The Renaissance Man
__CERTIFIED DIVER__ (Open Water & Open Dumpster)
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The inspiration for 'Southern Flyer' came from those beautiful turn of the century motorcycles that were simple by todays standards yet built to be tuff and last indefinitely in the hands of a person that was expected to maintain it himself. Those machines where designed to perform in harsh environments, yet had graceful forms that followed their function. This is what I tried to emulate with all the components that I envisioned one might expect to find on a bike from that bygone era.
The final finish was something that I hadn't anticipated before I stripped the paint from the 60+ year old fenders and frame. After discovering a warm bronze tinted metal with decaying chrome accents on the fenders that was hiding under years of misguided paint, I knew that the rest of the bike would have to follow suit. In the end, there is no paint at all on this riding machine, just the seasoned metal that only age can provide.
Like a stately southern gent, this is the Southern Flyer.
Three days before the third month of the build-off, I cleaned the slate and started Southern Flyer.
Here's the thread. (You will need to scroll half way down the page).
The major parts list:
1951 CWC Western Flyer frame
CWC three plate fork (modified)
Vintage alloy quill stem
Custom board track style handlebar
Vintage Raliegh grips
Vintage Dayton Huffman chain ring and crank arm
Vintage waffle block pedals
Fichtel & Sachs Torpedo Duomatic internal gear 2 speed hub
Vintage Persons saddle
Prewar Western Flyer peaked fenders
Custom LED headlight and taillight
KMC Z410 nickel chain
Schwalbe Fat Frank 26 x 2.35" creme tires
The starting point:
The Custom parts:
Thank you all for your support, Jim (aka The Renaissance Man)
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