Death Trap

[us56456712]

We finished, the welds held. Painting is next.

 

[us56456712]

I finally started to take the bike apart. I need to get the frame bare. I’ve been busy riding, avoiding my many bike projects.

 

[Pondo]

This is a fantastic build. I'm planning to build my own tribute Breezer someday. I really like the work you've done on this one and the utilization of stuff you have on hand. Looking forward to future progress. Great job!

 

[us56456712]

This is a fantastic build. I'm planning to build my own tribute Breezer someday. I really like the work you've done on this one and the utilization of stuff you have on hand. Looking forward to future progress. Great job!

Just to let you know, it was a COVID project and much more difficult than I anticipated. Plus, it’s a heavy bike and geared too high for anything except 40 mile gravel rides. I took it to the local bike hang out brew pub on a Friday evening when it was so busy the bike racks were full and the parking lot was packed with vehicles with bikes on the back. Apparently no one knows what this bike represents because it didn’t get a second look. When I bring my 70s Peugeot road bike there, I get a crowd of mountain bikers admiring it. Don’t expect anyone to have a clue about your Breezer clone. It’s sad that almost no one has a clue about the origin of their sport.

 

[Pondo]

Just to let you know, it was a COVID project and much more difficult than I anticipated. Plus, it’s a heavy bike and geared too high for anything except 40 mile gravel rides. I took it to the local bike hang out brew pub on a Friday evening when it was so busy the bike racks were full and the parking lot was packed with vehicles with bikes on the back. Apparently no one knows what this bike represents because it didn’t get a second look. When I bring my 70s Peugeot road bike there, I get a crowd of mountain bikers admiring it. Don’t expect anyone to have a clue about your Breezer clone. It’s sad that almost no one has a clue about the origin of their sport.

If I ever get around to it. It would just be for a fun project plus I would like to practice brazing. Those first Breeze bikes are so cool. I checked one out at the mountain bike museum in Fairfax a few weeks ago. Joe Breeze's wife gave me some info on the klunkers and I think she said the Breezer that's currently in there was Wendy Cragg's. At any rate, they are super cool and rare and I can't afford to spend $30,000 on one so I might try to build a tribute. Although, if you ever want to sell yours... Keep up the good work!!

 

[us56456712]

If I ever get around to it. It would just be for a fun project plus I would like to practice brazing. Those first Breeze bikes are so cool. I checked one out at the mountain bike museum in Fairfax a few weeks ago. Joe Breeze's wife gave me some info on the klunkers and I think she said the Breezer that's currently in there was Wendy Cragg's. At any rate, they are super cool and rare and I can't afford to spend $30,000 on one so I might try to build a tribute. Although, if you ever want to sell yours... Keep up the good work!!

Brazing is probably the way to go. I did some brazing on this frame but couldn’t get it to flow all around the joints. You need tight fitting joints. I probably couldn’t get it hot enough when I tried it last winter. Silver brazing uses less heat. I used almost all stick and mig welding on heavy mild steel, no talent required.

 

[us56456712]

Uf da, there is a lot of sanding to do and some weld splatter that needs filing off. It’s easier on the body to do the finish work when it’s shoulder high In this bike work stand. I had to quit as I can only work an hour before my arthritic hands and neck scream stop.

 

[Karate Chicken Industries]

History and the current clueless are funny things. I saw a steel Moots soft tail bike at a crowded trailhead one day around 2000 and asked the owner about it. Turns out it was the first Moots soft tail and was built by Erikson for the owner (Steve, is all I remember about the owner's name) to ride around the World on. I asked if anyone else had asked him about the bike and he said nobody had. His wife took a photo of me with the bike, got my address and sent it to me. It's buried somewhere in my photo collections, but I still have it. The good part of all this phenomenon of cluelessness is that we get to pick up gems like this and even of lesser importance on the cheap and carry on their legacy properly for those who appreciate history.

 

[us56456712]

I got the weld splatter off the frame. Most of it easily chipped right off by the rough teeth of a body file. Around the head tube, where the laterals are welded in place, I had to use a hack saw on the splatter. It’s too tight to get a file in there. It’s pretty close to ready for 2K filler primer. We’ve had company so I haven’t been able to work on it until this afternoon. It’s a question of how nice do you want to do the prep on such a piece of junk.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I'd hit that

 

[us56456712]

View attachment 167230
I'd hit that

I shot a light cover coat today.

Disappointed about how many scratches and lumps show. Now I have to decide if good enough is perfect, or do I need to so some more smoothing. I really am getting tired of sanding and filing.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Yeah that's a lot of tubes and joints. And from the sound of its reception, thankless work. Tough decision, I wouldn't fault you for leaving it as is.

 

[us56456712]

The filler primer and base coat are drying.

I put up my paint booth. It was windy.

 

[us56456712]

A lot of tubes, joints and sanding.

 

[us56456712]

It’s been cold and almost constant rain. 50s and north winds. The leaves are falling. I painted Death Trap with 2K and it’s still tacky after 24 hours. I should be able to finish the paint before it gets permanently cold.

 

[Captain Awesome]

It’s been cold and almost constant rain. 50s and north winds. The leaves are falling. I painted Death Trap with 2K and it’s still tacky after 24 hours. I should be able to finish the paint before it gets permanently cold.View attachment 172590View attachment 172591

I don't envy the cold







However, those Triumphs are HOT. Details please unless of course they're in the motorcycle thread already

 

[us56456712]

Both are tr6 C models. 1957 and 1967. The 67 I bought new and raced back then. My two kids can fight over who gets which one.

 

[us56456712]

I’m off to be a race volunteer. I hope to be back by 3 pm today so I can shoot the silver on the frame, but rain is predicted for this pm. I got the fork base coat on.

 

[us56456712]

The rain held off. A week drying if its warm will allow me to shoot 2K clear. Then decals held on with epoxy, then a second clear. A real pos frame, but now I’m bragging. Joe didn’t have Breezer decals when he built these bikes. After he had a logo and decals he would put them on whenever he saw one. Very few (perhaps one or two) escaped having the Breezer decals placed on them, at least that is what I read on the net, but half that is fake made up stuff so who really knows.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

You cleaned it up pretty nice, boss. That's a lot of welds to deal with!