Never too late...

[HotRodHocke]

Hi,

New old guy from Sweden here. Was playing a lot with bicycle builds when I was a kid and picked it up again a couple of years ago as it´s never too late to have a happy childhood I think.

Built a chopper in 2007, but never really liked the way it came out though:

Have had the chopper hanging on the wall in the carport for some while now. Also started and never finished another build, most of the parts from that build ended up on a MTB that I also never really liked to ride on.

Lately I decided to cut up the MTB and to start a build using parts from it together with some parts from the chopper, here´s some progress pics:

Only part missing right now is the saddle, I´ve ordered a Electra "COMFORT XL SADDLE" that hopefully will arrive soon. Been thinking about flat black paint and maybe some pinstriped flames. I made the shifter myself and there´s a Shimano 7 speed twist shifter inside the alu parts I made there.

 

[KJV]

DIG IT. watching this build. :mrgreen: 8)

 

[saltyjon]

RAD!

 

[RZ94]

if you don't like this one when you're done you can send it to me!!! very nice!!!

 

[OUTLAW]

dude, i'll say that first bike, the chopper, is in the ranks of a Burrito. ride it. wow.

Outlaw

 

[HotRodHocke]

Thanks all,

The only parts I robbed from the chopper for this new build was the rear rim and the shifter cable. Been thinking I should shorten the rear part of the chopper frame, straighten up the lines a bit and use a really wide 24" wheels on it, we´ll see...

Also have an old 28" Swedish made frame from the fourties/fifties out in the carport that looks like a good candidate for a boardtracker style project. Have to finish this "Never too late..." project first though.

The possible boardtracker project as found on the side of the road in a local industrial area here in town:

Håkan

 

[LowpowerD]

Have to finish this "Never too late..." project first though.


Håkan

If you're like me, it's ok to have three or four projects going at the same time. BTW I dig that suicide shifter 8)

 

[HotRodHocke]

Not a lot of progress, but the saddle showed up today and after I moved the part of the frame where it attaches I thought it was time to take some pics again:

Håkan

 

[valy]

nice work Håkan :wink:

 

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Very cool :mrgreen:

 

[UnDerzon3]

this is probably going to be really good, I will be following it
also fun to hear that you're from sweden aswell

 

[HotRodHocke]

Thanks again all, your comments keeps me motivated!

Here´s the latest update.

Finished welding the frame, rear fender and handlebar and also sand blasted the frame:

Routed the handbrake cable inside the frame:

Here´s the parts I made for the shifter and the stripped Shimano 7 speed twist shifter that´s hidden inside the whole thing. Gonna make some kind of cover later on to hide the bolt head:

It was a little tricky to weld the very thin material in the two parts of the fenders I put together, but with the MIG welder on the lowest setting it came out pretty decent. The reason I made that extra cut in the fender was to adjust the radius of it as it was a 28" fender to begin with:

Håkan

 

[saltyjon]

Nice! I dig that frame & the clean cable routing-Keep it up!

 

[HotRodHocke]

Thanks, I really appreciate the comments!

Was thinking today that I should put the whole thing together and take it for a test ride before starting with the paint and detailing:

but as soon as I had the chain on which was the last thing, it started to rain better luck later or tomorrow, we´ll see. So far it at least feels very comfortable to sit on. Also ordered these pedals from http://www.sjscycles.co.uk/union-265-rubber-diamond-block-pedals-black-prod5295/ as I think they fit into the style I am going for:

Håkan

 

[ballroomwrecker]

VERY VERY NICE... Great job

 

[HotRodHocke]

Thanks again!

Here´s a link to a very low quality video of last night's test ride: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DHm-0HhV_P4 it's my 17 year old son riding the bike and he also thought it was very comfortable once he figured out how to handle the rake.

Now paint is in progress and here's the frame and handlebar covered in the first layer of rust protection:

Håkan

 

[custombikebuilder]

that bike looks awesome!!

 

[HotRodHocke]

Thanks!

Here´s the latest progress.

Thought I should do something about the ugly looking front sprocket I had and as I´ve seen the ones looking like diamond plate I thought I could make something similar. I had a number of cranks and sprockets lying around and after some planning, grinding, welding and some more grinding I came up with this:

"Real" old school type of rivets to be used as I don´t like pop rivets and bolt and nuts would also have looked wrong used here I think:

My pedals showed up today and I obviously had to put the whole crank together to check it out:

Finally, here´s the frame paint job status so far:

Håkan

 

[aka_locojoe]

Nice work on the sprocket. Much better looking than the factory made.

 

[HotRodHocke]

Thanks!

Found some really cheap disc brakes on Ebay at $32 for two discs and two calipers including shipping from China to Sweden! Wasn´t expecting much really, but was quite surprised when they showed up just a week after I ordered them and they looked really nice!

Now the next problem was of course that I already painted the rim, laced the rear wheel and put the tire on using a non disc brake hub... but after some measuring and a deep dive in my aluminum scrap pieces box I made this adapter to attach the disc to the rear hub:

Also made some progress on the frame and it´s now filled, sanded and covered with a second layer of rust protection:

Håkan