Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
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Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off 01"
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Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Had a 2 steps forward, 1 step back kind of day today.
Couldn't get started till after 6pm due to other pressing matters so I was behind the 8 ball to start, first thing I did was make up two identical length chains to fit up so I could finally check that the frame was all in line, it looked fine but for some reason the cranks were different distances away from the frame at the rear, one at 3mm (1/8th) the other at 10mm (3/8th)
So got the chains on and it turned out the frame was perfect, so I checked the cranks, turned out one was bent, switched them side to side and the offset distances switched with them. :roll: Silly rookie mistake, should have checked them first!
Anyway, while the chains were on I decided to roll it over to the stand to get some photos of the chains fitted up, because it was looking really good, set it up on the stand and all the welding tacks holding the bottom bracket to the rear of the frame broke. :shock: So back up on the welding table, lose the chains, cranks and rear wheel, line everything back up and tack it back together, fit everything back on, double check the measurements are correct, strip it back apart and do the final welding... 3 hours of work time lost to get exactly back to where I was. At least now I know it is lined up correctly and the welds are done so it wont break again! :mrgreen:
After all that I was finally able to move on to the job I wanted to do today which was the forks and headtube. I had decided a day or two ago that I was not going to do the big, long "top fuel rail" style forks I originally intended to do, I mocked them up and just did not like the look of them, they made the bike all out of proportion. So I looked through some vintage muscle bike pics and decided to try and find or build some old style forks like was used back then, found some on an old 700c road bike, similar to what I rode through high school, I had been planning to build the bike up, so didn't want to use them but then I noticed some broken spokes on the wheels and other damage I had missed on the frame, so quickly before I changed my mind, off came the nice lugged cro-moly forks!
A quick mock up on the bike told me that I didn't like the 24 inch front wheel with the shorter forks, so switched it out with the 20in lightweight, radial spoked, alloy freestyle bmx wheel I originally intended to use, looked much better! 8) Some quick measuring told me the forks would have to shorten 45mm (1+3/4inch) to get the front of the frame to sit where I want it. A quick cut and weld got that fixed and I was able to fishmouth the frame tubes to the headtube I made out of some old fence pipe. (I noticed when building my first custom bike that this particular pipe was a perfect match to the bearing cups on most of the cheap bikes I get, so I keep a few feet on hand, saves me cutting up frames for the headtube and then having to clean them up so they look good. The pipe is also slightly heavier wall than a standard headtube so I dont mind using it on heavily raked frames where the stresses are higher.) Tacked the headtube on and that is as far as I got, it was by then rather late and too dark to acurately check the alignment of the new headtube.
Also too dark for photos, so I will get some and post them tomorrow!
Luke.
Had a 2 steps forward, 1 step back kind of day today.
Couldn't get started till after 6pm due to other pressing matters so I was behind the 8 ball to start, first thing I did was make up two identical length chains to fit up so I could finally check that the frame was all in line, it looked fine but for some reason the cranks were different distances away from the frame at the rear, one at 3mm (1/8th) the other at 10mm (3/8th)
So got the chains on and it turned out the frame was perfect, so I checked the cranks, turned out one was bent, switched them side to side and the offset distances switched with them. :roll: Silly rookie mistake, should have checked them first!
Anyway, while the chains were on I decided to roll it over to the stand to get some photos of the chains fitted up, because it was looking really good, set it up on the stand and all the welding tacks holding the bottom bracket to the rear of the frame broke. :shock: So back up on the welding table, lose the chains, cranks and rear wheel, line everything back up and tack it back together, fit everything back on, double check the measurements are correct, strip it back apart and do the final welding... 3 hours of work time lost to get exactly back to where I was. At least now I know it is lined up correctly and the welds are done so it wont break again! :mrgreen:
After all that I was finally able to move on to the job I wanted to do today which was the forks and headtube. I had decided a day or two ago that I was not going to do the big, long "top fuel rail" style forks I originally intended to do, I mocked them up and just did not like the look of them, they made the bike all out of proportion. So I looked through some vintage muscle bike pics and decided to try and find or build some old style forks like was used back then, found some on an old 700c road bike, similar to what I rode through high school, I had been planning to build the bike up, so didn't want to use them but then I noticed some broken spokes on the wheels and other damage I had missed on the frame, so quickly before I changed my mind, off came the nice lugged cro-moly forks!
A quick mock up on the bike told me that I didn't like the 24 inch front wheel with the shorter forks, so switched it out with the 20in lightweight, radial spoked, alloy freestyle bmx wheel I originally intended to use, looked much better! 8) Some quick measuring told me the forks would have to shorten 45mm (1+3/4inch) to get the front of the frame to sit where I want it. A quick cut and weld got that fixed and I was able to fishmouth the frame tubes to the headtube I made out of some old fence pipe. (I noticed when building my first custom bike that this particular pipe was a perfect match to the bearing cups on most of the cheap bikes I get, so I keep a few feet on hand, saves me cutting up frames for the headtube and then having to clean them up so they look good. The pipe is also slightly heavier wall than a standard headtube so I dont mind using it on heavily raked frames where the stresses are higher.) Tacked the headtube on and that is as far as I got, it was by then rather late and too dark to acurately check the alignment of the new headtube.
Also too dark for photos, so I will get some and post them tomorrow!
Luke.
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Pics tomorrow, I promise!!!
Luke.
If it is the right size pipe it saves heaps of time, looks better (perfectly round, unlike the cut out headtubes when I get finished grinding them down!) and is stronger as well. You do have to sand off the galvanised coating but that comes of easy with a sanding pad on the grinder... :wink:bigfatcat said:
Pics tomorrow, I promise!!!
Luke.
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
I took a couple of steps backward myself. A double top and bottom tube frame requires a bit of aligning that I had not fully considered when putting together my bike last week. In the end, I was spending so much time pulling this, than pushing that, moving this than removing that... I built a better frame jig so that I was sure that the front and rear tires were inalignment to each other... than I made the decision to just start with fresh tubes and spend the time to carefully weld them together... than work them into the new jig.
So the image you see is no different than last week... other than everything lines up now, the head tube is tacked into position and I can now finally work on the front forks today!!!! YEA!!! Thsi is why I entered this comp, it forces me tolearn how to build a bike, so I am really excited by the final results and as strange as it seems I am happy that I went thru this, the end result is I have more confidence in what I can do and what is required to do it
. (good lesson in there for those that want to build frames but are afraid to start, just do it :wink: )
I am still considering possible placement of the bottombracket, I am thinking of creating a box for the area where the chain stay and the downtube cross each other. I want to get the bike on the ground in a more level condition than the unlevel jig bench that it is being built on
Hopefully tomorrows picture will be forks
And proper kudos for those in front of me...
Pictures Luke! kidding, looking forward to the progress shots.
Terry, nice seat! looks good, I'll keep your process in mind when I build my own.
Rich
I took a couple of steps backward myself. A double top and bottom tube frame requires a bit of aligning that I had not fully considered when putting together my bike last week. In the end, I was spending so much time pulling this, than pushing that, moving this than removing that... I built a better frame jig so that I was sure that the front and rear tires were inalignment to each other... than I made the decision to just start with fresh tubes and spend the time to carefully weld them together... than work them into the new jig.
So the image you see is no different than last week... other than everything lines up now, the head tube is tacked into position and I can now finally work on the front forks today!!!! YEA!!! Thsi is why I entered this comp, it forces me tolearn how to build a bike, so I am really excited by the final results and as strange as it seems I am happy that I went thru this, the end result is I have more confidence in what I can do and what is required to do it
. (good lesson in there for those that want to build frames but are afraid to start, just do it :wink: )I am still considering possible placement of the bottombracket, I am thinking of creating a box for the area where the chain stay and the downtube cross each other. I want to get the bike on the ground in a more level condition than the unlevel jig bench that it is being built on
Hopefully tomorrows picture will be forks
And proper kudos for those in front of me...
Pictures Luke!
kidding, looking forward to the progress shots. Terry, nice seat! looks good, I'll keep your process in mind when I build my own.
Rich
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Wow dude! Making the decision to go back must have been rough! :shock: At least you can move forward positive it's correct. I've cut and rewelded my handlebars twice and that drove me nuts!! I'm interested to see what you come up with for the BB. You could always drill out plate like the basman's use and match your dropouts. Lookin' good bud!
Wow dude! Making the decision to go back must have been rough! :shock: At least you can move forward positive it's correct. I've cut and rewelded my handlebars twice and that drove me nuts!! I'm interested to see what you come up with for the BB. You could always drill out plate like the basman's use and match your dropouts. Lookin' good bud!
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Yea, I cut the left side tubes, rewelded, cut the rear dropouts off a couple of times, kept running into alignment problems no matter what I did, in the end I waisted 4 days messing with things and got nothing done, it took me only 1 day to roll and construct the new pieces than another day in the jig to line up everything and place the head tube :shock: So, there is a point you have to save yourself from doing it worng and just do what you should have done to begin with.
Good idea on the BB, after I finish the forks I'll look into the different ways this can be done and than make a decision from there. Feel free to make any other suggestions
Rich
bigfatcat said:
Yea, I cut the left side tubes, rewelded, cut the rear dropouts off a couple of times, kept running into alignment problems no matter what I did, in the end I waisted 4 days messing with things and got nothing done, it took me only 1 day to roll and construct the new pieces than another day in the jig to line up everything and place the head tube :shock: So, there is a point you have to save yourself from doing it worng and just do what you should have done to begin with.
Good idea on the BB, after I finish the forks I'll look into the different ways this can be done and than make a decision from there. Feel free to make any other suggestions
Rich
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Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Lookin forward to seeing those pics, Luke!
Wow! :shock: Lookin great so far, Rich!
As for me, I've yet to gain interest back in mine :x
Thankfully, I don't like much being done
Lookin forward to seeing those pics, Luke!
Wow! :shock: Lookin great so far, Rich!
As for me, I've yet to gain interest back in mine :x
Thankfully, I don't like much being done
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Awesome job Rich, it is interesting how sometimes starting again from scratch can be far easier and quicker and yield better results than working with something you already have... Done that a few times, but I never learn, always end up trying to fix things that cant be fixed...
Love the ladder jig you came up with, I need to buy me some more clamps I think! :mrgreen:
Luke.
Hey Lucas, did you get the pm?
Awesome job Rich, it is interesting how sometimes starting again from scratch can be far easier and quicker and yield better results than working with something you already have... Done that a few times, but I never learn, always end up trying to fix things that cant be fixed...
Love the ladder jig you came up with, I need to buy me some more clamps I think! :mrgreen:
Luke.
Hey Lucas, did you get the pm?
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
So it appears we have a new builder! Welcome KRANDALL! :wink:
I'm just posting his pics here for him as it is hard for him to post from his android device.
Awesome job Randy! 8)
Luke.
So it appears we have a new builder! Welcome KRANDALL! :wink:
I'm just posting his pics here for him as it is hard for him to post from his android device.
KRANDALL said:Hello all, finally, here are ther pics of my build:
Awesome job Randy! 8)
Luke.
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Woodworkers and boatbuilders say, "you can never have too many clamps". I have over 20 pipe clamps under 24" probably another 15 or so from 36" to 96". I had just about all the smaller ones on the bike and jig at one point :mrgreen: not counting all the other clamps I use hehehe (dozens of Pony spring clamps, vise grip clamps, c-clamps of various sizes). they were a tremdous help on this build, still a ways to go and not much time to get there :shock:
Rich
LukeTheJoker said:
Woodworkers and boatbuilders say, "you can never have too many clamps". I have over 20 pipe clamps under 24" probably another 15 or so from 36" to 96". I had just about all the smaller ones on the bike and jig at one point :mrgreen: not counting all the other clamps I use hehehe (dozens of Pony spring clamps, vise grip clamps, c-clamps of various sizes
). they were a tremdous help on this build, still a ways to go and not much time to get there :shock: Rich
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Welcome to the build Krandall! As I mentioned in the other thread, nice seat, your build is looking great, looks like you are the one for the rest of us to take aim at and try to beat!
Good Job
Rich
Welcome to the build Krandall! As I mentioned in the other thread, nice seat, your build is looking great, looks like you are the one for the rest of us to take aim at and try to beat!
Good Job
Rich
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Luke.
Yeah! Over half way gone on time! I have been trying to get the metal work done as quick as possible because prep and paint is going to need a fair bit of the remaining time... Also got to build the sissy bar and apes yet! :shock:RichL said:
Luke.
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Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
quick updatE!
got the frame all tacked together.. only tacked though.. not all tidied up etc...
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
stance i'm looking for:
not sure which pic was best so.. took a few..
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
close up picture..
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
cheers,
Jake
quick updatE!
got the frame all tacked together.. only tacked though.. not all tidied up etc...
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
stance i'm looking for:
not sure which pic was best so.. took a few..
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
close up picture..
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
cheers,
Jake
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Lookin good jake! That's gonna be an awesome layout with the stubby frame.
I made a little bit of progress worth mentioning. I managed to get my shifter arm attached to the nexus base! I also got the rims mostly painted up, but the sun dropped before I could snap a pic.
Lookin good jake! That's gonna be an awesome layout with the stubby frame.
I made a little bit of progress worth mentioning. I managed to get my shifter arm attached to the nexus base! I also got the rims mostly painted up, but the sun dropped before I could snap a pic.
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Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Looks good, Jake!
Terry, that's awesome! Looks great with that web frame :wink:
Looks good, Jake!
Terry, that's awesome! Looks great with that web frame :wink:
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Wow, there is some awesome talent in this build off! :shock:
Wow, there is some awesome talent in this build off! :shock:
Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Got a picture for you...
DSC00256 by LukeTheJoker, on Flickr
I like the new look, very "muscle bike."
Luke.
Got a picture for you...
DSC00256 by LukeTheJoker, on Flickr
I like the new look, very "muscle bike."
Luke.
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Re: Anything goes "Muscle-Bike-Build-Off" Build thread.
Nice, Luke!
Nice, Luke!
