I've been having sooo much fun lately! :mrgreen: I just go into Rat Bikes about a month ago and I'm HOOKED!! I'm just starting to build my "collection". Here is a tale about how my every-day rider became: The Giraffe...
It all started with my running accross this bike, which I THINK is a '77 Schwinn Corvette leaning up against a stop sign outside a local re-sale shop. So I inquired within and the proprietor said that it belonged to a former resident of the upstairs apartment, who had moved out..."So can I have it?" I asked. "Take it" she said. So I did!
Because I wasn't a self declared Rat Biker at the time I didn't take any pics but I also didn't really do much to it...so this is pretty much what it looked like:
With the noteable difference that it had a regular 26" front wheel....
Well after finding the RatRodBikes.com forum, things REALLY started to change! :mrgreen: I removed the chain guard and rear fender and put a 24" wheel on the front that has a BMX tire on it. As it turned out, the chain guard was off of a Heavy Duty...
I begin to use this one as my daily rider. I put a nice cushy seat on and ride it to work any day that the weather permits.
But I'm not satisfied. After seeing all the hot Rad Rods on the forum I'm sooo jealous! Then I ran across these:
Off we go!
The first thing I did was to put those apes on:
...Now I'm gigglin' like a schoolgirl! :lol:
After cruzin' around like that for a while I begin to think...Maybe a banana seat....But thanks to ICYUOD2 suggesting that I try one of my laid back seat posts from another build...I knocked this out the other night:
The Giraffe has been born!
And I literally 'knocked it out' because i didn't use my tubing bender and the tubing kinked and it failed after about 15 minutes of riding! :roll:
So I made v.2 out of D.O.M. tubing and used a conduit bender...Much better!
So why call it The Giraffe? Cuz:
As it turns out, this is the same decal that Schwinn used on their 6' unicycles...Called The Giraffe!
Well that's all for now...I'm hooked! Ya'll keep building and keep riding!
~Randy
UPDATE: I bought a 1992 "Schwinn" Cruiser the other day and it came with an extra set of wheels/tires...So I put one on the rear of the Giraffe. Now I'm thinkin' Fat Rat!! :mrgreen:
It all started with my running accross this bike, which I THINK is a '77 Schwinn Corvette leaning up against a stop sign outside a local re-sale shop. So I inquired within and the proprietor said that it belonged to a former resident of the upstairs apartment, who had moved out..."So can I have it?" I asked. "Take it" she said. So I did!
Because I wasn't a self declared Rat Biker at the time I didn't take any pics but I also didn't really do much to it...so this is pretty much what it looked like:
With the noteable difference that it had a regular 26" front wheel....
Well after finding the RatRodBikes.com forum, things REALLY started to change! :mrgreen: I removed the chain guard and rear fender and put a 24" wheel on the front that has a BMX tire on it. As it turned out, the chain guard was off of a Heavy Duty...
I begin to use this one as my daily rider. I put a nice cushy seat on and ride it to work any day that the weather permits.
But I'm not satisfied. After seeing all the hot Rad Rods on the forum I'm sooo jealous! Then I ran across these:
Off we go!
The first thing I did was to put those apes on:
...Now I'm gigglin' like a schoolgirl! :lol:
After cruzin' around like that for a while I begin to think...Maybe a banana seat....But thanks to ICYUOD2 suggesting that I try one of my laid back seat posts from another build...I knocked this out the other night:
The Giraffe has been born!
And I literally 'knocked it out' because i didn't use my tubing bender and the tubing kinked and it failed after about 15 minutes of riding! :roll:
So I made v.2 out of D.O.M. tubing and used a conduit bender...Much better!
So why call it The Giraffe? Cuz:
As it turns out, this is the same decal that Schwinn used on their 6' unicycles...Called The Giraffe!
Well that's all for now...I'm hooked! Ya'll keep building and keep riding!
~Randy
UPDATE: I bought a 1992 "Schwinn" Cruiser the other day and it came with an extra set of wheels/tires...So I put one on the rear of the Giraffe. Now I'm thinkin' Fat Rat!! :mrgreen:
