Upsizing 20" 1970's BMX bikes to cruisers

[rev106]

Goals are as follows:

1. Get more welding and frame fabrication practice

2. My materials are beginning to rust because I got stuck behind a hot rod project for a year and a half so use up my metal before it goes bad.

3. Use up some my parts that I am foolishly holing onto for some vintage cruiser frame that will never land in my lap.

4. Most importantly, get rad on the bikes I made.

I picked a Dave Shwerma Champion and a GarylittlejohnMurphy for my choices. I got the LJM bikes mostly finished first, they upsized ok, some of the look gets lost in upsizing unless you want to make a lowboy which I'm too tall for. Then I got into the Champion and that has to be the hardest bike to make! 10_ hours just in the dropouts. More to come...Enjoy the progress so far.....

Fixed the munched Poe

Fixed this Powerlite fork....mostly...

 

[rev106]

A few more glamor shots before I stuff it in a bush somewhere and mess it up.....

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Awesome work, looking very good.
Hmm, is that a high flange coasterbrake?

Can I ask you Wizard: What tubing are you using? CroMo or mild steel (thick wall) or Reynolds, Columbus etcetera.

I found out that most stock cruisers have mild steel thick wall tubing.

 

[rev106]

Awesome work, looking very good.
Hmm, is that a high flange coasterbrake?

Can I ask you Wizard: What tubing are you using? CroMo or mild steel (thick wall) or Reynolds, Columbus etcetera.

I found out that most stock cruisers have mild steel thick wall tubing.

Coaster brake is a NOS Shimano B type shell made in the 1970's with some guts from another normal b type hub. MX ones had MX stamped on the torsion arm.

16 gauge steel tubing, the white one was made 3/4 .049 4130 because I had just enough scraps left over from another project to do it. Schwinn made millions of bikes out of mild steel, I see no fault in using that material.

 

[Robertk]

When will we the 26” Littlejohn?

 

[BartRidesEternal]

Coaster brake is a NOS Shimano B type shell made in the 1970's with some guts from another normal b type hub. MX ones had MX stamped on the torsion arm.

16 gauge steel tubing, the white one was made 3/4 .049 4130 because I had just enough scraps left over from another project to do it. Schwinn made millions of bikes out of mild steel, I see no fault in using that material.

Thanks for responding Paul, I see no issues either and I'm learning everyday

 

[rev106]

Moving on to the Littlejohn Murphy cruisers. Finished all the welding, second straightening out, made the gussets and put those in there. This frame did not upsize as well as the Champion did, the 20" was a very low frame so when I made a bigger version, some of the look was lost in the upsizing. Still looks cool though! Thing is a tank. SO why not make it super heavy with some motorcycle rims? I have some 40 spoke Akront motorcycle rims that I laced a moped front drum into, it had the rear drum already when I got them. Trying to keep things era looking without going overboard and not buying parts as I can make or have whatever will work somewhere in my piles of bike crap. Schwinn varsity crank set should be the go to and rat trap pedals....more to do...Enjoy!!