Why would anyone want to make ratrods?

[Rockit!]

Very simple, somebody has to take out the trash! :lol: :lol:

Exhibit A: This is how I acquired this frame....a standard, run of the mill 1950 Huffy built Western Flyer. It was rusty, crusty, and had been smothered in black house paint. Now be honest, what "purest" would even waste their time with this?

To make it back into a stock bike, it would have cost me a small fortune, and many months of scavenging for parts. And it wouldn't really be anything special. Not much fun. Instead I took what I had available, and what I didn't have, I made. Yes, with my own two hands. I had a LOT of fun, and turned it into this:

I can only imagine what you may have in your personal collection, but I can guarantee I would completely drool over them just the same as you. I'm lucky enough to have a 100% original, survivor, '64 Sears Deluxe Spaceliner in my collection. One pedal is missing one reflector and it DRIVES ME CRAZY. The point is that I can and do appreciate both approaches!! Right now I'm working on a late 30's Shelby Airflow. I basically have a frame, a tank, and several other random parts. I can either drop 1000 bucks into acquiring the rest of the original parts to get a cool old bike, or I can drop about 100 bucks and rat it, and still have a cool old bike. Which way do you think I'll go? :mrgreen:

 

[rusty1]

...some people like the color red; some like yellow; it's simple as that. People do what they enjoy. Rat rod bikes are usually cheap to put together, a big factor for many of us. There's plenty of cool bikes on here for you to enjoy if you don't like the ratty ones.
...like everything in life; you need to be a bit openminded. Enjoy.

 

[scrubbinrims]

The thing that irks me about your post dungo is how it reflects poorly on those of us on the classic side of the spectrum...we are not haters or elitists (for the most part) and understand there are many points of view in bicycles, as in life.
Chris

 

[dungo]

I was just screwing with you guys! I actually happen to have one rat-rod, and I seen a post like this on thecabe, and it got some good opinionated responses so I thought for my first post I would get arise out of this crew. Now i don't particuarily like ratrods, but as your responses show, your passionate about them, and thats why you like it.
Thanks

 

[Gold Street Customs]

I just caught this post, so excuse me for being late to the party, so I am going to flip the question, why do you restore ?, I know some people restore to relive the glory of taking bringing the back every single original nut and bolt on the bike matching the paint chip, spending hundreds of dollars getting the original tires ect . When its all done are you brave enough to ride it ,or does it sit in the living room, am I a hater no !! but myself I am on a severely enhanced income, so I try to build as I come across deals on parts, the closest to a restore is my Spaceliner, yet its far from restored, it still needs the $45 taillight lens and the paint needs to be done on the tank, chainguard ect.but as it is I can ride it and don't worry if it gets a scratch. Now Ratrods are about saving old bikes or new that may be scrapped or saved from lawn art or they are not worth the $$$ to do a restoration on, or my favorite is to rat it out because you can!!!!!

 

[hubgearfreak]

your opinion come off very aggressive and dismissive towards other that do rat their bike

i thought it was a perfectly polite start to a discussion.

the answer is, that the owner of a bike can do what they want to their bike.

 

[KJV]

:lol: :lol: :!: :arrow:

 

[scrubbinrims]

I just caught this post, so excuse me for being late to the party, so I am going to flip the question, why do you restore ?, I know some people restore to relive the glory of taking bringing the back every single original nut and bolt on the bike matching the paint chip, spending hundreds of dollars getting the original tires ect . When its all done are you brave enough to ride it ,or does it sit in the living room, am I a hater no !! but myself I am on a severely enhanced income, so I try to build as I come across deals on parts, the closest to a restore is my Spaceliner, yet its far from restored, it still needs the $45 taillight lens and the paint needs to be done on the tank, chainguard ect.but as it is I can ride it and don't worry if it gets a scratch. Now Ratrods are about saving old bikes or new that may be scrapped or saved from lawn art or they are not worth the $$$ to do a restoration on, or my favorite is to rat it out because you can!!!!!

I'll answer that one...but you alluded to what a restoration is about in your question.

Currently, I have a 41 Firestone Supercruiser, a 39 Firestone Twinflex, and a 35 Elgin Blackhawk in the professional resoration queue and yes, I had to track down the correct tires and cleaned the metal parts down to the nut/screw.
When they are re-assembled, they will be retired from use, yet available for reference and kept for my personal admiration.

This is probably a foreign concept, but that's one way I enjoy our hobby...it's not about lack of bravery to ride, as I have plenty of vintage riders to turn heads (and scratch).

Actually, restoration is a last resort for me, but I'll serve the question back...if you had one of these bicycles and the needed resources, would you rat them out, or have a sense of obligation to return the bicycle back to it's original state?
Is this really about the medium used?

Chris

 

[Rat Rod]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[outskirtscustoms]

I was just screwing with you guys! I actually happen to have one rat-rod, and I seen a post like this on thecabe, and it got some good opinionated responses so I thought for my first post I would get arise out of this crew. Now i don't particuarily like ratrods, but as your responses show, your passionate about them, and thats why you like it.
Thanks

Welcome to the party, Just to let you know the rule around here is "Pics or it didn't happen" Let's see the Rat!
I also love to take things and make them into other things in which they were never intended.
Taillight: Old compass with an LED flashlight and a red lens
Rack: Kid's skateboard scooter chopped and a home made brace
Shifters: Old golf clubs and dollar store bag o skulls
Water bottle: Flask and some leather from a thrown out couch
Also yes that is a 90's Huffy with a skiptooth sprocket.....I'll let you figure that one out.

 

[MadMax '58]

.............

 

[12bcruzin]

Man, that is what I like about this site versus some of the others...all of these responses were nicer than anything I could come up with...thanks everyone for being such nice freakin rats... :lol:

 

[g-ratter]

I have always wondered why any one would restore a bike just to have something hundreds of other people can have. And for those who pay other people to do the work,well lets not go there.
I have always been creative since I was a kid building bicycles, tree forts and wooden go carts we use to race down the back alley.
Most of all i like having something that is one of a kind.

 

[Ratfink1962]

:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

Yeah baby... thats what Im talking about!!!

But.... if you go visit Bass fishing forums, you will find the same banter about why people use the A-Rig, some guys wont even touch the rig while others are all over it, how the people that use it are cheating, and why its being banned from tournaments etc etc etc.

To Rat, or not to Rat, that is the question....

Imma go fishing instead.

 

[aka_locojoe]

I don't care for knitting so I signed up on a knitting forum and posted "why would anyone want to knit a sweater?" just to screw with the old ladies. I do own a knit sweater though :lol:

 

[KJV]

thanks Randy:your the one that
made granny all mad.
now she makes me wear a
knitted sweater;
when i ride my crusty old rat rod bicycle.

 

[ozzmonaut]

So I shouldn't have hacked up my Elgin Bluebird? Now I feel lousy

 

[jalopyjimmy13]

wow what an intro lol

 

[Chips_Mahoy]

Hi,
I would just like to ask why People like making ratrods, and taking parts from classic bicycles and making, in my opinion, ugly bikes (for the most part), if you wanna make ratrods ou of 90's parts go ahead, but it really bothers me when people ruin old vintage bikes and turn ino something so "blah". Now this is my opinion and I don't mean to offend anyone. I am just looking for why someone would rather take parts and essentially destroy old bikes to make new ones, instead of preserve them?
I dont mean to offend, just looking for answers.

Here'es my reason/s why I do what I do. Take it or leave it. Either way it won't affect what I do.....

I have 2 boys: 14 and 10. Both are having a birthday in a couple weeks. My 14 y/o and I rarely see eye to eye on anything anymore, much like my dad and I did and a lot of other kids and dads in that age group i'm sure. My 10 y/o is very much like I was at that age: very head strong, "hands-on" for everything and knee deep in taking everything apart to modify it. While the 3 of us enjoy seeing nice, original, restored or well preserved original bikes, they, much like other boys their age, like to modify bikes to suit their own tastes. I have nice originals and my out-of-the-norm build called REAPER ( viewtopic.php?f=21&t=48818&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&hilit=reaper ) and they do too. So after looking around online awhile looking for different ideas and build styles out there, the undefinitive "Rat Rod Bike" style really stuck out to us......build what you can with what you've got. That, in turn, has given us a father and son hobby that's not expensinve, let the designer be as creative as they want to be, have rust, bad paint, good paint, chrome, mismatched tires or whatever they want on a bike they've designed, built and can take pride in what they've done! That's important for boys to understand that attheir age. And most importantly.....it has opened lines of communication between my boys and I and gives us time together! THAT is the most important thing no matter what hobby you choose to share with your kids. My boys are learning basic mechanincs and how to service a bicycle which they can pass down to their kids. AND they are learning to appreciate quality worksmanship and classic styling. My 10 y/o has already shown one of his bikes at a show and took 3rd place in his class. He got to see the fruits of his labor and is more excited about doing morein the near future!

I could go on and on about why we chose to do Rat Rod Bikes, but I think I've made my point. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to answer them.

 

[Rockit!]

Besides, you guys need us. Somebody's gotta do all the work for you! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: