Fat Frank

[flea888]

Hey Guys! Inspired upon seeing a lot of bikes built here, I decided to build my own.

Made some sketches then I had some tubes bent and went to a local welder.

So after a few flat black spray cans, here it is.

Can't possibly have a rigida rim for my rear, you will not find it here in the Philippines! So we just thought
of having 3 rims welded together. 3 interior tubes, 1 exterior. I hope the Summit 26x2.30 tires would hold up!

I plan to have a nice paint job for it... I like the theme of this Felt taxi bike. What do you guys think?

Hmm.. was thinking I could have the checkered flag on the rear rim? Also a stick shift. Will post it once it done

 

[bits n pieces]

very ratty! fat frank is phat! that is a awesome looking frame.how did you measure it out and bend the tubes?

 

[thesuicideride]

SWEET STRECHHH! i like the complete flat black. the felt taxi pick didnt show soo...dang. looks awsome man. good job! i stopped in manila for a bit. i lived in pattaya, thailand for about three months doin tattoos. those street pic make me miss south east asia =(

 

[Rat Rod]

Wow...that's an impressive frame!

Great work on that.

The bike looks pretty mean.

 

[iRide Custom Bicycles]

Very cool!

 

[ohchusan]

.... love that all-flatt vibe.

did you get your inspiration from firebikes?
btw, was it difficult to weld 3 rims and not loose alignment?

 

[Flame Jigger]

Cool bike. It reminds me of a firebike and a GT roadster.

 

[flea888]

very ratty! fat frank is phat! that is a awesome looking frame.how did you measure it out and bend the tubes?

made some preliminary drawings with adobe illustrator, printed it then we scaled it and drew a life-size sketch of the frame. Here in our town there are
some shops that has steel tube bending machines. So me and my buds just brought it the tubes and the sketch to the bending shop and had the tubes
bent like the actual sketch.

 

[flea888]

.... love that all-flatt vibe.

did you get your inspiration from firebikes?
btw, was it difficult to weld 3 rims and not loose alignment?

yeah, a lot of inspiration from firebikes and the GT Roadster. Kind of mixed the design. It isn't finished yet, the flat black you see has no primary coating beneath hehe.
There was a bike show in our town and we just had one heck of a night trying to finish the welds and made it as an entry for the show. Placed 1st Runner-up overall (bec. of the poor paintjob)
I'm really digging the Taxi theme I saw from Felt. Will just make some tweaks with the design so as not to imitate it too well. The yellow orange just blows you away right?

As for the 3 rims, was not that difficult to weld. Just spot-weld it strategically, alternate spots on one side then on the opposite side so on and so forth..
The problem is the tires that I used are only 26 x 2.30... the 3.0 tires are not available here in our country. So I'm still waiting for someone to maybe purchase it abroad then will bring it here.
No rigidas, no 3.0 tires. So we just improvised. I think it's a first here in the country, because a lot of bicycle hobbyists here builds lowriders and restores japanese bikes.
So I'm praying for a little luck right now :roll:

 

[tartosuc]

.... love that all-flatt vibe.

d
The problem is the tires that I used are only 26 x 2.30... the 3.0 tires are not available here in our country. So I'm still waiting for someone to maybe purchase it abroad then will bring it here.

So I'm praying for a little luck right now :roll:

I think you should stick with the 2.30...it really makes it interresting and unique looking.

 

[texasbigjon]

flame jigger nailed that one! it is half dyno roadster/half firebike! looks like a lil more stretch. i like it! :mrgreen:

 

[PINOYRATRODDER]

Finally! RATBIKES is alive here!!!! KOOL build,Bro kaw ba si Xrstian? Heard about you fr mang jay, I have also been doing some ratbikes few years ago. sana dumami pa mga ratrodbiker sa Pinas!

 

[flea888]

Hey bro! Yeah, i'm Christian. philippines HAS to be represented here of course! RATatatatat! Can you post some of your works if you have pics? Where you from?

I've updated the frame, made some more mods..

We lowered the frame down

- replaced chain ring
- replaced the rear hub with a Sachs Spectro 5-speed coaster hub and drilled additional holes to make it a 72-spoked rear wheel set (it was previously a Sachs Torpedo
3-speed coaster hub, but we thought of making the rear wheel set have 72spokes and we couldn't drill new holes on the hub so we replaced it)
- added new suicide shifter (no pics yet)
- bought some new tires (Specialized Rhythm 26 x 2.35)
- new torpedo handle grips
- new block pedals
- new felt black classic saddle with yellow piping
- new headpost (found a bmx headpost that has more muscle)
- bought second hand 3pc. Haro cranks
- made a new side stand (i know it will add weight but it's hard when you don't have a stand, and I don't want to stand it using the left pedal because it will surely damage it)
- lastly welded 3 aluminum rims for a new set of rear rims (to lighten the rear a bit.)

Just went to the shop yesterday and brought in the parts for the paint job. Corn yellow for the frame, and the rest would be black. I'm really diggin' the taxi theme so i'm going for it :mrgreen:
Tomorrow I'll be off going to bring the other parts for powder coating. Time frame would be 1-2 weeks. Wish me luck people.

 

[flea888]

Do you guys think that the rear rim should be covered with checkered flag? The rear rim is 3rims welded into 1, the spokes only occupies the 2 rims and we had the holes of the outer rim covered.
So i was thinking what would be best, placing the checkered flag only on the outer rim or I should cover the whole 3 rims with the checkered flag (which I know was done by allridestyle already).
I have a couple of days to think about this and was hoping you guys can help me out. :roll:

 

[Flame Jigger]

I say cover all 3 rims with the checkered flag. Either way will be cool. I think the taxi theme will look great. Can't wait to see it finished.

 

[insomniacshotrods]

WOW! Great bike and what a chore to create, very nice fabrication skills. Keep up the great work.

 

[theVULTURE]

wow! great work! :mrgreen:

i could stare at that rear rim for hours.......................... :shock:

i really dig the new changes too.

 

[mmbackpacker]

Don't like it.






































LOVE IT!

 

[BrigmasterA]

Dude that thing is sick!

 

[flea888]

thanks everyone. just went to the painter, and fortunately there has been some development. maybe another 3days more and it's good to go. man, can't wait! :mrgreen: