Hi all. I've been lurking on this forum for about a month now and am totally amazed at the variety and quality of the bikes being built. Outstanding. Oh yeah - the Rat Rod bug has bit me hard 
I live on beautiful Vancouver Island in BC, Canada. I'm closer to 60 than I am to 50 - and have always loved to tinker around with anything mechanical. My first "real" bicycle had a SA 3 speed on it - which I promptly tore down completely to see how it worked. Amazingly - it all went back together and worked - with no parts left over!!
I figure I've just got to jump in and build a rat rod to start out. I've picked up a used mountain bike with front suspension. It has a sloping top tube as well as a nice fat front down tube. It has 3x7 gearing on it and v-brakes.
Right now, I'm just stripping it down and cleaning everything up and replacing/repacking baerings as required. My plan is:
Replace the rotten MB tires with some nice fat street tires.
Replace the front suspension fork with a solid fork that has nice, fat legs to it.
Install a set of ape hanger bars.
Build a rear set seatpost for that "laid back" look (or possible install a banana seat with sissy bar - haven't decided yet)
Keep the 7 speed cassette on the back wheel but lose the high and low sprokets on the front. Then scrap the front derailer for a cleaner look (too many hills where I live to live with just a single speed).
Possibly scrap the fron brakes as well for a cleaner look. Depends on how strong the rear brake is on its own. I figure that's no different than a single speed bike with just a coaster brake.
Remove ALL the ugly decals from the frame and forks (heat gun, Goo Gone and WD-40)
Install a bobbed rear fender - none on the front.
Buff out the paint and see what it looks like. If ok, leave as is. If not, spray paint flat black, grey or red.
Basically - I'm looking for that old school, bobber motorcycle look. Eventually, I'd like to try a springer fork on the front, But for now, I'm trying to stick to that basic rat rod philosophy - build it cheap, reuse as much as you can, scrounge the rest and only purchase what's not avaialble other wise. Fortunately, there's a used bicycle shop down the street that will let you browse thru the boxes and boxes of used parts they have and buy what you want for very little $$.
I'll post some photos as I get into this project. In the meantime, keep up the great work. I check the forums every day for ideas and inspiration.
steamcat
I live on beautiful Vancouver Island in BC, Canada. I'm closer to 60 than I am to 50 - and have always loved to tinker around with anything mechanical. My first "real" bicycle had a SA 3 speed on it - which I promptly tore down completely to see how it worked. Amazingly - it all went back together and worked - with no parts left over!!
I figure I've just got to jump in and build a rat rod to start out. I've picked up a used mountain bike with front suspension. It has a sloping top tube as well as a nice fat front down tube. It has 3x7 gearing on it and v-brakes.
Right now, I'm just stripping it down and cleaning everything up and replacing/repacking baerings as required. My plan is:
Replace the rotten MB tires with some nice fat street tires.
Replace the front suspension fork with a solid fork that has nice, fat legs to it.
Install a set of ape hanger bars.
Build a rear set seatpost for that "laid back" look (or possible install a banana seat with sissy bar - haven't decided yet)
Keep the 7 speed cassette on the back wheel but lose the high and low sprokets on the front. Then scrap the front derailer for a cleaner look (too many hills where I live to live with just a single speed).
Possibly scrap the fron brakes as well for a cleaner look. Depends on how strong the rear brake is on its own. I figure that's no different than a single speed bike with just a coaster brake.
Remove ALL the ugly decals from the frame and forks (heat gun, Goo Gone and WD-40)
Install a bobbed rear fender - none on the front.
Buff out the paint and see what it looks like. If ok, leave as is. If not, spray paint flat black, grey or red.
Basically - I'm looking for that old school, bobber motorcycle look. Eventually, I'd like to try a springer fork on the front, But for now, I'm trying to stick to that basic rat rod philosophy - build it cheap, reuse as much as you can, scrounge the rest and only purchase what's not avaialble other wise. Fortunately, there's a used bicycle shop down the street that will let you browse thru the boxes and boxes of used parts they have and buy what you want for very little $$.
I'll post some photos as I get into this project. In the meantime, keep up the great work. I check the forums every day for ideas and inspiration.
steamcat
