Hi everyone, just wanted to introduce myself to the forum.. my name is Danny E. And I'm in Bellflower CA (Los Angeles county). I've been poking around this site every now and then to check out what cool projects people have going on.. I'm not to knowledgeable on the history of bikes(yet) but I'm doing my research.. to be honest though, I'm more into the custom bikes then originals..
I used to ride bmx bikes when I was younger, but slowed down on it after I started working.. ended up getting a beach cruiser and had the urge to modify it.. since then, I had to do somethin with every bike I've owned.. didn't take pics of the first few bikes I messed with but here are a couple I remembered too.
This first one is an elgin frame and forks that I picked up at the local motorcycle swapmeet held usually once a month in long beach.. I go there to look for stuff to paint, and vintage minibike stuff that I'm also into.. they have a ton of bicycle stuff so that's where I got exposed to a lot of cool vintage original and custom bikes..
This next one was just a frame and crank that a buddy gave me, he wanted me to do the usual and put a springer front end, make it a lowrider. Then I thought, why not make it a lowrider style chopper bike.. I found a beater at a swapmeet with the perfect parts to mix into this frame.. made the handle bars from two rusted ones and slapped a lowrider swirl seat on it.. still did a few more things after the pic but didn't take more pics.. my nephews ride it now..
Here is my newest find.. its a Columbia jet-fire, I can't find much info on it. Only thing I know is that its from the mid 50s and it looks exactly like one that's called a fire-arrow.. found some ads on that one.. one difference I noticed was the lever on the right hand side in the ads for the fire-arrow.. mine didn't come with one.. and the seat is different, but both things might not be correct on mine.. cool thing is that I got the headlight and horn to work, just needed a little cleaning of all connections..
I ended up changing the tires because I like the balloon tire look better, but had to remove the fenders and rack for now because it was a tight fit and tires were rubbing..
Well, that's all for now guys, hope to meet some cool like minded people on here and thanks for letting me join this great site
I used to ride bmx bikes when I was younger, but slowed down on it after I started working.. ended up getting a beach cruiser and had the urge to modify it.. since then, I had to do somethin with every bike I've owned.. didn't take pics of the first few bikes I messed with but here are a couple I remembered too.
This first one is an elgin frame and forks that I picked up at the local motorcycle swapmeet held usually once a month in long beach.. I go there to look for stuff to paint, and vintage minibike stuff that I'm also into.. they have a ton of bicycle stuff so that's where I got exposed to a lot of cool vintage original and custom bikes..
This next one was just a frame and crank that a buddy gave me, he wanted me to do the usual and put a springer front end, make it a lowrider. Then I thought, why not make it a lowrider style chopper bike.. I found a beater at a swapmeet with the perfect parts to mix into this frame.. made the handle bars from two rusted ones and slapped a lowrider swirl seat on it.. still did a few more things after the pic but didn't take more pics.. my nephews ride it now..
Here is my newest find.. its a Columbia jet-fire, I can't find much info on it. Only thing I know is that its from the mid 50s and it looks exactly like one that's called a fire-arrow.. found some ads on that one.. one difference I noticed was the lever on the right hand side in the ads for the fire-arrow.. mine didn't come with one.. and the seat is different, but both things might not be correct on mine.. cool thing is that I got the headlight and horn to work, just needed a little cleaning of all connections..
I ended up changing the tires because I like the balloon tire look better, but had to remove the fenders and rack for now because it was a tight fit and tires were rubbing..
Well, that's all for now guys, hope to meet some cool like minded people on here and thanks for letting me join this great site
