Hello from Taiwan!

[The Phantom]

Hi good people, I'm a Brit living in Taiwan, I love this site and want to say thank you to the founder and to all the contributors for showing me a world of bikes I didn't know existed.
I envy you guys living in N. America and your easy access to everything, I've gotta see what I can rustle up here in Taiwan- no vintage cruisers here, just women's bikes if you like retro/vintage.

I make boomboxes and some of them have a 'ratrod' look (we call 'em rustic) so I hope to make a 'boombike' in the future, so if I do I'll start a build thread and hopefully be able to give something back to this forum,
here are some of the 'ratty' ones - I'm thinking of doing a vintage looking delivery trike with wooden crates fitted with speakers on the back

There's almost no market for second hand bikes here, they just get passed around the family until they rust away in the humid climate, then thrown away - it's gonna be tough finding and building something cool - if there are any other forum members in Taiwan please message me, thanks

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Welcome! You do some nice work on those boom boxes!

Luke.

 

[pedals]

All you need is grinder, welder and some of those old girl bikes. Start cutting, shaping and welding. You'll make some mistakes (maybe) but I bet with a little experimenting I'm sure you can come up with something awesome. All other accessories are available online. I hope to see ya post something soon

 

[Rat Rod]

Welcome....love those boom boxes!

Being that you are in Taiwan....seems like you could do some serious dumpster diving around the factories that make all of the modern cruisers these days.

 

[Wildcat]

Welcome! I think you're the first from Taiwan here. I have a hard time finding cruisers here in the Philippines also. I've only found one place has them. Way out of my price range.

 

[deorman]

Welcome and happy hunting.

 

[Dr. Tankenstein]

Welcome!

 

[The Phantom]

thanks all for the warm welcome and encouragement - I'll be working on pretty much zero budget (I got 2 expensive kids) so Pedals and Rat Rod, your advice will be taken, cheers

 

[Rat Rod]

I would definitely do some research and find out where the factories are that make cruisers in your area. You could probably talk to someone and find out if they are willing to sell off the cosmetically damaged bikes. Not exactly sure how you track them down, but there's probably a whole section of town devoted strictly to bike manufacturers.

I've noticed that lately some of the companies are moving their manufacturing to Cambodia, but Taiwan is still king for quality bike manufacturers these days.

 

[The Phantom]

yep, that's sound advice, doing some research right now and finding some interesting things, although all the factories seem to be in a city 3-4 hours away, there are some warehouses nearby, possibly with cruisers inside them....

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Welcome to the forum. So what's it like living in Taiwan? Interesting boom boxes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[late for dinner]

Welcome Aboard Phantom.
I lived in Taipei, Taiwan quite a few years ago, so can not assume the wholesale districts are still set up with similar products in the same area, but tracking down a factory should be possible.
I met a guy in Taipei at that time who's dad made American style chopper motorcycles for the U.S. servicemen stationed or on leave there during the Vietnam conflict.
We went through a few old photo albums of his awesome work with his dad in a work/live shanty shack (Chungshan/Nanking Rd. area, my 'hood). Though we didn't have many common language skills, we got along greatly.
Perhaps having something custom made is still a possibilty from a little fab shop somewhere if you don't find a pre made?

 

[The Phantom]

Welcome to the forum. So what's it like living in Taiwan? Interesting boom boxes.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

thanks,

Taiwan's alright, it's got good and bad points like everywhere I guess, but I mainly like the subtropical climate, friendly people and very low crime rate (no.2 in world after Iceland apparently), there are no 'bad' parts of town.
Downsides are the polluted, noisy cities, plus I can't find whitewall tires anywhere! :banghead:

 

[The Phantom]

Welcome Aboard Phantom.
I lived in Taipei, Taiwan quite a few years ago, so can not assume the wholesale districts are still set up with similar products in the same area, but tracking down a factory should be possible.
I met a guy in Taipei at that time who's dad made American style chopper motorcycles for the U.S. servicemen stationed or on leave there during the Vietnam conflict.
We went through a few old photo albums of his awesome work with his dad in a work/live shanty shack (Chungshan/Nanking Rd. area, my 'hood). Though we didn't have many common language skills, we got along greatly.
Perhaps having something custom made is still a possibilty from a little fab shop somewhere if you don't find a pre made?

Cool, so you know about Taiwan then,
I live in Kaohsiung and don't get up to Taipei much, I've only got into the bicycle hobby since I found this forum a few months ago so I've got a lot to discover. When I first visited Taiwan about 20 years ago (wow, that makes me feel old!) it was more like you described, you could see older men fabricating and repairing in little wooden workshops, but it looks like those guys have gone now and their kids have a different attitude now that the country is richer and more developed.
I'm slowly uncovering the vintage bikes around now that I'm looking and have met a couple of local collectors but they are firmly against any kind of restorations or mods and they don't ride their bikes, just 'preserve' them. I think they'd cry if they saw what people do to vintage bikes on this forum, but personally, I love it!
Cool chopper pic BTW, is it you??

 

[late for dinner]

Nope, not me in the pic. I posted it to show the style of bikes the guy was building back in the days.
There was one American guy with a Harley chopper when I was there. It had super tall ape hangers and loud open pipes. He certainly had a presence with that thing on side streets.The largest bikes otherwise were the 125cc Hondas.
Things have absolutely evolved there. I did the Google street view thing and was blown away by the changes. I never made it to Kaoshiung, but went north to Keelung weekly to teach at Maersk container yard.
I do miss the amazing food and the Hash House Harriers runs.(it's a 'drinking club with a running problem')
I don't miss the monster cockroaches or squadrons of attack mosquitos though.
I look forward to seeing whatever you might find to build.

http://julienklepatch.com/chinahash/

 

[The Phantom]

Nope, not me in the pic. I posted it to show the style of bikes the guy was building back in the days.
There was one American guy with a Harley chopper when I was there. It had super tall ape hangers and loud open pipes. He certainly had a presence with that thing on side streets.The largest bikes otherwise were the 125cc Hondas.
Things have absolutely evolved there. I did the Google street view thing and was blown away by the changes. I never made it to Kaoshiung, but went north to Keelung weekly to teach at Maersk container yard.
I do miss the amazing food and the Hash House Harriers runs.(it's a 'drinking club with a running problem')
I don't miss the monster cockroaches or squadrons of attack mosquitos though.
I look forward to seeing whatever you might find to build.

http://julienklepatch.com/chinahash/

yep, Hash house is still going I think, I hear about them from time to time but I'm not much of a runner (or a drinker) there are a few Harley guys around, you can see them in loud convoys on weekends and holidays - a mix of locals and Westerners
but most motorbikes are the plastic twist n' go scooter variety with little wheels, and they are everywhere!

you'd definitely be surprised how fast things have changed here, even I'm surprised and I live here! There's always something new popping up and something old coming down

 

[Joe Conde]

WELCOME Phantom! Those are some sweet boomboxes. I'm sure you're gonna find some cruiser frames and parts since a lot of our stuff also comes from Taiwan too. Happy hunting and welcome to the madness ;-)

Welcome! I think you're the first from Taiwan here. I have a hard time finding cruisers here in the Philippines also. I've only found one place has them. Way out of my price range.

Wildcat! There's more and more vendors on FB popping up lately. You can get whole bikes with cruiser frames for P4,000-P7,000 (around $100-$175). I'll hook you up once I get a chance to go on FB this weekend. I also noticed a lot of sellers shipping them from the Ilocos region, I reckon it will be cheaper to ship them to you in Subic since they're nearer to you than Manila.

 

[Wildcat]

Thanks Joe! I've had a hard time finding a bare frame for a decent price, even rusty.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I think I need to build a couple of these for the trunk of my Datsun build...

Luke.

 

[Wildcat]

I think I need to build a couple of these for the trunk of my Datsun build...

Luke.

I'd like to put 4 of them in the living room hooked up to the entertainment system!