I picked up a stray during my lunch break tonight

[RustyGold]

Felt Scythe...I think I'm taking it home with me (... don't tell the Wife...).

It's my 2nd chopper...the first was a WF RamRod, when I was in 2nd grade or so . This one spent a lot of time outdoors, but, the guy I bought it from is a former bike shop owner, and took care of all the mechanicals. My first impression of this bike was, 'wow... that's a big bike!'...cuz it is .

Jason

 

[ODDER]

Looks like fun! Congrats

 

[Loki182]

Oh very nice! I'm a sucker for choppers... like that's not obvious. Do you have any plans for it other than just riding it?

 

[RustyGold]

Oh very nice! I'm a sucker for choppers... like that's not obvious. Do you have any plans for it other than just riding it?

First step is to change out all the 'stainless' hardware since it is all quite...stained , and some cleaning. The forks have some pitting, so they will be at least partially blacked-out. But, mostly...I need to put some miles on it to see if it something I want to keep. Initial ride around the shop (it's a big building) was surprising fun, fast, and comfortable .

Jason

 

[Loki182]

There's some irony for ya. But yeah I think it'll look good with black forks and maybe leave the clamps shiny as a nice accent. Also it's hard to tell from the pictures but do the fork legs extend all the way up through the triple clamps and to the handlebars? That seems like it would make for a weird kind of adjustability where you could make the fork shorter but the bars would get higher, or vice-versa.

But yeah I love the way chopper bikes feel to ride. Nice and laid back and great for cruising. Somewhere between a traditional bike and a recumbent, but with way more style.

 

[A.S.BOLTNUT]

Nice Chappah...
Picked up my first Phantom on a lunch break back in the day at a yard sale .

 

[RustyGold]

There's some irony for ya.

Stainless shouldn't be called stainless...it should be called, stain resistant...cuz, if its got iron...it rusts .

Jason

 

[RustyGold]

Took it for a ride yesterday. I went about 2/3rds of my normal distance and was twice as tired at the end. Issues are, it is my first 'pedal-forward' bike, and I've seen comments before about how you can't stand up to pedal...but, never thought much of it. Well, I now get it...turns out I usually stand up to pedal a lot . 2nd issue is the gearing. I actually averaged around my same speed (~10mph)...but, felt spun out most the time. I can't imagine going any higher with the gearing, since take off are already on the slower side since you can't stand on the pedal. An IGH seems a must on this kind of bike. Sitting position needs some attention...sitting straight up and down put the bars to close to the chest... leaning back was comfy, but awkward as there isn't anything to lean back against. Seat is already all the way back on the rails and my legs fully extended...so, I'll probably try a lay back post lowered so my leg extension is still good but my bar to chest distance may allow me to sit up straight.

It was also raining a bit on this ride... which also became quite the issue. Normally, everything below the knee gets soaked/muddy. On a chopper with no front fender... everything came down in my lap at slower speeds...and into my face at faster speeds .

Not giving up yet...
Jason

PS - Loki... didn't try it, but bars appear to slide into fork tubes for adjustability. I'm pretty sure these are aftermarket bars as they are of a different lustre than the forks and appear to be of higher quality.