mini rat - now called "Slow Ride" DONE 11/29

[ratina]

I didnt know this build was still going...so heres my entry...i want to do something different, I think ive gone through all the posts, and havent seen a 20" bike yet...so here goes. No clue what this is...from the research ive done it looks like a columbia. I cant find the good pics I have so this will have to do until tomorrow. Have big plans for this one...updates soon.

Yes the fork is very bent...i have a replacement.

 

[ACD]

Maybe that's what my bike was.

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

 

[ratina]

sure looks the same, is yours a 24" though??

 

[ACD]

No it had 20" wheels when I got it I put 24" wheels on it. The sprocket and frame are identical and they have the exact same bend in the fork....hmmm. My serial # on the dropout is D 6034. The bars are different but the neck is the same. Mine had fender mount holes in the dropouts too. Pretty neat I wondered what mine was. It was missing the headbadge.

 

[ratina]

hmm...just wondering because you seem to have more frame clearance with the 20" wheels on it than I do. Yeah my headbadge is missing too, someone put a st. christopher badge on there.

 

[VicXsaN]

Cool!

 

[ratina]

Got the bike out of the rafters today:

Heres what it looked like as is:

Heres the first mock up:

Added what I thought was a 20" springer (ive always ran a 16 on it all the years ive had it) and flipped the bars. Didnt like the bars so i took them off


Second mock up:

found smaller and better bars, added a good set of matching tires and replaced tubes/rim strips. Rear wheel is locked up so im taking it apart. bought my paint yesterday..not exactly what i wanted but it will be cool. It will look stupid putting a front fender on with all that clearance

 

[giggles13]

I like the second mockup. Those bars look better.

Can't wait to see your color scheme.

 

[Misfit43]

Cool bike. Weird , those pedals look like the ones on my Corvette.

Any reason why you have the springer mount tab upside down, so the spring points upwards?

 

[ratina]

Yes the second mock up is the way its staying. I think it has a cool bobber look going, and I have the perfect seat in mind. I'm pretty bummed because I wanted to put full fenders on it, I can probably make a bracket to drop the front fender a few inches so its near the wheel, but the back of the frame is skinny, plus I cant find a fender to fit, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do right now.

For some reason the angle was off when I put the spring on the right way, so the bolt wouldn't thread, so I flipped it, it still works and looks different.

 

[ricksterr1221]

Lookin sweet.. Keep it up!

 

[ratina]

Finally got out in the garage to do some more work on this thing:


I wanted a solid sprocket, so I pulled this off an old murray.

Pulled the crank and sprocket that was on the bike apart as well, and ran into this problem:

This crank isn't like the old ones, it doesnt have the second bar holding the sprocket in place...I was going to paint the original crank so I really wanted to use that...oh well I'll use the chrome one right. What never crossed my mind is now I can use the chainguard I wanted to, before the second bar holding the sprocket on was rubbing, now it wont...

This could be a Columbia bike...

Take the rear bracket from the chainguard mount that was on the bike

with a little modification it will work just fine


Added Mesinger seat from Schwinn 10 speed:

And here she is:

Im going to shorten the front fender braces so it sits closer to the tire. Also ignore my red wire holding the fender up, I'm going to make a front fender holder just like the Krate bikes had.

More to come soon...

 

[ratina]

Cool bike. Weird , those pedals look like the ones on my Corvette.

Any reason why you have the springer mount tab upside down, so the spring points upwards?

I sanded the end caps today and the pedals are Union...they sure look identical to Schwinn pedals though.

 

[user 135]

Does that Murray crank use a different size bearing and races than a typical/normal bottom bracket?

I have some of those and they have tiny races and bearings.

Cool setup. Great mismash of parts going together. I wish I could find some older kid-sized bikes.

 

[ratina]

Does that Murray crank use a different size bearing and races than a typical/normal bottom bracket?

I have some of those and they have tiny races and bearings.

Cool setup. Great mismash of parts going together. I wish I could find some older kid-sized bikes.

Nope I actually used the original bearings and cups that were on the bike. It came off a 20" murray.

 

[demon]

pretty neat!

I dont like the chainguard though, it seems a little boxy compared to most of the other smooth shapes and contours with the bike.

 

[Markm]

lookin cool! I made a fender hanger out of a crossbar from an old pair of bmx bars....

 

[ratina]

pretty neat!

I dont like the chainguard though, it seems a little boxy compared to most of the other smooth shapes and contours with the bike.

Yeah it is a little big, but I thought it had the right vintage look. Also its the only one I have that will fit the bike, so I dont know what to do.


Thats a good idea about the old bmx bars, I have tons of those laying around.

 

[ratina]

Well I ended up going a whole new direction with this bike....



First off the bike is now called "slow ride" after Foghat of course. came on the radio when i was building and its one of my favorite songs.




Cant get the hub apart on the back wheel..its still locked up...so I ditched the wheelset and found something way different....





MAGS!!

also added a chain and made the bike ridable...its a blast to ride!
also a sneak peak at one of my color choices, the teal color on half of the front mag.

but with the bars flipped and it being a 20" bike, and im 5'5, it was pretty hard to turn, especially with the spring missing, not much of a turning radius. so...


put the original bars back on, the right way.

wanted to raise the fork an a couple inches...hmm what do i have laying around thats solid rubber...oh yeah the old leaf spring bushing from my 77 Trans Am im restoring..pefect...still functions then.
also added some old black cruiser grips that match pefect

or does it look better all the way raked??

yes ive been seeing that honest abe bike everywhere and love the low stance...


more to come soon...

 

[GTCOMA]

How far are you from throwing sparks off the front fender with the full rake?