1940?? swiss army bike (updated 7/23/10)

[SteveCH]

Hello, this is my 1st bike I've had the chance to do up. Was thinking of it for a while, found this forum and got motivated.
It's apparantley a 1940 swiss army bike (the 05) I say apparantley because I cant find the date stamp, unless it got filled in with a respray, the serial is still there (just), the guy at the shop said it was a '40. Anyway, not too bothered about the date as they didnt change these things for years.
This is how I got it.

It was dirty as heck but all working, even the stamp brake and coaster.

I stripped it down as much as I could with a swiss army knife and a spanner

And stuck it up a tree

Managed to score NOS original handlebars for cheap and bought a pile of other parts, keeping it original was not my worry

Got the 140 spoke wheels from germany, painted bits and pieces, handcuff lock, chrome grips etc. A lot of my parts dont fit the bike, my chrome chain is a feww cms too short and I cant find spare links for it (masher half link if anyone knows where to get spares) The pedals I'm scared to change because I dont know the thread size (if anyone does I'm all ears ) Same for the crank, I doubt its a normal size. Even the handlebars arent a normal diameter and took a lot of swearing, washing up liquid and a big block of wood to get the grips on.

This is how it now stands until I get around the crank/pedals problem.

I use it every day, the one gear isnt that usefull for where I live and the stamp brake is soon to come off (its useless) but besides that its great. And it was all non destructive so I can return it to standard one day. I live in switzerland and have never seen a customized army bike, maybe there is a law against it :lol:

 

[Uncle Stretch]

Re: 1940?? swiss army bike

Turned Out really nice. Its hard to beat yellow as a color. Its a shame being a Swiss Army Bike it dosent have some extra things that pop out like the knife. :lol: :lol:

 

[Gold Street Customs]

Re: 1940?? swiss army bike

Now all you need is one of these (with a bike rack)[img]http://i401.photobucket.com/albums/pp99/eksmith38/Mesa Verde/IMG_6250.jpg[/img]

 

[Nickname]

Re: 1940?? swiss army bike

well i would have left it an army bike - but you have to like it :wink:

...and next time you can order your parts here: http://www.abteilung-cruiser.ch/shop/ :wink:

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

Re: 1940?? swiss army bike

that came out alright

 

[XSk8Str8X]

Re: 1940?? swiss army bike

I think the bike looks awesome, good job!

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: 1940?? swiss army bike

I agree with nickname, it was worth more in its previous condition, it's very hard to find a world war II era military bike.

 

[ElChupacabra]

Re: 1940?? swiss army bike

I respect all builds for what they are and as long as you got what you wanted out of it then youre a winner. BUT... That bike looked flawless the way you found it. I would kill to find something like that. In the end all that matters is if you like it!

 

[SteveCH]

Re: 1940?? swiss army bike

nothing I did is unreversable, I kept the original parts so can convert it back. I have doubts about it being a 1940 anyway, as people said ww2 ones are hard to find, especially for what I paid for it

 

[SteveCH]

Update on my bike. got sick of the yellow (is that a post office bike?) soon got boring. Stripped back down and stuck back up the tree. reprimed and painted blue. The blue is attracting more attention which is worrying, bike theft seems to be everyones hobby around my way.
Still havent changed the pedals or crank, I've tried but the shop I went to said the swiss army bikes are better quality than the parts they sell so stick with the originals, there's honesty for you. :lol: Moved the cuff lock, it was killing the paint where it originally was.
My original dynamo light was dead so I fixed up the lamp as a dummy where the stamp brake used to be, some hairy moments now with only a coaster to stop :shock:
Still using it every day in the summer so even if I "destroyed" an army bike it gets more use than it was chained up outside the antique shop.
Just wish I could get something like half the bikes I see here out of this, some awesome bikes around this forum, always lurking, never posting

 

[deorman]

Can't say I'd relish carrying all those extra spokes up a mountainside, but it sure is a beauty. I can definitely see why some dirty rotten booger would want to steal it.