*** CARTBOARDTRACKER ***

[herr_rudolf]

^ the finished bike (and my impression of it...)

While I'm building my billet bullet for the ratrod build-off #4 BILLET BULLET (RRBBO4) my eyes tend to wander off to the other bikes I found in my parents shed... I cleaned out the shed so I could have the bikes which were bound for the city dumpster. The bike I'm talking about is a sporty Batavus. Nothing fancy, just a very dated roadbike. It's got one deraileur which makes it a 5 speed. (or 6... didn't look closely ; - ) This is how I found it (after taking off big sheets of cartboard, wood, and foampanels...

My inspiration will be this:

But I tend to wander off of my initial plans and ideas. I build piece by piece. The eventual look highly depends on the important parts I'm going to find like tires for instance... I had some issues with tire-measurements but I promise I won't be going into that anymore. These are 27" rims which are too big for 28" tires so choice is limited and expensive...

Here's the bike with the backwheel of my Billet Bullet:

I like the black tire and the black spokes so I plan to paint the wheel all black and try to find all black tires, but for now I'll go with these 'okerwalls'. Hope to lose the reflective stripe though... Because of these tires I plan to paint the frame oker also. I hope I can find a cheap can of paint so I can brush it by hand. Possibly a matt color. Some of the chrome is tarnished and may be covered with some more black. We'll see.

Uptill now I've been cleaning the bike bit by bit. Got rid of all unnecesary pieces. I dropt the hadlebars and flipped it around. The changes are evident. It's already starting to look like a cool bike now. I pollished de brakes a bit and shortened the cables, making them even which looks very neat.

By the way that's a Brooks sadle. ...Probably a very cheap one. It does it's job perfectly bit it's no comparison to the leather seat we all love so much. So I mounted the somewhat sleeker and sportier, but very 80's SelleRoyal seat that came on the Avanti, my Billet Bullet project:

But on the same day I got a real old-timey leather seat. For only 3 euro's. It's a Lepper seat (Dutch equivalent to the Leather Brooks) in a very good condition. The only thing I don't like is... It's kinda big. It would look great on a cruiser. On this build I'm not so sure but I'll leave it on for now.

Oh, and I bought new pedals but...

I guess I got what I paid for... ; - )

But here you have it: My new project.
My main goal is to have a cool bike for as little money as possible, and have some fun with it:

 

[deorman]

Looks like a pretty well built (and adult sized) frame. Love that seat, though I'd agree it isn't that well suited for that bike. Not a big fan of cottered cranks, but good ones can certainly work on a freewheel bike, and they certainly fit the board track theme. All in all, a bike worthy of some attention and use. 8) Oh,those chintzy wing nuts are hilarious! :lol: Those pedals seem suspiciously bolt-together. Do I smell some custom fabrication cooking?

 

[user 135]

Nice work. Updating older bikes can be very simple and cheap. Why is the rear axle hollow like that?

 

[Galtbacken]

I agree about the saddle. It's really very nice but I think it'll look better on another bike. Other than that, I like this build!

 

[N8NBOX]

nice....I think you should take a little matching hobby paint and change that B into an R to make it Ratavus

 

[Galtbacken]

nice....I think you should take a little matching hobby paint and change that B into an R to make it Ratavus

Absolutely!

 

[herr_rudolf]

Looks like a pretty well built (and adult sized) frame. Love that seat, though I'd agree it isn't that well suited for that bike. Not a big fan of cottered cranks, but good ones can certainly work on a freewheel bike, and they certainly fit the board track theme. All in all, a bike worthy of some attention and use. 8) Oh,those chintzy wing nuts are hilarious! :lol: Those pedals seem suspiciously bolt-together. Do I smell some custom fabrication cooking?

Batavus is a Dutch company that has build some pretty good bikes. However this isn't a high-end model. It weighs almost as much as a 'normal' bicycle, but I guess the chrome fenders and the flimsy carrier make it a 'roadbike'... The main hardware is pretty decent, but old. Old in a bad way. As you can see, the wingnut has a broken wing resulting in an embarassing moment today. As I was testdriving and adjusting this thing I wanted to overtake an older couple that didn't hear me coming. Once they've noticed me the older dude slowed down and I began speeding up. As I was in the middle of overtaking I pulled the backwheel out of possitionup against the inside chainstay... I can still hear that older dude laughing. The older woman hadn't noticed me at all...

Heheh... Custom pedals. I don't think so. Not for this bike I mean. I want to keep fabriation to a minimum and besides, I like the look of these pedals. I just have to tighten them.

Nice work. Updating older bikes can be very simple and cheap. Why is the rear axle hollow like that?

Thanks! That's how I see this 'hobby' of ours: fixing up old bikes and make em kinda cool. I'm still a beginner but I've learned so much of basic bikemechanics in the last couple of months. Oh, that isn't the rear axle that's hollow. What you see is a BIG open wingnut with a broken-off wing...

I agree about the saddle. It's really very nice but I think it'll look better on another bike. Other than that, I like this build!

The big saddle is growing on me. Well actually, it's growing on the bike ofcourse, but you know what I mean... ; - ) And you're right. It's too wide for this bike. It really needs a much fatter tire. Just like my butt does... Maybe this seat will find it's way to my ATB or another project if I can find a better seat for the Batavus.

nice....I think you should take a little matching hobby paint and change that B into an R to make it Ratavus

Heheh, you guys crack me up. Ofcourse I thought of some cheeky vaiations on Batavus but didn't come up with Ratavus. And you know what? Maybe I'll do just that...

 

[deorman]

They used to sell those heavy 27" here as "heavy touring" bikes. I guess the idea is that you can load them up and toss them on bus racks without damaging them. Have fun!

 

[herr_rudolf]

They used to sell those heavy 27" here as "heavy touring" bikes. I guess the idea is that you can load them up and toss them on bus racks without damaging them. Have fun!

That's a nice thought. I'll go with that...
; - )

But seriously, thanks! I'm learning something new everyday around here : - )

 

[snfargle]

Oh, and I bought new pedals but...

i bought some the same a while back,i'm now missing all the reflectors and one of the black pads completely broke up and fell off

they were good for a bit though

 

[herr_rudolf]

Oh, and I bought new pedals but...

i bought some the same a while back,i'm now missing all the reflectors and one of the black pads completely broke up and fell off

they were good for a bit though

I thought they looked pretty cool... Have fixed em now. Tightened the screws.

Let's see how long they last...

 

[herr_rudolf]

For my ATB-to-cruiser conversion I bought some upholsterynails to give my sporty seat a retro-look. I bought three different styles and used the 'chrome'-ones.

I liked it, but with that new black leather/rubberlook it had kinda an S&M-vibe to it. But it was an experiment and it worked. Now that I wanted to use this seat for this build I tried to replace the chrome nails with antique-looking copper-ones. With succes and man, what an improvement!

The seat is really comfortable! Ofcourse I'd die for the sportsversion of a Brooks saddle, but I don't want to spend a rediculous amount of money on a seat. (The leather Lepper seat has found its way onto my ATB-Cruiser.) Oh, and yeah, I put on a rack from a donor bike, and slightly different handlebars that had less rust on it. The rack I had to bent and tweak into shape.

Because of the limited choice of 27" tires, and the fact that wheels can make or brake a bike, I'd better give it some attention. So I cleaned and sanded, and then painted the entire wheels matt black. I had to scrape of the paint on the side of the rim though, because of the brakes...

Oh, maybe a fender.
This bike keeps evolving...

 

[ifitsfreeitsforme]

I like the copper upholstery nails idea.

 

[herr_rudolf]

'Cartboardtracker'
A name that's going to be changed as my bike is becoming less and less of a boardtracker... It's becoming quite the swift grocerygetter, with that rack and all...
Anyway, from my Build-off bike I have some left-over parts which can be used on my 'cartboardtracker' like the the front fender and some brackets. Don't know if it's going to stay but I made a new brace for it.

I've also been toying with the idea to use a rearfender. I tried several stock-items from different donorbikes, I have a chrome one but it's badly damaged.. So I'm in the process of 'fabricating' a new one.

The aloy strip doesn't have any curvature so it's crucial to have it sit as low as possible. The gap is much more visible than a regular stock fender, therefor I really have to sink in the screwheads(?) properly.

I like the copper upholstery nails idea.

Thanks. It came out better than I hoped for.

 

[Galtbacken]

The seat came out great and I really like the wheels!!

 

[herr_rudolf]

The seat came out great and I really like the wheels!!

Thanks.
This is a really fun 'build' to do... With very low expectations this bike could only become better and better. No goals, except for 'trying to make a cool bike out of a boring ordinairy old one, using styling-ideas that gets its cues from the hotrod world. Sollutions that aren't that common. Sort of 'experimental'. With the limitations this bike has (large frame, stupid wheelmeasurements), I have to stray, and wander off of the usual not to mention safe path... No flatblack/red/whitewalled bike for me.

...or maybe so.

I don't know. In the end I'll know what works on this bike and what not. As long as my bike looks like an old one that has been hot-rodded, I will be a happy man. But I must say, I have difficulty not to reach for the aluminum again to pimp my ride... Like the fenders for instance. I really like the racey look these thin strips have, but I also notice the front one makes this bike look more ordinairy than without. So, a lot of headscratching is goin' on here... I just don't want this bike to be another Billet Bullet. As my Billet Bullet is more of a 'showrod', this one will be more of a 'streetrod'.

With a rack.

A streetrod with a rack, so I can get my groceries a wee bit quicker...

 

[iRide Custom Bicycles]

The seat came out great and I really like the wheels!!

Fer sure, fer sure!!

 

[deorman]

Don't bruise the Heineken, crazy speedfreak! :wink: I know it's kind of cliche', but how about the Flying Dutchman?

 

[herr_rudolf]

Don't bruise the Heineken, crazy speedfreak! :wink: I know it's kind of cliche', but how about the Flying Dutchman?

Why does almost everyone think of beers when I mention I have to pick up some groceries... Did I show my belly by accident on these pages? I hope not... Heheh... 'Flying Dutchman' I keep that in mind. Maybe I should make a seat out of a fryingpan and call it 'Frying Dutchman'

-

So, I bobbed my rearfender:

I spend half a day in the shed, and what do I have to show? ...a small curly ending on my fender.

Oh, ofcourse the brackets take up all of my buildingtime... Too bad they are hardly visable. Some of em are really big'n'shiny!
; - )

 

[herr_rudolf]

*** CARTBOARDTRACKER *** lost my virginity to an anglegrinde

^ To some a daily chore, to me my first time with an anglegrinder. I kinda liked it. I used to cut off parts with a metalsaw but I think I could get used to this anglegrinder... The factory welded-on brackets I had no use for anymore just had to come off.

^ I think I did okay. It looks kinda rough but eventually with some files and sandpaper it became smooth as a baby's bee you tee tee.

^ There were some paints in the shed that had to be taken to the citydumpster but I came up with the idea to mix em all together to get an icky grey/yellow/brownish color... But when I looked at the colors available I saw it was not possible. It would be easier just to pick a color from the local paint-discounter. But as I was spraying the fork with red primer I fell in love with that stuff all-over again. Although I find it rather cliche just like matt-black plus red rims, it's just something you can't go wrong with. With that black wheel installed it looks awesome, even for a regular bike. So, maybe I paint the bike that icky yellow/brownish color somewhere in the future, but for now, lets start with red oxide primer and leave it at that for a while...

Funny things...
I came across a filthy can of dupont paint reading 'opel' on the side (european GM-cars). Instant flashback: I remembered my grandfather touching up paint on a cardoor he took off of an Opel Record (or Comodore) some 30 years ago. That was by far my favorite car at that time. A european car with american styling. It looked like a 1969 baby Charger. But this is that particular can of paint. I stirred it up and a beautiful metalic, almost pearl light green came to the surface... So sweet, it'll make your teeth hurt just lookin' at it. I hope to have a bike someday that'll look good in that shade...

^ The can looks small, but really isn't...