MattiThundrrr
Rattus All Terrainus
Use the Force
Felt Heavy Duty
- Thread starter toro1978
- Start date
Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:
To be continued...
So after simply discarding these awful bars, which are from some motorcycle, probably crashed by the look of them, I have this:
A bit cramped though, because of the reach on these. Also the Felt stem doesn't look quite right. The angle doesn't flow at all, too much black color over the headtube, like a cluster of parts...
That's better. I need to use a shim. I am not the biggest fan of shimming handlebars but I figured with that four bolt clamp I can do it.
I probably will just go with the twist shifters on the bars for simplicity.
I also managed to find the clamp for the stem that connects to the rack and I would like to integrate it.
I don't have any idea what to clamp there though. I could of course just insert a piece of bars with reflectors taped to some bar plugs I have.
A bit cramped though, because of the reach on these. Also the Felt stem doesn't look quite right. The angle doesn't flow at all, too much black color over the headtube, like a cluster of parts...
That's better. I need to use a shim. I am not the biggest fan of shimming handlebars but I figured with that four bolt clamp I can do it.
I probably will just go with the twist shifters on the bars for simplicity.
I also managed to find the clamp for the stem that connects to the rack and I would like to integrate it.
I don't have any idea what to clamp there though. I could of course just insert a piece of bars with reflectors taped to some bar plugs I have.
So I could clamp something there. I could have mounted the shifters there, not sure though. I doubt that it will be very user friendly. Trying to shift would probably look like I am scratching my bottom..
Not sure at all what to do with the front. A headlight must be found, I have some, but either too small or too heavy.
I am thinking of a front cowl to be home of the headlight and to optically compensate for the rather big handlebars.
Something like that:
That didn't quite work because the bars I will use are curved. So I will go with this:
This piece of handlebars won't fit second set of bar plugs though, the tubing is too thick so I might have to cut other pieces from thinner bars.
These brackets are 1" so I was cutting narrow shims for them.
In the end I might get pissed with this old nexus shifter which is designed to follow the bars too closely and replace it with a modern one, (which I ironically had, but unintentionally broke when a bike fell).
These are the bars I will use, this eliminates the need for handlebars shims because they are 1" like the stem.
I am not sure whether to strip them. I would rather say yes. On the other hand they go well with the fork, seat and pedals.
I also have the idea to use a pulley to route the derailer cable. The cable must come from the top tube, but my rear brake and the nexus cable run down the down tube.
This piece of handlebars won't fit second set of bar plugs though, the tubing is too thick so I might have to cut other pieces from thinner bars.
These brackets are 1" so I was cutting narrow shims for them.
In the end I might get pissed with this old nexus shifter which is designed to follow the bars too closely and replace it with a modern one, (which I ironically had, but unintentionally broke when a bike fell).
These are the bars I will use, this eliminates the need for handlebars shims because they are 1" like the stem.
I am not sure whether to strip them. I would rather say yes. On the other hand they go well with the fork, seat and pedals.
I also have the idea to use a pulley to route the derailer cable. The cable must come from the top tube, but my rear brake and the nexus cable run down the down tube.
I see you are going through the Imelda Barcos phase of your build trying to decide which bars to use.
At least one of us has to go through this, if the @kingfish254 doesn't...I see you are going through the Imelda Barcos phase of your build trying to decide which bars to use.
I stripped the bars. I am happy to report that the paint was very thin and the whole ordeal was over quickly.
I will see if I can strip them shifter brackets too.
I will see if I can strip them shifter brackets too.
I find the front rather underwhelming.
I want to use this tire combination for a long time, but it looks way too modern for this bike, essentially with the air fork. The smaller front tire would be good on a sleeker and cleaner bike. The brick tread is normally a perfect choice, but here seems a little too tame.
So I will redo the front end.
I am going to use the fork from this Torrek fully:
And since it is just wide enough to accommodate 3" tire I will use the Berm Masters tires again. As you can see this is the build that most parts came from. This is the same crankset, only on the fully I had the small chain ring only.
I stripped most of the the legs and the brace. To finish it I have to go get some more sand paper.
The fully has a short head tube so I don't have too much shaft left for the stem. This one is 50 mm clamp surface and the fork has around 30 mm in this frame. I might sleeve the rest so the stem can be clamped equally or I could go with another stem. I do prefer this one though.
This fork will obviously also make it relatively easy to attach a headlight and perhaps fenders, options that the nice Rock Shox doesn't offer.
Taillight:
I want to use this tire combination for a long time, but it looks way too modern for this bike, essentially with the air fork. The smaller front tire would be good on a sleeker and cleaner bike. The brick tread is normally a perfect choice, but here seems a little too tame.
So I will redo the front end.
I am going to use the fork from this Torrek fully:
And since it is just wide enough to accommodate 3" tire I will use the Berm Masters tires again. As you can see this is the build that most parts came from. This is the same crankset, only on the fully I had the small chain ring only.
I stripped most of the the legs and the brace. To finish it I have to go get some more sand paper.
The fully has a short head tube so I don't have too much shaft left for the stem. This one is 50 mm clamp surface and the fork has around 30 mm in this frame. I might sleeve the rest so the stem can be clamped equally or I could go with another stem. I do prefer this one though.
This fork will obviously also make it relatively easy to attach a headlight and perhaps fenders, options that the nice Rock Shox doesn't offer.
Taillight:
Last edited:
I also have these mirrors:
And I think I can adapt them to use as the sticks.
Basically I need to come up with a collar that I can attach to the shifter and bolt the stick to.
And I think I can adapt them to use as the sticks.
Basically I need to come up with a collar that I can attach to the shifter and bolt the stick to.
I had to go with another stem:
I installed the fork and changed the tires:
I installed the fork and changed the tires:
I tried some ideas. I mounted the headlight but I wasn't happy with the result.
The clamps are a little too far apart so I had to play with the positioning of the shifters' clamps and of the headlight's clamps.
Which does work, but I don't like how far apart the shifters get.
I also don't like how the headlight sits so close to the headtube. I want it to be far at the front to give the bike an illusion of length.
I like the seat hardware washers and the achorn nut inside that stem nut. I won't be using gold nuts, I just didn't find more silver ones.
A full shot:
Front in that version:
However I dare to say that the shifters look much better like this, snuggly on both sides of the stem, behind the bars:
And I also put a piece of handlebars with these plugs in the "rack stem" so that they match the handlebars and the shifters.
The clamps are a little too far apart so I had to play with the positioning of the shifters' clamps and of the headlight's clamps.
Which does work, but I don't like how far apart the shifters get.
I also don't like how the headlight sits so close to the headtube. I want it to be far at the front to give the bike an illusion of length.
I like the seat hardware washers and the achorn nut inside that stem nut. I won't be using gold nuts, I just didn't find more silver ones.
A full shot:
Front in that version:
However I dare to say that the shifters look much better like this, snuggly on both sides of the stem, behind the bars:
And I also put a piece of handlebars with these plugs in the "rack stem" so that they match the handlebars and the shifters.
Last edited:
I really like what you have going on here. With the right finish it could give off a cool post apocalyptic vibe. Maybe it's just me
I like the changes. Those felt berm masters and wheels look great. Looking forward to the shorters handles idea too.
I am not a motorcycle rider, but I love this rat and it has always been a great inspiration:
You might recognize it as Darryl Dixon's second motorcycle on "The walking dead".
It is a Honda 750 if I recall correctly, or was before the build team got to them.
They built two identical bikes with identical patina and ratroted them as Daryl would when the mailman stops showing up. There are "saddle bags", more like frame pouches, quite cool, also crossbow rack behind the seat.
I know it well. I know the guys from Classified Moto that built it
