What is your definition of a Rat Rod Bicycle/Tricycle?

[dumpster_diver]

there was no bigger fad then mini trucks lol wheels sticking out 8 inches on each side, lowered suspensions, roofs cut off and neon wiper blades!
but I dont thing rat rod bikes will die... they are bikes we can ride or just look at with minimal investment..... if ya think about it stingrays were just a fad in the 60s which changed to cheap 70s 10 speeds and BMX bikes in the 80s . I look at mine as ongoing projects. I dont have the patience to restore one and then would be afraid to ride it. I think alot of were doing this sort of thing to bikes long before it had a name. I think we will be tinkering long after the arthritus limits our old bones

when I was was talking about rat rods and whatnot, I wasn't talking about bicycles....mainly the cars.

and +1 on the restoring bikes thing. restoring is pretty dumb imo.

Restoration is the last refuge for those who cannot create. :wink:

Yeah it annoys me when someone cant be creative but then again it is genetic!!
I dont think hot rodding or rat rodding is going to die down--there is to many hardcore MF***ers out there!! I am not giving it up! Trust me!!

 

[Anonymous]

there was no bigger fad then mini trucks lol wheels sticking out 8 inches on each side, lowered suspensions, roofs cut off and neon wiper blades!
but I dont thing rat rod bikes will die... they are bikes we can ride or just look at with minimal investment..... if ya think about it stingrays were just a fad in the 60s which changed to cheap 70s 10 speeds and BMX bikes in the 80s . I look at mine as ongoing projects. I dont have the patience to restore one and then would be afraid to ride it. I think alot of were doing this sort of thing to bikes long before it had a name. I think we will be tinkering long after the arthritus limits our old bones

when I was was talking about rat rods and whatnot, I wasn't talking about bicycles....mainly the cars.

and +1 on the restoring bikes thing. restoring is pretty dumb imo.

Restoration is the last refuge for those who cannot create. :wink:

Yeah it annoys me when someone cant be creative but then again it is genetic!!
I dont think hot rodding or rat rodding is going to die down--there is to many hardcore MF***ers out there!! I am not giving it up! Trust me!!

like i said before, i'm talking about the hardcore 'rat rodders' who has just came out in the last few years. trust me, they will die down, they will never go away, but it will die down. it always does....

hot rodding and rock n roll are the 2 things they will never die. lol

 

[Multipass]

A lot of interesting thoughts and good points put forth here.

Speaking for myself, the intriguing thing is how the rat rod movement has been co-opted into sub-cultures and lifestyles outside of the car hobby world. 'Kustom Kulture' and the 'Low Brow' art world, for example, have been greatly influenced by what this style of rodding has come to represent. (and vice versa, this may be a chicken and egg paradox). Robert Williams - artist,hot rodder, and publisher of Juxtapoz, is arguably the grandaddy of the low brow art world so no surprise there. One has only to look at magazines such as Car Kulture Deluxe to see how intertwined a lifestyle and a car style have become.

BITD a lot of hot rods weren't pretty 'coz all the money went into making them fast. Those guys were inventing as needed. The aesthetic that resulted is being emulated today with varying degrees of success. Is it a fad? Yes and no - styles come and go, but there will always be the hot rodders who build what they want regardless of what is deemed to be 'cool'.

I'll quit rambling now before I get myself into trouble

-Mp

* for the record, I like both custom and restored, they compliment each other quite nicely

 

[Clothespin n]

Ok.......Spiral_out.

I respect a good educated opinion( Which I think you just stated ),but an opinion is just that! When an opinion becomes an insult and a stereo type classification like you made it out to be then it's not cool.

The Canada Customs And Hotrods truck that Laurie built hasn't walked away with box's of awards and magazine covers because it is a rust bucket.He spent thousands of hours building that truck.It wan't voted a winner over and over buy a bunch of Greasy haired rock-o-billies.It was voted on buy some of the top car designers in the world.

I don't think he was trying to make it look like it might of back in the day......he was trying to make it his own!

That's what I think a Rat Rod is.......a piece of personal artwork that was thought out and re-thought out over and over in the Builder/designers/drivers/ RIDERS head.Creating as you go with readily available cheap parts, ( like hot-rodders did in the 50's and 60's )

I spentan hour at the DUMP today looking through a pile of bikes ..I saw a set of cool Purple Anodized rims on a girl BMX that will look awesome on a Flat Black bike as well as heaps of other old ( some rusty ) parts that are going to be a future addition to something I build.

There is a lot of valid points in this post ....and I personally like to hear people's opinions and feedback.....

I say "it'd be a pretty boring word if we all did and thought the same way!"

peace,
Kev.

 

[Anonymous]

There is a lot of valid points in this post ....and I personally like to hear people's opinions and feedback.....

I say "it'd be a pretty boring word if we all did and thought the same way!"

peace,
Kev.

good points. i usually do come off a little biased in these sort of discussions because I find these topics really interesting. the whole stereotype rockabilly thing is just from my personal experience. very rarely I have I met or seen someone who had a "rat rod" who were well educated on what it was or really the car culture as a whole. usually it's just they built some car in there backyard and they didn't take craftsmenship into consideration at all. they stand next to their car at cruise-in's trying to preach to people about how it was done in the 50's and how "this is what a REAL car looks like" which is somewhat pathetic. of course not EVERYONE of these people is like that, but from what i've seen around my parts, is that 90% of them are. they watched a little too much discovery channel or read hot rod magazine too many times, and that was the outcome.

 

[Clothespin n]

There is a lot of valid points in this post ....and I personally like to hear people's opinions and feedback.....

I say "it'd be a pretty boring word if we all did and thought the same way!"

peace,
Kev.

good points. i usually do come off a little biased in these sort of discussions because I find these topics really interesting. the whole stereotype rockabilly thing is just from my personal experience. very rarely I have I met or seen someone who had a "rat rod" who were well educated on what it was or really the car culture as a whole. usually it's just they built some car in there backyard and they didn't take craftsmenship into consideration at all. they stand next to their car at cruise-in's trying to preach to people about how it was done in the 50's and how "this is what a REAL car looks like" which is somewhat pathetic. of course not EVERYONE of these people is like that, but from what i've seen around my parts, is that 90% of them are. they watched a little too much discovery channel or read hot rod magazine too many times, and that was the outcome.

now that statement I totaly agree with......

 

[Chainsaw]

Hey guys very interesting topic even if it has wondered a little.
First my idea of a rat bicycle is ...
A rat bike must be built by an individual or group that intends to use it for their personal use, not to be sold or marketed to the public.
A bike that reflects an outlaw biker, hot rod or appocaliptic (MadMaxx) view.
It must look like it was just found wallowing in a roadside ditch or that the owner just ran out of money to finish it.
A bike that has been altered in a way that can only be done with the most basic of tools. And by this, I do include welders, torches, grinders and chopsaws/sawzalls. Pretty much anything the average home garage handi-person might have.
Coolness is attributed to the fact that various bike parts and non-bike parts come together to make the creature stand out.
The various paints as described earlier in this thread should be the only colors added to the bikes. Faded original colors, rust , scratches, dents chips can all contribute to the enhancement of the rat.

Like I said, this is my interpretation and probably doesn't fit into everyone elses views.

As for the car aspect ....
No matter who wants to claim the rights to "RatRod". The bottom line is that these cars were originally born and raised in the poorer communties across the nation. Many in my area came about because of the farm kids finding these old vehicles abandoned behind their family's barns and outbuilding. Usually some type of varmit (Rats, mice, skunks, Etc.) had made this their home and had to be chased out before anything else could be done to it. The vehicles were often sporting faded paint, rusted body parts and missing parts. The enterprising builders would use whatever was laying around to make them run or to individualize their ride. I believe this same concept more or less evolved out of the back streets of the larger communities as well. And hey, don't you think these vehicles also had a few critters making their home in them?
The term "Rat Rod" has been well known around my parts for over forty years. So it's not a just a fad around here!
Also most of the redneck bands that played in the bars in our area have always mixed rock and country music and alot of times it was hard to tell what catagory it fit into.
Old school rockabilly has evolved, rat rods have evolved, but the fun of enjoying these cultures should always remain the same ...Because It's FUN!

Thanks, Chainsaw

 

[PoPPa WHeeLie]

you two are gettin it all twisted up. none of us were doin it in the "fifties", you're just baseing it on what we see in magazines. its based on the concept of a rat bike mixed with a rat rod. its what you can build on a budget. lets get back to the bikes fellas.

 

[Anonymous]

you two are gettin it all twisted up. none of us were doin it in the "fifties", you're just baseing it on what we see in magazines. its based on the concept of a rat bike mixed with a rat rod. its what you can build on a budget. lets get back to the bikes fellas.

dude....whenever we refer to the whole 50's thing, we're talking about the CARS, not BICYCLES. of course no one was building these bicycles in the 50's, thats kind of a given. :lol:

 

[dumpster_diver]

you two are gettin it all twisted up. none of us were doin it in the "fifties", you're just baseing it on what we see in magazines. its based on the concept of a rat bike mixed with a rat rod. its what you can build on a budget. lets get back to the bikes fellas.

dude....whenever we refer to the whole 50's thing, we're talking about the CARS, not BICYCLES. of course no one was building these bicycles in the 50's, thats kind of a given. :lol:

But they do build customs in the 60s and 70s. I got a little b@DA$$ coming soon!

 

[Clothespin n]

this is where I get some of my ideas.....

from my Dad,who did build Customs when I was a kid like this..not onlt rucks like this that I remember going to school in..but bikes for me and my brother and sister( I wish I had bike pictures .....besides the awesome pictures in my memory! )

this is one of the many I grew up around..and I have a box of pictures from the 60's of 40 fords,55 Pontiacs,and plenty of BSA's Harley's and triumphs he built. In todays language they would be concidered Rat Rods as he did grow up on a Farm and he did piece em together from a whole bunch of nothing!

I don't think I'm the only kid that had a Banana seat bike with 4 set's of 10 speed forks ,jammed together and welded up to look like a stretched out chopper!


My Dad is / was a Rat Rodder! and I'm teaching my kids the same!

Mend and make good! ( COOL )

 

[Kustomkarma]

I guess I'll play with fire. This whole rat rod thing gives me a headache. I have been into Hot Rods since I was five years old. Trends come and go and the definition of what's cool is always changing. A lot of people adopt new trends because they are a good idea (disk brakes, power steering, etc.) while others simply do things because it's trendy. I love any Custom or Hot Rod that's done well, whether it's traditional or the latest trend. Sometimes new trends are just plain stupid; but this is all subject to personal taste. Preserving a certain era in Hot Rodding's past is an honorable thing to do, but I'd rather stop a speeding car with a set of disk brakes rather than drums (I've done both) and have a seatbelt hold me in place while doing so. Where I live, it costs much more to build a 50's or 60's period correct car than it does to buy a used Japanese car which (much to my dismay) is the only thing I've been able to afford over the past few years. I'd love to have a Hot Rod, even a poorly built Rat Rod, but I can't afford or justify it right now. If people really wanted to build cars with the same intention as they did back in the day, they would more than likely be hopping up modern cars (Asian, front wheel drive, etc.) I actually had a Rat Rod Honda for awhile because it's what I could afford. As for the bikes, I can afford to build those right now, but the style I like costs me as much to build as buying a brand new road bike (I know because I frequent every LBS in town.) I don't repaint most of my builds because they are antiques to me (just like not refinishing antique furniture - that and it's time consuming and expensive to make them perfect.) So in closing (man I rambled) I build what I like and what I can afford. I don't care what people call it. I don't try to make any of my stuff look worse than when I found it rather I do my best and try to work within my budget and make the most out of what I've got. I do eveything, but build my own wheels and am happy with what I've accomplished. Above all I'm having a good time, meeting some cool people, and having fun. Isn't that what it's all about?

 

[dumpster_diver]

Well said. Thank You!