Sand Rover DONE! (finished pics pg 7, sand video pg 10)

[yoothgeye]

Very cool project, and making good use of those OCC choppers (aint making fun of 'em-- I keep walking past an old GIANT 'Dub' 20" chopper at my LBS, keep threatening to buy it-- it's got the fat tires front & rear ) If you have problems with the seat locale, with your tools and skills, why not just add another/new seat post back closer to the rear wheel? Can't wait to see it together. Oh, and PLEASE don't paint it! It looks sooooooo cool with all the different paint jobs on it

Thanks, but I will be painting it, as cool as it is to have the OCC stuff and the GT stuff, the Roadmaster stuff throws it off for me. haha

OK, time for an UPDATE!!!!!

Cody and I went for a night trail ride again tonight, afterwards we came back to the shop and got back to work on the Sand Rover. First order of business, finish welding the BB bearing cups together and mounting them:

Done.

Looks really good this way.


Now, slide in the OCC BB (with a dead blow hammer):

Perfect!

Now before I welded the bottom bracket in place, I had to throw on a chain so adjust chain line:


Oh man does this thing look good!


So again, before I weld the BB, I gotta take it for a ride now!

Man, my 200lb self makes the bike look little!

It rides great, because of the roundness of the tire, it goes straight well, but pulls when steering as the tire gets shorter on the sidewall, not a handling problem per-se just something you realize and go "Oh, okay." I haven't ridden it fast or hard yet because I am still welding in the rear support beam (can be seen in riding photo) and I have to add a couple links to the chain to set the wheel back a little so the brake pads will reach the wheel, there is definitely not enough adjustment in those brakes.

I'm happy... real happy.

Here's a couple extra photos (nearly duplicates):

[kingfish254]

That thing is a chunky work of art!!!!!
That should be a production bike!!!!
How is the gearing?
I love the way the BB turned out. The reverse cups give it a nice finshed look.
What do you plan to mount on the roadmaster water bottle holder screws?

We need to see another front and rear view to appreciate the fatness of those tires!! A front or rear riding pic would be cool too. I can't get over how well you nailed the scale of this bike to the tires!! Bravo!

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

pure awesomeness.

[Green P1]

I love this bike. Looks like it could/should have come from the factory just like that.

[feuerdog]

Ha! Cool.

If you look at the picture the right way, it looks like a normal bmx with a small man riding it.

[jaysmo]

wow clean and yupp looks og original... take a pic doing a bunny hop.. naw but you should glide right through the sand nice....

[yoothgeye]

That thing is a chunky work of art!!!!!
That should be a production bike!!!!
How is the gearing?
I love the way the BB turned out. The reverse cups give it a nice finshed look.
What do you plan to mount on the roadmaster water bottle holder screws?

We need to see another front and rear view to appreciate the fatness of those tires!! A front or rear riding pic would be cool too. I can't get over how well you nailed the scale of this bike to the tires!! Bravo!

Thanks, the gearing is easy, I thought it would be too low, but actually the verdict is still out, without final welding I didn't push it too hard, plus we had just gotten back from a 13 mile night mountain bike ride, and it was about 2 in the morning, so we were beat. Cody took off across the yard and did manage to spin the rear wheel. It is definitely not too low, I was thinking I might be able to go lower, but I hope I don't need to. As for the bottle holder, still up in the air, I have a bottle opener and I held it up to the screws and it looks like it will fit, but a sideways bottle opener might spill your glass bottle soda, so not completely sure yet, thinking about my little air pump. More photos will come.

pure awesomeness.

Thanks.

I love this bike. Looks like it could/should have come from the factory just like that.

I agree, but imagine the price tag they'd put on it.

Ha! Cool.

If you look at the picture the right way, it looks like a normal bmx with a small man riding it.

I wish I always looked like a small man. haha

wow clean and yupp looks og original... take a pic doing a bunny hop.. naw but you should glide right through the sand nice....

Once everything has final welding (I am reinforcing the fork) I will try to get a bunny hop photo, it's not as heavy as you'd think, with the rear extended it is a little back heavy, which should be nice in the sand as you wanna get the front end up to keep from plowing.

[SCHWINNRAY69]

Very, VERY, COOL

[kingfish254]

I can't stop returning to this thread and checking Sand Rover out.
I like the idea of a bottle opener, but most beaches don't allow bottles, but it would still look cool.
You could use the S's in the wheels to spell Sand Rover.

[yoothgeye]

You could use the S's in the wheels to spell Sand Rover.

Cody pointed this out, he suggested blacking out the "ting" and "ay" parts then I would have the "S" and "R" to turn into Sand Rover.

[erichitscar]

too cool man! looks awesome! what are your color ideas?

[yoothgeye]

too cool man! looks awesome! what are your color ideas?

Subdued, let the mechanics of the bike stand out beyond a bright paint job. Just looking through my stash:


See those 2 taller tan caps in between the equipment yellow? I'll be using that, it's sand colored! If I drop it on the beach I might lose it. That is a high temperature heavy duty engine enamel, it goes on well, very glossy, and was on clearance at Ollies for 25 cents a can.

Then decals something like this:

[cman]

This is looking sweet. I am digging the decal mockup too.

One of those Moss greens would work with your Rover theme

[yoothgeye]

This is looking sweet. I am digging the decal mockup too.

One of those Moss greens would work with your Rover theme

Yeah, that was the color I put on the wheels of my build-off bike. I am going to leave these wheels alone though, besides packing the bearings.

[yoothgeye]

If you didn't notice from the photos, my knees do come up higher on this bike than on my road or MTBs, but that is normal for a BMX frame for me (I'm 5' 10"), but it is comfy and Cody at over 6' tall tried it without problem. Here's something to look back at the photos and notice, the center ground clearance of the bottom bracket is at about 16", when I sit on the seat and put my feet on the ground my feet can just barely hit the ground flat footed (32" inseam). This is not a kid's toy with oversized tires, this is a BIG kids toy with oversized tires! haha