"Whiskey Lightning" Tracker - My first stab

[The LT]

Stretch, your pedals are totally cool. If I don't do something like them, it's easy to think I will do some sort of copper tubing "twist" to this bike.

Quil pedals date all the way back to the mid, late 1800s. Surprisingly, up until a few years ago, pedal design and styling had changed very little throughout the history of the bicycle.

A while back, I found a web page that chronicled almost the entire history/evolution of the pedal. Quil pedals were found on some of the earliest bicycles and you can still find 100 year old quils popping up on eBay from time to time. People used to wear different shoes back then which were always leather and always narrow. The quils from back then looked like they had knife blades sticking up.

This might be the site you are thinking of
http://www.speedplay.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pedalmuseum.intro

if not its cool anyways

Oh yeah and ite my first post too

 

[Lonewolf]

As a first time poster here and long time bike enthusiast let me say that I'm liking this bike!
As soon as I finish my current project I will be looking for a board tracker to build up.
Well done Lonewolf!

R.

HEY RANDY!!!!!

Thanks for the props Bro! You should post your 20" Rollfast!

RCain is an esteemed member of VintageBMX.com and a BMX track builder and operator from Iowa/ Idaho. One of his latest projects (a beautiful back yard full scale BMX track) was so awesome, it was profiled in BMXWORLD magazine.

 

[RCain]

Here ya go lonewolf.

Early 70's Rollfast "Skoot" 20" bmxer.

This bike was built for a local $20 limit "Budget bike buildoff" at our local race track. Total cash output = $18

Ive got all of the parts together to start my next build (A 26" Laguna) I'll start a thread here when I finish it. Just awaiting paint and graphics to start it up. Unfortunately this one will come in being "slightly" more costly. :shock:

Idaho, Iowa, It's all the same to you east coasters. :lol:

 

[Lonewolf]

Idaho? I guess so, huh? Well, all the better for you. Idaho is way cooler than Iowa.

Thanks for posting your bike! I really look forward to the Laguna because you said you were going to flame some purists.. :lol: Also, that let's me know I actually NEED to see it when it's done, because I won't already know what it's gonna look like.

That Rollfast of yours is one of the coolest bikes on VBMX.

 

[RCain]

Ha ha Wolfie, but the build is turning out something a bit different than I had first planned, still a mixed era build, but I decided to go with a factory color and no decals on the frame instead of the customs I had planned. I'll post it on V too and we'll see what the purists have to say.
BTW I firmly believe that there are only 3 acceptable colors for a bicycle (Not including chrome and nickel)
:wink:

 

[larrrySxR]

this build inspired me to build my own just curious what saddle that is

 

[KOTA]

White RAT...NICE!

 

[sensor]

this build inspired me to build my own just curious what saddle that is

looks like a brooks(swallow i think) or a wright

 

[Lonewolf]

this build inspired me to build my own just curious what saddle that is

Hey Larry,

That is a MURPHY saddle. They are readily available. I bought one in "Honey" for I think around $60- $70 and then sanded on it (carefully) and artificially weathered it with Cordovan, brown and black shoe polish making sure to get a lot of it crammed in around the rivets and more along the snout so it looked sorta like body funk accumulation.

Good luck to you with yours!

I'll be doing some more work to mine in the next couple of days.

Thanks everyone for chiming in.

 

[Lonewolf]

Okay, bike has pedals and completed nickel chain. Bike is adjusted and fully functional.

Die cast MKS quill pedals. If you look closely, you might see the clear number plates up front. I'm still thinking about that part as I deemed the white versions as too "weighty" and visually confusing.

Also, I took off the home made decals and am considering changes. "Ratrodbikes" logo is definitely still on the chainstays.

 

[sidsky]

your bike is soo gorgeous!!!! i love it!!!!! well, this site is just full of win when it comes to bike building/modding. so much inspiration here!!!
few question, Is that a regular handle bar tape? brand?
thanks,
sid

 

[Ace]

Wicked. A white bike with brown/goldish rims and parts. On paper it sounds pretty girly, but in real life it works like a charm. Cool ! :mrgreen:

 

[Lonewolf]

Sid,
Go to Fabrixx and get some cheap medium brown vinyl. It was about $3 for a full yard of the stuff. I just cut some long strips off. I want to move to leather, however. Maybe I can find an old purse or jacket.

The wheel paint is Krylon glossy khaki. The way I made the decision on khaki wheels is that I literally saw it on the shelf at Kmart and bought it. I didn't have a use for it and that was well over a year ago.

This bike was going to be black, and was even painted black before a last minute decision to go with white. -That's when I started eyeballing the khaki paint for the wheels, in my cabinet. Back in the '20s, plenty of cars had monochrome, spoked wheels against a complimentary body color. That was sort of the influence and thinking, here.

It's more apparent in the earlier photos, but I believe the wheel color allows them to fall back, accentuating the circumference of the tires, making them resemble 28 inchers.

Everything just kind of fell together.

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

that bike is tastey.

 

[Lonewolf]

On paper it sounds pretty girly, but in real life it works like a charm.

Thanks ifitsfreeitsforme.

Ace, I have a buddy who isn't very cuthe. He's actually a little hard to be around. He said "What are you doing with a girl's bike?"

It ain't no big deal. Maybe it does look like that, but the guy riding it (me) is a wood chopping, bearded, work boot wearing, rough around the edges, s.o.b.

It's all good.

 

[Ace]

I hear ya :mrgreen: Like I said, it works like a charming wood chopping, bearded, work boot wearing, rough around the edges, s.o.b.guy kind of a way. :mrgreen:
In other words: I like it. 8)

 

[sidsky]

good idea on the leather/vinyl wrap!!! come to think of it, few months ago i cut off the sleeves of one of my brown leather jacket(made a bum vest). i might use the discarded sleeves as a bar wrap!!
i also notice your pedals. is that steel or alloy?? i'm kinda looking for similar pedal(cheap side) on my build. is the size and thread pitch standard?? measured mine to be 0.48 of an inch, but don't know the pitch.
thanks,
sid

 

[Lonewolf]

Good deal on the Jacket sleeves.

Google MKS quill pedals and they should come up. I bought them from Milwaukee for about $26, but got nailed on shipping ($10).

They are pressure cast aluminum.

 

[sidsky]

thanks for the info!! mann!! a lot of them quill pedals are 9/16". some few 1/2", i might have to wait and search more for a nicer and better deal, but this is on the list now

 

[Lonewolf]

I forgot to tell you. 1/2 is all 1-piece cranks, 9/16 is all 3-piece cranks. Thread doesn't matter. It's been the same since the beginning of time. Everything is standard.