I don't have an original idea in my head.

[jackdaw]

I have plenty of ideas, they just all seem so derivative. I see a bike I like and I say "Oooo, I want to make one of those." But of course, I don't want to make one of those, I want to make something that has the same feel, but is individually mine. I don't want to add a bunch of do-dads to my bike, though I like the complex looking builds also. I want to keep it clean. But I don't want anything too radical :roll: :lol: .

I guess I'm just struggling with the difference between inspiration and copying. I think that I have to get a project going and it will go in a unique direction, it can't help it. Does anyone else think about this stuff?

I'm going to flip this ladies frame, and I'm going for something like my sketch. I guess I'm gonna have to put a little stretch in there if I'm hoping to get the stance in the sketch. :lol:

It'll be a while, my welder's on backorder 'til the 10th of August, then I need to remember how to weld, from my class in college 20 yrs ago :lol: .

 

[deven_science]

I think that description fits a lot of people. I did a flipped bike because I like one I saw on this site, but because I didn't do it step by step exactly the same, my finished bike looks nothing like the one I attempted to imitate.

I don't think that there's anything wrong with using other's work as inspiration. I like to give a shout out to them in my builds, if it was a particularly original idea.

Over time, I've noticed my own destiny style start to come through, and you'll probably be the same way.

 

[jerrykr]

Thomas Edison didn't invent the light bulb.
He experimanted with different filiment materials until he found something that would last and work consistantly.
He invented a light bulb that would work.

There used to be a show on PBS called "Connections".
It was a facinating walk thru the history of man and his needs and inventions.
Most significant inventions were really refinements of someone's basic idea.

Don't be discouraged, refine your flipped bike, I for one want to see what you come up with.

 

[CRASH]

The idea I have for my first custom is based on several different bikes I've seen on this site, and I will build it without shame. I will put my own spin and own ideas into it to make it mine. But I've never claimed to be any pioneer. And I will give credit where credit is due, again, without shame.

It's a community, and hopefully we all support each other in whatever endeavor we decide to tackle.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

It's all been done before, in thought or in reality. Just build something that you like and don't worry if someone else did it already. I'm sure I'm not the first one to spray paint a Huffy Cranbrook flat black with red rims and whitewalls and I'm sure I won't be the last but it still looks cool regardless.

 

[Bigdaddy772]

It's all been done before, in thought or in reality. Just build something that you like and don't worry if someone else did it already. I'm sure I'm not the first one to spray paint a Huffy Cranbrook flat black with red rims and whitewalls and I'm sure I won't be the last but it still looks cool regardless.

Exactly!! I built my del mar based on Kota's build off bike. and all of my stretches have been inspired by something I seen on this site...Just have fun with it. 8) 8)

 

[jackdaw]

Yes.

So far the messing about with bikes I've done has been to make myself happy. And I think the next bike I build will make me happy, I know it will. And truly, that's all that's important. However, having worked through that (thank you) I guess I come to the crux of the biscuit, as it were, I have reservations about posting it on here. I don't know why, I've posted three other bikes on here, why should it be different now?

I guess for me it comes down to, why post my builds here? If I'm building them for me, what do I get out of other people seeing them? Community I think. I don't know anyone that is ratting bikes around here, you guys get it. And it's also a way for me to give props to those that inspired me, by saying "Look what your bike did."

What do you get out of posting your builds here?

 

[jackdaw]

Oh yeah, and showing off :lol: :lol:

 

[Jpromo]

Thomas Edison didn't invent the light bulb.
He experimanted with different filiment materials until he found something that would last and work consistently.
He invented a light bulb that would work.

I'm pretty sure it was also Edison that worked at a patent office before he was a major inventor himself. He sat around reviewing others' ideas, either accepting or rejecting them, later to improve, modify, and create his own designs from those ideas.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

Many of my builds are conceived that same way, I'll look at someone else's build then build mine similar but take it to the next level. Add some things, modify some things, take some things away. It's a process that takes time, trial, and error. Just keep tinkering with it, go for a short ride and tinker some more till it feels and looks perfect. Then I'll ride it for a few days, weeks, or maybe years then work on it again.

They are NEVER truly finished.

 

[jerrykr]

Thomas Edison didn't invent the light bulb.
He experimanted with different filiment materials until he found something that would last and work consistently.
He invented a light bulb that would work.

I'm pretty sure it was also Edison that worked at a patent office before he was a major inventor himself. He sat around reviewing others' ideas, either accepting or rejecting them, later to improve, modify, and create his own designs from those ideas.

Jpromo, thanks for the extra history on TE. I'm not a history buff, but I enjoy knowing about how major inventions came about.
One of the best I think is that A/C or refrigeration was originally invented to keep beer cold by the Germans, not to keep us comfortable building bikes.

Think of how many ideas science fiction writers came up with - using no more than a typewriter - that have come true in our lifetime.
The International Space Station for one.

Kind of getting off topic, but not really.
Ideas at all levels usually prompt someone who never thought of it before to come up with a different angle,
sometimes that different view is marked improvement.
.

 

[jackdaw]

Arthur C Clarke and the ENTIRE FRGGIN COMMUNICATIONS NET!!!! with geosynchronous satellites. I've often thought that science fiction is under rated as an agent for the advancement of the whole human race. They think "What do we need that we don't have, and how can we get it?" The difference being that they are not constrained to what is logical or sensible.

Off topic? Who cares? I'm working on a '67 Raleigh Suberbe right now, polishing etc. I opened up the DynoHub (front) and it was all rust. It still runs a current though so I guess I'll be able to fix it.

I will do the flip build and I make it so I like it, I'll get feed back from you guys, to make it better, and I'll post it all on RRB. But I still gotta wait for my welder.

 

[charliechaindrive]

I will be following this flip!

And edison cheated nikola tesla out of around 50, 000 dollars. And edison used 17 of tesla's pattents for his fail of a dc powerplant. Tesla really doesn't get much credit for everything he did to solve the riddle of electricity. (soap box, sorry)

 

[jackdaw]

No, you're right about Edison and Tesla, I don't know much about it but it's funny, history is written by the winner, right or wrong.

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I heard once History is nothing but "His Story" Seems true enough.

 

[Philphine]

i think it's maybe 2-3 things intersecting that you see from build to build with varying amounts of each.

some people just have creativity leaking out of them, while most of us have flashes or maybe smaller ideas. no less valid, but where they build some whole bike idea that seemed to come out of the blue, the rest of us have a neat seat or handlebar idea, or whatever unique thing you thought up. so maybe the overall idea isn't yours, but you add whatever twist you thought up for yourself.

some people have the skill, tools, whatever to build what they want. maybe it's nothing new, but if they see it, they can make themselves one, even if they start with a bunch of raw tubing. the rest of use need at least a bike already to start. it might just get a few acessories, or cut up and reshaped.

(the people with both these skills have my admiration... and envy :x )

plus the thing we're playing with has it's own limitations. unless you're just building something to look at, it still has to work like a bicycle. at the second i'm thinking about the bike olli made (i think that's his name, i'll look for a link in a minute). every thing about it was unusual, but it still rode like a regular bike.

plus cash. it can be it's own plus or limitation. in any event, you bring to it what you can, and hopefully make something you like that satisfies you.


edit: ChopperOlli, <envy> obviously a talentless hack :x <envy>

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=7153

 

[jackdaw]

philphine, I saw that chopperolli bike, crazy. I'm so glad there are people out there doing that kind of work, and I'm going to be Okay with the fact that I just don't have it. Time, money, skill, motivation etc. But like your signature says, do what I an with what I've got. And I get results that please me.

 

[ozzmonaut]

I have plenty of ideas, they just all seem so derivative. I see a bike I like and I say "Oooo, I want to make one of those." But of course, I don't want to make one of those, I want to make something that has the same feel, but is individually mine. I don't want to add a bunch of do-dads to my bike, though I like the complex looking builds also. I want to keep it clean. But I don't want anything too radical :roll: :lol: .

I guess I'm just struggling with the difference between inspiration and copying. I think that I have to get a project going and it will go in a unique direction, it can't help it. Does anyone else think about this stuff?

I'm going to flip this ladies frame, and I'm going for something like my sketch. I guess I'm gonna have to put a little stretch in there if I'm hoping to get the stance in the sketch. :lol:

It'll be a while, my welder's on backorder 'til the 10th of August, then I need to remember how to weld, from my class in college 20 yrs ago :lol: .

If you build a lengthened fork it will automatically have more rake. Just something to think about.

 

[jackdaw]

Yeah, the sketch isn't very accurate to the actual shape of the frame, the wheel size for one, the frame might take a 26". The length of the down tube and, uh, other down tube :lol: is much longer in the sketch. I sure do like my sketch though. I don't think I am going to stretch the frame, and I don't think I'm going to add a lot of length to the fork, though again the drawing shows a longer fork. Hmmm, the drawing is, I guess the feeling I'm after. The final product will be that tempered by reality! :lol: I will be making my own springer fork, I'm pretty excited about that. It'll be interesting to see what I come up with.