- Joined
- Aug 26, 2016
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- 327
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Intro
I don't know if there will be any major fabrication with this bike, but it will be my first entry into class two. I guess this will be a nice first step into a division where creativity is not thwarted by period and part correctness. I fully intend to be welding by the end of the year, so perhaps that will open up some new doors for the winter build off and the Rat Rod build off. The start of this edition of the build off does however coincide with my return to work from a year's parental leave. I'm hoping there will be enough time to finish this one, and... a couple Class 1 builds. Am I biting off more than I can chew? Probably. Did I mention that I'm also in the process of turning my garage into a bike building man cave show room? Is there a category for that? Anyway...
Chapter 1 - Close to Home
I know that all of you can relate to this element of the bike hobbyist's life; you find a bike for sale and you are compelled to buy it, no matter the cost or the distance. In between phone calls and emails, you worry that someone is already on their way to pick up a bike that, in your head, you already own. How many great bikes have you missed out on? How many times have you been the one to snag that perfect score? How many times have you overpaid for a bike because you were impulsive? I'm happy to say that this particular bike show up on Kijiji classifieds in my city, within a 5 minute walk from my house. I know it's not a major collectible or anything, but it's unique and that's what made me have to have it.
I called the number and my wife and I stopped in to check it out while out for a walk with our 1 year old daughter. The woman was selling it for her 80 year old father who had intended to fix it up. I would have liked her to bend a little on the price, but she was quite firm and said that another guy was interested and was coming by later. I got her down to $125 from $150, and was happy with that especially considering it came with 4 NOS 20 x 1.75 bricktread tires, an NOS supercycle chain and reflector set from Canadian Tire, and two new tubes and a kick-stand. Bargain!!
So what is it exactly? It's a Polish 20" tandem, with folding bike elements. It has quick releases on the seat tubes and head tube like a folding bike, but it doesn't fold. Instead, the entire front end comes off for transportation purpsoses. you just have to loosen one bolt and presto, two bike halves. I looked online for anything close and came up empty. The decal says 'Tyler" and "Made in Poland". For now, I'm calling this build "POLE POSITION". I had a quick search online to check if "Pole" is in any way an outdated or offensive term for someone with Polish decent. I didn't come up with anything. I like it and it works on many levels. It gives reference to it's Polish heritage, it's position given to a fast racer, and it's also a classic arcade game from my childhood. Can't go wrong!!
Chapter 2 - Break it Down
Well, my other two Class 1 builds have been waiting for me at Dale's house for months. If you recall, Dale does a bang up job powder coating my frames for me. Between his schedule and mine and summer holidays, I haven't had a chance to pick up my last two projects which I think I dropped off in April. It's good that I have them now though, because I missed the deadline on my very first build off because I was waiting for paint. Dale assured me that this tandem frame will be done quickly and it helps that he already has the colour I want in stock. It's the same colour he used on my CCM Mustang Marauder.
It's not a huge departure from original, but I like it and chose it because I have a couple seats in mind that I think will go with that scheme. Stay tuned. Anyway, I finally connected with Dale so I could pick up the other two frames. I always like to have a frame ready to drop off for him when I'm picking some up just to save and extra trip, so I stayed up late the other night and disassembled in my garage. You'll notice compared to the first pic of the bike that I now have my new garage doors and the garage is quite empty. I have a lot of bikes stored in other places and other people's houses. I don't yet have a storage unit like some of you other hoarders, but I fear one day it will get to that.
The break down was pretty straight forward. You'll notice that the bike has the dreaded cottered cranks. My vice method works almost flawlessly and I'm usually able to re-use the cotter pins. It must have been late because I saved the first three and the fourth one involved some hammer swings. Over all the bike is in decent shape. I'll probably use other rims and tires. The RWL tires are cool but really cracked. Lots of surface rust that I'm hoping cleans up nice, since I don't have any extra tandem cranks laying around. The rack was toast, and the fenders will be replaced. The rest I'm going to make up as I go.
I don't know if there will be any major fabrication with this bike, but it will be my first entry into class two. I guess this will be a nice first step into a division where creativity is not thwarted by period and part correctness. I fully intend to be welding by the end of the year, so perhaps that will open up some new doors for the winter build off and the Rat Rod build off. The start of this edition of the build off does however coincide with my return to work from a year's parental leave. I'm hoping there will be enough time to finish this one, and... a couple Class 1 builds. Am I biting off more than I can chew? Probably. Did I mention that I'm also in the process of turning my garage into a bike building man cave show room? Is there a category for that? Anyway...
Chapter 1 - Close to Home
I know that all of you can relate to this element of the bike hobbyist's life; you find a bike for sale and you are compelled to buy it, no matter the cost or the distance. In between phone calls and emails, you worry that someone is already on their way to pick up a bike that, in your head, you already own. How many great bikes have you missed out on? How many times have you been the one to snag that perfect score? How many times have you overpaid for a bike because you were impulsive? I'm happy to say that this particular bike show up on Kijiji classifieds in my city, within a 5 minute walk from my house. I know it's not a major collectible or anything, but it's unique and that's what made me have to have it.
I called the number and my wife and I stopped in to check it out while out for a walk with our 1 year old daughter. The woman was selling it for her 80 year old father who had intended to fix it up. I would have liked her to bend a little on the price, but she was quite firm and said that another guy was interested and was coming by later. I got her down to $125 from $150, and was happy with that especially considering it came with 4 NOS 20 x 1.75 bricktread tires, an NOS supercycle chain and reflector set from Canadian Tire, and two new tubes and a kick-stand. Bargain!!
So what is it exactly? It's a Polish 20" tandem, with folding bike elements. It has quick releases on the seat tubes and head tube like a folding bike, but it doesn't fold. Instead, the entire front end comes off for transportation purpsoses. you just have to loosen one bolt and presto, two bike halves. I looked online for anything close and came up empty. The decal says 'Tyler" and "Made in Poland". For now, I'm calling this build "POLE POSITION". I had a quick search online to check if "Pole" is in any way an outdated or offensive term for someone with Polish decent. I didn't come up with anything. I like it and it works on many levels. It gives reference to it's Polish heritage, it's position given to a fast racer, and it's also a classic arcade game from my childhood. Can't go wrong!!
Chapter 2 - Break it Down
Well, my other two Class 1 builds have been waiting for me at Dale's house for months. If you recall, Dale does a bang up job powder coating my frames for me. Between his schedule and mine and summer holidays, I haven't had a chance to pick up my last two projects which I think I dropped off in April. It's good that I have them now though, because I missed the deadline on my very first build off because I was waiting for paint. Dale assured me that this tandem frame will be done quickly and it helps that he already has the colour I want in stock. It's the same colour he used on my CCM Mustang Marauder.
It's not a huge departure from original, but I like it and chose it because I have a couple seats in mind that I think will go with that scheme. Stay tuned. Anyway, I finally connected with Dale so I could pick up the other two frames. I always like to have a frame ready to drop off for him when I'm picking some up just to save and extra trip, so I stayed up late the other night and disassembled in my garage. You'll notice compared to the first pic of the bike that I now have my new garage doors and the garage is quite empty. I have a lot of bikes stored in other places and other people's houses. I don't yet have a storage unit like some of you other hoarders, but I fear one day it will get to that.
The break down was pretty straight forward. You'll notice that the bike has the dreaded cottered cranks. My vice method works almost flawlessly and I'm usually able to re-use the cotter pins. It must have been late because I saved the first three and the fourth one involved some hammer swings. Over all the bike is in decent shape. I'll probably use other rims and tires. The RWL tires are cool but really cracked. Lots of surface rust that I'm hoping cleans up nice, since I don't have any extra tandem cranks laying around. The rack was toast, and the fenders will be replaced. The rest I'm going to make up as I go.
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Cool!
