The Desert Stormer; Test Ride Report!

[2WheelFlyer]

PART 1, The Idea:

Hello folks, I’m a bit late but here to stay until the end. My project was born out of necessity but also to create a functional and visual exercise. I mentioned after last year’s contest (where I entered “Lady Luck”) that I wanted a diamond frame buildup. I need something to pull my baby’s trailer since both my roadbike and my full suspension rig are clipless equipped; and something my wife can use since she doesn’t have a bike now. My old cruiser buildup is too heavy and with just one gear to pull the trailer (and the park close by has some steep hilly areas).

I love military machines and always wanted a military looking bike. However to me a military bike is not an olive green burrito with a white star; but something that actually looks to have been developed and used by the military.

And last but probably more important, I’m developing a “bike and hike” concept. There are countless beautiful places here in AZ to hike but sometimes the trailheads are a long walk away. I hate to waste time and do long walks just to get to the real trail (since I’m used to more speed with my mountain bike) so my solution is to ride a bike as far as it can go, then drop it and leave it in the desert; chained to a cactus, tree or something, camouflage it a bit and go hiking and camping. The idea of leaving my $1K+ full suspension all-mountain rig behind and come back and find it gone because some *expletive deleted* took off with it is a no-no; so I need a cheap bike to do it. This bike won’t be a show-off, it will be pretty in its own Humvee-like purposeful look but it has to be fully functional and durable so I’m not stranded with it in the middle of nowhere. So mix all this together and the result will be the Desert Stormer; a military looking, utilitarian beast.

I’m inspired by bikes like the Fahrrad 93 used for years by the Swiss military bike division, quite pricey to get in the US (only 7 speeds and heavy, like 60 lb.):

The Montague Paratrooper is too expensive for my project (around $500) and I don’t care about a folding bike (online reviews say the ride is not that good). There would not be much to do to it anyway.

A couple months back I went to a military vehicle show held at the Mesa Air Museum, there was some inspiration to be found there:

A picture of a militarized Kawasaki KLR, there was also a beige version for desert environments:

I spent days checking ads on Craigslist, visiting pawn shops (just overpriced stuff) and swap meets to find a bike.

 

[Sinner4]

Re: The Desert Stormer

Don't check ads on C/L.
Post a wanted ad for bikes on there last legs, the ones they are about to toss out.
I've got a bunch that way. Now I have too many bikes.

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer

You're right Sinner, people on CL just check the (overpriced) prices on other people's bikes and bump theirs up accordingly. Also I e-mailed several sellers and never got a response, and when I called some that listed their phone numbers they never answered... why list something if you don't want to sell it? or if you sold it why keep the ad up?

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer

PART 2: The Bike

So here is what I started with, and old and ratty Specialized Rockhopper I got for $35 at a local swap meet. I’m trying to find out the year the bike was made I guess ’85-’90 (not far from the Desert Storm era so it will look like a credible project!)

The good: the tough Cro-Mo frame is intact and without rust (has probably lived in AZ all its life), the baked on paint has some scratches but is in very good condition to serve as a primer after sanding. It is a rigid bike with no suspension to worry about or add weight. It has a pair of brand new and good quality WTB Velociraptor 2.1” tires, those alone sell for $40.

The bad: needs new grips, tubes, cables, chain, seat and rebuild the outdated mechanicals like the rear Exage400LX derailleur (it also has Shimano biopace chainrings and integrated shifter and brakes! Talk about old school!) but hopefully it will work OK after cleaning, lube and adjustment.

 

[XC204]

Re: The Desert Stormer

Welcome to the world of RockHopper mods !
Grandpa Rockhopper

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer

Yeah I see it's like the 3rd. Rockhopper being built this year; and the second with a military theme. These diamond frames are super tough so no doubt that is why there are so many still around.

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer

PART 3: The Buildup Starts

These are the wheels after they were masked, shot with Adhesion Promoter, and khaki paint. At first I was trying to find a bike with disk brakes for improved braking (with the extra gear weight I’ll carry) and so I could paint the whole rim, but I had to settle for the canti brakes. The contact area in the rim will stay in natural metal color so I sanded it for better pad grip and to remove streaks. The khaki wheels certainly look different and more interesting from the usual stainless, chrome or black on most bikes.

Here is the frame already painted. I used Rustoleum khaki Camo paint; these guys are not kidding when they say it has an ultra flat finish, automatically gives it a military appearance, but probably is not that durable so it will probably need occasional touch ups. I’m still deciding if I should match the camo scheme on my MOLLE II military gear I’m putting together for camping, which is 3 color desert. Traditional green camo is not the way to go here in the AZ desert, it would make the bike stand out. I’m blacking out all the hardware pieces so there won’t be anything shiny on it. I also plan on covering the bike with a camo net when I leave it behind and go hiking.

The front end already assembled. I cleaned and lubed the headset bearings; cleaned and detail painted the controls and put everything back together with new grips and bar ends. I chose the cushy ergonomic grips because this thing has no suspension and I guess it will pass a lot of vibration to the handlebar, I'll have to get used to riding it since I'm used to a dual suspension bike. Of course I won't attack trails at the same speed as with the other bike.
I left the old cables attached for length reference; I got new cables and new cable housing as well as ferrules and rubber insulators for the cables so they won’t rub on the frame. Last year I built my entry in a 5th. floor balcony in FL and this year things are not different... now its a 2nd. floor in AZ. Darn I hope I'll have a garage soon so I can have more room for power tools, I'm very limited here (and have 3 more bikes in the balcony already). I even had to paint the frame and handlebar out in the open in a parking lot so the neighbors would not complain about the fumes. At least this balcony has shade, last year I was working under the sun or at night with bad lighting.

A shot of the cantilever brakes after disassembly, cleaning and detail painting.

More new parts!! Here is the chain, rim strips, tubes, cables and housing. I don’t want to ride in the desert with an old chain; I once managed to rip the chain off my MTB after a 9 mile trail ride in South Mountain Park (the biggest city park in the US). I had to find a shortcut to the streets and pushed the bike 5 miles before I found a bike shop to get a master link; since pushing the bike back 9 miles back through the desert trail would not have been the most intelligent choice. Now if it happens with this bike, I’m going to be farther from anything and probably carrying 35 to 45 pounds of gear (I’ll carry a chain breaker and master link just in case).

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer

A productive day, I assembled the wheels, tubes, tires, fitted them to the bike with new Forte black skewers to replace the horrible old school chromed stock ones. Adjusted the brake pad position and ran new brake cables.

A before and after pic of the grungy casette and old chain; and the casette all cleaned up. There is very little wear on the teeth so no need to replace it.

I cleaned out the rear derailleur with solvent and then lubed it with Finish Line Dry Teflon lubricant. I won’t paint this part due to the wear it gets and I think nothing will stick to it after the lubing I gave it. I installed new pulley wheels on it too. I cut to length the new Sram chain and removed the sticky factory cosmoline grease (I’ll lube it later with the dry Teflon); installed it in the bike with a master link… looking sweet!

I’ll keep the old seatpost which has a weird diameter, but I’ll use the WTB seat that came stock on my other MTB, since I put a nicer seat on that one. I cleaned all the pieces and put it together, I ordered a black pinch bolt to replace the ugly chromed one.

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer

I installed the cables for the derailleurs; started fiddling with the front one and got it adjusted and shifting clean. Then I started with the rear one and disaster struck…!! the shifter is kinda jammed and not working properly (I could never test ride the bike; the rear tube was flat so just bought it on the spot, and always knew a full disassembly and adjustment was coming). This means I would have to replace both shifters, both brakes levers suitable for the cantilever brakes (that are integrated) and the old indexed derailleurs! ....! Not to mention removing the new grips that were a pain to install and the bar ends… all of sudden the $35 bike became a lot more expensive…

But…I was lucky to find one identical right side shifter for sale on Ebay, (and the bottom part where the mechanism goes removes with a screw from the upper bar mount so I don’t have to remove the whole thing from the handlebar) but the auction was still at $5.00 and ending while I was at work so I just bid high, left it there and hoped for the best… and nope, someone else got it! Dammit!

So… I started investigating online if any shifters were compatible with my old Shimano Exage 400LX derailleur; and found comments that there was no use in disassembling the shifters but just lubing would free them in most cases. So I gave it a try and shot it with lots of WD-40 in an empty cereal can and that worked! I got the indexing mechanism to ratchet properly, I’m saved; lucky thing I didn’t buy the one on Ebay! (sorry to the guy who bought it, I bumped the price up like $18) I’m back in the game with everything working properly so I adjusted the rear derailleur. Now if I could only find the platform pedals I stashed somewhere…

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer

I always had in mind installing fenders on the bike, it completes the look and reminds me of old military bikes like prewar Harleys and Indians (and keeps the gear less dusty). I checked several options and settled on the looks of Planet Bike’s ATB full fenders. To balance the look in the front and to carry more stuff I got a front rack (a suspension fork bike would have made this impossible). The front and rear racks are from different sources but by coincidence the aluminum extrusion centers have exactly the same ribbing, they make a perfect match. After making sure everything fits; I used the khaki paint to integrate everything together; I’m on my third can so far and this is how the bike looks:

A nice rear rack I got for $8 at a hole in the wall used bikes and parts place. I sanded and painted it; it’s nice how the monochromatic finish integrates the look of the bike. I installed the rack close to the rear fender so I have room for a tail bag under the seat.

it's kinda starting to look like the fahrrad 93 bike...

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer, coming together! fenders and racks!

Brake Issues...

I found out after a rolling test (I need to find those pedals!) that the brake pads are not as good as they seemed… the compound is hard and glazed and now I need to change all four; back to loosening the brakes, swapping them and readjust everything again! Here is a comparison pic of the old Shimano pads vs. the new Jagwire units; they have a grippier compound and bigger contact area for drama less (I hope) downhill riding.

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer, coming together! fenders and racks!

I'm getting worried, some of you guys are already done with your bikes!! I decided I was going to spend time this weekend in making the buildup move forward; I got the paniers installed yesterday (Sat).

I got some perforated flat steel at Home Depot to hang my pannier boxes from the rear rack. I chose this over the smooth bar to give it a more interesting and military look; and more stability because it is wider than a thinner flat bar yet weight s the same due to the holes. Yes, you guessed it; the pannier boxes will be some surplus ammo boxes. I installed the rear rack first to estimate the correct proportion size to give it the proper look so they won’t be too big or small. I’m leaning towards .50 cal boxes for their size. I bent the metal by clamping it with the square frame of my kid’s bike trailer.

Now I have the .50 cal boxes to test the position on the bike; I got them from a local military surplus place. I’ll remove the handles so they won’t rattle when I’m riding; the handle mounts will serve as bungee cord attachment points.

I put rubber insulators so there is no metal to metal rubbing; and some conduit clamps to stabilize the straps against the rack so the boxes won't flap and clank on the move. I installed the boxes and I’m happy with the mounting, it’s rock solid.

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer; Custom frame bag done

To approximate more the look of the Fahrrad 93 bike I had to put a frame bag. However there are only black bags in the market so I had to custom build my own to match my color scheme. I decided on getting a tire cover in 3 color desert to match the rest of my gear and I cut the elastic strap.

I made a paper pattern and cut the pieces (2 sides plus 2 long strips for the center; I’ll trim the length later). I also got a zipper and some Velcro to attach it to the frame. At first I thought about nylon strap and buckles but it would be more cumbersome and I could not find strap or buckles in tan, just black.

I started sewing one side to the center strip using my wife’s sewing machine. Then I had to stop to think about how to put the zipper on, luckily she came home and did it for me… her workmanship is better than mine with the sewing machine so I let her do the rest! this shot is the comparison between the paper pattern and the finished bag.

This is how it looks after ironing the fabric and mounting it on the bike. Pretty neat actually, and I also got started on the lettering on the frame, still have the other side to do and more details.

Left side, flat

Right side, zipper opening:

 

[Markm]

Re: The Desert Stormer; Custom frame bag done

Right On!!! 8) 8) 8)

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer; Custom headlight installed!

Let there be light!

To make the bike more functional at anytime of the day and follow the looks of the military bikes I’m adding a headlight. I was trying to find a light to mount under the rack on the left side like the Fahrrad 93 bike but I couldn’t find anything suitable and most light at a bike store are in the $24 range. The reason for this position is to provide room for stuff on top of the front rack without blocking the light and to provide some crash protection to the light.

I remembered I had a hiking headlight that I got for $6; it actually has a pretty powerful beam. I have hiked a couple trails at South Mountain Park in near complete darkness and this headlight gave me exceptional lighting, no need to waste $25-35 on “brand” lights. I tried it and it seemed that I can mount it centered under the rack; so I disassembled it and prepped it for paint by degreasing, shooting adhesion promoter and the khaki paint.

The light certainly looks completely different to any other LED lights that are tube type and handlebar mounted. Here is my “militarized” version:

A hole drilled in the center of the base will let me attach it to the bike with a bolt and nut, making it more difficult to steal. I siliconed the rubber bezel because it came off a bit easy, I don’t want to lose it. I will also put some silicone in the swiveling mechanism to lock it in one position. In the picture it looks close to the tire but there is adequate clearance.

Mil-spec vehicles always have some kind of rear reflectors or small taillights for safety when driving in convoys so I decided to install one. I recycled the original rear reflector (just polished it with Meguiar’s plastic polish, it looks new!) found a base and attached it under the rack.

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer; MOLLE gear added

Adding some extra carrying capacity:

Here is part of my Specialty Defense Systems' Molle II (MOdular Lightweight Load-carrying Equipment) gear I’m putting together for camping, I’ll integrate the color scheme with more accessories on the bike.

US military vehicles in Desert Storm were just one color tan; the military didn’t have time or resources to camo hundreds of vehicles from green to tan pattern at once; and one color was demonstrated to be better for camo in the desert due to the variance of colors depending on the area and changing sunlight during the day. I will integrate the 3 color desert pattern to the bike by using some Molle gear accessories instead of painting the frame tubes, it would not look real enough. Not even Army or Marines motorcycles have camo, they are just one color tan or green; guess the military reserve the painting effort for big vehicles like humvees, trucks, tanks and planes.

I already made the frame bag in that color; now a canteen pouch will serve as an underseat bag to carry bike tools, an extra tube and some flat fix patches.

I also installed two more pouches to the sides of the front rack with one liter canteens, it's vital to stay hydrated in the desert. Even when it's cold you get dehydrated because the environment is so dry. These will help supplement more water I'll carry in the backpack and the camelbak. I’m thinking of covering the seat with the left-over fabric but I think that with the wear seats get it will look ugly pretty fast.

 

[2WheelFlyer]

Re: The Desert Stormer; Military Markings!

I’m a big time military vehicle and aircraft fan so I’m trying to make the bike look as military legit as possible; so I didn’t want any fake lettering like you find on mass produced “military” bikes (Nirve, etc) sold at bikes stores. Things such as: “beware of blast”, “no step”, “danger propeller” and stuff like that is forbidden on this bike! Yellow lines and fender tips also were not on my list as most factories put it on their bikes imitating the yellow tips on propeller blades of planes and helicopters.

I incorporated “US Army” and the bike’s real serial number on the frame tubes, and added some more markings on the panniers.

Army vehicles usually have letters on the front and/or rear bumpers; the left side denotes major command/organization and intermediate organization, the right side denotes unit and vehicle number.

I decided on making the bike look as part of the 82nd. Airborne Division, since my brother has a good friend who belongs to the Special Forces of that Division and has 2 Iraq tours under his belt.

Following this idea, from the front it reads:

82/AB 82nd. Airborne Division

And the right side reads:

319F-91 319th. Field Artillery Regiment, 91st. vehicle

I also added a U.S. flag to the rear of the right side pannier box.

Sadly I haven't been able to find my alloy platform pedals so I had to recycle the original plastic ones... I'll move out of this apartment in a couple months, I'm sure I'll find them then.

I'm nearly done with the bike!! I'm happy because it's almost time for the test ride, and it won't be an easy spin around the block!

 

[FOUND OBJECTS]

Re: The Desert Stormer; Military Markings!

Very nice! This bike throws me back to the my childhood. My father was in the service and Desert Storm was one the conflicts he served during.
Very well done!
Where did you get the 2 canteen vest?

 

[Gold Street Customs]

Re: The Desert Stormer; Military Markings!

With all the bikes in this build off , I somehow missed this one But wow I really like what you have done here, very cool !!!

 

[user 135]

Re: The Desert Stormer; Military Markings!

Definately looking cool. I like all the carrying capacity