Shut Down

[furyus]

So Baby Doll and I had a blast at the Beach Boys show. What an fantastic concert! Beautiful harmonies and not a stitch of computer enhancement, except when they touchingly "backed up" the fallen brothers Dennis and Carl. They had six backing musicians arrayed behind them that each had several instruments and even if they needed one note for one song from one instrument, they played it, live. The really amazing part was just when we thought they couldn't possibly have any more songs to play, they'd fire up something and we were like "how'd we forget that?!" and start dancing again. Besides a well deserved 20 minute intermission, they played for three hours, with no opening act. I highly recommend catching them if they play near you this summer; it'll be worth every penny. But also because the bittersweet reality is that we'll probably never get to see them again.

Right before intermission, Mike Love says that it wouldn't be right to take a break without playing some car songs, and wouldn't you know they played Shut Down and immediately followed it up with I Get Around. I was going crazy, but my research is complete. I ain't changing my song or my bike. It's still Shut Down and it's still the '53, and it's still just a big pile o' pieces. But I have until August 6th, right? Sure wouldn't want a big build up and then finish prematurely, would I?

Guess I'm just gonna have to tach it up tach it up (and you know what happens next :mrgreen: ).

furyus

 

[BackWoodCycle]

It is a spitfire
I have one just like it but it's the complete bike. I haven't seen another one like it till now! great bike to start off with

 

[Circa Cycles]

Good stuff there,Man :!: I am following for sure.

 

[furyus]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDIBMaCT ... _embedded#!

Not Shut Down, but not a rodent bump either. This is my '55 B.F. Goodrich (I Get Around) that I decided not to strip for the '53. Gonna have to find those bits somewhere else. Shut Down is more about speed, so while the frames are nearly identical, the finished bike won't be anything like this. But this bike oozes cool. The bad guys know me and they leave me alone.

furyus

 

[furyus]

Yeah, I'm still out here.

I remember, clearly, one winter's day back in '73 or '74, the forecast called for a decent snowstorm that evening. I remember thinking how cool it'd be to have a beater bike to slide around on in the fresh snow, and as folks are wont to say around here, I got to buildin'. I threw a bunch of parts on an old purple-ish pink Schwinn frame, like medium-high bars, an old 10-speed seat and a rusty old chain. I ripped off the fenders and chain guard. I'm sure I had seen someone else do the same: early, way-old school BMX before it was even called BMX, at least on the east coast. Point being, I didn't over-think things; I wanted to slide around on the ice and I built the darn bike in a couple of hours one afternoon, and I slid around that night.

Fast-forward 40 years, and I've spent the first two months of this three month build-off mocking up and shooting down a thousand different ideas for my bike. Still haven't really built a thing, while the rest of youse guys have fabbed up fabulous. I'm actually a little sick of looking at my beautiful old Schwinn frame. So I listened to Shut Down one more time, and two words jumped out at me: Stingray and slick. I'm gonna take those two words and run with 'em, meaning I'm using my one frame change permitted by the rules.

Allow me to introduce the new Shut Down, an October '66 Schwinn Sting-Ray (I got the pink slip daddy). A previous owner repainted her flat black, stuck cheap repop stickers on her (which I peeled off one day), along with a Zhejiang Province springer and a Huffy seat. My goal is to turn all this into something that makes you think of drag racing the instant you see it.

I know there is a couple of other "cool shorts" (20" dragsters) in this build-off, and they're "hot with ram induction, but it's understood, I got a fuel-injected engine sittin' under my hood."

Time to quit thinkin' and get to buildin'.

furyus

(Note: the newspaper is proof I'm not entering something I previously put together.)

 

[furyus]

Oooooo, that '55 B.F. Goodrich is freaking awesome!

The black Shwinn will be cool to watch as it transforms.

Hey man, let's go!

Two cool shorts standin' side by side
(Ooo, rev it up now)

furyus

 

[furyus]

Since it's taken me so long to get anything done for this build-off, I've had the benefit of watching a couple of other 20" drag racing themed muscle bikes get put together, both nicely done. Taking my cues from the Corvette Stingray, my build goal is sleek, simple and aggressive.

This is what I'm starting with, a '66 Schwinn Sting-Ray:

Here she is stripped, not a repop decal or Zhejiang Province springer in sight:

I'm losing the springer for a couple of reasons. One, I don't care for the repops. I had a real Krate as a kid back in '70 and the repops ruin the vibe for me. I do have a springer fork off of a '65 Super Deluxe, but jingoism isn't the only reason I'm not going sprung. A springer is a lot heavier than a straight fork, and weight is important in drag racing. Now I'm not a physicist (rather a high school dropout), and I may stumble through this thought, but it seems to me when that flag drops, the springer will need to fully compress before all the pedal energy from the rider is applied to the rear tire. So not only will the rider be have the extra weight to push, he'll be fighting the suspension too. Does that make any sense? It does to my muddled mind, so I'm running a straight fork off of a '75 Schwinn Scrambler. Setting my jingoism aside for a moment, I've also installed a brand new Tange MX2 headset, in black. Hey, Japanese bits are usually top-shelf. The stem is off my now-retired '77 Schwinn Exerciser. The t-clamp allows quick adjustment should I need to adjust the bars for a different rider between "heats."

For handlebars, I'm running a set of '79 Schwinn touring bars, off of a ladies' Super Sport. Since they're originally for a 27" bike, they were a little large. I cut about 2" off each end (blasphemy!) to fit my 20" better.

I'm re-using the black chubbies. Here's where my bike stands right now:

The flat black paint on the frame is scratched and chipped, but this bike isn't about pretty. I may touch her up here and there, and again I may not. Sometimes if you look bad enough, people will just leave you alone.

furyus

 

[kingfish254]

I like those bars on this bike.
This is gonna be a fun one to watch!!!!!

 

[furyus]

I like those bars on this bike.
This is gonna be a fun one to watch!!!!!

Thanks, man.

I'm real happy with how the bars look, but it wasn't only aesthetics I was after; I was thinking physics again (you can smell my brain-clutch burning up). Usually muscle bikes have big ol' apehangers, and I admit they look good. But low bars allow the rider to use upper-body strength much more effectively and efficiently than do apes, permitting the rider to stand on the pedals and lean forward. I think this accomplishes two things: permits a stronger leg (motor) thrust and eliminates the need for a wheelie bar since the rider can keep his weight over the front wheel. Wheelie bars are cool, and may help you launch, but then you gotta drag 'em all the way down the track.

Of course, the build-off is about looking cool. Physics, not so much. Hopefully there will be a couple of guys over at the university, in the basement of the science building, willing to give me a vote or two.

furyus

 

[kingfish254]

I totally get what you are describing.
If you take that one step further, when you lean forward and flat, it would be more natural to have the crank farther back.
If you look back at my Pre BO7 dream board thread, one of my build ideas was a salt flats racer using a tandem where I would sit near the regular front seat, but peddle the rear crank.
Before I found the tandem, I had planned on bolting on a rear triangle from a Next suspension bike to the rear drops just like they do for homemade longtails over on the http://www.bikeforums.net site.

Just a goofy idea. You are more than welcome to steal it or laugh at it.

 

[furyus]

I totally get what you are describing.
If you take that one step further, when you lean forward and flat, it would be more natural to have the crank farther back.
If you look back at my Pre BO7 dream board thread, one of my build ideas was a salt flats racer using a tandem where I would sit near the regular front seat, but peddle the rear crank.
Before I found the tandem, I had planned on bolting on a rear triangle from a Next suspension bike to the rear drops just like they do for homemade longtails over on the http://www.bikeforums.net site.

Just a goofy idea. You are more than welcome to steal it or laugh at it.

That, Mr. Kingfish, is a very cool idea. I think you'd have to develop it further to where the asset of rider positioning/ability to produce thrust (lightweight paddles, maybe?) overcame the liability of lots of weight. It also makes me wonder why tandem bike racing hasn't caught on, what with bobsled teams and sidecar motorcycle racing having their own cultish following.

Anyway, since my fabrication skills are weak, I have to act like there's a bunch of science behind my build - ya can't see it, but it's there.

furyus

 

[furyus]

Shut Down won't make it to the finish line. Life is excellent, so much so that my energies and attention really have been focused elsewhere this summer. And there is really only one vote I care about: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=56520&p=534587&hilit=love+letter#p534587 I need to "get to building" on this most-important project.

Lots of really cool bikes in this build-off; you guys did great.

Thanks, Steve, for a fantastic, well-oiled forum. It's the only forum I've ever visited that I could let my young nephews run free and not worry they'd see anything foul. Hat's off to you, dude.

furyus

 

[kingfish254]

Sorry you didn't make it to the finish line.