Hi, gang!
Came across this awesome site about three or so weeks ago and have been "lurking", reading, learning, admiring, etc.
I'm a 39-year-old graphic artist/musician (yeah, one of those guys...
) living in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
I'm just getting into this stuff and my first project is underway (it's trial and error, as I've never really worked on a bike before, so taking one apart is all new to me). I'll get to that in a bit...
As for me and what I ride, I have a copper-colored Dyno that I bought in Encinitas, California in 2000-2001. Pic #1 and another shot. I've recently removed the fenders, chainguard and "gas tank" in an effort to "de-PeeWee" it a bit (and, frankly, just to have something new to look at and enjoy).
Here's what it looks like now. Looks leaner and meaner, but who knows what will ultimately happen...reading this site and looking at the gallery has put all sorts of ideas into my head. But as I'm a bit of an orange/copper freak, I'm currently leaning toward the idea of a mean, flat black thing, copper colored rims (like that "Sneeki Tiki" bike, which is my favorite of the bunch here) and white/copper accents and striping. I love old Gretsch guitars and things like Nudie suits and hillbilly music, so I was thinking about graphics that echoed that...swooping f-hole motifs, music notes and the like. If Porter Wagoner rode a bike...that type of thing.
But the project I'm currently doing - the one that got me searching online about this stuff and finding this site - is taking my recently departed grandfather's Western Flyer (he acquired it in a yard sale a few years ago, so it's not an original, decades-old "family heirloom") and doing sort of a tribute to him and his time in WWII. He was stationed in the Burma/China region, driving supply trucks and working at an air base.
This is the bike, a basic red thing with a cargo rack(?), chrome fenders, etc.
And this is kinda what I had in mind to do (this is a sloppy, five-minute Photoshop "rough", so disregard the wonky tires and other "quickly painted" aspects):
I've currently got the bike apart and am cleaning it (and, honestly, learning all kinds of things I never knew about bikes before):
I'm more of an Illustrator user, so here is a tighter mockup/plan of what it'll be. I'm not sure if this qualifies as a rat (is it too "planned" or something?). And apologies if this is too long of an intro. If necessary, I can split the "Army bike" portion of this post off into the "Build" section?
So there's my plan, and what I have to work with. This will be mainly a "cosmetic" job, as I have no metalworking/welding equipment or experience.
I'm looking at doing it all "in-house"...painting, parts, lettering, graphics. I've already printed/test-cut the lettering (and it's a straight-line stencil font, so it's quite simple, although a bit tedious). But I'll probably be asking for help along the way, being my first time...
Anyway, that's my wordy, photo-filled intro. Again, if I need to split the Army bike portion of this into a separate thread, I'll be happy to do so (goodness knows I'll have a few thousand questions)...
This is a beautifully-designed site (the front page graphics, logo, the song, the fading in-and-out gallery, etc.) are top-notch! I hope I learn some things here, and I hope I'm inspired to do some other things.
Came across this awesome site about three or so weeks ago and have been "lurking", reading, learning, admiring, etc.
I'm a 39-year-old graphic artist/musician (yeah, one of those guys...
) living in Chattanooga, Tennessee.I'm just getting into this stuff and my first project is underway (it's trial and error, as I've never really worked on a bike before, so taking one apart is all new to me). I'll get to that in a bit...
As for me and what I ride, I have a copper-colored Dyno that I bought in Encinitas, California in 2000-2001. Pic #1 and another shot. I've recently removed the fenders, chainguard and "gas tank" in an effort to "de-PeeWee" it a bit (and, frankly, just to have something new to look at and enjoy).
Here's what it looks like now. Looks leaner and meaner, but who knows what will ultimately happen...reading this site and looking at the gallery has put all sorts of ideas into my head. But as I'm a bit of an orange/copper freak, I'm currently leaning toward the idea of a mean, flat black thing, copper colored rims (like that "Sneeki Tiki" bike, which is my favorite of the bunch here) and white/copper accents and striping. I love old Gretsch guitars and things like Nudie suits and hillbilly music, so I was thinking about graphics that echoed that...swooping f-hole motifs, music notes and the like. If Porter Wagoner rode a bike...that type of thing.
But the project I'm currently doing - the one that got me searching online about this stuff and finding this site - is taking my recently departed grandfather's Western Flyer (he acquired it in a yard sale a few years ago, so it's not an original, decades-old "family heirloom") and doing sort of a tribute to him and his time in WWII. He was stationed in the Burma/China region, driving supply trucks and working at an air base.
This is the bike, a basic red thing with a cargo rack(?), chrome fenders, etc.
And this is kinda what I had in mind to do (this is a sloppy, five-minute Photoshop "rough", so disregard the wonky tires and other "quickly painted" aspects):
I've currently got the bike apart and am cleaning it (and, honestly, learning all kinds of things I never knew about bikes before):
I'm more of an Illustrator user, so here is a tighter mockup/plan of what it'll be. I'm not sure if this qualifies as a rat (is it too "planned" or something?). And apologies if this is too long of an intro. If necessary, I can split the "Army bike" portion of this post off into the "Build" section?
So there's my plan, and what I have to work with. This will be mainly a "cosmetic" job, as I have no metalworking/welding equipment or experience.
I'm looking at doing it all "in-house"...painting, parts, lettering, graphics. I've already printed/test-cut the lettering (and it's a straight-line stencil font, so it's quite simple, although a bit tedious). But I'll probably be asking for help along the way, being my first time...
Anyway, that's my wordy, photo-filled intro. Again, if I need to split the Army bike portion of this into a separate thread, I'll be happy to do so (goodness knows I'll have a few thousand questions)...
This is a beautifully-designed site (the front page graphics, logo, the song, the fading in-and-out gallery, etc.) are top-notch! I hope I learn some things here, and I hope I'm inspired to do some other things.
