The Military Mountain Chopper

[Loki182]

Edit:
Here is my Chopper Bicycle as it sits today.

And this is how it got here...


So here it is the start of my crazy chopper bike project. The frame is being completely built from scratch with a lot if inspiration taken from the Atomic Zombie Overkill chopper. I am trying to go for a cross between a mountain bike and a chopper with a old school jeep/military vehicle theme. When it's done it will be olive drab flat green with white markings. There are still a ton of design and functional elements of this bike that are up in the air right now and I am just kind of figuring everything out as I go. So far all I know for a fact is that it is going to have a 26" MTB wheel/tire up front and a 15"x8" rim wrapped in a 30" AT tire which will be spoked to a widened out bike bmx hub with a disc brake in the back.

The project began with my dad giving me a pile of steel tubing and the plans to the Overkill chopper for Christmas. I had seen the Overkill bike before and though it was awesome but I never expected to actually be building it. Well once I read through the plans I really liked the idea but I knew I had to do something different with it.

Well obviously the first step of the build was to find the right rear wheel/rubber combo since it is going to be the main focal point and "Wow" factor of this build. Then Lo and behold I remembered a set of old Cragars that I had given to a friend that came off of my old Baja Bug. He was originally going to clean them up and use them on his 68 Camaro but after a little conversing with him and re-examining of their condition we both agreed that they were too rough to salvage for his car but would make a perfect candidate for this project. Then the more I got to thinking about it (and pricing out wide street rubber) the more I thought why not stick with the knobby tires that are already on them and do something really unique. Then just a couple of days later the idea to do a military vehicle theme popped in my head, and stuck. I already knew that I wanted to go a direction with it that I have never seen another bike taken and the idea for a ruggedized mountain chopper seemed really awesome. Now don't get me wrong this bike will probably never see any more off road action than my front yard but it is definitely being built to be ridden... Slowly...lol.

Now that I had the rear wheel I set to building a frame around it. The tubing that we are using is 1" and 1.5" electrical conduit. So far no measurements have been taken and I have just been flying by the seat of my pants, kind of just putting together what looked right. What I came up with is quite a bit longer and lower than the Overkill. And right now my main concern is if that downtube in the front is going to be too far away to be a good location for the BB.

Also I have been making progress with the rear wheel. Pulled the tire, got the center cut out and I just finished drilling all of the holes for the spokes. Which by the way turned out to be an adventure in it's self, with a lot of finger crossing, guesstimating and many many broken drill bits along the way. Hopefully though it will be right. The rear hub is also complete, cut and extended the axle and hub by about 8". I had to be very careful since I was not able to remove the free wheel which also meant I could not remove the spokes, and believe me I tried. Unfortunately budgetary and time constraints forced me to work with what I have, plus I really wanted to use a disc brake hub out back. Luckily the spokes seem to have survived the hub welding process intact and are still in good shape. But just the thought of lacing them up is making be crazy, I'm sure I am going to need advice when it comes time for that.

So, right now that is where I am at and I'll keep posting updates as stuff gets done. Please feel free to post any ideas, suggestions or comments about the project. I know it is a bit unusual, but that's kind of what I am going for here. I'll be perfectly honest I have never built a bike at this level before and there is a lot about bike building that I do not know (and a lot of tools that I don't have). Also I know for a lot of parts and other things it might seem like I am being cheap, or using crappy parts, but honestly I really don't have a budget at all for this bike right now, so I just have to use what I can get for free or really cheap. Ultimately my main focus for now is just to make the frame strong and durable, because I know I can always upgrade the little parts and pieces later down the road if I need to. Right now my total investment in this project is only about $60 and by the time I'm done probably won't be over $150.

 

[Gold Street Customs]

Dont feel like you are being cheap, I am always more impressed with innovation than how many dollars can be thrown at a project, I think its cool , and can't wait to see the finish 8)

 

[jandroart]

You are doing a killer job on that bike. Money is not every thing skills have a big part in a build, and I can see you have them!!! :mrgreen:

 

[KOTA]

This bike is gonna be KILLER! ...How did you get the 90 degree bend in the conduit? I hope you're venting your shop adequately when welding. I'm sure you know about the fumes from welding galvanized tubing. I gotta watch this one to the end. NICE!

 

[Loki182]

Thanks for all of the kind words guys! Just want to give you a heads up though this is probably going to be a slow build, but I am going to make every effort to keep this thread updated when I do make progress.

And Kota yeah I definitely know how nasty fumes from galvanized steel can be. Whenever possible I have been trying to strip it about 2" back from the welding area but there were a couple of spots that just got zapped together. Still I have been leaving the garage door open while welding just to be on the safe side.
And I'd love to say that I have a mandrel tubing bender stashed in my garage but unfortunately I had to pick up pre-bent tubing from the store for all of the curved pieces. It just meant a little more fitting and welding but It is still going to look good once it is all ground down and painted.

 

[rgallen]

I know what you mean about a slow build but I'm itching to see this mug finished. Like where it's going. Keeps my interests up. Thanks.

 

[Loki182]

Ok so I had an idea and I did a little researching on the subject but I didn't really find anything helpful about it so I am just going to throw this out there. I was at Northern Tool yesterday with a friend pricing out a couple of things for other projects and just looking at some other stuff. Well at one point I found myself on the gokart/minibike aisle and I saw these handlebar grips and I thought to myself "man these would be perfect for my bike except for the fact that they come in a pair one of them was a twist throttle". All of the sudden I had an epiphany.

Is it possible or feasible to use a twist throttle grip as a brake lever replacement? As of right now I think this bike is only going to have a rear disc brake. I have never seen anything like this done before but it just seems like it would look much cooler and cleaner if it would work. I will probably experiment with the idea even if nobody has ever tried something like this before since the grips were only like $10 anyway.

In other news I don't have much to update right now, I have mainly been waiting on warmer weather since I do not have a heater in my garage and it's not insulated. I really need to paint my rear rim before I attempt to spoke it onto my custom hub. Unfortunately it has been unusually cold and snowy lately although the weathermen are calling for slightly warmer days in the coming weeks. In the meantime though I have just been piddling around, grinding welds and thinking up different ideas on how to build my triple clamp fork. I plan on building the top portion first then adjusting the rake and location of the dropouts to get just the right look I'm going for. Like I said before, for the most part measurements and math are staying as far removed as possible from this build, I really just want this to just be about doing what looks good and feels right.

 

[KOTA]

You may be the first to do the twist brake thing......Actually sounds feasible.

 

[rnchoppers]

i dont see why it wouldnt work ... great idea :idea: wish i would of thought of it

 

[Philphine]

the only thing i could see not making a twist grip brake work would be maybe the barrel on the end of the brake cable not fitting in whatever the twist grip has, but that could probaly be worked around somehow.

good luck with it. i want to try one of those big tire choppers myself eventually.

 

[deorman]

There's no reason a shift cable can't be used. Don't know how much leverage the grip will provide, which is going to matter if it's the only brake. :|

 

[jimw1960]

check this one out for inspiration.

http://s285.photobucket.com/albums/ll41 ... rks1-1.jpg

 

[Loki182]

There's no reason a shift cable can't be used. Don't know how much leverage the grip will provide, which is going to matter if it's the only brake. :|

Yeah that was pretty much my biggest concern about using it too. But Like I said before I think it would be at least worth trying and if it doesn't work I'll just swap it out for a normal lever. Still for what it's worth the original Overkill chopper had no brakes at all.

Oh and for anyone who has never seen the original Overkill, since I reference it so much here are some pics of it...

 

[udallcustombikes]

Looking good so far.
Here is my Monster Trike I built from the Gladiator plans and my own take. I was only running a front brake and it got the job done, just don't try for any E-stops :lol:

 

[Loki182]

Looking good so far.
Here is my Monster Trike I built from the Gladiator plans and my own take. I was only running a front brake and it got the job done, just don't try for any E-stops :lol:

Awesome, that's a great Trike! Honestly The Gladiator trike is what first drew me to the Atomic Zombie site and then I found the Overkill Chopper. I would love to do a wild trike too but honestly I don't know where I would store it. Garage space at my house is definitely at a premium right now. But yeah I think the single brake will be plenty. I don't plan on riding this faster than a brisk walking pace most of the time. It will probably be mainly used for cruising car shows, and the boardwalk down at the beach, plus the occasional ride around the neighborhood.

 

[udallcustombikes]

That's why I had to get rid of it. She took up way too much realestate in the garage. I built it in the basment ladt winter and had to tear it apart to get it back out.

 

[Loki182]

Well not too much of an update but the ol mercury climbed high enough yesterday that I felt comfortable attempting to lay down a little paint. So I went ahead and laid down the primer, green, and flat clear on the rear rim. Hopefully if I can get a little free time tomorrow I will begin the rim spoking saga. I'm not going to lie I am a little intimidated by the thought of it especially since I can not remove the spokes from one side of the hub without ruining them. If anyone has any tips or tricks for removing a freewheel using normal hand tools without destroying it I would be eternally grateful.

Here 's the Rim... and this is the same color that the frame will also be eventually.

 

[Loki182]

Well I got it spoked... it took me right around 5 hours but dang it I got it done!I think I mentioned this before but I have never laced up any kind of wheel ever before and it was not as easy as I hoped it would have been but it was not really that hard, just a lot of trial and error. I actually had it almost completed about 4 different times but had to either partially or completely start over and one time I had it done but realized the dish was on the wrong side of the rim... Well long story short, here is the finished product.

 

[KOTA]

You're making it LOOK easy!.But we know it's not. You're a little late, this would've been a big hit in the anything goes build off.

 

[jOe]

nice job! Wheelbuilding sucks the first three times or so, then it starts to come together. You jumped in at the deep end though, it must be a pain working around that gigantic rim!

BTW, the Sheldon Brown tutorial and the Jobst Brandt book The Bicycle Wheel are both amazing tutorials. The Bicycle Wheel is especially in depth and takes a bit of time to explain why a wheel spoked under tension works the way it does. It's great stuff, and useful when you end up with a bunch of leftover parts on your bench...

like a 40 hole 700c rim, and a bunch of spokes from 27" wheels that have been digested.