Post Your Final Thoughts

[Toeslider]

So, I’m sitting here at midnight looking at a picture of my bike and I had a mini-revelation. A 2 minute change that I can’t believe I didn’t think of before! All I did was switch a couple of the bar ends on the rack, and now it looks like it was all designed together!

Originally my intention was to go from long bars to short, top to bottom, but they flowed so much better the other way with the tank that I did it the opposite way. Then on the rack I did long on top and short on the bottom, but on the sides, which when done made it look like the short bars were on top (the rack) and then long in the middle and medium at the bottom when you looked at it from the side. It just bothered me a little. Just now I realized I could unscrew the ends and just swap them, and everything would kind of match!

Oh well, I guess I could keep improving on any of these bikes the longer you look at them. Just kind of wish I hadn’t been building down to the wire and I could have caught it before the deadline. Kinda anxious to see it in the daylight without a bunch of junk behind it.

Edit: Definitely an improvement, in my opinion. Dang!

 

[El C]

Some cool bikes, no doubt!!
I don´t know what´s your criteria on voting but I decided to vote for the bikes I would ride with pride.
Don´t get wrong, there´s many cool ideas on bikes that I didn´t vote. I just didn´t because i thought the wholeness wasn´t cohesive.

But that´s just me.

 

[horsefarmer]

It's taken me 2 and a half days to go through each of the Class 1 Build Journals. They are all great with a lot of spectacular ideas and individual visions and can now proudly say "I Voted". Best wishes and best of luck to all of you builders for such a great Build Off #14. Glad I could be a part of it.
Now on to studying and absorbing the Class 2 Build Journals...

That's what I'm trying to do now, Study the build journals before voting...
I have to say I'm in awe of "LaidBack by Mazda Flyer", not only is the build amazing, but the build thread is great reading tutorial on how he built the bike. I tried to document my build, but wish I would of shown more in my build thread!

 

[us56456712]

To me the following definition relates to bicycles as well...my guiding light for 10 rat rod build-off bikes and one wagon, so to speak.

From Wikipedia:
“The modern definition of a "rat rod" is a custom car with a deliberately worn-down, unfinished appearance, typically lacking paint, showing rust, and made from cheap or cast-off parts.[1] These parts can include non-automotive items that have been repurposed, such as using a rifle as a gear shifter, wrenches as door handles, and old saws as sun visors. A rat rod may or may not have extraneous decorations, but will always exude a great deal of personality due to the imagination required of the builder.

An alternate, and outdated, definition of a "rat rod" is a style of hot rod or custom car that, in most cases, imitates (or exaggerates) the early hot rods of the 1940s, 1950s, and early-1960s. The style is not to be confused with the somewhat closely related "traditional" hot rod, which is an accurate re-creation or period-correct restoration of a hot rod from the same era.

Originally, rat rods were a counter-reaction to the high-priced "customs" and typical hot rods, many of which were seldom driven and served only a decorative purpose. The rat rod's inception signified a throwback to the hot rods of the earlier days of hot-rod culture—built according to the owner's abilities and with the intention of being driven. Rat rods are meant to loosely imitate, in both form and function, the "traditional" hot rods of the era. Biker, greaser, rockabilly, psychobilly, and punk sub-cultures are often cited as influences that shaped rat rodding.”


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To me a rat rod bike can have beautiful paint or polish, or not, but must be a frakenbike, not a restoration. As long as it can be pedaled. A maggot, on the other hand, is made from cast off rusty junk where you have gone out of your way to make it look bad. Way before there were rat rods, in the late fifties, we built bikes and cars from junk and called them maggots. A friend made a car out of welded up conduit frame, an old aluminum billboard hammered into body shape, a solid Ford front axle that was cut and welded up and modified to right hand drive, a 30s Ford rear end, a Chevy 283, a coat hanger for a gas pedal and a boat cushion for a seat. I built a Klunker bike with no paint, frame down to rustless metal and covered in oil that I called the "Silver Maggot". I raced it in the 2015 Ore to Shore race. I don't see too many maggots here on this forum. Several years ago I entered the build off with a bike called Ukadi. It was a gender bender hack bike welded up with car batteries and painted with a old brush.

 

[MattiThundrrr]

I didn't know the term "maggot" as it pertains to bikes and such, thanx @us56456712. And maybe stroll on over to my "Wonky Donkey" build thread, it's the maggot I didn't know I was building!

 

[Reallybigtim]

Creativeness should never be restricted. It is sad that there are those who try to narrow down something so open and subjective. I really don't understand it. The coolest part of this build-off adventure is the creative openness and the fact that there are almost no rules. It allows for the most artistic expression possible. That is why I decided to participate in this build-off. All my life I have struggled to fit into society because I have autism. I certainly function on a different level. But I consider myself very fortunate because I see almost everything in life artistically. Therefore, I create art. And the true definition of art is that it affects each person in a different way. I certainly achieved that goal with the DRAGSTER RAT FREAK build. It has been shared over 500 times on many websites. Some people hate it, most love it, others don't know what to think. But that's the point...........to make people think and react. And it is one of the best feelings in the world when others understand and appreciate my art. The mind should never have limitations. Please keep that in mind at all times. Peace!

 

[MojoK]

Being forced to enjoy our freedom of self expression while conforming to a narrow definition would be dumb. "Okay everyone....from now on we're only going to build ratrod bikes this way". I think the rules are pretty spot on as they are.
I do think a bike should support it's riders weight, roll, and steer. Just so long as it is designed to be propelled by the rider I don't know that it has to be pedal driven.

So...about this build off. I sometimes buy bikes that I think I can refurbish and re-sell. If I see a bike for sale that's well past the point of being brought back to where it came from, I won't touch it unless I kind of know the direction it's going to go. I knew the Black and Tan BSA was going to get built from a donor bike I had already done. I knew I wanted to tip my hat to Major Taylors 6-day-racer I'd seen in those old pictures. I knew that less was more. I also always like adding a twist that I haven't seen before and I was able to do that too (maybe next year I'll sponsor an award for the "clever twist"). All in all I'm very happy with how it played out for me to be both simple and a little tricky.

That said, the bikes I voted for are not all simple or understated, but mostly they are the ones that lean forward...I'm not a very "laid back" kind of guy.

So...what's next? More muscle bikes?

 

[dropstep]

Alot of good points in here, I enjoy some of the creativity for sure it's appealing. I just build minimal stuff because it's what I enjoy riding. I really want to try building a full fendered bike like alot of these I just don't see myself ever riding it. That's going to be my issue in any build off is years of bmx bikes makes me want to build strong and as light as possible

 

[Binz]

Ride videos are not required Adam. It's just something that a lot of us like to see, as it's kind of the final step in a build. The bike rides as intended, and is being enjoyed by the rider.

Please don't tell us that your very RaT-isfying build is frozen solid with rust and won't move an inch!

Just kidding!

I put up a couple vids on my finished post. I'll post another later when it gets dark with all the neon green lights!!!

 

[Duchess]

A few of my bikes I never expected to ride much, but it ended up that I ride them all (Though, Cyclops won't get much riding as it's just too small and shaky for me. I might repurpose its eyeball light for my 1912 Iver). The rocket bike, especially, leaves smiles and laughs in its wake and invites conversations from attractive women . . . and weirdos (and the ratio is not favorable), but it's still fun (I never thought of myself as any kind of beacon of normalcy, but the internet has shown me that I didn't know what weird was). People are so used to buying things or aspiring to buy things that they seem overly impressed to learn someone built something themselves—even things as simple as kayak paddles. I understand that the level of technological advancement has left a lot of things out of the realistic range of somebody building themselves, but there are still simple things like bicycles that people can build and I think it's a bit sad that the idea of that seems to have become so uncommon. I'm glad to be able to remind people that it's still possible and to be able to see what other creative people are doing. And I know they don't get as many votes, but some of the simpler builds on here stood out to me as much as any others.

 

[SwissGuy]

To me this build off was, as the ones I participated in before, a great time, spent with people all over the globe, while building a bicycle. It's as much the building itself as it is the sharing and learning and getting inspired by all the other skillfull builders.

My goal in this is always to get a ridable bike out of it. I must say my first finisher bike (BarrelBanana) was not ridden daily, but on a fairly regular basis until it got dismantled. Last years bike (The EggBeater) was ridden almost daily as mixed mode commuter (train and bike) for one year, and this years bike (ClearOut) gets ridden daily since it's finished.

So no matter the votes (and I guess, I won't get many), I got MY first price already... It's sitting in the basement, awaiting it's next rideout.

 

[HuffnPuff]

It’s interesting seeing different builders’ perspectives and motivations. I like building stuff. The build off helps give me a focus and deadline for that building. Last years build off bike is gone. I sold it as I wasn’t really going to ride it. The bloke that bought it was stoked with his custom. This years bikes will probably be gone at some stage too, although the e-bike does make them a more practical choice for me than a cruiser.

I’m keen to have another go next year and who knows if I’ll ride it much or just move it on.

Edit: should add that I thoroughly enjoying riding, mostly mountain biking and I have a fleet of bikes for different purposes. I don’t ride cruisers a lot though.

 

[OddJob]

A few of my bikes I never expected to ride much, but it ended up that I ride them all (Though, Cyclops won't get much riding as it's just too small and shaky for me. I might repurpose its eyeball light for my 1912 Iver). The rocket bike, especially, leaves smiles and laughs in its wake and invites conversations from attractive women . . . and weirdos (and the ratio is not favorable), but it's still fun (I never thought of myself as any kind of beacon of normalcy, but the internet has shown me that I didn't know what weird was). People are so used to buying things or aspiring to buy things that they seem overly impressed to learn someone built something themselves—even things as simple as kayak paddles. I understand that the level of technological advancement has left a lot of things out of the realistic range of somebody building themselves, but there are still simple things like bicycles that people can build and I think it's a bit sad that the idea of that seems to have become so uncommon. I'm glad to be able to remind people that it's still possible and to be able to see what other creative people are doing. And I know they don't get as many votes, but some of the simpler builds on here stood out to me as much as any others.

@Duchess , I completely concur with everything you say here. Very well put. Solid builds all the way around in BO#14!
I look forward to seeing more of your creative inspiration!

 

[Binz]

Dude even without the lights, Swamp Thing is the quintessential 21st century Rat Rod bicycle. "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain", yours is by far the best build here!

Why thank you!

 

[Fv2]

I posted on my build thread that Little One was my last documented bicycle build, then I stepped away from the forum.

I show up today to cast votes, and I see this thread. I'm almost at a loss for words, there are some positive comments. But there's a lot of pissn' and moanin' about what's right and wrong.

All I can say is, it's just a dam bike.

 

[sandman]

It's a toy , originally built for enjoyment or a alternate mode of transportation .

 

[HuffnPuff]

It's a toy , originally built for enjoyment or a alternate mode of transportation .

Well, more like it was a form of transport that is now often considered a toy because ‘motor vehicles’

 

[Klunkruiser]

An exercise machine.

 

[kingfish254]

We all built cool bikes and had fun!

 

[sandman]

We see folks on a lot of street corners with every thing they own strapped to a bicycle . Many times we will buy them something to eat .