Leopard Lady

[Wildcat]

My wife brought home another junk frame for me. The bike shop overcharged her, 20 bucks! They had to answer for that when I visited the shop last week. "But it has a new chain!" I never complain because she might one day bring home a Huffman or CWC frame from the 50's. This looked like another rusted out chinese made bike frame. She thinks I'm overjoyed!

But looking it over, no rust or bends and it looks halfway decent so it will get built up for her. I have a 26" wheelset and crankset that might work. I'll have to convert the bike the parts are on to 700c. The BB is good as is, I'm surprised. The headset bearings seem good also. So just a seat and post may be all that's needed for parts. Then the leopard paint job. I researched and found the Cheetah, Leopard, and Jaguar have different spots, so I have the pattern for this bike set. Base of yellowish brown tapering to white on the bottom, then dark brown rosettes? with brown centers. Then layers of clear to make it look store bought.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Nice chain!

Happy wife happy life. Twenty bucks don't sound that bad, I've spent far more on far less!

 

[Wildcat]

That's right!

I mocked it up with the wheelset and cranks from my chrome bike, everything works well. The dropstand was made for this style frame with horizontal rear facing dropouts.

 

[Wildcat]

The quality of this bike just gets better as I take it apart. It's a well made frame and it has a Japanese registration tag. It probably is one of the surplus bikes sold over here that come from Japan. If so, it's worth the 20 bucks the wife paid for it. The dropouts are heavier than the other frames I've worked with and the welds are smooth with no slop. The fork is solid also. It has a brand name of Grafty but I can't find any info on it.
I'm sanding and wire brushing it now.

 

[Da Gas Man]

So much going on here. First off, your wife bought you something because she
saw it and she remembered that you like bikes? Okay, don't knock that. That's
a beautiful thing right there. Second it's a ladies frame, so take the hint. It looks
terrible but she knows you and believes in you. ( I'm getting all choked up here)
She loves you man. You're very lucky to have that.
Okay, enough about that and on to the bike. I love that decal. What the … Fantastic …
GRA, GRA? GRAPE? GRAFTY? I don't know … Happy something or something Happy.
Love it. After the Leopard bike and the super stretch builds, you can do this for your wife.
If not, then build it for us. I wish just once my wife would bring me home a
totally wrecked bike frame and say build this for me. Just sayin. That's love man.

 

[Wildcat]

So much going on here. First off, your wife bought you something because she
saw it and she remembered that you like bikes? Okay, don't knock that. That's
a beautiful thing right there. Second it's a ladies frame, so take the hint. It looks
terrible but she knows you and believes in you. ( I'm getting all choked up here)
She loves you man. You're very lucky to have that.
Okay, enough about that and on to the bike. I love that decal. What the … Fantastic …
GRA, GRA? GRAPE? GRAFTY? I don't know … Happy something or something Happy.
Love it. After the Leopard bike and the super stretch builds, you can do this for your wife.
If not, then build it for us. I wish just once my wife would bring me home a
totally wrecked bike frame and say build this for me. Just sayin. That's love man.

This is the Leopard bike. The Yellow Tiger she rides now showed up like this:

Now:

 

[Da Gas Man]

Sorry, that's what I meant. The Yellow Tiger. I think and type too fast sometimes.

I did find this about Graft Company and I copied it from their web page:
"Graft is based in New Taipei City, Taiwan, to take advantage of the burgeoning supply chain of the Pacific Rim as well as the whole World."

"Graft is the realization of years of experience, creative exploration, and tinkering by American-born engineer and power sports enthusiast, Azizi Tucker, and his hand-picked team of specialists."

"The entire Graft range is handcrafted by a small team of riders and engineers who pour their attention to detail and passion for driving into each and every build."

 

[Wildcat]

It's Grafty, no info about it. I think it's a refurbisher's name. There's a big market for the used bikes from Japan over here. Whole shiploads arrive periodically.

I wirebrushed and sanded, then did the base coat.

Mixing paints.

Then the spots were added, next is the rosette things that go around each spot.

 

[twojs.bike]

Nice chain!! Looking forward to this.

 

[Wildcat]

Now just giving it overnight to set, then clear coat tomorrow!

 

[ingola]

Now just giving it overnight to set, then clear coat tomorrow!
View attachment 261702

Very cool

 

[Wildcat]

Using the garage for spraying. Only with clear, can't have any overspray.

 

[Wildcat]

Got the forks on ok.

 

[Tallbikeman]

I love this very distinctive paint job. Well done. I like any good paint job that draws your eye to the object, bicycle in this case. Well done.

 

[camus]

This paint job is awesome!!

 

[Wildcat]

Just finished it up and took a ride. Everything works well. Front brake is a band brake, rear is coaster. The gear ratio makes it easy to pedal. The test will be if the seat can go low enough for the missus.

 

[camus]

very cool!!