My new Hiawatha... now what? *NEW DESIGN PIC PAGE 2*

[theboywonder916]

Ok so here she is. a 50's Hiawatha i just bought on ebay (the devil). i really ike its fenders and fat tire frame. Its very unique. But i really have no clue as to how i should restore it. I think it has a lot of potential, but im not sure which way to go, what do you all think?

 

[ricksterr1221]

Well if i had it, Id slap some pedals on it, ape hangers, and some fatter tires, and RIDE BABY RIDE! Dont paint you only get it to look that way one timme.

 

[chimichanga]

ooo I like that bike.

 

[Larry]

You are one grip and a set of pedals away from perfection.

 

[xddorox]

Bring the mechanical components back to life, slap a coat of flat clear and ride. Tis a thing of beauty.

 

[Hooch]

You are one grip and a set of pedals away from perfection.

amen to that

 

[Clothespin n]

Grips,Pedals,and that's all I would do...

If your REALLY itching to make it a bit more of a Rat / Custom.
You could Paint The Rims a color that POP'z out and goes with the
Frame color.

WWW Tires,
and maybe Pin Stripe the Frame in a Traditional stripe style like I did
on my Rollfast.

The Bike is perfect the way it is..and VERY LITTLE is needed to
make it even cooler.

my 2 cents,
Kev.

 

[Hooch]

brick red tires!

 

[Clothespin n]

brick red tires!

good call Hooch....

or a set of those Brown Felts on Chaingang
http://www.chainganglowrider.com/Felt%2 ... 20wide.jpg

 

[theboywonder916]

awesome

Wow i didnt expect so much response with so many great ideas. I really like all these ideas and i am very torn as to wheather i should tear it down and restore it or work with what i have got.
Thanks for all the input, and keep it comming if anyone else has any ideas.

 

[fast eddie]

almost everything on my ol rat is RATTY!!!!! i changed out some parts, but i the "new" parts are old and ratty too, the thing just sits lower now. restoration is awesome, but keep a rat in the garage! fast eddie outty

 

[militarymonark]

whatever you do dont chop that thing up, its a nice classic, I'd find the correct rack for it and get the tank and throw a delta winner light on it. Clean up the tires if they are good enough where the tubes dont bulge out and clean the dirt on the frame and all the chrome you can and ride it. Thats a nice shelby bike I have two of them.

 

[mastershake916]

I dig that seat, if you're selling it let me know, I have stuff to trade too.

 

[musclebikes]

Im fine with the whole rat thing, but not anice bike like that. Get some repro parts from street lowrider or memorylaneclassics and paint the frame something eyecatching, if you want to you can have the wheels poweder coated. This style of build is more expensive but thats a bike wirth doing it to. Ive ratted out muslebikes but I have a problem doing it to a ballon style bike. Sorry if you guys disagree.

 

[Rat Rod]

Go over the mechanics as stated earlier...throw on a set of fat white walls and ride that puppy.

Looks very cool as is. 8)

 

[Bicyclerick]

thats too nice a bike to rat. either restore or make a custom cruiser out of it. Thats just my opinion.

 

[karfer67]

so thats your new toy huh? nice find i am going to step out of the box and say rat it. keep the original paint and go from there. one of the cool things about these bikes is as long as you keep the original parts you could always change it back to original if you wanted. i still have the original parts for my schwinn cruiser 7 although i doubt i would change it back to stock now. cool bike lets see some progress pics.

 

[theboywonder916]

yeah

o you will see some progress pics, i am building it at college this summer. although i mist state, its got really going to be stock, i kind of already have an idea of what i want. Larry might take it to get sandblasted next week.

 

[southp]

You are one grip and a set of pedals away from perfection.

I was just trolling through some threads and saw this pictures. So yOu guys really seem to think that this one is good to go like this, eh?

I'm obviously newer to this forum, but I tend to prefer the shiny and rust-less. I want to understand why this bike is cool as is.

Elaborate. Is it because it's just un-restored and original? But if it looks beat-up, doesn't that make it less of a gem?

 

[gravediggerjason]

if your anything like me you dont have all the origanal parts just hanging on the shop wall just waiting for this bike to be put on, if resto is the way you wanna go then i would clean up the frame a bit and clear coat it as is replace the tires and have a awesome rider .... maybe even skip the clear coat but get it greased and rolling smooth... then while you collect a 50s tank or rack you have a rolling work in progress... once you have all the goodies if you still wanna restore then tear her down ...if you've changed you mind bout the resto .. you have trading stock!.... its a beautiful bike either route you pick

what i'd do anywho
jason