Have you looked at Treatland.tv moped seats? Something there might work for you.
New layout looking good.
New layout looking good.
A Lengthy Insanity
- Thread starter Ulu
- Start date
Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:
Thank you, & no I’ve never heard of them, but I will give ‘em a look.
I saw a few things at Treatland which look basically like small motorcycle seats. I really think I’m going to have to build something exactly to fit bike from scratch.
Oh geez I didn’t have to see this this morning!
Making a really big wheel
I don’t have time to build the wheel from scratch.
Oh geez I didn’t have to see this this morning!
Making a really big wheel
I don’t have time to build the wheel from scratch.
I won’t need it.
I bought this Park bike vise to fuel my bike vice. I got it on craig's list for $220. Slightly used. It came with a tool tray (not shown.)
Some relative dimensions compared to a typical Walmart bike.
I think I'll put the springs inside the fork tube. The tapered reverse curve should be fun to form.
I know BMW's had Earle's forks and the Greeves did not. Look a lot alike but the placement of the pivot point was crucial to the patent. I think the Earle's/Greeves forks would have very good bump compliance, thus very comfortable to ride. Your redesign taking into consideration the size of your body bodes well for a real world rideable bicycle. The new design is good looking.
Thank you for the kind response and also the reminder, @Tallbikeman.
I was looking for a trail of about 4 to 5 inches but I don’t know if that would be correct for a bicycle. I built a chopper bicycle much simpler than this when I was a kid but the trail somehow magically worked out OK because the parts that I chose allowed for the triple tree to rake a bit.
I forgot all about the Greeve’s, and I will have to look that up.
I’m sort of basing this on the Earl’s design. I have raked the tree, & the axle and the sprung shaft pivot at the same point for style, simplicity, and strength,
Normally the axle is forward a little bit And the tree is not raked. There is a way to fix this and get out of the raked tree business which I kinda hate.
By pushing the axle forward just right, you don’t need a raked tree.
I am a 67 y.o. BMX noob and I bought a "new" 2014 (?) Mongoose Malice . . . errr . . . Malus today.
It is for RBBO project parts & needs tuning because of poor assembly. And neglect.
Anyhow I'm going to adjust and oil it and go ride my first dirt bike with pedals LOL
I started a Malus thread in Bike Talk for all the mongoose advice and comments.
There we can build it up.
In this thread we will cut it down!
Hand me the Sawzall!
It is for RBBO project parts & needs tuning because of poor assembly. And neglect.
Anyhow I'm going to adjust and oil it and go ride my first dirt bike with pedals LOL
I started a Malus thread in Bike Talk for all the mongoose advice and comments.
There we can build it up.
In this thread we will cut it down!
Hand me the Sawzall!
Oooohhhh . . . How WIDE!!!
Good Lord! Just look at how wide the bottom bracket is!
I need this & I could cut it loose from the bike frame.
Or I could use the bottom bracket from the Schwinn which is too narrow, cut it in half and use this crank set for set up purposes. That will allow me to sleeve the bracket back together and make it whatever width I like. And I can save the mongoose frame which is extremely salable.
Or I could beg you guys with the right tools to thread me a bottom bracket.
Edit: my brain isn’t working. I can re-thread any mild steel tube with a set of those bottom bracket nuts. And I have two sets. I just have to make one nut into a tap. Old trick…
My work area outdoors was in total disarray from a winter of just tossing things randomly about as I worked on various projects with manic passion.
Today I have been out riding the fat tire bike in the wind and moving Lots of heavy stuff around, in preparation to welding. I’m going to have a lot more working oom when I get done.
I don’t have any kind of adjustable jig. I need to build something that I can put the mongoose frame on solidly, then I can build the rest of the frame over it using the mongoose frame as a jig.
Ultimately I am probably going to incorporate much of the mongoose bottom stays, after I cut them all up.
I decided that the seven speed cassette was not too outrageous, if I managed to get a better derailleur. This thing has 36 spoke wheels but it’s going to take some fussing to put the Sturmey on there. There’s an inch and a half of axle difference between the two bicycles, Manhattan and mongoose.
I will use the bottom bracket and some bits of tube to sleeve over with mine.
This first bike is gonna be all steel. I’m not sure about the joinery.
I can torch braze, I can TIG weld, or possibly I can do silicon bronze. I bought some silicon bronze rod for the TIG welder. That will be another adventure.
Meanwhile, my layout is destroyed and all is chaos in the boatyard, until I finish moving my collection of old metal.
Today I have been out riding the fat tire bike in the wind and moving Lots of heavy stuff around, in preparation to welding. I’m going to have a lot more working oom when I get done.
I don’t have any kind of adjustable jig. I need to build something that I can put the mongoose frame on solidly, then I can build the rest of the frame over it using the mongoose frame as a jig.
Ultimately I am probably going to incorporate much of the mongoose bottom stays, after I cut them all up.
I decided that the seven speed cassette was not too outrageous, if I managed to get a better derailleur. This thing has 36 spoke wheels but it’s going to take some fussing to put the Sturmey on there. There’s an inch and a half of axle difference between the two bicycles, Manhattan and mongoose.
I will use the bottom bracket and some bits of tube to sleeve over with mine.
This first bike is gonna be all steel. I’m not sure about the joinery.
I can torch braze, I can TIG weld, or possibly I can do silicon bronze. I bought some silicon bronze rod for the TIG welder. That will be another adventure.
Meanwhile, my layout is destroyed and all is chaos in the boatyard, until I finish moving my collection of old metal.
As I was sitting here having a cocktail and resting my weary bones, I remembered why BMW got rid of earls fork.
They invented the tele-draulic wishbone setup. Wheeeewwww….! How would that work on a bicycle?
They invented the tele-draulic wishbone setup. Wheeeewwww….! How would that work on a bicycle?
I am used to bicycles with very straight stays.
The rear stays on the MM are quite shapely . . . sorta like the Schwinn.
Imagine that blue Schwinn stay and tube bit as the rocker on an earl’s or BWW-like wishbone when reversed.
When you do that you need a ball joint at the top of the fender and another one at the top of the neck post but there is no bottom tree.
The rear stays on the MM are quite shapely . . . sorta like the Schwinn.
Imagine that blue Schwinn stay and tube bit as the rocker on an earl’s or BWW-like wishbone when reversed.
When you do that you need a ball joint at the top of the fender and another one at the top of the neck post but there is no bottom tree.
Sorry, not tele-draulic but tele-lever.
Last edited:
OK there really is a bottom tree but it’s on the sliders, where the top tree is on the legs.
Look at the huge overlap between the sliders and the legs. This makes it very strong without having to have thick tubing.
Also look at that bulky A-frame that looks like the bottom suspension arm from Toyota. That is one chunky piece of kit.
Look at the huge overlap between the sliders and the legs. This makes it very strong without having to have thick tubing.
Also look at that bulky A-frame that looks like the bottom suspension arm from Toyota. That is one chunky piece of kit.
More burning questions…
Is this too much style, or just too large?
The Greaves 250:
Should it have a “tank”?
Possible Lewt Tanker metal.
Is this too much style, or just too large?
The Greaves 250:
Should it have a “tank”?
Possible Lewt Tanker metal.
After haunting the local bike shops trying to find an appropriate 20 inch wheel I finally gave up and decided to buy a 4th entire bike just for the parts.
Now I really only bought the Manhattan for the Sturmey Archer rear end but I think I will leave that bike alone and continue to ride it. I will either get a fat Sturmey archer for the fat bike wheel or I will leave it as derailleur bike with a disc brake.
I have the Schwinn which I bought primarily for the wheels to go on my wife’s bike but I will use parts of it in the build.
I bought the Mongoose for the rear fat wheel, fat stays, bracket & drive/brake hardware.
After giving up on shopping for a new wheel, I decided to go into the Target store to pick up another tire and tube. Lo and behold (!) I found this little Huffy on sale for half price.
It has a seven speed Shimano derailleur set up but it’s a little different than the one on the goose. It appears to be a newer model and perhaps somewhat sturdier.
This is the goose.
This is the Huffy.
Anyhow once I shoot little candy apple red on that aluminum wheel I think it’s gonna match the mongoose wheel well enough. I will need to get a ribbed tire, or do what I plan to do on the mongoose, which is shave the tire.
Now I really only bought the Manhattan for the Sturmey Archer rear end but I think I will leave that bike alone and continue to ride it. I will either get a fat Sturmey archer for the fat bike wheel or I will leave it as derailleur bike with a disc brake.
I have the Schwinn which I bought primarily for the wheels to go on my wife’s bike but I will use parts of it in the build.
I bought the Mongoose for the rear fat wheel, fat stays, bracket & drive/brake hardware.
After giving up on shopping for a new wheel, I decided to go into the Target store to pick up another tire and tube. Lo and behold (!) I found this little Huffy on sale for half price.
It has a seven speed Shimano derailleur set up but it’s a little different than the one on the goose. It appears to be a newer model and perhaps somewhat sturdier.
This is the goose.
This is the Huffy.
Anyhow once I shoot little candy apple red on that aluminum wheel I think it’s gonna match the mongoose wheel well enough. I will need to get a ribbed tire, or do what I plan to do on the mongoose, which is shave the tire.
I promised myself I would not start cutting and welding on the new bike until I built a rack for my steel, cleaned up my welding shed/table/area, and fixed the clutch on my motorcycle.
I didn’t promise anything about jig building.
OK I sorta had to do this first so I wouldn’t use the good stuff building a crummy rack.
I didn’t take pictures of the first two jig mock ups. (This is almost all from junk I recycled.
This is the third mock-up and I like it a lot.
It’s all just clamped up. Any welding you see was already done.
I didn’t promise anything about jig building.
OK I sorta had to do this first so I wouldn’t use the good stuff building a crummy rack.
I didn’t take pictures of the first two jig mock ups. (This is almost all from junk I recycled.
This is the third mock-up and I like it a lot.
It’s all just clamped up. Any welding you see was already done.
The jig is mostly all bits of some engineering drawing storage racks. I recycled 6 of them.
The rest were reconfigured into two rolling carts to hold the body of my fake Jaguar while I fix the rusted chassis.
The rest were reconfigured into two rolling carts to hold the body of my fake Jaguar while I fix the rusted chassis.
