Sun Cruz Bobber

[FenixChief]

Hi guys. I introduced myself earlier today, and mentioned I had a Sun Cruz 2011 in Mean Green and Black.

I've gotten quite a few compliments on the green, but my initial thought when I bought this was it may be too green. I'm personally falling on both sides of the spectrum, bouncing between loving it and thinking it may need to be subdued, so I was hoping for some more feedback and help with parts.

The mods I wanna make for this would make it a more stylish, classic cruiser and closer to an "exploration bike" if such a term can be used for it. I live in a small, hilly town with a lot of nooks, crannies and places nestled in suburbia that don't get seen often, so I want something that I can carry gear with me and be more comfortable, while retaining a classic look to it. I also wanna start taking this with me into the city so I can cruise and explore there in addition to participating in group rides that I've signed up for.

My current ideas are that I want to change the following:

• Fork Change to a Black Sunlite Springer with a conversion kit.
• Rack- Add a back cargo rack so I can carry bags and gear with me
• Lights- Headlamp and Taillight are a must. I'm leaning towards a vintage headlamp and taillight, but powered by batteries. Break up the black on green with a Chrome headlamp.
• Wheels- Black spokes, black rims (Needs to fit a coaster brake on the back wheel, having difficulties finding that).
• Tires- Whitewalls.

I'm not so sure about a few other things, got a few mixed signals from feedback on this:

• Fenders- Change to a set of Black Fenders, either Half Size or regular.
  
• Handlebars- Either cut the bars down or replace all together. If I do the latter, I originally thought apehangers, but I wanna save that for my lowrider build later on. Thinking a retro cruiser with no support and accessory bar, possible cafe racer Rise/Drop (have yet to find one in black)

I can probably build this all together easily, but before I got started and bought the parts I wanted to get some feedback on what would actually look good and be more efficient. I don't wanna break up the flow of this bike too much and distance itself from being a regular cruiser or have a jagged color and part scheme, so feedback is all welcome. I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

[horsefarmer]

Hi. I think the color and the bike is fine as-is for a cruiser. Before I'd change so many parts on it, I'd look for something on here, your local C/L or even a wallymart bike like the Schwinn Swindler that bike already has the springer. Just my $.02

 

[ChimeraCycle]

This bike is aluminum, yea?

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[FenixChief]

This bike is aluminum, yea?

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Yes, the bike is indeed aluminum. Not sure if that would affect the choice in parts I was wanting to get, but the general consensus I got from the bike shop was it would be fine. It's a ludicrously light bike.

 

[ChimeraCycle]

Its a cool bike. I tiried to get a frame from sun, but If i remember right, the new models have a feature or style change I didn't care for. I like your bike a lot. That paint is wild.

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[FenixChief]

Its a cool bike. I tiried to get a frame from sun, but If i remember right, the new models have a feature or style change I didn't care for. I like your bike a lot. That paint is wild.

Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk

Thanks, hombre. My little brother was with me when I bought it, and he isn't too enthusiastic about it, but I personally love it and a lot of other people I've shown do too. I just figured adding some more black with a dash of chrome would break up the overall blast of green and make it a little more mellow, but the more I sit in my garage and look at it I think I'd like to keep some green components. The absolutes I'd like to do are the black springer fork with chrome spring, a chrome headset, and a black rear rack. I think I'll keep the fenders green to break up the transition from black fork to black tire and not lose it's color flow, but I'm trying to find a set of wheels that are black spokes with a green rim, thinking that would compliment whitewalls with the top black rolling under the green fenders.

I'm heading to Clyde James Cycles tomorrow to get more feedback and look at parts. I didn't know the shop existed, and it turns out it's literally right across the highway from my mother's house. So, I get to go get brownie points for visiting mother and get some awesome parts. Two birds, one stone.

 

[FenixChief]

So I veered off the beaten path and went to Clyde James' Cycles today, which is coincidentally down the street from my mother's house, never knew it was there. Got some great feedback from Clyde, decided to nix the whitewalls in favor of a tire with pinstriping or keeping the stock if I go green hoop and black spoke wheels as that would be too busy in the grand color scheme. Got a larger gear, green chain and dice caps for my visit there, and looking at the possibility of getting a 26" Black Chain Guard. Clyde, if you're reading this, you've got a repeat customer on your hands now, man.
The more I think about it, the more I wanna stick to the colors of black and green, nixing chrome and keeping it more fluid. So that would mean when I add the light, I'd make it a black kit on black fork, but I could probably get away with a chrome spring, doesn't shake it up too much.

 

[jamesdart]

That's a cool looking bike. I like the color, and I'd keep it green and black. Were you thinking about the sunlite deluxe springer? With the 4 springs on it? That would look good on there.

 

[jamesdart]

My wife has an Electra Hawaii cruiser in a similar color, it looks awesome especially in the sun.

 

[FenixChief]

That's a cool looking bike. I like the color, and I'd keep it green and black. Were you thinking about the sunlite deluxe springer? With the 4 springs on it? That would look good on there.

I thought a lot about the Deluxe Springer, I just think that may be out of my current price range. My first idea was that the curved fork of the regular black springer would compliment the frame's curved look, but I figure I could overtime grind funds to get a deluxe, because the more I think about it, it'd be a more viable upgrade than the regular springer. Putting that one in the build journal.
James, I totally agree on the color. I was real skeptical at first but after buying it and riding it, I fell in love with the color, and as the build's concept stage goes on I don't wanna remove too much of it. I just wanna make it more of my own and give it more classic styling that compliments the black, if that makes sense.

So, I have more of a standing of where I am in an updated build, and I'm gonna use this as a reference/wish list and a notebook for when I've acquired parts, which I will update:

Hardware and Body Parts
Front Half:
Front Brake System
Black Springer Fork (Double or Single)
Black LED Headlamp

Middle:
Brooks B135 Unisex Black Saddle
Kickback Seat post
Green Pedals
Black Chain Guard
Green Chain
Larger Sprocket

Back:
Rear Rack
Tail Light (Mount on Rack)

Wheels:
Black Spokes w/ Green Hoop, Coaster Brake Configuration
Custom Black Tires w/ Pinstriping
Black Dice Caps

Baggage:
Black Handlebar Bag (Clyde James Custom)
Black Canvas Panniers

I think that should be about it. Does anybody have any ideas on what I could add or might be missing to make this a more comfortable ride? Like I said, I would really appreciate all feedback.

 

[FenixChief]

Found out more on the chain guard and found a set of wheels that work, a set for 99. Gonna go order parts on Saturday from the shop.

 

[alistair clark]

Nice looking bike. One idea I thought would look good would be chrome fenders, that got nixed. The Black fenders would really set the thing off. Any thoughts on going to internal geared rear hub. Might make life easier in getting around.

 

[FenixChief]

Nice looking bike. One idea I thought would look good would be chrome fenders, that got nixed. The Black fenders would really set the thing off. Any thoughts on going to internal geared rear hub. Might make life easier in getting around.

It's certainly an option, I ended up asking the shop about it and we'll have to see if there's a hub that can fit in the wheels I want. If that works out, I'll definitely put down the money to get a hub to make life a little easier.

 

[FenixChief]

Okay, so a few changes were made. By that I mean, the overall concept of the bike has been changed.

I brought the bike up to the shop and got a good amount of feedback now that it was physically witnessed by three people who could give feedback, including myself. The general consensus was that the fenders gave WAY too much green, the chain guard was too fat, and the handlebars just didn't fit (figuratively and literally, I mean, I could barely put the bike in my car with the cruiser bars.)

So, the solution? Bobber that sucker out.

Here's the bad boy as it stands now:

At the shop, the handlebars were first changed from the dual bar cruiser/Old BMX style bars to a drop bar, which instantly changed the general look from plain to be something to be reckoned with. The chain guard that was adding too much green and looked a little too feminine was nixed in favor of a black skinny guard, showing far more of the crank and the chain. From there, the fenders were totally removed and replaced with stubby black fenders. I was beginning to think through the rebuild and redesign that the green was too much and covered too much of the tire, so I bought the fenders after attaching the chain guard, and HOO BOY does it look sick now.

When I got home, I overhauled the coaster brake and replaced the 19 tooth rear sprocket with a 22 tooth and dissembled and rebuilt the coaster brake hub, getting rid of all the Chinese grease that's sat there for a few years in the bike shop and just coagulated and gunked up. Replaced the chain with a green one, and it totally changed the black of the guard and crank wheel. I also found that the rear wheel was set too forward on the factory build, making the chain loose (I found this out when giving it a test ride and the chain promptly fell off when braking). I set the wheel half an inch back where the mounting bracket for the coaster brake could still be set in it's lock, and it tightened up the chain. I think the only thing I did wrong was tighten the bearing nut on the sprocket side of the hub, making the acceleration and top speed a little slower, but I can easily fix that or ask my guy to fix it for me.

So, it's no longer an exploring bike, which was a novel concept, but probably would have been more work for a lot more money resulting in an average or mediocre looking bike. Where I stand now is that I wanna make it look more "rod" and less "cruise", if that makes sense. Next upgrade planned is the headlamp, which will be an easy enough addition, before going into parts like a custom crank, the double springer fork (cause it's gotta look like a real bobber), disc brakes and respoking the wheels to black. I figure I'll also add a multispeed internal hub sometime in the future that still works with a coaster brake, adding just a front brake if that's the case so I can cruise around easier and hit hills. Where I live is pure hill at times, so trusting just a coaster brake to get down and corner into the right way of a three way T-Crossing won't be enough.
As far as further cosmetics, I figure just the essentials. Bell, green pedals, muffle kickstand and maybe some mirrors. I know my next upgrade alongside the lights is gonna be green ODI locking grips, switch up the handlebars and cut down the pure black.

That's about it for today, I'll need to post more when I actually get more parts or have further developments.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looks good, much better than before!

Luke.

 

[alistair clark]

Nice looking bike! Looks great as is! Please wear a helmet I was t boned on my bike while the driver was doing 25 mph. Had a helmet on and live to ride another day.

 

[GuzziRod]

Don't you love it when a project comes together! Great ride!

 

[FenixChief]

Thank you all for the feedback, getting a lot of nice comments on a rather simple rebuild really touches my heart. I'm working on this part time, considering I have to keep money consistent for college and other pieces of maintenance, but I hope to have a really awesome bike at the latest when summer vacation starts.

I've ordered my green ODI grips, got the Cross Trainer because of comfort. Should be in the mail tomorrow and I'll try to install in the evening.

Something I wanted to ask: where can I find custom graphic and custom built cranksets? I see the one with the skull a lot, but forgot where it's from. I want something that shakes up the crank from the standard three hole, and it needs to be a 3 piece 9/16.

 

[Shackleford]

Nice looking frame with the green.

You should take a heat gun to it and remove all the stickers. Then maybe some pin striping on the frame down the road.

A incredible Hulk crank would be awesome.

 

[FenixChief]

Nice looking frame with the green.

You should take a heat gun to it and remove all the stickers. Then maybe some pin striping on the frame down the road.

A incredible Hulk crank would be awesome.

I tried getting a heat gun to it, but those stickers are uber stubborn, I think they were put on before they put on a coat of gloss because there's no real visible seam on them, but I can feel where they would be. I'll have to see what I can do later on.

I got some green ODI Cross Trainer grips from someone who ordered them, but received the wrong style (he wanted the BMX style). The Cross Trainer are Mountain Bike grips, so they have the comfort factor to them in a cross line pattern, and the lock on is real nice. I also put on some Turtle Wax spray shine before this photo was taken, so it looks incredibly nice.

I got my tax forms back yesterday and I'm filing them later today, and I bring it up because I'm gonna use the majority of the money for college and a small portion on a new part I want to order. That part, you ask?

I figure if we're gonna go bobber, we gotta make it be close to the original style.