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Rusty Shakelford

Rusty Shakelford

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This is my second attempt at a bike. I wanted to get deeper into bike building but since I cannot weld I decided to play to my strengths and do some leather pieces for this one. I started off with a Bud Light Lime promotional bike I found on CL for cheap. I have stripped the paint and will be repainting it red soon. I reused the handlebars from the last bike I customized as well as a seat from an exercise bike that I will be recovering. Here's some before pics and what I have got done so far.





So after stripping the paint the first thing I started on was making some grips and streamers. They are full grain 9oz veg tanned leather. Pretty thick but they feel comfortable. Should look really good after they age a little bit and patina up.





After painting I'm gonna start on recovering a seat in the same leather. Then I plan on doing some saddlebags as well. Tryin for an Indian motorcycle kinda look with all the fringe.
 
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Got some primer sprayed then started on the seat recovering. First I've ever done so I'm kinda making it up as I go along. Trimmed up the padding (it was thick and blocky) then formed it with some sandpaper. Got the leather cut and soaked and stretched on the seat last night. After drying I cut the sections and will trim and sew them today.

Before


Reshaped


Stretched


Ready to sew
 
Cool!! Let me know if I can help out. I'm not really confident in my bike building abilities yet but I've been doing leather work for a while and can maybe answer a question or two if needed.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk
 
Got the paint done....now to throw it inthe attic for a week or so. Wanted a rusty finish with some paint still hanging on so did red then multicolor texture brown then dark satin brown. Sanded til I had some red showing up. First attempt at this and while I'm not 100% satisfied with it I think it will look alright when its all back together. Have been oiling the seat and grips and putting them in the sun so they can darken up...probably a few more days til they're done.









Now to get to work on saddlebags. This is gonna take a while.
 
Anyone know a trick for rusting/aging chrome? Handlebars and some other parts are gonna need it.

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That leather work is looking good.
When weathering and aging think about where the paint would get crusty and where it would be rubbed clean. Thighs knees and shins would rub frames at different times while pedaling. Tube joints, especially on the undersides, would collect crud. Same thing with faux rust, think like a raindrop, hit the top of the frame and let gravity pull you to the bottom...
I think folks here have had luck aging chrome with heat...

Carl.
 
Good call...I didn't think about aging from use I just went with anything horizontal should be rusty and the sides should still have a little paint. Will be something to consider on the next one. I have a heat gun so will put that to the chrome...have some muriatic acid too i might have to do a test with and see how that works out. From your advise and your handle I have a suspicion you've relic'd a guitar or two, right?

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Love that seat man.
Play ball!
 
So been working on saddlebags but today I decided I had to see what the bike was looking like so far so I threw it back together somewhat and took a few pics. In my excitement I did not care that it was night and the pics aren't that stellar but I'm happy with the direction its going. The seat is pretty much done...maybe one more oiling and its finished.





 
Paint looks good.

Might try a chain and whip the chrome and frame in a few places. Don't forget to add chain stay wear. Add a wear area where a bell or some other bolt on would have been on the bars.

You don't have to go all the way to rust to make the bars look worn and used. Chain whips, 80 grit scratches, hold a handful of wet sand in a cloth and run the bars thru it.
 
WoW, very nice job on the leatherwork...
that baseball seat is the best....I'm not crazy about the fringe but hey..it's still a one of a kind head turner...:thumbsup:

I recently recovered a little BMX seat...with some stretchy faux leather like material. And I want to tell you.... man, it's harder than you think...specially' on those little pointed nosed seats...the final few tucks seem like you have way too much material, and I can't quite figure out how to cut it...I'll do a couple more, and it all usually comes together.

You know what makes good donors?....go to Thrift and look for old golf bags...they have lots of surface and some of the old leather ones have great patina..not to mention buckles, zippers, detachable little bags that make great bike tool under seat bags,....One golf bag you can do about 20 seats....

Franco
 
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Indyjps
Thanks for the advise! Its hard to tell in the pics but the handlebars are pretty rough. I put them in a rubbermade bin with the other chrome and some nuts and bolts and rattled it around for a bit then took some 120 grit sandpaper to them. That got them scratched up and took off the shine. I filled a spray bottle with bleach and saltwater then heated the chrome up with a blowtorch. After it was hot (not glowing but still pretty hot) I stood a good ways back with a respirator on and sprayed the chrome with the solution I made. The solution hissed and bubbled and after waiting for a while BOOM rusty beat up chrome. Ran some water over it and let it dry. I'm pretty happy with the results but I can see some areas for improvement.
I'm too scared to do anymore work on the paint. It looks decent but I didn't think about wear and tear aging...just old bike sitting outside kinda aging. I will keep all that in mind next time.

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