A little Super Tanker inspiration goes a long way. PAINT 6/7

[briancustoms]

Re: A little Super Tanker inspiration goes a long way. Updt 5/26

inspiring! very nice work...

got a Q for you tho... is that the stock stingray fork?
if it is, is the height adjustable without too much work?

thanks in advance dude.

It is the stock fork. The bottom triple tree bracket is easily adjustable with a 5mm allen wrench. On this model though, the top triple tree bracket actually caps off the fork tubes and bolts to the top of each tube. I moved the tubes up on the bottom bracket until the tire was almost rubbing it and then measured how much I needed to cut off of the top of the fork tubes. The top triple tree bracket has "cups" for the fork tubes to sit in, so I made sure the tubes were well in the cups and tightened the top bracket into the steer tube as tight as I could so they wouldn't pop out.

 

[bombshelterbikes]

Re: A little Super Tanker inspiration goes a long way. Updt 5/26

Really diggin' it! I love the frame curves around the seat area and underneath....it all works great in a unique way! I have to say, if you are going for a raw seat (aka bruiser style) what about using a seatpan from a motorbike? They are way bigger and might suit the bike (and rider ) even more!

 

[briancustoms]

Re: A little Super Tanker inspiration goes a long way. Updt 5/26

That's a thought, but I had the bicycle seat laying around from my straightbar so I used it. I actually think a wider seatpan would look out of place on the frame, this one barely sticks out wider than the tire, so it doesn't look awkward in relation to the frame. I rode it as is to the local bike shop today (about 4 miles round trip), and didn't have any problems or discomforts with the seat, and half of the ride is on a gravel path. I originally went to the shop to get a new adjuster nut and tube for the brake lever and decided to pick up a set of low-rise handlebars to fix the only gripe I had about the ride quality.

 

[briancustoms]

Re: A little Super Tanker inspiration goes a long way. Updt 5/26

New handlebars:

Mapping out gussets:

 

[briancustoms]

Re: A little Super Tanker inspiration goes a long way. Updt 5/26

I made my gussets thursday after work and installed them last night, along with hiding the brake cable through the frame.

Gussets:

"Spot-welded" in place:

Full view:

At this point the bike is pretty much finished. I cleaned up most of the welds and whatnot last night before doing the gussets, and can't really think of anything else to do to it. I'm about to take it for a good test ride today to make sure there aren't any problems. Next week will probably be stripping the frame and painting it all up. I'm going through the process of buying a new house right now, so we'll see how much time I have free next week, hopefully the bike will get finished by next weekend.

And as ugly as these bikes are in original form, they are pretty addicting as far as the looks you can create with the existing parts they come with, so I ended up picking up another one the other day. :mrgreen:

 

[bombshelterbikes]

Re: A little Super Tanker inspiration goes a long way. Updt 5/26

Love it! A sweet build from head to toe. Good luck with your new house!

 

[ohchusan]

Re: A little Super Tanker inspiration goes a long way. UPDT 5/31

:shock: :shock: really nice work dude...thanks for the info on them forks.

i like the spot weld/gusset look....i think they've become a briancustoms signature ...

i myself dig speed holes in the stuff i build but yours are at another level, they have that raw, no nonsense look to it! very cool! and them spot welds! oh, my bad, i said that already! haha

 

[briancustoms]

Re: A little Super Tanker inspiration goes a long way. UPDT 5/31

Well, I finally pried myself off of riding Bruiser long enough to get it painted. :lol: I probably put 15 miles of riding on it during the build of it.

Stripped down and ready for paint:

And the finished product:

The black is a hologram flake:

Along with the next project on the list, and also a sort of before and after picture:

 

[aka_locojoe]

Wow!

 

[Chainsaw]

Great Bike! Looks fast just sitting still.

 

[hewey]

Looks great! Shows the potential of the parts of such an ugly stocker. Nice work

 

[briancustoms]

Thanks guys! Here's a couple pictures taken in better lighting:

 

[scooter]

I had two of those bikes and put the rear tire and wheel on the front with differnt front forks.
It looked cool like an "exile" motorcycle. Had 4.25 x 20 tires front and rear!
Could not ride it because the pedals hit the ground! So I used the pedals for a kickstand.
scooter

 

[ratdaddy]

do you have a riding pic to get an idea of body position and how you look on the bike. Or, if you would rather, have your significant other model a riding pic :lol:

 

[briancustoms]

do you have a riding pic to get an idea of body position and how you look on the bike. Or, if you would rather, have your significant other model a riding pic :lol:

If you ask me, I look pretty darn good on just about anything. :roll: :mrgreen:

Here's a sitting on it pic since I didn't have anyone to take a picture of me riding:

 

[TheFlyingDingo]

Looks kind of diffucult to ride...
but its definatly one of my favorites

 

[briancustoms]

Looks kind of diffucult to ride...
but its definatly one of my favorites

Thanks. It's really not difficult to ride at all. I rode 7 laps around one of the Twin Cities' lakes last night, stopping to stretch every two laps or so. In total that was a 20.93 mile ride according to one of the mileage information signs around the lake. I didn't feel any worse than if I did the ride on a mountain bike, actually better since my seating position keeps my pressure point off of the saddle so my groin doesn't go numb.

 

[sensor]

actually it looks pretty comfy seat height and bar position are are relatively close would be about the same as riding a normal bike with cruiser bars(upright.......that is :shock: )
really like this one

 

[Dman]

Brian, this thing is gorgeous - probably the nicest bike I've seen here so far. Low is cool, and one of my biggest gripes is that a lot of people think the lowest part of a bike has to be the crank/bottom bracket. It's so cool to see some left of field thinking! Nothing like grinding that bottom tube over speed-humps!

 

[kingpin]

awesome man.
nice beard too! lol