Well, despite a number of pitfalls and setbacks that kept me from finishing my last 2 Build Off bikes, I'm going to try once again to see yet another bicycle project from start to finish in 4 months.
But first, story time:
Back in summer 2019, when I was even newer and more clueless to the hobby than I am now, I decided to try "trading up" at the annual Springfield, Missouri swap meet. I had an early middleweight 26" Schwinn Spitfire girl's bike, and I wanted to see if I could trade up for something cooler, and continue to trade up throughout the whole swap meet. I ended up trading that bike for this Schwinn Junior Stingray and this Murray Eliminator-type bike.
Like I said, I was new to the hobby, so while I recognized the Schwinn Stingray for what it was, I wasn't sure what kind of bike the Murray was. I didn't care much for the Schwinn, but that curiously-shaped Murray intrigued me. Well, apparently it wasn't intriguing enough, because 10 minutes later, I traded both bikes for 2 rusty 24" Monark balloon tire bikes. It didn't take long before I found that nobody really wanted a 24" Monark (except my dad who bought the better-looking one to display in the back of his 40 Ford rat rod pickup.) Worse, I realized that although I had traded "up" in terms of monetary value ($50 > $70 > $100,) in terms of desirability, I had traded down. Worst of all, I realized that I would have really liked to keep that Murray Eliminator/Buzz bike, and fix that up. Since then, I've been on the hunt for another one of those bikes.
Fast-forward to September 2021: I see my buddy in OKC posted an ad on Craigslist for this Murray, and he was only asking $10 for it. I couldn't have bought it any faster! I knew it was rough, but I didn't care. $10 for a bike on my "bucket list" was too good a deal to pass up!
Not long after I brought this bike home, I had a unique chance to take this bike out for a spin. Buddy's Pedal Fest had a "muscle bike drag race" going on during the swap meet, so I slapped this bike together using parts I had laying around to get it rideable. I didn't win most of the races I participated in, but the bike stayed in one piece, and it was a blast to ride around! I even rode it around my neighborhood a few times afterwards!
As cool as this Murray was in its rusty, crusty, slapped-together state, I knew I wanted to build this bike up right some day. So, after discussing it with my fabricator friend, I decided now is as good a time as any to build this bike the way I want. I'm not going to go too crazy with the modifications like I did during the last MBBO. I want to try and keep this bike relatively clean and simple, at least compared to last year's entry, Poison Apple. I have a few trick mods planned, one of which I mocked up about a month ago: a 26" Monark springer fork!
That's not all though! I plan to make this Murray look like the quintessential 1970s coffin tank chopper, scaled down to fun size! That includes adding a custom tank, which I don't see on these bikes too often. I haven't figured out the name for the bike, or what exact graphics I want to add to the sides of the tank just yet, but this is the general vibe I'm going for:
Unfortunately, I've already run into an issue with it: the lock nuts that hold the dropouts in place hit the spokes on the front wheel.
I've tried assembling the fork differently to combat the issue, but I think the best solution would be to make some new dropouts that kick the front wheel forward an inch or two.
I'm really looking forward to putting one of my "bucket list" bikes together, especially with my new friend who knows a thing or two about fabricating cool things on wheels. Odds are he'll be doing most of the welding/fabricating this project needs, but I'm going to use this as an opportunity to practice welding/fabricating myself. Dude was kind enough to teach me a little welding after helping me with a previous project, and I'd be more than happy to learn some more! Hopefully, I'll have a custom piece or two on this bike I can proudly say I made or modified myself!
I actually just bought a few parts that should help achieve the look I'm going for just earlier today. I'll try to shoot and post pictures of those parts tomorrow.
But first, story time:
Back in summer 2019, when I was even newer and more clueless to the hobby than I am now, I decided to try "trading up" at the annual Springfield, Missouri swap meet. I had an early middleweight 26" Schwinn Spitfire girl's bike, and I wanted to see if I could trade up for something cooler, and continue to trade up throughout the whole swap meet. I ended up trading that bike for this Schwinn Junior Stingray and this Murray Eliminator-type bike.
Like I said, I was new to the hobby, so while I recognized the Schwinn Stingray for what it was, I wasn't sure what kind of bike the Murray was. I didn't care much for the Schwinn, but that curiously-shaped Murray intrigued me. Well, apparently it wasn't intriguing enough, because 10 minutes later, I traded both bikes for 2 rusty 24" Monark balloon tire bikes. It didn't take long before I found that nobody really wanted a 24" Monark (except my dad who bought the better-looking one to display in the back of his 40 Ford rat rod pickup.) Worse, I realized that although I had traded "up" in terms of monetary value ($50 > $70 > $100,) in terms of desirability, I had traded down. Worst of all, I realized that I would have really liked to keep that Murray Eliminator/Buzz bike, and fix that up. Since then, I've been on the hunt for another one of those bikes.
Fast-forward to September 2021: I see my buddy in OKC posted an ad on Craigslist for this Murray, and he was only asking $10 for it. I couldn't have bought it any faster! I knew it was rough, but I didn't care. $10 for a bike on my "bucket list" was too good a deal to pass up!
Not long after I brought this bike home, I had a unique chance to take this bike out for a spin. Buddy's Pedal Fest had a "muscle bike drag race" going on during the swap meet, so I slapped this bike together using parts I had laying around to get it rideable. I didn't win most of the races I participated in, but the bike stayed in one piece, and it was a blast to ride around! I even rode it around my neighborhood a few times afterwards!
As cool as this Murray was in its rusty, crusty, slapped-together state, I knew I wanted to build this bike up right some day. So, after discussing it with my fabricator friend, I decided now is as good a time as any to build this bike the way I want. I'm not going to go too crazy with the modifications like I did during the last MBBO. I want to try and keep this bike relatively clean and simple, at least compared to last year's entry, Poison Apple. I have a few trick mods planned, one of which I mocked up about a month ago: a 26" Monark springer fork!
That's not all though! I plan to make this Murray look like the quintessential 1970s coffin tank chopper, scaled down to fun size! That includes adding a custom tank, which I don't see on these bikes too often. I haven't figured out the name for the bike, or what exact graphics I want to add to the sides of the tank just yet, but this is the general vibe I'm going for:
Unfortunately, I've already run into an issue with it: the lock nuts that hold the dropouts in place hit the spokes on the front wheel.
I've tried assembling the fork differently to combat the issue, but I think the best solution would be to make some new dropouts that kick the front wheel forward an inch or two.
I'm really looking forward to putting one of my "bucket list" bikes together, especially with my new friend who knows a thing or two about fabricating cool things on wheels. Odds are he'll be doing most of the welding/fabricating this project needs, but I'm going to use this as an opportunity to practice welding/fabricating myself. Dude was kind enough to teach me a little welding after helping me with a previous project, and I'd be more than happy to learn some more! Hopefully, I'll have a custom piece or two on this bike I can proudly say I made or modified myself!
I actually just bought a few parts that should help achieve the look I'm going for just earlier today. I'll try to shoot and post pictures of those parts tomorrow.
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