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

[Bike from the Dead]

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:
View attachment 123739

And I that Western saddle on there!

Thanks! I bought them at a car show last year with this specific idea in mind.
I get what you mean, but the idea with the middle position of the cup holder and the down tube extension is to resemble this style of motorcycle and motorcycle engine:

Also, if I place the cage any lower, the crank hits it. Moving the cup holder cage forward gives me more room to pedal around it. Everything is still early in development, and this will require some significant outside help to fabricate, as I have no tools or skills to do it myself right now. Heck, I might find that I'll have to scrap the idea until a later time. We'll see.

As for the Western Flyer seat, yeah, I like it too, but I'm not sure it's the right one for this build right now. Everything's liable to change, though!

 

[kingfish254]

Catching up on this build.
The Rally nanner looks awesome on there!!!!
I love the industrial light protectors as faux engine cylinders.
I was trying to figure out what in the world that rusty top piece was. AWESOME use of a busted up rust rake.
Keep playing around with the faux engine space. I kinda liked the V-Ttwin look better than the single cylinder.

 

[Brian macumber]

Looks good so far

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Catching up on this build.
The Rally nanner looks awesome on there!!!!
I love the industrial light protectors as faux engine cylinders.
I was trying to figure out what in the world that rusty top piece was. AWESOME use of a busted up rust rake.
Keep playing around with the faux engine space. I kinda liked the V-Ttwin look better than the single cylinder.

Yeah, the Rally seat was nice, but it doesn't fit the look I'm shooting for. I have another bike in mind for it, though.
Thanks!
I might still go with the v-twin look, I'll just have to see.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Looks good so far

Thank you!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Finally have some progress to post! I just dropped off the bike and a few parts at a welders' shop my dad knows. I'm getting the original skip-tooth sprocket and bearing "lid" off the original crank so I can swap a different sprocket on. The rear fender is getting fixed AGAIN, and I should be getting one good fork from 2 bad forks. I have one fork that has the right shape, but a steering tube that's too short, and a Schwinn fork with a perfectly straight and long steering tube, but the fork itself looks like it suffered a high-speed collision! So hopefully, I'll have all those parts fixed so I can make this bike rideable and ready for a shakedown run.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Got my bike and parts back on Wednesday! Unlike last time, everything was actually fixed correctly, save for a few small details that were mostly my fault. Here were the parts that I had my dad’s welder buddies fix for me.

On the rear fender, I had the mounting hole that had been brazened over restored. The guys even smoothed out the top and underside of the fender where there were once globs of brass. I did spot a tiny hole that I don’t remember seeing before, circled below, but since it’ll be hidden when the fender’s bolted on, it’s fine.

The welders were also able to free up the sprocket from the original crank, which might be pointless for reasons I’ll explain later.

The welders also made me one good fork out of the two bad ones I gave them. After looking them over, I noticed that a busted bolt (probably for mounting strut rods or a fender,) was stuck in the bottom. I sent the forks back the next day to have them tap that out. All in all, I spent $67 for all the repairs and modifications I recently had done. I’m confident that I could’ve saved myself a bit of trouble and cash if I had just taken all my stuff to these guys first, instead of having them fix the previous guy’s mistakes.

I then spent about $8 on the grey and orange spray paint/primer. I already had the red oxide primer and gloss black paint at home. Total budget so far: $180.

You know how I said that there were a few small errors on the parts that I had fixed that were mostly my fault? Well, here’s where everything went wrong: My dad said the best time to stop by his welder friends was around 8/8:30am. Sounds reasonable, except that I am not a morning person. Even after a shower and breakfast, I just have a hard time firing on even 7 out of 8 cylinders. So, naturally, I don’t think of everything until after I drop everything off, or in this case, until after I put everything back together. The welder guys did a great job on my fork, but something I didn’t notice right away was that they welded the steering tube on backwards. The little slot on the threaded portion is facing the wrong way, a full 180 degrees from where it should be.

Normally, that wouldn’t matter with just the usual washers, but I want to use this reflector bracket to mount a race number plate. There’s a small nub that would keep the piece pointing straight if the slot on the steering tube was in the right place, but now it won’t fit on the steering tube.

The solution? Make it fit.

At the same time that I found and fixed that problem, I discovered another problem: the threads on the steering tube just barely don’t go down far enough for me to seat the top… bearing cap? Whatever you call that piece, since I couldn’t tighten it down all the way, the fork still sits kind of loose in the frame. Hopefully, the welder guys can fix that for me too. I’ll just have to wait until Monday.

I took the cover off the forks as I still want to put the open fork tubes to use. Also, note how close the tire is to the fork. I might be using forks meant for a 24” wheel, not a 26”! I’ve got about a 1/4” between the tire and fork, which is fine unless I want to mount a strut rod brace or something under the forks. I’ll worry about that later.

Mockup time again! While it doesn’t look too different from last time, I feel like this is a big step in the right direction.

I did a quick “Photochop” to see what the rear fender might look like after I bob it. Idea 1 is to just cut it in line with the seat, whereas Idea 2 would be more triangular. Personally, I’m leaning more towards Idea 2, but what do you think?

I meant to do this earlier, but here are the serial numbers I found on the bike. The first one, 240228, is on the seat pole. The second one, 0 (or O)5EH, is on the bottom bracket. Could anyone help me with IDing this bike please? I don’t know how to identify Hawthornes.

The last thing I did yesterday was mockup some strut rods and the triple handlebar stem idea I have in mind.

So, what’s next?

I need to:
1. fix the fork (again)
2. see how the bike looks with a 24” wheel and tire up front
3. figure out how the crank assemble is supposed to be assembled (because I forgot to take pics when I disassembled it, or
4. try using Schwinn crank parts instead
5. see how much it’d cost for the welder guys to replace the mangled part of the seat pole with a straight piece from a donor frame
6. decide if it’s worth the cost
7. figure out if the additional modifications I want to do to the fork and frame are possible for either me or the welder guys to do, and if so, how much it will cost
8. clean and regrease the bearings
9. test ride the bike once the fork is fixed and once I’ve figured out how to smooth out the crank assembly

More updates hopefully coming soon!

 

[Wildcat]

1950, Snyder reversed the digits. Mine was 24EH, making it a 42.
I vote for no fenders.

 

[Psychographic]

I like the bobbed fender with the point, unfortunately I think it looks to modern for the rest of the bike. I would just bob it with a rounded shape.

 

[OddJob]

Either go fenderless, or the bobbed rear (and maybe a short front one too?). I would keep the 26er wheels front and back. It fits the style of your build.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

1950, Snyder reversed the digits. Mine was 24EH, making it a 42.
I vote for no fenders.
View attachment 127779

Thanks! Your Snyder looks great without fenders, but I'm going to keep the rear one on, just bobbed.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I like the bobbed fender with the point, unfortunately I think it looks to modern for the rest of the bike. I would just bob it with a rounded shape.

Yeah, that's something I was thinking about too. I still have time to decide on how I'll bob it. I just need to finish the digital mockup I've been working on.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Either go fenderless, or the bobbed rear (and maybe a short front one too?). I would keep the 26er wheels front and back. It fits the style of your build.

I'm pretty much committed to having the rear fender bobbed. I might be able to make a front fender from the part I cut off, but I'm not sure I want a front fender right now. As for the wheels, I'm still playing around with my options.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Did some more figuring today. I mocked up the 24" wheel I have, and I think I like it better than the 26". It seems to have the same amount of space between it and the down bar as the rear tire has between it and the seat pole. I won't be using the mountain bike tire, but the tube at least holds air. I had originally planned to stick with a 1920s board track racer-inspired look, but the rear downward swoop of the tank space gives me an Orange County Choppers vibe. Combine that with the slight rake provided by the 24" wheel up front, and I think I may be going in a slightly different direction than before. I still want the end result to look mellow, but I think I like the slightly aggressive stance more than before.

Another new idea, well, sort of: Remember how I wanted to add racing number plates to the bike? Well, Dad had all these halo lights he got from a Sonic drive-in years ago sitting behind the detached garage, and I figured the moon-disc shape would be a cool touch. Thankfully, Dad said I could use them. If these were just a few inches wider, I would've tried to make some Moon Eyes wheel covers out of these, but they aren't big enough, sadly. What's nice about them is that they already have a way for me to mount them to the axles or the bracket under the handlebars. I just need to trim them down to the radius I want.

I did a quick Photoshop mockup of the diamond shape I'm thinking of making the tank.

And to further stick with the diamond motif I'm going for, I plan to use these pedals with this nice diamond design on the side. I need to bend one of them back into shape, but the big question is how I clean up and regrease the bearings...

I'm going to try to get a couple digital mockups of the completed bike done for you guys to see, but I might not get it done today with the July 4th holiday going on right now.

 

[kingfish254]

This is shaping up nicely. I like the idea of the scalloped bobbed fender. I would extend it just a little farther back so that maybe the point is over the axle.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

This is shaping up nicely. I like the idea of the scalloped bobbed fender. I would extend it just a little farther back so that maybe the point is over the axle.

Thanks Kingfish! I might just try that.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Finally have some digital mockups to share, and while they aren't completely done, They've got me fully amped up to get this bike done! I'm going to try breaking this build down into stages to avoid burnout and to allow room for the possibility of not getting everything done the way I want before September 1st. Right now, I'm at that stage where I'm just trying to make the bike rideable so I can see if there's anything mechanical I need to adjust.

This is the next stage: bobbing the fender, stripping the bike of paint and rust, smoothing out the dents and dings, and painting all the base parts.

Once that's done, I'll make the tank out of wood. It will look like a diamond when viewed from above. While I haven't drawn it yet, I may also build the part that goes between the rear fender and seat pole at this stage. I still don't know what sort of paint design I want to add to the tank, if any.

After I've made the tank(s), I'll have the welder guys cut the halo light pieces to the size I want, and paint the numbers on using decals as a mask.

Next (or at the same time as the number plates, I don't know,) I'll turn some conduit into the new false down bar, which will mount over the existing frame, rather than replace the existing down bar. The trick is that the fake engine/secret cup holders will hide the original down bar, making the frame look lower than it actually is.

As for the fake engine/ secret cup holders, I still have yet to figure out how that's all going to go together. I want to make as much of the engine as possible, so I don't have to outsource as much of the work to the welder guys. That means most of the engine will probably be made out of scrap wood. Thing is, I don't want the condensation from cold water bottles pooling inside the cup holders and seeping into the wood. So I need to figure out a way to drain excess condensation from the false engine.

There are also the matters of figuring out:
...how to hinge the cylinders and keep them from tilting too far
...a means of locking the cylinders in place when I'm riding (I'm thinking tool box latches)
...how to make the cylinders longer to allow more room for drinks
...how the lids attach and open up for hydration access
...and how big to make the exhaust pipes and how to mount them.

I'm actively trying to figure that all out, but I think I'll just worry about that and a few other details when I get to that stage.

So, what do you think? As always, all feedback and critique is welcome!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I think it looks cool. Not sure how the diamond shaped tank would work out, with that curve in it. Can't wait to see how you work it out

 

[BobbyStillz]

Got my bike and parts back on Wednesday! Unlike last time, everything was actually fixed correctly, save for a few small details that were mostly my fault. Here were the parts that I had my dad’s welder buddies fix for me.
View attachment 127728

On the rear fender, I had the mounting hole that had been brazened over restored. The guys even smoothed out the top and underside of the fender where there were once globs of brass. I did spot a tiny hole that I don’t remember seeing before, circled below, but since it’ll be hidden when the fender’s bolted on, it’s fine.
View attachment 127729View attachment 127730

The welders were also able to free up the sprocket from the original crank, which might be pointless for reasons I’ll explain later.
View attachment 127731

The welders also made me one good fork out of the two bad ones I gave them. After looking them over, I noticed that a busted bolt (probably for mounting strut rods or a fender,) was stuck in the bottom. I sent the forks back the next day to have them tap that out. All in all, I spent $67 for all the repairs and modifications I recently had done. I’m confident that I could’ve saved myself a bit of trouble and cash if I had just taken all my stuff to these guys first, instead of having them fix the previous guy’s mistakes.
View attachment 127732

I then spent about $8 on the grey and orange spray paint/primer. I already had the red oxide primer and gloss black paint at home. Total budget so far: $180.
View attachment 127733

You know how I said that there were a few small errors on the parts that I had fixed that were mostly my fault? Well, here’s where everything went wrong: My dad said the best time to stop by his welder friends was around 8/8:30am. Sounds reasonable, except that I am not a morning person. Even after a shower and breakfast, I just have a hard time firing on even 7 out of 8 cylinders. So, naturally, I don’t think of everything until after I drop everything off, or in this case, until after I put everything back together. The welder guys did a great job on my fork, but something I didn’t notice right away was that they welded the steering tube on backwards. The little slot on the threaded portion is facing the wrong way, a full 180 degrees from where it should be.
View attachment 127734

Normally, that wouldn’t matter with just the usual washers, but I want to use this reflector bracket to mount a race number plate. There’s a small nub that would keep the piece pointing straight if the slot on the steering tube was in the right place, but now it won’t fit on the steering tube.
View attachment 127735

The solution? Make it fit.
View attachment 127736

At the same time that I found and fixed that problem, I discovered another problem: the threads on the steering tube just barely don’t go down far enough for me to seat the top… bearing cap? Whatever you call that piece, since I couldn’t tighten it down all the way, the fork still sits kind of loose in the frame. Hopefully, the welder guys can fix that for me too. I’ll just have to wait until Monday.
View attachment 127737

I took the cover off the forks as I still want to put the open fork tubes to use. Also, note how close the tire is to the fork. I might be using forks meant for a 24” wheel, not a 26”! I’ve got about a 1/4” between the tire and fork, which is fine unless I want to mount a strut rod brace or something under the forks. I’ll worry about that later.
View attachment 127738

Mockup time again! While it doesn’t look too different from last time, I feel like this is a big step in the right direction.
View attachment 127739View attachment 127742View attachment 127743

I did a quick “Photochop” to see what the rear fender might look like after I bob it. Idea 1 is to just cut it in line with the seat, whereas Idea 2 would be more triangular. Personally, I’m leaning more towards Idea 2, but what do you think?
View attachment 127740View attachment 127741

I meant to do this earlier, but here are the serial numbers I found on the bike. The first one, 240228, is on the seat pole. The second one, 0 (or O)5EH, is on the bottom bracket. Could anyone help me with IDing this bike please? I don’t know how to identify Hawthornes.
View attachment 127744View attachment 127745

The last thing I did yesterday was mockup some strut rods and the triple handlebar stem idea I have in mind.
View attachment 127746View attachment 127747View attachment 127748
So, what’s next?

I need to:
1. fix the fork (again)
2. see how the bike looks with a 24” wheel and tire up front
3. figure out how the crank assemble is supposed to be assembled (because I forgot to take pics when I disassembled it, or
4. try using Schwinn crank parts instead
5. see how much it’d cost for the welder guys to replace the mangled part of the seat pole with a straight piece from a donor frame
6. decide if it’s worth the cost
7. figure out if the additional modifications I want to do to the fork and frame are possible for either me or the welder guys to do, and if so, how much it will cost
8. clean and regrease the bearings
9. test ride the bike once the fork is fixed and once I’ve figured out how to smooth out the crank assembly

More updates hopefully coming soon!

As has been said 1950 Snyder. Mine is 05 as well.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Lots of twists and turns in just four pages! Just catching up.

I wasn't sure if I would like the 24' on front but I like how it gives the bike an aggressive stubby look. Kinda like a bull dog!

All of the digital mockups look good. Nice layout on the paint graphics! For me I like it sans faux engine. Looks great without the extra fuss. Just my 2 cents though, build what makes you happy!