BO15 Dumpster Diamond (Formerly "First Ever Build Off with a Postwar Hawthorne")

[toro1978]

I am sorry to hear for the "repairs". I have met such clueless and deprived of any real talent "professionals", and what amazes me every time is how offended they usually are when you point it out. They usually say "What?! I've been doing this job for 20 years..." like time could somehow turn crap into gold.

I like the speedo, I would say it is a must when you go for the moto look. I think it mostly boils down to find the perfect position where it would look best. Great idea with the v-engine mock up and the forks idea is cool too, I am curious how it would turn out.

 

[Starnger]

Sorry to hear you had to go through this. My past experience with trusting my bike to someone taught me to always do it myself This saves not only time and money, but also leaves you more belief in humanity

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I am sorry to hear for the "repairs". I have met such clueless and deprived of any real talent "professionals", and what amazes me every time is how offended they usually are when you point it out. They usually say "What?! I've been doing this job for 20 years..." like time could somehow turn crap into gold.

I like the speedo, I would say it is a must when you go for the moto look. I think it mostly boils down to find the perfect position where it would look best. Great idea with the v-engine mock up and the forks idea is cool too, I am curious how it would turn out.

Thanks Toro. It stinks when it happens. That's practically what happened with this guy yesterday.

Thanks! I just have to play around with the speedo, and I'm eager to figure out both the engine and forks soon.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Sorry to hear you had to go through this. My past experience with trusting my bike to someone taught me to always do it myself This saves not only time and money, but also leaves you more belief in humanity

Thanks Starnger. I'd love to be able to do all my repair work myself, but unfortunately, I lack the skills and tools needed to make it happen.

 

[Starnger]

Thanks Starnger. I'd love to be able to do all my repair work myself, but unfortunately, I lack the skills and tools needed to make it happen.

I used to lack the skill too. But i still prefer to trash my bike parts by myself then let someone else to do that Later with try and error i have gained some of the skill needed.

 

[SkyknightJohn]

The mockups look great!

As everybody else has said, sorry to hear about the work "fixes." I also had an experience like that, which is how I started slowly building my tool box with stuff you think you'd only use once, and sometimes expensive, but once you have them, you wonder how you lived without them. And skills can be learned. I bought a small, relatively inexpensive TIG welder and watched a ton of youtube. It can be done.

Hang in there and keep up the good work!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

The mockups look great!

As everybody else has said, sorry to hear about the work "fixes." I also had an experience like that, which is how I started slowly building my tool box with stuff you think you'd only use once, and sometimes expensive, but once you have them, you wonder how you lived without them. And skills can be learned. I bought a small, relatively inexpensive TIG welder and watched a ton of youtube. It can be done.

Hang in there and keep up the good work!

Thanks SkyNightJohn. I should ask around to see what sort of tools I should save up for to help fix my own bike parts. I might not be able to get everything right now, but if I can make a prioritized list, that could really help in the long run.

I will, thanks!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Just came up with this idea for my fork modifications earlier today. I'd love to do this for my build, but what I want to know is if this would move me to Class 2 because the forks wouldn't technically be "stock." What do you guys think?

 

[SkyknightJohn]

Very minor modifications are acceptable like adding brackets, grinding off tabs, etc.

Sounds like the fork mods are fine class 1 to me, especially since you’re planning on making it all reversible.

As for tools, I just went with what I needed at the time, with the budget-friendly plan of “One fancy tool a year.” Sometimes I cheated, but no need to buy a bike shop all at once.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Sounds like the fork mods are fine class 1 to me, especially since you’re planning on making it all reversible.

As for tools, I just went with what I needed at the time, with the budget-friendly plan of “One fancy tool a year.” Sometimes I cheated, but no need to buy a bike shop all at once.

Awesome! Thanks.

Sound plan, but the problem is I don't even what tools I need, or what they're even called for that matter.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Here's the sort of paint scheme I'm thinking of using for my bike. Pretend this is the top view of the top bar of the frame.

 

[sdframe]

You already have lots of ideas, creativity and enthusiasm. Skills will surely follow. Just keep listening to these guys.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

You already have lots of ideas, creativity and enthusiasm. Skills will surely follow. Just keep listening to these guys.

Well thanks Sdframe! That's the whole reason I'm here: to learn more about bikes and how to work on them!

 

[kingfish254]

Fork mods are never an issue as far as the rules for Class 1 are concerned. I wouldn't be concerned about making sure the work is reversible either (unless it was some rare fork to begin with). Your build is looking great.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Fork mods are never an issue as far as the rules for Class 1 are concerned. I wouldn't be concerned about making sure the work is reversible either (unless it was some rare fork to begin with). Your build is looking great.

Thanks Kingfish!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Don't have a ton of progress to report for these past few days, but I am currently working on a digital mockup of my bike in Adobe Illustrator.

Also, I finally came up with a name for my RRBBO15 entry: A Diamond in Rough Shape. This is due to both the as found (and later, "fixed") condition of the bike, as well as the diamond design I found while sanding off the layers of paint.

More updates on the way, hopefully soon.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Got the few remaining parts I need to make my Hawthorne rideable, thanks to one of my resources out in Oklahoma City.

I got 2 sissy bars, the "shims" (not sure what you call them) that hold the narrow layback seat post into the frame, and a chain guard all for $25. That puts the total amount spent up to $105 so far.

I should have more photos ready sometime tomorrow.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Finally made some progress this weekend! Since it's already midnight, and I'm too tired to type a 500 word essay, I'll just settle for captioning the many photos I have to share tonight. So here we go!

The parts I bought last Wednesday: 2 sissy bars, 1 chain guard, and a pair of seat post "shims."

Saturday was spent trimming the shims to proper fitment, and mocking up parts. After finally seeing the banana seat and sissy bar mocked up on the bike, I decided it just wasn't the right seat choice for the bike. I'll just save those parts for one of my other projects. Here's all the mockup pics from Saturday.

Test fitting engine/cup holder pieces. Found that I had room to fit the big light cage, so I'm going single-cylinder at this time. Also found another set of handlebars that I like better.

Robbed the quick-release seat clamp off the freebie bike. Thought it would be more convenient than using a wrench to tighten/loosen the seat clamp. It isn't.

More mockups from Sunday. Tried 2 other seats. I liked how low this seat sat, but it looked just a little too new for the bike, despite the Western Flyer badging on the sides.

Seat 2 sat a little higher, but it looked more true to the board track racer vibe I was aiming for, and the springs fill the gap above the fender better. It's also a bit more comfortable that the other seat.

Figuring out the engine/cup holder and frame extension.

Went back to using the original bolt and nut for the seat clamp. Also seat close-up.

And yes, that's part of a rusty rake I'm using for the fake fuel/electrical lines.

QuikTrip cup test: easy to get into the cup holder, but next to impossible to remove without the sides of the cylinder being left open. Fail.

Cup holder test 2: coffee mug. Easy to get out thanks to narrower diameter. Still a lot left to figure out with this whole idea....

 

[OddJob]

Those light cage cages are awesome! What a novel idea!
I like the 'natural position' for the light cage in this photo. It doesn't take away from your swooping down tube, and your mocked up 'middle position' just doesn't have the look, to me.

I would maybe move it lower, just an inch maybe, and if you cut one of the section bars out at the top (probably on the non-drive side for appearances) then you would have a bit of an angle to work with in sliding a larger cup / bottle in there.

Here's my crude 'Paint' mock-up of what I mean:

 

[OddJob]

And I that Western saddle on there!