once I can afford it, I'll find another saddle which could be nicer... Actually I would love to find one which is longer than the one I have to get sissy bar angle a tiny bit towards the back. I'm just not sure where to look for it. The one I got now is bought from Germany, from Classic-Cycle and they didn't have banana saddles any longer than this one.

Also the gears, I'm quite confident now about changing 20T in there, 16/48 is really tough at first. Third speed is quite useless in most places here, there's very few long flat trails where its actually useful. I'm not even sure how fast this bike can be as I haven't found a place to try it yet.

I was just looking at the weather forecast, tomorrow sunshine and +20 all day, I think its a great day to ride to my moms place and tinker with the bikes some more. Great excuse to ride some more. ;) My other bike is waiting for new tires, I got Schwalbe Fat Franks for it.... Aaand I want to make another little cute sign to put on the sissybar, that spot is just too empty as it is.

Oh and I have a plan for next project, when ever I have time and means to get onto it. I have a Finnish Nopsa Poni combi fram from 1970's without use. I should go see what condition it is in. Its still wrapped together, I didn't even open the package when I got it. I thought what if I make it into a very simplistic chopper with elongated fork? Perhaps paint it with some crazy colors or something. I would love to build something simple for once. And some crazy long fork is something I've never tried making before, if I can find someone with welding equipment... It could be neat.
 
I did it as a child of 13. (Now 67)

I figured out how to chop off some huffy forks and mount them on my Schwinn.

With a bit of bent steel plate, 10 foot sticks of electrical conduit and hand tools I built the first chopperbike seen in Baudette Mn.

No welding was used until I broke the seat stay loose doing wheelies.
 
You have some cool bikes and well made, I just scored a bike from made in Holland today, up the road country from you, check it out in fresh finds forum and like you say they are heavy but solid, it will be for a later restoration, they are very uncommon here in NZ
 
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