The King Bee *FINISHED*

[late for dinner]

I'm starting with this Monark frame and that's where I got the 'King' moniker.
I bought the bike last summer and rode it home a few miles across the city with the original dual springer fork intact. That fork is currently on my old Western Flyer board tracker and is likely not going to make it back on this frame.
Today I stripped the frame to find out what I was dealing with under the very red spray bomb repaint that it came home with. I suspected there may be some filler under the paint when I found that the original kick stand mount hole had been filled when I installed a stand.
I was pleasantly surprised to find no further filler and that the previous redoer had also stripped the frame to bare metal as well, so the chemical strip was the quickest and easiest I've ever had.
The next step is to meditate about the trashed and jammed seat post and extract it with a little heat and persuasion.

 

[late for dinner]

Well the post came out with a little more PB, a little more heat and I drilled through the seat post and stuck an old drill bit thru to hammer against, getting the force to go in the 'Out Direction'.

 

[late for dinner]

Now for part 'Bee'. Well that would be the Beehive springer that BriInRi was nice enough to send me last year.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Nice start! Glad you got that post out without too much trouble!

Luke.

 

[late for dinner]

Alright guys, here's a little more of an idea of some of the parts I'll be starting with.
I truly haven't decided on which way I'm going with the build and will have to let the bike let me know.
On the one hand the bare metal and patina tank is really cool, but I've never kept a bare metal bike that way long. I did a '79 Schwinn HD Canti that I liked at the time, but traded it awhile back. My X53 just asked to be painted after I had it as a bare rat for awhile too.
I think this rack that I got from Double Nickle has probably found a home on the Monark and Will and Wendy's skirts and guards might find their way onto the bike as well, but we'll see what the bike and you all have to say.


The best fender option I have at the moment is these old Hawthornes (but I'm not in a hurry to strip that nice factory finish though) or a pretty rough and pitted bobbed deep X53 for the rear.
I'll have to see what works when the time comes.

 

[deven_science]

I'm digging it so far.

 

[jasper87]

Looks awesome so far! great collection of parts

 

[kingfish254]

I'm envious of your parts collection!
They all look like they will play well together too.

 

[late for dinner]

Thanks Guys, I now have a finger tightened and taped together mock up using just the bobbed X53 fender.
I really like the length the Beehive with the reversed drop outs adds over the stock Monark wheelbase.
The butterfly kick stand is handy for working on the bike and makes the King Bee dwarf the bike behind it. I don't know if it will remain til the end though.
There's still plenty of messin' to do with fitment, but I'm liking the way it's going so far.
I'll try and take better pics from now on too and without reflective tires in the shot. I've just been rushing a bit today, I'll catch up to y'all 'Just Down the Road a Piece'.

 

[LowpowerD]

Really like this:
http://s1080.photobucket.com/user/latefordinner/media/Monarkbits008_zps74c019e4.jpg.html
And this too:


Keep up the good work and GTB!

 

[late for dinner]

'Roger That' LowpowerD Thanks for the link, there's some cool Slim material on that thread and Thanks for the thumbs up on the bike.
Slim was the original artist, but Blues and 'Race Music' wasn't getting the air play much until the Stone's covered a lot of the American originators with their 1st album in '63 or '64 and were among those(Clapton, Mayall etc) that started the Blues Revival in GB and then brought the music home to the U.S. with the British Invasion. I wanted to open that door for the next generation with a name that would be familiar.

 

[LowpowerD]

Back in '88 I was a 16 year old boy and heard John Mayall's Bluesbreakers with Eric Clapton (the beano album) for the first time and almost wet myself. Mind you, at the time I already had stuff by Howlin Wolf and Muddy Waters, but those Brits brought a ferocity that could only be matched by Jimi Hendrix!
Looking forward to what you do with the bike. GTB

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Bike is looking really nice! Flowing along well.

Luke.

 

[fordsnake]

Love your direction and your build. Respecting the past and the origins is always a winner!

 

[raggedjim]

Lots of cool parts on this one.

Rg

 

[late for dinner]

It turned out the X53 fender was a little rougher than I was hoping, so in the meantime I did a preliminary strip on a pair of modern duck tale? fenders from a Della Cruz I had for a moment a couple of years ago.
but I didn't go further than the pics show on the fenders and don't know yet that I'll get quite the finish I'm looking for from them to match the further finishing I did on the frame and other tin ware.
Also in the pics is my choice of Sacrificial Lamps, both of which need conversion. I'm leaning heavily towards the Western Flyer light and have a glass Miller lense that'll fit if needed. Then again, a 12V Big Beam may work out as well because the tailight in the rack is 12V already and the rest of bareness came up shinier than anticipated, but not a polished sheen.
If you're squeemish about little patina removal be forewarned, but know that the Hawthorne fenders and tank have not been touched!(yet...maybe)

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Nice and shiny. I like the combination of parts.

 

[kingfish254]

SHAZAMMMM!!!!!

 

[HuffDaddy]

Your bike is going to be really cool!

 

[late for dinner]

Thanks Fellas.
I'll have to shift the chainguard mount soon, any advice on crackin the tack weld cleanly would be appreciated.
I have very basic tools on hand.

Monark, Higgins, Western Flyer, Elgin, Hawthorne, Shelby maybe? '47,'48,'49,'50...........