Muscle Bound DONE

[metalchewy]

I like looking at mangled metal. Hehehe

Looking forward to seeing it as well.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Here's a look with the fenders!

It is remarkable how well the re-paint matches on everything. You really have to look hard to see that the whole bike wasn't painted together.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

When I bought the fenders I wasn't sure what bikes they came from. The shape is noticeably different from most fenders which have a round profile.

The squared profile blends perfectly with the rest of the sheet metal parts though. If you'll notice, everything is very block shaped with rounded corners.

The bike was designed by the legendary Harley Earl in the 1950s and it shows!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

My tire search got completely derailed by the fender discovery. So I got back to that task and found a suitable front tire.

I decided to stay with the white walls just because I like 'em.

Check off #1 of the two out of three rule.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Very cool tire choice. I think banana seats are just bad on 26" tire bikes. They look like what they are, a compromise, unless you work hard to build your bike with the correct dimensions. See any one of CRASH's builds where he makes an adult sized Muscle bike. This though is different, it's muscle but in the vintage sense. I'm guessing at REN's vision but his FIRST POST explains it completely. Muscle Bound. Yeah I'm diggin' it. No need to force the banana just to fit the 2 of 3 rules...

 

[The Renaissance Man]

A banana seat was never an option. If for no other reason, my plan would predate the polo seat which came a few years later historically.
___________________________________________________

After a couple of unexpected twists and turns this past week, I find myself at a cross roads with this bike.

My first intentions were to build in the style of the earliest documented origins of the muscle bike movement. Actually the bike had that look the day I bought it so it worked. I was mainly just looking at doing a wellness check, making some repairs, swap a couple of parts and calling it done. If I choose to stick to that path at this point, I can cross the finish line in a day.

But, out of nowhere the ZZ Top theme came up and a few days later I found the orphaned fenders that are a perfect match! Both are worthy of consideration.

Here's my dilemma: The ZZ theme completely voids the original mission statement. And the fender discovery at best muddies the water because I like it both ways. Fenderless seems to fit the historic muscle bike constraints a little better (but not absolutely) and conversely ZZ Top's Eliminator had fenders so that's reason enough for me to keep them!

And honestly no matter how I approach it, the bike looks nothing like what I think of when I imagine what a muscle bike actually is in spite of its nexus.
This ad that @Slow-Rider posted typifies how muscle bikes should look in my mind.

Since this 26" balloon bike will never look like the later commercial versions of a muscle bike, I'm really just building for myself. Of course the build off mantra has long been 'Build what you like 'cause in the end, the bike is your prize' so I'm not trying to be competitive with the 'real' muscle bikes anyway.

Now I just need to decide which direction to turn the rudder at this point. Or more simply put; do I want a furry seat or not!

 

[ingola]

I agree with Carl even with the fenders your very first picture in the thread looks "muscle" always found that look close to the early Harley bobbers of the 50s which came before the chopper.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Yes the first picture is how the bike came to me. It definitely has the 50's bobber look!

If you'll notice, that bobber pictured has a rear fender but the front fender is removed. That was also a thing with the early 'riser bikes'.

While I had the front wheel off to change to the smaller tire, I took the front fender off to see how I liked it. I wasn't going to post this but since you brought up bobbers...

It might look a little better with the apes and saddle on it, but at this point I'm not feeling it.

 

[ingola]

Yes the first picture is how the bike came to me. It definitely has the 50's bobber look!

If you'll notice, that bobber pictured has a rear fender but the front fender is removed. That was also a thing with the early 'riser bikes'.

While I had the front wheel off to change to the smaller tire, I took the front fender off to see how I liked it. I wasn't going to post this but since you brought up bobbers...
View attachment 216933

It might look a little better with the apes and saddle on it, but at this point I'm not feeling it.

I agree maybe with a cropped rear fender but those fenders are to cool to cut

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Exactly my thoughts.

 

[metalchewy]

I'm looking at the 2 outta 3 with mine as well.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

I'm wondering if it would look cool with the fenders cocked back "Taildragger" style? That's sometimes a cool no-cut mod.

 

[Slow-Rider]

A banana seat was never an option. If for no other reason, my plan would predate the polo seat which came a few years later historically.
___________________________________________________

After a couple of unexpected twists and turns this past week, I find myself at a cross roads with this bike.

My first intentions were to build in the style of the earliest documented origins of the muscle bike movement. Actually the bike had that look the day I bought it so it worked. I was mainly just looking at doing a wellness check, making some repairs, swap a couple of parts and calling it done. If I choose to stick to that path at this point, I can cross the finish line in a day.

But, out of nowhere the ZZ Top theme came up and a few days later I found the orphaned fenders that are a perfect match! Both are worthy of consideration.

Here's my dilemma: The ZZ theme completely voids the original mission statement. And the fender discovery at best muddies the water because I like it both ways. Fenderless seems to fit the historic muscle bike constraints a little better (but not absolutely) and conversely ZZ Top's Eliminator had fenders so that's reason enough for me to keep them!

And honestly no matter how I approach it, the bike looks nothing like what I think of when I imagine what a muscle bike actually is in spite of its nexus.
This ad that @Slow-Rider posted typifies how muscle bikes should look in my mind.

Since this 26" balloon bike will never look like the later commercial versions of a muscle bike, I'm really just building for myself. Of course the build off mantra has long been 'Build what you like 'cause in the end, the bike is your prize' so I'm not trying to be competitive with the 'real' muscle bikes anyway.

Now I just need to decide which direction to turn the rudder at this point. Or more simply put; do I want a furry seat or not!

your bike do what you like . but some company's did do 24" stingray muscle bikes. for the high school age kids. so it would not be a stretch to do a what if they did a prototype 26" stingray type muscle bike for dads.

 

[GeePig]

your bike do what you like . but some company's did do 24" stingray muscle bikes. for the high school age kids. so it would not be a stretch to do a what if they did a prototype 26" stingray type muscle bike for dads.

Definitely.

It is really hard to be original, and sure you can make some mistakes along the way, but if you have an idea that seems a bit vague then go with it, never be put off by other people's well-meant opinions. Look at the guy sitting on that bike with no 'seat' but big handlebars - he was cutting edge, and didn't know where design was going.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Thanks for the input y'all. I've slept on it and I think that I've made up my mind on the direction going forward.

For now though, here's one last picture that I took yesterday with both fenders back on and the smaller front tire in place.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The Evans has been hanging on the work stand all week but no work has been done.

After reading through John Brain's History of Kustom Biking again for more inspiration, I took the bike back outside and fitted another saddle on it to have a look at this so-called "old favorite" accessory, the fox-tail.

While I don't consider the fox-tail as having a direct influence on the evolution of the muscle bike, it was a small example of a larger desire to kustomize bikes (in the late 1950s) during the budding years that actually did lead to it.

I like it, so it will stay.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

That Messinger saddle above had a little surprise underneath.

It might have been better suited for this bike!

Look closely.

 

[GuitarlCarl]

Organic bullet cartridges...

 

[OddJob]

...the Hornet.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

...the Hornet.

Schwinn did sell a Hornet but this one was a Wasp.