- Joined
- Mar 29, 2010
- Messages
- 262
- Reaction score
- 3
As with most of my bikes they start with a silly idea... 
At a car boot sale (english equivalent of a swap meet i guess) I saw a proper equestrian saddle for sale and thought... 'cool... I wonder what that'd be like on a bike?'
So i bought it (along with a whole load of leather fittings, buckles, straps, a bit things and then decided what to do with it. Being quite wide and bulky (although very comfortable) the saddle needed to be on a bike with a low rear end as it would look at bit silly stuck high up in the air... So i decided a schwinn stingray was the most likely option... fat back tyre, low centre of gravity and relatively cheap to buy. After scratching about unsuccessfully to find a rough stingray a friend said he knew of one and was kind enough not only to go buy it but also drag it to to a custom car show for me to collect it. Thank you Rob you're a star
Once I'd got it home i needed to decide on some kind of theme (or more realistically) 'reason why it should have a horse saddle on it!!! I decided on a western cowboy theme. I toyed with the idea of painting it but settled on wrapping it in fur (not real) to kinda give it an equine... or bovine look! The front wheel came from a Giant DUB with a Kendal 20x3 tire and the rear seat is sprung to make it a softer ride. The saddle sits on a former (a polystyrene block) which is attached to half a skateboard deck. The rear truck has had its wheels removed and two vintage motorbike rear shocks are mounted on the axles and bolted through the rear dropouts. The seat 'deck' pivots at the front on an adjustable head post bolted through the original seatpost. The ride is pretty good and a lot more comfortable than i was expecting. The front springs are non functional but were bought from my local breakers yard (along with the back shocks and a headlight for a fiver... about $8!!) They are simply slotted over the forks and held in place under their own tension between the trees. It all looks rather whaky and probably wont stay looking like this forever. A mate who has a roller bender made the bars, which are wrapped in leather (from a dead couch found last week The skull is an old saddle!
At a car boot sale (english equivalent of a swap meet i guess) I saw a proper equestrian saddle for sale and thought... 'cool... I wonder what that'd be like on a bike?'
So i bought it (along with a whole load of leather fittings, buckles, straps, a bit things and then decided what to do with it. Being quite wide and bulky (although very comfortable) the saddle needed to be on a bike with a low rear end as it would look at bit silly stuck high up in the air... So i decided a schwinn stingray was the most likely option... fat back tyre, low centre of gravity and relatively cheap to buy. After scratching about unsuccessfully to find a rough stingray a friend said he knew of one and was kind enough not only to go buy it but also drag it to to a custom car show for me to collect it. Thank you Rob you're a star
Once I'd got it home i needed to decide on some kind of theme (or more realistically) 'reason why it should have a horse saddle on it!!! I decided on a western cowboy theme. I toyed with the idea of painting it but settled on wrapping it in fur (not real) to kinda give it an equine... or bovine look! The front wheel came from a Giant DUB with a Kendal 20x3 tire and the rear seat is sprung to make it a softer ride. The saddle sits on a former (a polystyrene block) which is attached to half a skateboard deck. The rear truck has had its wheels removed and two vintage motorbike rear shocks are mounted on the axles and bolted through the rear dropouts. The seat 'deck' pivots at the front on an adjustable head post bolted through the original seatpost. The ride is pretty good and a lot more comfortable than i was expecting. The front springs are non functional but were bought from my local breakers yard (along with the back shocks and a headlight for a fiver... about $8!!) They are simply slotted over the forks and held in place under their own tension between the trees. It all looks rather whaky and probably wont stay looking like this forever. A mate who has a roller bender made the bars, which are wrapped in leather (from a dead couch found last week
The skull is an old saddle!
