Chrome Cruizin

[RatRodDad]

My neighbor gave me 4 bikes that he pulled down from his attic after having them up there 15 or 20 years.

I told him I would clean up 3 of the 4 and split the money I got for them with him - and I would keep the 4th one - which was a chrome Murray Baja mountain bike that belonged to his son.

Not being a major mountain bike fan, I decided to make a few minor changes to it, but they made all the difference in the world on how the thing rides and feels.

I swapped out the original handlebars for a set of cruiser bars, I stuck on a wider flamed seat, and it threw on a set of 26 x 1.5 road tires I had laying around.

Not only does it look a lot better now, it rides nice too and it has more of an upright riding position than the leaned over mountain bike position. I am definately a lot happier with it after the changes.

Here's how it looked when I got it.

And here is how it looks after my changes.

 

[66olds98]

Sorry to say, but, I kinda liked it before. Had a BMX kind fell to it. It still looks good though! Like the gold accents! 8)

 

[RatRodDad]

Okay, how about this. I swapped out the flashy seat for a nice black cruiser seat.

Better? Worse?

 

[66olds98]

Thats better. I think maybe that flame seat was a lil to much? That bikes cool, bet it really shines in person!? 8)

 

[Rat Rod]

I like the all black seat too....looks really cool!

Does it ride and shift okay?

 

[Uncle Stretch]

I like it better with the black seat. Im telling you bro , pitch the multispeed stuff add a coaster brake,some red tires and ape hangers....then sell it on c/l and ride your clone he he he . :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[RatRodDad]

Yeah, the chrome on it is in nice shape. That's really the only reason I wanted to keep it - because the chrome frame looks different.

So far I just washed it, but I will spend some time with some chrome polish eventually and really get it shining.

The thing is heavy duty too. It weighs a ton. Apparently it was the first mountain bike that Murray ever built and they definately built it to take on hills, jumps, rocks, or whatever. They must have used some heavy wall tubing for the frame.

It might give Uncle Stretch a run for his money on tubing thickness. :lol: :lol:

 

[RatRodDad]

Steve, with those cruiser bars and a nice comfortable cruiser seat on it, it really rides nice.

It shifts okay for a friction shift. I haven't ridden it a lot yet, but I'm sure it will stay in the small front gear and hit maybe 2 or 3 of the rear ones while I'm riding. :lol: :lol:

So I may have the right shifter worn out, but the left one will look like new!

 

[JoeyMac]

I think I'd like to see some ape hangers on that....

 

[RatRodDad]

Ape hangers would probably look good on it. The only problem would be cable length.

I managed to swap out the mountain bike bars for the cruiser bars and not change any of the cables. So that was a big plus for doing that swap.

Ape hangers would take a little more effort.

 

[user 135]

Nice update. Chrome frames are cool. Maybe remove the gold chain ring guard.

 

[RatRodDad]

Great idea, Cman. That does draw a lot of attention. :lol:

I will have to take a look at it. Hopefully it's just screwed on and not rivited.

 

[user 135]

Looks like rivets. Drill or grind them.

 

[RatRodDad]

I checked and they are rivited together.

No worries. I think I have another one laying around with 2 gears and no guard.

Or what I may do is ditch the front derailer and shifter and just stick a nice looking single sprocket on it and make it a 5 speed.

I usually only use 2 - maybe 3 - gears anyway, so I might as well clean it up even more and get rid of a cable, a derailer, etc.

More pics to follow once I make those changes.

 

[user 135]

Or what I may do is ditch the front derailer and shifter and just stick a nice looking single sprocket on it and make it a 5 speed.
.

Better Idea.

 

[Uncle Stretch]

It looks like to me there is plenty of room for bigger tires . Why not go with a 3 speed internal and a single front sprocket and then some bigger tires . its a cool frame.