Yeah, lot's of rat rodding going on here! Great lights work, all your fab work to attach your controls, etc. Moving right along!
Kharkovskaya Lastochka - FINISHED
- Thread starter SpikeFC
- Start date
Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:
Thanks guys, glad you like it!
Didn't have much time today since the weather came to a 180 degree turn from "really ugly" to "really nice" in just one day, so I had a lot to do today, plus 3 of my friends came and put reservations on new bikes, so my boss is really happy that more people come to buy more than just parts & accesories.
Dug out the belt for the pouch.
Found an old & torn leather purse in the trash bin next to my workshop with this belt still intact. I even cut into smaller pieces but didn't have the time to even take a picture
Still waiting for the licence plate to be printed & for the seat mount to be welded.
Also there might be a short brake in building anything tommorow since I looked at my workshop, and found it as one gigantic mess, after all the servicing going on in March & April, so tommorow is the big clean-up day.
Last edited:
So cleaned the workshop today, and as I said before - It was quite a mess!
Cut down the belts for the pouch, made holes in them and found a set of bolts, nuts & washers to make everything work.
And voila! Mounted & ready.
Now I need to find a small phillips screwdriver to put in there for the lights removal when I want to charge them and a simple cell phone charger with two USB outputs. Might even also customize those to match the bike.
Cut down the belts for the pouch, made holes in them and found a set of bolts, nuts & washers to make everything work.
And voila! Mounted & ready.
Now I need to find a small phillips screwdriver to put in there for the lights removal when I want to charge them and a simple cell phone charger with two USB outputs. Might even also customize those to match the bike.
Last edited:
By the way, some of the photos from our LARP just came, so I thought I would like to show you something.
Me in my non-combat outfit with the present for our new leader - Don Pablo.
Me & my friend presenting the present. Eager to know what was inside the box?
A golden Thomson airsoft replica. Took some time to make it ready for our LARP, but the faces when people saw this - priceless.
So back to the build, cause I have exciting news. Guess what I picked up today...
... TIG welded, solid and, ready to roll!
Just needed a little drilling, and a matching back plate, salvaged from my lower workshop.
Couldn't help myself, and before the painting I had to mock it up.
And with a little help from an angle cut piece of pipe, I could finally mount the seat.
I just couldn't resist & took her out for a spin around my workshop. The seating position is kinda weird, she definitely won't win any speed competition, but, boy, does this baby got style!
Ofcourse she needed some tweeking of the shifter, light, front brake, and mirror, but riding it for the first time was a lot of fun, even my boss came out to watch how it rolls.
But remember - that's not the end, still some things need to be done to make her 100% complete.
Me in my non-combat outfit with the present for our new leader - Don Pablo.
Me & my friend presenting the present. Eager to know what was inside the box?
A golden Thomson airsoft replica. Took some time to make it ready for our LARP, but the faces when people saw this - priceless.
So back to the build, cause I have exciting news. Guess what I picked up today...
... TIG welded, solid and, ready to roll!
Just needed a little drilling, and a matching back plate, salvaged from my lower workshop.
Couldn't help myself, and before the painting I had to mock it up.
And with a little help from an angle cut piece of pipe, I could finally mount the seat.
I just couldn't resist & took her out for a spin around my workshop. The seating position is kinda weird, she definitely won't win any speed competition, but, boy, does this baby got style!
Ofcourse she needed some tweeking of the shifter, light, front brake, and mirror, but riding it for the first time was a lot of fun, even my boss came out to watch how it rolls.
But remember - that's not the end, still some things need to be done to make her 100% complete.
Last edited:
Guess what I call a good day? Nice sunset, Rock & Roll in my earphones, nice weather, and riding a bike that I just spent a month working on, turning it from a pile of old parts into a road worthy build!
A fun one to ride, the riding position is awkward (not recomennd riding this one on a full stomach
), but still glides nice, also not to fast and worthless on overpasses, but I have strong legs to make her go 
.
So she needs a little tune-up. I don't think that the gears shhift correctly, sometime she has problems with the 2nd one. I think on changeing the front brake to hydraulic one, since this one has some stopping power, but fairly enough. Also hydraulics look cool. Definetely need to ditch the handlebar extenders, and move everything to the original handle bars, since the extenders are VERY uncomfortable.
And when it comes to modifications, with the pile of parts that I exchanged for old auto magazines & catalogues I got two bare metal chainguards, and was thinking one of them on this one (Also @OddJob had his doze of influence here, since I love that chainguard of his on the Trans-MIG-RaT). What do you guys think?
Without the chainguard.
And with the chainguard.
If I will mount it I plan to paint it black & white to match the frame like this...
..and using the original mounts on the frame, while the small hole in the guard would be for the gear shifter line to go through.
A fun one to ride, the riding position is awkward (not recomennd riding this one on a full stomach
), but still glides nice, also not to fast and worthless on overpasses, but I have strong legs to make her go .So she needs a little tune-up. I don't think that the gears shhift correctly, sometime she has problems with the 2nd one. I think on changeing the front brake to hydraulic one, since this one has some stopping power, but fairly enough. Also hydraulics look cool
. Definetely need to ditch the handlebar extenders, and move everything to the original handle bars, since the extenders are VERY uncomfortable.And when it comes to modifications, with the pile of parts that I exchanged for old auto magazines & catalogues I got two bare metal chainguards, and was thinking one of them on this one (Also @OddJob had his doze of influence here, since I love that chainguard of his on the Trans-MIG-RaT). What do you guys think?
Without the chainguard.
And with the chainguard.
If I will mount it I plan to paint it black & white to match the frame like this...
..and using the original mounts on the frame, while the small hole in the guard would be for the gear shifter line to go through.
Last edited:
You put the effort to put this crankset together, don't cover it now with a chainguard.
But I must admit it would look good painted like that on the bike.
But I must admit it would look good painted like that on the bike.
Was thinking the same thing, but I also like the color concept of the chainguard... tough decision to make
By the way since it's 22:30 in Poland I went on a short cruise to test how the lights work.
You can see the bike from a distance, that's for sure!
50% of power to the headlight...
Full 100% of 300 lumens
I can easily see the road up to 10 meters even in total darkness.
Last edited:
Chain guard, painted that way, really finishes it off nicely! 
Fenders + guard= CoooOOooL!
Fenders + guard= CoooOOooL!
Made this small change today.
Ditched the extenders, and re-wraped the sttering bar in two places - lower for faster driving, and upper for cruising - gives a less laid-to-the-front-on-my-belly&nuts riding position
. Also you may notice a change in the break handle...
Now this gives some serious breaking power! The only problem is that I need to bleed this setup properly, and yesterday I just broke my last two bleeding syringes... my luck.
Ditched the extenders, and re-wraped the sttering bar in two places - lower for faster driving, and upper for cruising - gives a less laid-to-the-front-on-my-belly&nuts riding position
. Also you may notice a change in the break handle...
Now this gives some serious breaking power! The only problem is that I need to bleed this setup properly, and yesterday I just broke my last two bleeding syringes... my luck
.
Last edited:
Bike is looking cool! Could you please post up how you bleed the brakes if you do it? Going to be dealing with hydraulic brakes for the first time this year.
Here you go:
This is the basic things that you need for bleeding the brakes. Remember, that different types of brakes have different bleeding techniques.
1. Universal bleeding kit.
2. Torx T15 wrench.
3. 3mm hexagonal wrench.
4. Plastic block that comes with the kit.
5. Mineral brake oil (or DOT fluid if you're brakes run on DOT)
6. Bottle, or other container to catch excessive fluid.
Sorry for making this in 3 videos, but I had customers in the meantime. And sorry for my slavic accent
Last edited:
Wow Spike. Thank you so much. Really understand it now. Not too bad. Need to trim the lines on mine so will have to open them up. Wanted to change the color but grey hoses are as much as my whole brake kit. Looks like they are similar to the Tektros with the torx head bleed screws. They take mineral oil too.
Thanks again. I think the accent is great and your English is very good. Love the vids.
Thanks again. I think the accent is great and your English is very good. Love the vids.
When it comes to newer Shimano brakes the method, you just need to use a Shimano dedicated bleeding funnel on the handles bleeding port. When it comes to older Shimano brakes the method is the same as in motorcycle brakes. I think the most complicated ones are Formula RX & Avid, since you need two syringes with DOT and a belt to secure the handle in the closed position, to separately bleed the line & caliper and the handle.
Last edited:
Sadly, today morning, when I was moving the bike, she fell, and I broke the already broken reflector... 
Since I needed to glue that plastic chainguard for Spare Parts of Class 2, then I guess it's time to call it a "glueing day"
Before work I went to my garage & dug out these two USB chargers. Will need to figure out how to make them look less "Cheap Chineese Chargers" and more "Comrade Tavarishch Soviet Chargers"
But most of the work today was concentrated on making a mount for the chainguard so I can start painting it. Found a few parts to use - and old rear chainguard mount from a fully enclosed chainguard, and a mounting bar from a plastic fender.
With a small assist from a clamp from the Reausable Junk box...
So the next thing is painting this baby in black & white.
Since I needed to glue that plastic chainguard for Spare Parts of Class 2, then I guess it's time to call it a "glueing day"
Before work I went to my garage & dug out these two USB chargers. Will need to figure out how to make them look less "Cheap Chineese Chargers" and more "Comrade Tavarishch Soviet Chargers"
But most of the work today was concentrated on making a mount for the chainguard so I can start painting it. Found a few parts to use - and old rear chainguard mount from a fully enclosed chainguard, and a mounting bar from a plastic fender.
With a small assist from a clamp from the Reausable Junk box...
So the next thing is painting this baby in black & white.
Last edited:
For the chargers - just put a big red star on each.
- Joined
- Apr 18, 2015
- Messages
- 167
- Reaction score
- 237
Or to make it look more Soviet, a box with prominent weld seams, rivets, and maybe one of the numerous little soviet pins or badges? I think they are called znatchki in Russian. I am sure you are more familiar with them than I am!
A Lenin or Stalin pin would be a nice touch, like the bike belonged to a communist party fanatic once.
I love the idea on that
also I just need to dig in my stuff that that I use for post apocalyptic costumes, might have some old soviet thingies there.Not too much off a progress, but it's still progress. After glueing back together the reflector I installed it back in place on the fender. Sadly the old screws needed the special wrench to unscrew them - the angle grinder
Chainguard just needs a layer of clear coat & it's ready to install. Won't have much time to work on bikes this week, since one of my best friends has his birthday party on saturday and I need to finish his present by that time.
Chainguard just needs a layer of clear coat & it's ready to install. Won't have much time to work on bikes this week, since one of my best friends has his birthday party on saturday and I need to finish his present by that time.
Last edited:
Packages came today with new parts! Can't wait to install them.
New disc for the front brake from Shimano, designed for resin pads. For 4$ it was like next to nothing!
And the speedo... saw it on a facebook group, and asked the guy for the price, when we settled on 26$ shipping included I was like "Take my money!"
It's a VDO Mono, taken from a track racing bike with the mechanism designed for 27"-28" (622-630) and the stamp on the back indicates a production date of 3rd December 1988. Will need to fabricate a mount for it on the stem, since my steering bar is already kinda full.
Can't wait to install them.
New disc for the front brake from Shimano, designed for resin pads. For 4$ it was like next to nothing!
And the speedo... saw it on a facebook group, and asked the guy for the price, when we settled on 26$ shipping included I was like "Take my money!"
It's a VDO Mono, taken from a track racing bike with the mechanism designed for 27"-28" (622-630) and the stamp on the back indicates a production date of 3rd December 1988. Will need to fabricate a mount for it on the stem, since my steering bar is already kinda full.
Last edited:
