TRADITIONAL Hops and Gnarly

[Bike from the Dead]

That punch tool you used actually looks alot like a Bedazzler!

Gosh, I haven't seen the commercial for those since I was a kid!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

It's always impressive to see you work your magic on bikes, and this one is nothing short of incredible! I wouldn't even know where to start on those fenders, much less HOW to repair them as well as you have. Looking forward to seeing you hop along across the finish line with this one!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The fender braces were not only a total mess, but they were not the originals either. So I removed them and started searching for replacements.

Most fender braces are made to mount over the axle, but the Hoppy springer has separate mounting holes on the fork bottom plates. This means that the holes on the braces are smaller and round instead of oval. I went through all my loose fender braces and found only one with the proper mounting holes, but the length was wrong.

At this point I started thinking about how to create what I need out of what I had, but I really didn't like the prospect of all the slicing and dicing that would be required.

 

[Chad T]

Wondering if you could just pound one flat at the length you need then grind the end and drill a hole?

 

[The Renaissance Man]

@Chad T , luck was on my side. I happened to notice a Schwinn middle weight fender in my stash that had the proper ends. Not only were the ends correct, but the length seemed about right too! I promptly removed them from the fender and did a quick mock-up with the fender and fork together and it worked (almost).

Everything checked out except the loop that goes under the fender was too short. Being from a middle weight fender, it wouldn't fit under the deep Rollfast fender. So the solution is simple, make the loop section longer!

To do this, I started by flattening the loop and cutting them in half.

All that is left is to fill in the gap!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I calculated that it would need to be 1" longer. So I cut a 1" section from the center of both junk braces, media blasted everything clean and took them to Charlie (my cousin) and had him Tig weld them together.

After they were welded I used a disk sander to smooth them out and then bead blasted them again.

The extended area was then bent in a loop again and I was on my way!

 

[Chad T]

Figured you had it worked out already. We could all use a cousin Charlie.

Really amazing work going on here. Always fun to watch.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Yes, having my cousin Charlie has been a big part of my life.

In my early childhood, my parents divorced and he was a father figure to me. I can remember him standing in as my dad in a 'Father and Son cake bake' competition when I was a young kid in Cub Scouts. We won the prize for Most Unusual!

I'm trying to remember a bicycle-related story to tell here but the only one that comes to mind has more to do with a motorcycle. One day he surprised me with a Yamaha 80 motorcycle when I was around 10 or 12 years old. I couldn't have been happier! We would load up and go trail riding in the next county along a pipeline and logging roads every chance we could. As I'm writing this the memories are flooding in!

Anyway, years later he told me the back story of why he bought that motorcycle. At the time he was living just down the street from where we lived. I had several friends in the neighborhood around my age and a few of them started riding motorcycles. Two twins even got brand-new matching Honda XR75's for Christmas and they would let me ride them sometimes. One day Charlie was outside and saw all of the kids ride past on their motorcycles along with me trailing behind pedaling my cobbled-together bicycle as fast as I could. It didn't take long for him to find and buy the Yamaha for me because it bothered him (probably more than it bothered me) seeing me racing after them that way.

He has played a part in most of the builds that I have done here at RRB through the years. Whenever I have needed any welding done, he has always been happy to help!

This is a picture of Charlie on the right chatting with someone at Unique Motorcars this past year. He worked there for many years welding together the chassis' for their Cobra kit cars. Unique Motorcars' fiberglass shop is also where I have all of my fiberglass bicycle parts made.

 

[Da Gas Man]

I'm jealous. I wish I had a Cousin Charlie. My cousins are lame
by comparison. My most special regards to Cousin Charlie.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The last step for the braces was to fit them to the fender.

The holes were not spaced correctly to match the fender holes. With one side bolted up the other side was not close.

So I marked the correct locations and punched more holes. Try to make overlapping holes with a drill!

And finally, they are bolted in place.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

You might have noticed some glossy paint on that last picture. Believe it or not, I was able to bring some shine back to the old dry paint by buffing it with some machine polish. It was kind of humorous machine polishing something so utterly crusty!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The frame darts have been masked and painted.

The first step was to create a mask using pictures and a few key measurements from another Hoppy owner as my guide.

I had gone Friday and had 4oz of white single-stage acrylic enamel paint mixed. It didn't take near that much but it's better to have too much than too little, especially with time running out!

No sooner than I had shot the last coat, storm clouds started rolling in.

I had just enough time to bring the frame inside and started cleaning the gun when this happened!

Not as close as a bullet to the ear, but it was close!

 

[OddJob]

We had a couple gushers today too, in between,we had sunshine, and got in a local car show.

 

[kingfish254]

You might have noticed some glossy paint on that last picture. Believe it or not, I was able to bring some shine back to the old dry paint by buffing it with some machine polish. It was kind of humorous machine polishing something so utterly crusty!

Kind of like polishing a bedazzled turd

 

[kingfish254]

Great work on the fender braces.
Love the Cousin Charlie story!
Those frame darts are AWESOME!!
Keep plugging away at it.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Great work on the fender braces.
Love the Cousin Charlie story!
Those frame darts are AWESOME!!
Keep plugging away at it.

Thanks.
Speaking of Cousin Charlie today is his 75th birthday! About a dozen of his friends and family met at a local Mexican restaurant today for lunch.

Last week when I was at his shop I was telling him that it was for a Hopalong Cassidy bicycle. He told me that he remembered having a Hopalong outfit when he was a very young kid.

I little while ago he sent me this picture!

Apparently, his hats get bigger with age!

 

[Brian macumber]

Nice work on the fender and braces. The darts on some of bikes are just awesome.

 

[kingfish254]

Thanks.
Speaking of Cousin Charlie today is his 75th birthday! About a dozen of his friends and family met at a local Mexican restaurant to today for lunch.

View attachment 274053

Last week when I was at his shop I was telling him that it was for a Hopalong Cassidy bicycle. He told me that he remembered having a Hopalong outfit when he was a very young kid.

I little while ago he sent me this picture!

View attachment 274055

Apparently, his hats get bigger with age!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COUSIN CHARLIE!!!!
That pic of him in a Hopalong makes this build a bit more personal.

He is one cool cat, whether he is wearing a Hopaling outfit, a sombrero, or using his walker that has a Cobra front end!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

That pic of him in a Hopalong makes this build a bit more personal.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The mask is removed and the paint has been sanded.

After sanding, the entire frame was polished.

Part of the aging process started during this stage by carefully sanding away just enough of the fresh white paint to create the look of wear-through.