The Military Mountain Chopper

[Leo]

very nice bike man! congrats! the color is fantastic!

 

[ALDER]

hay man the bike looks great. do u have any updates

 

[X-RAY]

i cant wait for the thread on the new one! 8) love those wheels!

 

[Loki182]

Ok I swear I didn't fall off the face of the earth, but man it kind of feels like I did. The Project for my for my friend is on hold indefinitely I really want to get back into it but his current financial and time constraints are the limiting factor for that project right now.

I have started messing with the Chopper a little and cut and narrowed the rear fender as it was just a little too wide before to me. I just have to finish welding it up and mount it to the frame then I am going to start doing some tedious detail work on the frame, grinding welds and such to try and make it look a little nicer.

My 3 speed transmission idea is still bouncing around in my head but I have yet to be able to find a good deal on a 3 speed internal hub or complete bike with one. Oh and I am currently chasing down a chain skipping gremlin. For some reason the front chain likes to jump off at the rear hub Idler assembly and I have no idea why yet.

For what it's worth we did make a little progress with his bike before we had to put it on hold but I'll see if I can find some pics of what we got done. We came up with a fairly novel way to mount the rear hub... hopefully it actually works.

 

[Loki182]

I'm still slowly but surely working on this bike, unfortunately a whole lot of life has just gotten in the way lately. First my Air Conditioner and then my truck broke down which has kind of managed to put a damper on my fun projects.

Still for what it's worth here is how it sits right now with it's new headlight I have already rewired it with an LED bulb and am just working on finding somewhere to stash a battery pack for it. Also you can see the narrowed fender sitting just in front of it in this picture.

 

[King Zebba]

That's a really cool bike. Great Job!

 

[Blueboy5000]

This bike is Nartsty! What's the finished weight? I would imagine ungodly heavy, but awesome none the less!

 

[Loki182]

I think it ended up being about 115 lbs with the vast majority of that coming from the rear wheel/tire. Once I get the fender light batteries etc all hooked up i'm sure it will easily be pushing 120.

Thanks for the compliments! I can't wait to get this thing finished... although I am fairly sure that it is just one of those things that will never truly be done.

 

[wimpy]

Hey dude, nice wheels ! Saw your project only just. And it has quite a few similarities with my ride, like: low-budget, rather heavy, long & low, etc. I read, that you wanted to apply a "throttlebrake". When I built my bike, I had the same idea and I still use this construction. Because of its weight (97 lbs), with this kind of break, it's not possible to make my fronttyre scream. Using a disc-brake might do the trick, but I haven't tried it yet. Just curious: did you apply the throttlebreak ? And if so:does it work ? Again: awesome bike. Have fun with it. :mrgreen:
http://s10.directupload.net/images/110307/43d98nco.jpg

 

[DHrider]

just noticed your build.... beautiful...

some suggestions...

wonder if your chain is jumping off due to the chain slap. i know longer chain lengths will allow the chain to slap a lot. as well it is very hard to get the slack out. try a tensioner rather than a guide of sorts may work wonders.

also i would suggest if you are going to go with a disk setup.... get yourself a hydraulic setup you will thank your self later. a cable actuated disk setup still requires a lot of leverage to stop almost as much as an old bmx side pull brake. try "hayes" brand they still service many of their original brakes making them more cheaper than many of the new models, these will suffice enough for you.

you may consider just mounting a front only the rear will require a lot more brackets and supports for the caliper mount.

love the bike wish i had something similar... :wink:

 

[deorman]

The old Shimano mechanical discs were/are not even as good as old single point sidepull rim brakes. They look cooler, though. :mrgreen:

 

[Loki182]

Hey dude, nice wheels ! Saw your project only just. And it has quite a few similarities with my ride, like: low-budget, rather heavy, long & low, etc. I read, that you wanted to apply a "throttlebrake". When I built my bike, I had the same idea and I still use this construction. Because of its weight (97 lbs), with this kind of break, it's not possible to make my fronttyre scream. Using a disc-brake might do the trick, but I haven't tried it yet. Just curious: did you apply the throttlebreak ? And if so:does it work ? Again: awesome bike. Have fun with it. :mrgreen:
http://s10.directupload.net/images/110307/43d98nco.jpg

I ended up holding off on the idea of the throttle brake for now, mainly just because I was impatient and just wanted to get it on the road as soon as possible. I still might explore that option some time later unless I decide to upgrade to a Hydraulic disc setup. Also right now the only brake on my bike is for the rear wheel mainly because I was terrified to think of what would happen if I locked up the front tire and the rear one just kept on plowing... also it just worked out that the rear hub that I stretched to build the rear wheel already had the disc brake lug on it.

Oh and I love your bike too! I really want to build something similar as my next project... although I have a feeling it might be a while before I can start on another one.

just noticed your build.... beautiful...

some suggestions...

wonder if your chain is jumping off due to the chain slap. i know longer chain lengths will allow the chain to slap a lot. as well it is very hard to get the slack out. try a tensioner rather than a guide of sorts may work wonders.

also i would suggest if you are going to go with a disk setup.... get yourself a hydraulic setup you will thank your self later. a cable actuated disk setup still requires a lot of leverage to stop almost as much as an old bmx side pull brake. try "hayes" brand they still service many of their original brakes making them more cheaper than many of the new models, these will suffice enough for you.

you may consider just mounting a front only the rear will require a lot more brackets and supports for the caliper mount.

love the bike wish i had something similar... :wink:

I was actually thinking about installing a chain tensioner I'm not going to lie though I am a bit lazy though and didn't really want to take the time to set it all up, But I think it probably really is the right way to go because that front chain is really long and does bounce around a bit. Plus even if it is slightly misaligned I could kill two birds with one stone and have it align the chain a little better and tension it.

And yes some sort of upgrade to the braking system is going to be a must. I have considered going to a hydraulic setup but even used ones are some serious money... well maybe not serious but this bike is on a real modest budget and while some day when I have the money to drop on it or even just find an incredible deal I will probably grab a hydraulic setup. I think in the near future I am probably going to just grab the biggest (bicycle) brake disc that I can find and move the mount for the caliper to fit it. Right now I am only running a rear brake with a puny 5" disc but I have seen 8" discs going for around $20 on eBay and I think that would be a drastic improvement in it's self. I'm not looking to lock up that massive rear tire but if it will help save the soles of my e-brakes.. er.. shoes that will be good enough for me.

The old Shimano mechanical discs were/are not even as good as old single point sidepull rim brakes. They look cooler, though. :mrgreen:

Exactly! I could have fairly easily added in some mounts and stuck a nice v-pull brake on the front but ultimately it all comes down to the look and that rear disc just helps make the bike! (even if it is just about glowing every time I get the bike stopped)

But thanks for all of the positive comments guys! Seeing stuff like this really makes me want to get back out there and start working on it again!

 

[Dana Joe]

Outstanding!

 

[Loki182]

Well the last time I posted about this bike we were just about to have our second child and since then we have had another. LoL.

This bike has only gotten a little farther than my last post about it. I mounted the fender and painted it. Then I rode it around a lot and the fender fell off... That's my fault as the mounts weren't well thought out. But since then it has just been parked for quite a while.

But I have been thinking about dragging it back out and playing with it again. Oh and whenever I think back about when I used to think I had no time to play with projects, now with 3 kids in the house I truly know the definition of "no free time." It has taken me months just to get simple projects done around the house but I am hopeful that as our youngest starts to get a little more independent hopefully opportunities for free time will open up again.

If nothing else here is a shot from the last time I took the Mountain Chopper to the beach.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Very cool build!

Luke.

 

[Loki182]

Thanks Luke! It was a really fun project. I honestly can't wait to wrench on it some more and finally really finish it. It genuinely saddens me to see it just collecting dust over in the corner of my garage.

I still have a bunch of ideas for things that I want to do with it, now I just need to find the time to do them. Soon though, hopefully very soon.