** BILLET BULLET ** RRBBO#4

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Re: BILLET BULLIT (update: BAD CONSTRUCTION DAY - may 8th)

deorman said:
That circle W thing looks great! Perhaps some longer screws and spacers on your fender brace mount?
Click to expand...

Oh my...

'a longer screw'

:cool:

That sounds too good to be true... I'm not sure but I think it'll interfere with the quickrelease. Have to check that on the next buildsession.
 
Re: BILLET BULLIT (update: BAD CONSTRUCTION DAY - may 8th)

I can't help but follow this build!.....I love Geometry, I DID notice how your lines are running parallel (makes me smile).:D As far as "speed capable", I guess they didn't notice the HUGE chainring! This bike doesn't strike me as being SLOW! :lol: Can't wait to see it done.
 
Re: BILLET BULLIT (update: BAD CONSTRUCTION DAY - may 8th)

KOTA said:
I can't help but follow this build!.....I love Geometry, I DID notice how your lines are running parallel (makes me smile).:D As far as "speed capable", I guess they didn't notice the HUGE chainring! This bike doesn't strike me as being SLOW! :lol: Can't wait to see it done.
Click to expand...
I guess you misread or misunderstood my post. I'm saying it will be one of two that will be serious roadburners!
 
Re: BILLET BULLIT (update: BAD CONSTRUCTION DAY - may 8th)

deorman said:
KOTA said:
I can't help but follow this build!.....I love Geometry, I DID notice how your lines are running parallel (makes me smile).:D As far as "speed capable", I guess they didn't notice the HUGE chainring! This bike doesn't strike me as being SLOW! :lol: Can't wait to see it done.
Click to expand...
I guess you misread or misunderstood my post. I'm saying it will be one of two that will be serious roadburners!
Click to expand...

Ah deorman, I didn't misunderstood your post. This IS a fast bike indeed. The fastest I've ever ridden. Well it has to be with such a big chainring. And the high seat/low handlebar combo adds even more than a few mph. What you don't see on these pictures is it's weight. It's extremely light. Even with that alluminium stardestroyer mounted on the back. But to achieve these high speeds it has to be ridden on a smooth surface. On any other it's scary as heck with such a hard and small front tire.
On a fresh blacktop, it's like cutting with a hot knife through butter...

Thanks Kota! Nice to have a subscriber ;-)
 
Re: BILLET BULLIT (update: BAD CONSTRUCTION DAY - may 8th)

kram said:
I really like this build, especially all of your creative use of the aluminum. I also really like your artwork, I'm an illustrator too!
Click to expand...

Thanks kram! I've been checking your artwork yesterday evening. Looking good!

Gold Street Customs said:
The headlight reminds me of a Willy's Overland logo ( Willy's one of the most beautiful coupe's ever to grace a dragstrip) its looking really good 8)
Click to expand...

Oh my...
That's kinda funny. I've been using this 'logo' for almost 20 years now as a signature on my paintings (below left). Today it's the first time I see the Willys Overlandlogo... 8-( Funny thing is... Overhere in Holland we don't see too many Willys' on the streets (except for the militairy jeeps on special parades) or strips, or anywhere, for that matter. But if we do, it'll be the fat-tired hotrods that don't bear the logo's anymore... One of my friends (with help from his english buddies) built himself a a pro-street blown '41(?) willys tudor sedan, out of a '38 fordor sedan. I helped designing the flamejob some 10-15 years ago. (It's in the below right) That thing was awesome, so I hope to find some more pictures of it.

mix_53.jpg


...and here's me, thinking my signature's looking like a VW-logo with a missing 'V'...
 
Re: BILLET BULLIT (update: FRONTLIGHT-pics - may 11th)

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Eventually I was able to attach the 2nd light/fenderbrace to the fork. But not without DEORMAN's legendary words 'Use a longer screw and some spacers...' Therefor: Problem solved. Next problem: How to attach the frontlight to the bike in a possition that it wil light up the innercircle I had made. Spent three day's trying to come up with a sollution. Then it hit me: I remembered a box with old alloy doorhandles...

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I noticed the handle's curvature te be exactly the same as the tires'. But it wasn't just an add-on, believe me... It took me some hours to figure out how to attach the plastic ledlight-housing. This wrap-around-rubberband-method is very limited...
The doorhandle is 'chopped, channeled, and shaved'. Because of mis-alligned drillholes for the rubberband, I had to saw and grind a LOT of alloy to make it less crooked... And now it looks almost perfectly straight. Lightsource almost in the center of the circle. Happy about that. The piece looks like a genuine piece of billet! ;-)

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As you can see: I ditched the frontbrake.

I saw the light...
 
Re: BILLET BULLIT (doorhandle BEFORE/AFTER - may 12th)

I must admit, the bike frame still hasn't won me over but slowly all the billet mods are starting to. The bike name Avanti had a namesake car in the 60s by Studebaker, the recessed hoop headlight kind of reminded me of the headlights on Avanti car in the use of the hoop

interiors12.gif
 
Re: BILLET BULLIT (doorhandle BEFORE/AFTER - may 12th)

Nice work on all the fabrication. I like the bare aluminum look and the materials are easy to work with.
 
Re: BILLET BULLIT (doorhandle BEFORE/AFTER - may 12th)

Hah!
Studebaker Avanti... Didn't notice the resemblance when I googled for 'avanti'... But you're absolutely right. I kinda like the Stude after seeing the stylisch Sci-fi 'Gataca', with it's creative artdirection. (using objects from our past to create a futuristic environment. The studebaker for instance...)

My bike came factory fitted with a lot of aluminum parts. Aluminum is great to work with, ...for me. I'm not a bikebuilder or fabricator, and definately not a metalman. I've never welded anything and I am very limited tools wise... I find it not 'easy', but the easiest of all regular metals to work with. I like it when I find comonly used houshold objects that I can turn into stuff and use it in a totaly different way. Like the doorhandles, or other stuff that is readily available at your local hardwarestore. I like it that you can pollish it to an almost mirror, chromelike finnish, or leave it raw and brushed. You can make it look smooth cast, or raw machined. It's very light, and best of all:

IT DOES NOT RUST...

;-)
 
Re: BILLET BULLIT (LAKEPIPE installed - may 13th)

mix_76.jpg


Okay well, sort of...
The initial idea was to cut my handlebars so that it had no curvature at all. I want(ed) a very short and straight bar. I looked for inspiration of on where to cut the bar exactly on sites dedicated to the fixed gear bikes. Saw some beautifull stuff I would love to do on a cruiserstyle frame someday... But as I was browsing I noticed the cut on racinghandlebars were often 'the same'. Suddenly it came to me that the end of the bar would be an oval when not cut in a 90degree angle. I left a small bit of curvature to see what the oval-ends would look like. I think I love it! After cutting I was planning to tape the bars for some grip, but they'll need caps to close the bar-ends. I made one from ribbed alloy and it reminded me instantly of the kustom kar lakepipes, down to the end-caps, often made of cast aluminum. (the pic is just a succesful sticky-tape mock-up..)

I think I like the bars open though...

mix_75.jpg

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I can't decide wheather I want the bar pointing up to the front or pointing down behind. (ergonomical vs 'oldstyle' look)

mix_70.jpg

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The cuts:

mix_69.jpg


The problem:
I went out to get me a brakelever but can't find one... It seems that the diameter of the bar (+adapter) is kinda odd. 25mm While almost all levers I could find are for 22mm bars...
 
Re: BILLET BULLIT (LAKEPIPE installed! ;-) may 13th

pointed back with the caps on. that is wild. great job. make your own brake levers.

Outlaw
 

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