Retro Racer

[Galtbacken]

Thank you so much guys!! This site has been such a great source of inspiration for me, and I'm glad if I what I do can give a little back to you all!

I'm hurrying!! :lol: paint pics for Dman!!
Without flash...

...and with flash.

My plan is to paint parts of the bike with translucent red paint, the kind you use for backlights. It might work...

In case you wonder what "Galtbacken" means, I'll try to explain. The place where my house is, used to be part of a big farm in the old days and I guess that they kept the pigs there because "galt" is the swedish word for boar and "backe" means hill....so texasbigjon, if you're a caveman what am I?! :lol:

I'll keep on hurrying and see to it that you're updated on my doings! :wink:

 

[JOScatRATrod]

currently with the straight fork following the line of the headset pivot angle, your steering will try and kick to one side like crazy as the wheel's point of contact with the ground tries to equalise with the pivot line. as a crude sort of rule, try and make the tire's point of contact about in line with your dotted pivot line. Really nice lines though! wow! you've really got the aesthetics looking awesome! this is regarding your new frame design, although i'm sure you've figured it out by now. it applies to all forks

 

[Galtbacken]

When I took it for a test ride I noticed that it teneded to pull a little to either side, but I didn't think it was all that bad really. But I'll take it for a more extensive test ride to decide if I'll be satisfied with it as it is or if I'll change the dropouts of the fork even more. Thank you so much for the advice and the explanation, and the kind comments! All equally appreciated!

 

[Galtbacken]

Man, I was a bit scared there for a moment! :shock: I saw before me how I'd have to make a whole new fork and all. But now I've taken another test ride. Luckily I haven't had time to paint the frame and the fork yet, so I put the bike together and took it out to the asphalt road (first test ride was on a snowy dirt road just outside my house, and I thought that may have been misleading on determining how the bike handles). I must say, after riding it both slowly and in pretty high speed, that it handles just fine! When going very slow and turning hard I could feel that it wanted to oversteer a little bit, but when going a little faster it didn't pull to the sides at all. It's actually a nice ride! I guess the correct trail could have made it even nicer, but as it is now it's good enough. Big sigh of relief!
Anyway, for the next bike build I'll make sure I don't miscalculate the trail. Thank you again JOScatRATrod for sharing your knowledge, I'll try to learn from it!

Back to the paint work again!

 

[Galtbacken]

Here's what I've done today:

Well, that and putting up new wallpaper in the bedroom. I planned to try and do all the paintwork this weekend but the store where I buy clearcoat only had one can left and won't get more until next week. So I forced myself to do some work around the house instead... :lol:

Did this yesterday:

I scanned the logo into the computer and printed a copy in a good size to fit the chainguard. I sprayed some clearcoat on both sides so that it won't absorb so much paint later. Those thin paper strips that I've left around the letters will be cut away before paint, they're only there to keep everything in place when I apply it to the chainguard. I'll use spray glue to make it stick, see how that works...

That's all for now! Hope you're all having a nice weekend!

 

[Galtbacken]

Done some more painting! The experiment with red backlight paint turned out great!
Casing for the gearshifter:

Hey!!

After that success I went on with the same process on the chainguard.
Masked off a wingpattern, and here's where I did something that I regret a little. I did 6 "feathers" instead of 5, like there are on the gearshifter and the pattern that will be on the frame. I did the 6:th one at the bottom to line up with the edge of the metal strip that runs along the top and front of the chainguard. In hindsight I think it would have looked better with 5. More balanced...

I sprayed glue (3M spray mount) on the stencil of the logo and put it in place. I had to clearcoat the chainguard where the logo would be placed because the spray glue dissolves the silver paint I used. I found that out on a little scrap piece...

It's red!!

To finish these I'll do some gold pinstriping around the red areas. We'll see if I'll do that this evening or another day.

 

[Galtbacken]

Did the pinstripes last night.

I'm waiting for some more backlight paint to be able to finish painting the frame, and a couple more cans of clearcoat to finish the rest of the parts. I've still got to make the handles...maybe now is a good time to get them done?

 

[gaskill]

this is craftsmanship gold. it has truly been a great time watching you build this guy

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

wow, nice painting. cheers

 

[Gold Street Customs]

I need an applause smiley to put here but all I can do is W :shock: W

 

[Galtbacken]

Thank you so much guys, I'm glad you like it! It's a good feeling when you try stuff that you're not 100% sure will work, but got a hunch that it might, and it turns out satisfactory! Or in some cases even better than you had hoped for! And to get so much positive feedback it's just...I'm really thankful for all your kind words, comments and tips!

I've made the handles. Here's how:

I cut two pieces of fake leather (same as I used for the seat) to the length that I wished the handle to be and the width slightly less than the circumference of the handlebar. Added 5mm seam allowance and stitched them together.

Then I cut away some excess fabric...

...and turned it the right side out and stitched around the edges.

I cut a circle with the same radius as the handlebar, added 5mm seam allowance and stitched it to the first piece. This was a little tricky.

Trimmed the edges and turned the right side out.

Next step was to make a piece that's slightly shorter than the first piece I made, to wrap around the underside of the handlebar,

and attatch that to the rest of the handle.

The final step was to put in eyelets to be able to tie it together with shoestring.

Made the second one mirrored to the first one.

I think I call it a day, time to sleep.

 

[SSG]

Man there's nothing you can't do, your fabrication, upholstery and paint are top notch! I really like the design of the frame

 

[Galtbacken]

Thank you SSG! Glad you like the design of the frame! I do to, and I've got plans to make a similar bike for myself with a few minor changes to the frame design, and some changes to the fork as well. Try another construction, and make sure the trail is right that time, now that I better understand the principle. But first I'll build a bike for my brother (as soon as this one's finished) and that one will be completely different. :wink:

 

[stretch]

WOW. you are one of the most inventive and creative people i know! you have AMAzing skills in EVERYTHING! painting, fabrication with metal, leather work, all thoroughly insane! :mrgreen: you should do it for a living. :wink: :lol:

 

[Wildcat]

Excellent bike!

I read through the whole thread without jumping ahead to see how something turned out. That's a first for me. This would make a great reality show. Everyone would be glued in their seats.

 

[user 135]

There is nothing that you can't handle. Serious Mad Skillz. Nice documentation too.

I am really liking all parts to this build. The paint and pinstripes are great.

 

[Galtbacken]

Thank you!! I've been interested in art and crafts since I was very young, and I've enjoyed making things with my hands as long as I can remember. Whether it's been drawing and painting or learning how to use my mother's sewing machine, or carving something from a piece of wood, shaping clay, learning origami, playing the drums or whatever it's been that inspired me in that moment, I've almost always wanted to keep my hands busy. When I started to try and make a bicycle, I realized that so many of the things I've learnt to make with my hands could come together to make one beautiful and useful object. At the same time constructing the parts and starting to work with metal pushes me to learn new things and evolve my understanding of the different components and materials, tools and techniques. My eyes and heart search for beauty and my hands and mind try to create it. It's a joyful experience! And then there is this fascination with things on two wheels...
Thank you all for showing me so much appreciation, I hope I can give something back to you!

 

[stretch]

all i want to know is how those grip things are going to look on your bike! :shock:

 

[Galtbacken]

And I sure hope that they'll look good! :lol: I did grips like that for the Vincent bike, if you can't wait for me to finish clearcoating this bike... :wink:

 

[KOTA]

You've got some serious skills........I'm embarrassed to build another bike!