"GULF SWING" Fat tire Swingbike build! As done as it is gunna be!

[LukeTheJoker]

Well, there goes my big finish off the welding and grinding day:

"Tomorrow, Sat, 28 Dec 2013 has been declared a day of Total Fire Ban in the Northern Country fire district. Fire Danger Rating Extreme Bureau of Meteorology forecast issued at: Fri, 27 Dec 2013 04:00 PM"

Means I have to move all my welding and grinding to Sunday, paint and prime Monday and Tuesday and do all the assembly, pics and videos on the Wednesday... Not much time for paint drying in there...

Going down to the wire to do it, paying the price for wasting those first two weeks deciding what to build! I may just pull the plug and not rush it, it is too cool a bike to risk spoiling by rushing the last pieces together. I honestly feel this is my best bike to date and easily the coolest bike I have ever owned...

Luke.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

On a more positive note, found a nice Malvern Star "5 Star" cast steel stem that is at least 50 years old in my bike pile, was on a 22" ladies bike I got for parts a while back for all of $5... Cleaned up nice and the Bratz ape-hangers cleaned up far better than expected too!

Luke.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Big day welding and grinding today! I set out to get the seat mounts moved and finished, the rear wheel brake calliper mounts done, some sort of kick stand arrangement, cable guides fitted and all the welds ground down and cleaned up ready for paint prep.

As the day went on it became apparent that not all of that was going to happen, so I set my sights on everything except the clean up, however as the day went further along my health issues kicked in and I started moving slower and slower and just ran out of light in the end, everything done except for the cable guides, which is probably a good thing as while I was reassembling I realised they could quite easily be routed through the frame and look very nice...

Here are some pics from today, starting with the much widened kickstand brace:

With the kickstand mounted:

Finished welding on the swing brake mount:

Sorry for the darkness of these last few pics, was past 9 p.m. by this point, rear wheel brake mount done:

Seat moved back and mounts finished:

Bike as it currently stands:

I have to admit, I was doubtful of how well it would work with the kickstand, the back end is very heavy and the front end is comparitivly extremely light, so I thought it would spin sideways and fall over, thinking I would have to wait for the locking brake lever for the spin brake to get here before I could use the stand, but it works fine, even managed the obligatory crossed up photo:

I managed to take it for a ride, and am very happy with it! It rides nice, brakes well and swings evenly, doesn't seem to prefer swinging one way or the other so my eyeball jig seems to have worked well. I think in order to really swing it way out the seat should probably still be further back and maybe a bit higher, but as it is even for me at 6'4" it is a stretch to ride and I want other people to be able to ride it too!

I think at this point there is no chance of me finishing the bike by the deadline, so it will just have to be entered "In the rough" I am hoping to have the cables routed through the frame and most of the welds cleaned up, but that is probably as far as I will get, after the big day today, tomorrow will be a recovery day for me...

Luke.

 

[Glen]

This bike is awesome, Luke.

I am pretty sure it will do well in the voting, even "in the rough" as you put it. Doesn't look too rough to me...

Glen.

 

[Pushie Pirate]

Great stuff Luke, she's a wild looking machine, like all of yours not something you see every day, well done. Keep safe with the fire risk, glad we don't have that threat where we live!

 

[CRASH]

Luke, since you and I are looking like we may not finish in time, we should hold a mini "slow pokes" contest! lol

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Luke, since you and I are looking like we may not finish in time, we should hold a mini "slow pokes" contest! lol

I am up for it!

Luke.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

This bike is awesome, Luke.

I am pretty sure it will do well in the voting, even "in the rough" as you put it. Doesn't look too rough to me...

Glen.

Thanks Glen! It sure is a fun ride!

Great stuff Luke, she's a wild looking machine, like all of yours not something you see every day, well done. Keep safe with the fire risk, glad we don't have that threat where we live!

Thanks Pirate! Yeah the fire risk is actually pretty minimal at our place, but the area we are in is bad, so we have to abide by the rules...

Luke.

 

[junkiestone]

C'mon Luke. I've been pulling for you... just pull a couple of all nighters.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Thanks JS! Not going to happen though, just too worn out!

Just took the bike out for another spin, trying to get ready for videos tomorrow and I came off it pretty bad, just got my wife fixing up my back and elbow now.

Lesson learned, no more practice on a gravel strewn tarmac road...

Luke.

 

[junkiestone]

still wanna see it when its done. Take care.

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Will do JS!
May not be riding it for a while till I heal up a bit...

Luke.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I was going to post pics of my injuries but they look pretty horrible to be honest. Lost a significant amount of skin off my back and side, but the lingering pain from winding myself is what is bothering me the most... Should be gone by tomorrow!

I think I am too big, heavy and uncoordinated to still be trying these things!
Might stick to more conventional style bikes from now on...

Luke.

 

[Pushie Pirate]

Cricky mate and I was worried about the bush fires, gravel rash souvenir to go with the swing bike aye!

 

[Glen]

Ouchy... I feel sore just hearing about it. That's all you need aye... injuries on top of health issues. Take it easy and relax for a while... if you can. You seem to be one of those people that just can't sit still... but you must at least try! What good is a cool bike if you are to banged up or sick to enjoy it!



Glen.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Thanks Guys!

Luke.

 

[ODDER]

That stinks man. Get some rest.

 

[Funkme]

Gravel kisses
Looks cool Luke...
Let's see them gory wounds...

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Gravel kisses
Looks cool Luke...
Let's see them gory wounds...

Here is a heavily edited pic that shows some of them on my back, (after cleaning) the others are in places that a photo on here would not be appropriate!

Luke.

 

[Funkme]

Ouch!!!! you came down hard....We aint spring 's anymore....