Rad Rot Bikes

[Chad T]

Final clue for the Easter egg hunt:

It can be found on page 5. @Chad T

If you mess with the bull....you'll get the hornament...

Can't wait to see it!

 

[OddJob]

Chad T coming through with the pun-ishing comment! NICE!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Chad T coming through with the pun-ishing comment! NICE!

He tried to steer everyone else to it with the first 'bull' comment last Friday!

Good eye @Chad T !

 

[The Renaissance Man]

I bought the little steer skull a year or two ago at a flea market and had forgotten about it. As you can see from the picture that bench is a catch all for lots of junk and I was digging around for something else and just happened to see it. Otherwise I wouldn't have even remembered having it.

Even the patina is just right for the Rad Rot Bike.

The big surprise for me was that the threaded mounting holes have exactly the same spacing as the holes in the fork/fender! That was all of the convincing that I needed to decide to use it.

Just add a couple of 10-24 screws and it's good to go!

 

[OddJob]

And that's no bull!

 

[kingfish254]

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Today was a good day!
The X53 was riden for the first time in a long time! Judging by the rotten tires I'm guessing that is has been decades. It was only a short ride down the street and back but it felt good.

I took a few photos while I had it outside.

Here's the bucranium in its new home.

 

[kingfish254]

That bad boy is perfect scale and looks great. It is so much like what some kid would have added.
Just watch out for fork flop and don't the those horns near you tank!!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

That bad boy is perfect scale and looks great. It is so much like what some kid would have added.
Just watch out for fork flop and don't the those horns near you tank!!

Thanks! It's funny that you mention something that a kid would add. I've been waiting for a couple of weeks until I got it back on the ground to add something that I would've done as a kid. (I'll show it tomorrow.) As for impaling the tank, the trusses hit before the horns get near it.

 

[GeePig]

That bad boy is perfect scale and looks great. It is so much like what some kid would have added.

...and then ridden the bike down hill with sneakers up on the horns?

 

[The Renaissance Man]

The X53 has a fairly significant hole in the seat cover that needed to be addressed before I start doing very much riding.

So that got me to thinking. What would be a good 'farm fix' for that?

When I was a kid, there was an auto parts store a couple of miles from our neighborhood. I would ride my bike there from time to time and go in to ask if they had any free stickers. I'm pretty sure the men working there got a kick out of saving back decals for me because they almost always had one or two handy when I would come in. They were the typical decals for various brands of shocks, mufflers, spark plugs, etc. But one of the most common and iconic ones for me was 'STP'.

As a kid (about 50 years ago), that's what I would've used to repair the seat!

So I printed one the right size and condition to look like it was put there years ago by a kid about head high to a parts counter!

 

[MattiThundrrr]

Yeah that's the one. Iconic.

 

[kingfish254]

The X53 has a fairly significant hole in the seat cover that needed to be addressed before I start doing very much riding.
View attachment 170757

So that got me to thinking. What would be a good 'farm fix' for that?

When I was a kid, there was an auto parts store a couple of miles from our neighborhood. I would ride my bike there from time to time and go in to ask if they had any free stickers. I'm pretty sure the men working there got a kick out of saving back decals for me because they almost always had one or two handy when I would come in. They were the typical decals for various brands of shocks, mufflers, spark plugs, etc. But one of the most common and iconic ones for me was 'STP'.

As a kid (about 50 years ago), that's what I would've used to repair the seat!

So I printed one the right size and condition to look like it was put there years ago by a kid about head high to a parts counter!
View attachment 170758

As I scrolled and saw where you were talking about what fix a kid would have done, an STP sticker popped in my head. We put those on all of our bikes. It was cool to see the STP sticker in the next pic! PERFECT!

 

[Captain Awesome]

The perfect fix!!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Thanks guys.

If you look closely in the STP picture you'll see the replacement for the kickstand bolt that broke. Literally just hours before I took that picture yesterday, it was a brand new shiny zinc coated bolt.

Vinegar comes though again!

 

[Kevin B]

This is just a great build. I really liked the plane and light choices for the fender but the bull head is just over the top in a good way!!!

 

[Frankie plekhand]

Nice work on the chainguard! And how bout that seat! That STP sticker, what a great Idea! Loving your build man!

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Thanks y'all!

Here's the final placement on the chainguard.

Straight as an arrow!

 

[kingfish254]

Straight as a rocket!!!!

 

[Chad T]

The bull looks killer on there! STP sticker is so classic. Love them polished rims with the patina-d bike. You going to be applying any special sauce to the paint? BLO?