Trek Cruiser "JB Wild"

[gcrank1]

Just bite the bullet and get one, Im sure there are a few other nice tools you would like to have which will help maximize your shipping cost, if you order, though Amazon has free shipping on a number of their items. The right tools make life so much easier and quicker. Short that, go down to your LBS and ask if they will just pop the crank arms off for you.

[Green P1]

Rain has halted my progress with paint so I decided to throw the wheels back on her just to see if I could work up some ideas.

It worked in that I decided to trim off about half the rear fender...

Also came up with the headlight for this build in my dad's old lantern that I cant find a battery for. Not sure how I'll mount it yet but that will probably have to wait until I get the Monarch style springer I have planned for this thing.


Questions:
I'm going to flat black this bike. Do people usually spray clear over their flat black paint or just leave it be? I've seen the flat and satin clear but never tried them out over flat black. With my murdered out Raleigh road bike I just spray on more black when I find a scratch... but I'd like this build to be a little too nice for that method. It'd be nice to add a little durability to the finish.

[gcrank1]

Cool light, Im keeping my eyes open for one too.
I like the ease of touch up on flat black, its gonna get scratched somewhere, dont make it hard on yourself to tune it back up!

[Green P1]

Got a little more work done today, but the nasty humidity continues to prevent me from painting...

Chain guard to match the original on my early 50's Huffy Convertible I'm restoring arrived this week. (Big thanks to member abc services who is a pleasure to deal with.)


Took a little cuttin and riggin to get it to fit and look right on the Trek. Ended up cutting about two inches off the end of the guard and flipping the original bracket that went around the axle backwards. It now attaches to the frame at the fender brace hole.




Here's a picture mounted with along with the new bobbed fender. This thing is really starting to grow on me....



And here a picture of Big and Little brother side by side. (The little guy has a tank and bobbed style rear fender awaiting paint to add to the similarity)



I'd love a shiny brass RadRodBikes head badge to tie them together even more but my budget's not going to allow for such opulence any time soon....

[MplsCoaster]

Like the way you mounted the chain guard. Installed it gives a stylish look.
The 20" looks really great too! Can't wait to see it loaded.

[Green P1]

Like the way you mounted the chain guard. Installed it gives a stylish look.
The 20" looks really great too! Can't wait to see it loaded.

Thanks for the feedback. The little guy is actually a 16". It's the first bike I ever stayed up on without training wheels(though my initial ride did end with me riding it directly into the side if my grandfather's barn at full speed.)

Trying to come up with a name for this build. With the mixture of Huffy and Trek I'm thinking along the lines of "The Truffy."

[CHAMPION123]

I haven't check this build for awhile and it looks like you are having fun. The JB. welded tank insert is awesome. A painted "lay back" or bent type seat post might give you more room. After looking at your Trek, I think I need another to "modify". Thanks for posting. Gary

[aka_locojoe]

Nice work. That's got to be one of the coolest chainguards.

[Green P1]

Broke down and bought the puller tool to remove the cranks from Amazon.com only to realize I now need the special tool to open up the bottom bracket... DUH!! Got everything primed and the fake tank painted up today.



Hopefully I'll be able to get it taped off and flat blacked out before the end of the week. I've decided to scrap the idea of a springer for this build because it already rides so light and smooth. I'll be looking instead for a pair of truss rods.

On a side note... I've noticed over and over people changing the names of their threads as they go. How do you get that done? I can't seem to figure that one out.

[gcrank1]

Go to your first post and click on the 'Edit' (upper right hand corner of the post window); you should be able to edit your post as well as the topic name. Dont forget to click on Submit when done, as in a regular post.

[Green P1]

Go to your first post and click on the 'Edit' (upper right hand corner of the post window); you should be able to edit your post as well as the topic name. Dont forget to click on Submit when done, as in a regular post.

Thanks.... seems so obvious now. No real progress to speak of, but I do have a couple leads a set of truss rods for it.

[MplsCoaster]

Looking forward to see what you get done next. Truss rods should "class" up this chassis.

[gcrank1]

You can mock some up cheap with steel brake line from you local auto parts store.

[Green P1]

Got tired of waiting so I sprayed the flat black today after work. I used the green tape to avoid lifting and it worked really well.... but now I've got the ugly tape residue all over the gloss cleared fake tank.... I can't actually tell if its tape residue or if the tape screwed up the clear... but its kinda infuriating...



Any ideas of what to try to clean it up with? Tried a little simple green and windex with no results.

[Green P1]

Got the fake tank cleaned of tape residue with some rubbing compound and a little elbow grease. My truss rods are on the way and I still need to get the bottom bracket out and re-greased... But I couldn't resist the urge to put her together.



Decided to spray the sprocket silver instead of the boring black. Can't decide what kind of pedals I want to go with yet.