Gravel Grinder Green Motobike 1930 Tribute Bike

Shop deals on ebay
Bike Wall
BOXKARS
shop deals on amazon
Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
us56456712

us56456712

Pro Member
Joined
Sep 17, 2013
Messages
4,201
Reaction score
9,080
Location
The middle of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan
Rating - 100%
3   0   0
I liked Mazda Flyers Green gravel bike so much that it inspired me to build one like it. Mine will be unridable as it will have the steel clad wood rims with 100 year old single tube dried to tarpaper stiffness tires. I have partially disassembled it for cleaning. It was originally nickel plated but that has mostly rusted off and the black fancy fluted design with gold pin striping came off in the bath. I plan to leave the rust and coat it all in Ospho and then a coat of Penetrol. It won't be green but the concept is what counts. It will be displayed as a survivor but I'm pretty sure not much is original. It's got a Mussleman armless coaster brake, the kind that was manufactured after 1918. The front hub is New Departure so it probably wasn't Miami Cycle. It has a HP Snyder Texas star chain wheel, but that might not be original. The pedals are an unmatched set. The head badge is gone but the mounting holes are on the circumference of the head tube, like Snyder bikes so perhaps that is what is was originally. There is a flooding rain storm going on for the next 15 hours with wind gusts to 40MPH so I will take photos tomorrow.
 
Wow a tribute bike...cool stuff. With all the reused and recycled parts it will indeed be “green”. Anxious to see how it looks.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
It's still raining hard but it is going to stop this afternoon. I will then put the frame and fork outside and give it another shot of engine degreaser. The bars will be upside down, like the original bike and I will try and get the mismatched pedals off so that I can put on a very old worn out match set of rubber block pedals, like the original. You can see the single tube tires I'm going to use. It has a spring saddle, like the original. I think I have some old hemp rope and if I can find it or something that looks like natural fiber I might make a carrying strap for it.
IMG_1683.JPG
IMG_1684.JPG
IMG_1682.JPG
 
MattiThundrrr said:
A bike from us56456712 that will NOT be ridden a hundred miles uphill in the mud during a monsoon? What is this forum coming to?
Cool to see an artist taking inspiration from someone else's masterpiece. RatRod Bikes is the best!
Click to expand...

Yeah, I discovered that 74 will be too old for that stuff anymore (74 in 6 weeks). I did the half Marji Gesick a month ago, 63.5 miles (advertised as 50 miles) with 7000 feet of climb. Self supported so there are no aid stations. The 50 had a 73% DNF rate. My wife and daughter have banned me from trying this again. Only took me a little over 17 hours. I quit counting crashes after 8.
70588627_10216038660660560_4348906274147008512_n.jpg

The bump on right arm turned into this.
0-3 copy.jpeg

There was really a lot of this, like 20 miles, not including the big drops and ridiculous climbs. There was plenty of rougher ground than this. You have to do it as you can't explain how rough the trail is. Registration opened October 11 and was full in 3 minutes. I tried to register my son and son in law but it filled up before I had my password typed in and opened the site.
70358742_3075853402486401_5591804732264939520_n.jpg
68538820_3138116906260050_8365983246156038144_n.jpg
 
Last edited:
That kind of technical trail is disappearing nowadays. To me, it seems ironic that the new geo, big tire bikes can handle more, but still the trails are getting dumbed down. Bravery (or lack of common sense) is being favored over technical skills with all the big hucks and swoopy roller coaster trails.
 
MattiThundrrr said:
That kind of technical trail is disappearing nowadays. To me, it seems ironic that the new geo, big tire bikes can handle more, but still the trails are getting dumbed down. Bravery (or lack of common sense) is being favored over technical skills with all the big hucks and swoopy roller coaster trails.
Click to expand...
These trails are all hand built with sludge hammers, star drills and shovels. I think they would ban you for life if you removed a root or rock. Some people who ride these trails regularly have proposed cutting out some roots and moving some rocks but they got soundly put down by the trail crew. They do blow the leaves off. Some on the club board have proposed building some flow trails but the rest of the board over ruled them and feels there are plenty of other places to ride if you want the flow and jumps.
 
Last edited:
Dr. Tankenstein said:
All I can say is, you’re one amazing dude.
Being in my 50s, I would probably been in the DNF group! Hahahahaha!



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
The masters class is 50 years old and up. I like to think that this is why I came in last in the masters class. Ageism I say, they need a 70 to 120 year old class to make it fair, but fair or easy isn't in the organizers vocabulary. They had a check point at the top of a god awful hill that I slugged up in the rain only to find that the poker chip container had acorns and pinecones in it and a sign that said "Ha Ha go and finish now". Two years ago they had a bridge that had trees at the beginning that were too narrow for the new wider handlebars to go through. People would crash into it as they were too tired to figure out that they couldn't fit through. The guy that came up with that one was very proud of his design accomplishment. My wife says they are mean. When there is a bad or dangerous spot ahead there isn't a "caution" sign, but a sign that says "Blame Danny" or "Blame Todd". These guys put this race together. Someone I know took down a "Blame Todd" sign and put it on their toilet seat. When my wife complains about something I did wrong I just say "Blame Todd or Danny, not me".
 
Racing Masters is tough. I'm racing age 56 and regularly get my butt handed to me in the 55+ Masters category (cyclocross). Most of them are not masters because they are of the age, they are masters because they have been racing non-stop since they were 20, and have mastered all aspects of bicycle racing (and most are Cat 2s, I'm a Cat 4). The odd thing is, I place better when I do "open" races, age 18 and up.
 
us56456712 said:
Yeah, I discovered that 74 will be too old for that stuff anymore (74 in 6 weeks). I did the half Marji Gesick a month ago, 63.5 miles (advertised as 50 miles) with 7000 feet of climb. Self supported so there are no aid stations. The 50 had a 73% DNF rate. My wife and daughter have banned me from trying this again. Only took me a little over 17 hours. I quit counting crashes after 8.View attachment 107629
The bump on right arm turned into this.View attachment 107630
There was really a lot of this, like 20 miles, not including the big drops and ridiculous climbs. There was plenty of rougher ground than this. You have to do it as you can't explain how rough the trail is. Registration opened October 11 and was full in 3 minutes. I tried to register my son and son in law but it filled up before I had my password typed in and opened the site.View attachment 107633View attachment 107634
Click to expand...
The before and after pics tell the story of the ride well. Nice terrain you have up there.
74 last Wednesday myself.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
ifitsfreeitsforme said:
Racing Masters is tough. I'm racing age 56 and regularly get my butt handed to me in the 55+ Masters category (cyclocross). Most of them are not masters because they are of the age, they are masters because they have been racing non-stop since they were 20, and have mastered all aspects of bicycle racing (and most are Cat 2s, I'm a Cat 4). The odd thing is, I place better when I do "open" races, age 18 and up.
Click to expand...

I only tried cyclocross once. I can't do it, don't have the riding skills for those narrow tires and I'm too cheap to invest in a bunch of wheel sets and tires for the different conditions. I fall off the bike as I can't get off fast enough. My friend and I each built cyclocross bikes in the 80s. He sold me the frame and showed me what parts I needed and how to build it. The frame he sold me didn't fit him. I followed his lead. He was really into it. I sold mine in about 1997 or 8 for $15. I wish I had it still as I could make it into a gravel grinder. I would go out and practice on it but could not get the hang of it. I want to build another similar bike for gravel.
 
MattiThundrrr said:
That kind of technical trail is disappearing nowadays. To me, it seems ironic that the new geo, big tire bikes can handle more, but still the trails are getting dumbed down. Bravery (or lack of common sense) is being favored over technical skills with all the big hucks and swoopy roller coaster trails.
Click to expand...

Both kinds of trails are fun. I hope one doesn't disappear to the other. Variety is the spice of life.

I wish we had a few more flow trails locally. Most of ours are tech trails which I enjoy but it would nice to have a change up.
 
it should be finished as a display bike today. I have to put on the chain, grips and see if the tires hold air. I patched them but you can't get inside as the tires are single tube. I'll put in a lot of sealer and then try a little pressure, just enough to hold it from looking flat over time. I want to remove the guts from the armless coaster brake as I have one that doesn't work. Eventually I'll switch guts, this bike doesn't need a working coaster.
IMG_1690.JPG
 

Latest posts

Back
Top