Banana seat cruiser kid's bike that used to be a Schwinn.

[509clunk]

wow! it looks very good!

[Peatbog]

Thanks.

I received the tail light and I figured I could either find a battery powered light that fits in there, and rig it up somehow, and poke a hole in the chrome housing and put a switch in there, or I could just yank all the stuff in the light out, find a reflector that fits in the housing, and put it in there. Yep, that's the ticket.



The original lens for the tail light isn't in the picture. I'm going to make that reflector fit in there. I also have to make a mount for it because the one that came with the tail light does not fit the curve of the fender. This new fancy reflector housing will replace this:

[Peatbog]

The pedals showed up, so on they went:



Also, I had to file a couple of grooves in the reflector which replaces the light lens so it would fit in the new reflector housing:



It reflects! That is always a good thing for a reflector to do:



There was some cutting and grinding of several other parts to get everything the way it needed to be. I also decided to keep the mount that came with the light, but I had to mulipulate it a bit because it was made to fit a flat surface. A piece of wood, a vice, and a hammer fixed it right up to fit the curve just right. So now I have this:



...instead of this:



I'll get some better pictures when the sun is out. All I am waiting for now are the hub shiners.



There is a curved piece of 1/8" think aluminum about an inch square under the fender to spread out the load of the nut on the bottom that holds everything together.

[Peatbog]

I received the hub shiners and put them on. Then I took them off. I have to find a piece of leather and make my own straps. Apparently, this is another thing that no one who actually rides a bike designed. The strap is too narrow--quite a bit narrower than the "jewel." So as the strap slides back and forth on the hub, the jewel doinks on the spokes. I will make some straps that are wider at the top so the jewel can't slide over and make doinking noises because of banging against the spoke. No one wants to ride a bike that goes doink, doink, silence, doink, doink, doink, doink, silence, doink, silence, doink, doink...

[MplsCoaster]

You've got a lot of nice detailing going on! Fine looking bike.

No one wants to ride a bike that goes doink, doink, silence, doink, doink, doink, doink, silence, doink, silence, doink, doink...

I couldn't have said it any better

[Peatbog]

Thanks!

So I cut the straps on the hub shiners shorter so they wouldn't bang the spokes as much, but then I couldn't get them on because I couldn't get my fingers in amongst all those spokes to hold the stuff together and tighten the nut on the back. So the hub shiners are out.

However, I did find another problem--unused holes in the sissy bar:



Some button head cap screws, a few washers, and several acorn nuts and that was taken care of:



So this bike is done! Here is one picture. I will get more posted in a little while. I did find it impossible to photograph the metallic in the paint, especially in the red, so you just have to imagine it:

[MplsCoaster]

That is one stylin' bike! Exceptional paint job and off-the-charts wheel nuts!

[Peatbog]

While I work on finished bike pictures, here is the progression of the build in pictures:










The moral of the story is this: Never, ever throw away old parts for any reason, ever, because you'll need them some day to build something.

[Peatbog]

A couple of more pictures and then this tale is done. Other than my inability to capture the sparkly metallic in the paint, this is pretty much all she wrote:









A few new parts, a whole bunch of old parts, and some paint.







Thanks for watching!

[kingfish254]

This has been a great build to follow. I have especially enjoyed your daughters graphic build diary. One big unaswered question though,,,,,,,What does she think of her new-old bike????!!!!

This bike looks spectacular to me!!!!!

BRAVO!!!!

[jaysmo]

wow awesome tranformation... i love the rear light design also.....

[spectratone]

This has been a great build to follow. I have especially enjoyed your daughters graphic build diary. One big unaswered question though,,,,,,,What does she think of her new-old bike????!!!!

This bike looks spectacular to me!!!!!

BRAVO!!!!

What he said... Happy kid picture or it didn't happen!

[Peatbog]

Man, you guys are tough! I'll have to get a picture and get it posted...

[kingfish254]

You should post her build diary graphics in sequence too.

[Peatbog]