Girthy Gerty

[Frankie plekhand]

Thanks! I really wasn't sure they'd fit, but there's plenty of room still

I told my wife i was going low budget but seeing this makes me regret that decision

 

[LeMad Hatter]

I told my wife i was going low budget but seeing this makes me regret that decision

The rim hoops themselves weren't too bad. I special ordered them from Germany for around $160, shipped. I haven't found anyone stateside with any 80mm rims in stock for years. You might just have to convince her to go on a ramen noodle diet for a week or two

 

[Frankie plekhand]

The rim hoops themselves weren't too bad. I special ordered them from Germany for around $160, shipped. I haven't found anyone stateside with any 80mm rims in stock for years. You might just have to convince her to go on a ramen noodle diet for a week or two

If i say 100 bucks she's like whaat haha, i'll try to find some second hand and then say what they normally cost and convince her it's a steal. Same message, just packed with a better story

 

[LeMad Hatter]

In still related news, my leather sampler just arrived, so I just have to figure out which goes where, and if I have enough to do what I want

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Got the tires mounted today, and I'm really happy with how they look on 80mm rims. Just the right amount of beefyness

Also dug the rest of the parts I need from the junk pile. I believe this is a early 50s 24 inch JC Higgins that I bought last year just for the hub parts.

The crazy thing is, this fat 26 inch wheel *just about* fits on the 24" fork.

The plan is to cut the dropouts off the Springer and weld them onto the blade fork. I'm going to torch the top of the blade fork to get a little more tire clearance, and it'll gain height from the new dropouts. I'm going to cut it at the red line, which will give about 2 inches of room to play with. This marriage will take a while, because I will have to do maths. Which I hate. But good geometry beats a tire rubbing and binding around a corner.

I also just realized that a new rocker has to be made. Was looking up on the Google machine and found a good example. So I'm going to try to match the geometry

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Both bikes have the same diameter solid steel lay back seat posts, so I'll use whichever one is better

The Higgins also has a bunch of other stuff, like really good free moving pedals with bolt on blocks, a better stem, and most importantly, the rest of my skip tooth chain

 

[LeMad Hatter]

And now we get to the meat and potatoes of my madness. Although I really like the flow of this frame, there's just something in me that always wants to change things. So I'm going to stretch the wheelbase by 7-8" and lower the frame by 3-4". Rather than my usual go to of hacking the rear triangle off another bike and slapping it on, I'm going to go the other way and custom fabricate the extension from 10 gauge steel plate using nothing more than an angle grinder and a drill. As always, the frame will remain undamaged, and nothing will be welded to the frame

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Now that I know how the rear tire is going to sit, I can get started on the cargo rack. Found this 1924 Michigan license plate and instantly noticed that it's as long and narrow as most bike racks.

So I set it on the bike tonight and it's definitely staying.

At another shop I found half of a boats bow light and thought it would make an interesting taillight.

This side should have a green lens

Two days later, I randomly found this ceiling fan glass holder.

Lo and behold, it fits perfectly in the boat light bezel

Now to figure out some steam punk method of powering the light

 

[SwissGuy]

Now that I know how the rear tire is going to sit, I can get started on the cargo rack. Found this 1924 Michigan license plate and instantly noticed that it's as long and narrow as most bike racks.
View attachment 193468
So I set it on the bike tonight and it's definitely staying.
View attachment 193469View attachment 193470
At another shop I found half of a boats bow light and thought it would make an interesting taillight.
View attachment 193471
This side should have a green lens
View attachment 193472
Two days later, I randomly found this ceiling fan glass holder.
View attachment 193473Lo and behold, it fits perfectly in the boat light bezelView attachment 193474View attachment 193475
Now to figure out some steam punk method of powering the light

Most of the times I use a 9V block, a little flip switch and 12V LED. Not too bright, but still enough to be seen and you can most probably fit all components into the light housing.

 

[OddJob]

You guys are way beyond me when it comes to power for lights. I mostly use mini-flashlights inside of tractor or boat or beer can bezel trumpet mute light housings. Or closet LED chain pull lights.
Really dig the boat light, LM Hatter ! And those extensions..... RaT oN~!

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Arts and crafts time. Made a paper template first, then once it fit, transferred it to metal

And just like that, accidental ice picks

I'm pretty happy with how it fits, and the stance is just killer. Still have to fab a brake bridge for extra stability, and I'm going to round over the edges with a hammer to give it extra strength

 

[LeMad Hatter]

I wanted to run this Monark Deluxe guard because it perfectly matches the patina, but it doesn't gel with the flow.

Dug out the Western Flyer guard I intended for my Huffy El Dorado build, but it fits this bike *just* a little bit better

 

[LeMad Hatter]

It's a little more tame than my Full Monty build two years ago, but it looks beefy and robust

 

[ingola]

Most of the times I use a 9V block, a little flip switch and 12V LED. Not too bright, but still enough to be seen and you can most probably fit all components into the light housing.

I've used a frame pump to house the battery for both lights. With switch saves having to cram stuff in lights saves on shorts and both lights will power on at the same time. And the pump looks like it should be there.

 

[LeMad Hatter]

I've used a frame pump to house the battery for both lights. With switch saves having to cram stuff in lights saves on shorts and both lights will power on at the same time. And the pump looks like it should be there.

That's a good idea

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Don't get a fendered, but these fenders are giving me feelings

Then I added the license plate rack... Perfection!

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Now to work on fabbing a low profile rear rack mount and possibly tying in the whole rear fender. Those cheapy Walmart Huffy fender struts can barely hold the weight of that 22ga. fender, and are almost as stable as a blade of tall grass in a hurricane. Clearance (Clarence) is gonna be tight, so jiggly fenders won't fly

 

[Wildcat]

Arts and crafts time. Made a paper template first, then once it fit, transferred it to metalView attachment 193518View attachment 193519View attachment 193520And just like that, accidental ice picksView attachment 193521I'm pretty happy with how it fits, and the stance is just killer. Still have to fab a brake bridge for extra stability, and I'm going to round over the edges with a hammer to give it extra strengthView attachment 193522View attachment 193523View attachment 193524View attachment 193525

Looking good! Maybe you could use a piece of pipe as a base to round it as you hammer on it.

 

[LeMad Hatter]

Looking good! Maybe you could use a piece of pipe as a base to round it as you hammer on it.

I've got a few sizes of solid steel rod I'm going to try. Not sure what diameter will work best yet, but it'll get there soon enough

 

[OddJob]

I have made a bunch of fender brackets from 1/8" thick x 1/2" wide steel stock. Bends in a vise,holds it's shape, supports weight, drills and cuts relatively easily, and takes on a faux-tina like nobody's business.

Diggin' the stance!