Western Flyer / Murray

[Flame Jigger]

I think that brown paint will look really good with the red wheels! Are you going to do any pinstriping on it? Some black and white pinstipes could look nice...

I would love to have some pinstriping but don't know anyone who does striping around here and I have tried my hand at it and it looked like a 3 year child done it. I used to know a sign painter who could probably do it but don't know if he is still around or not.

 

[Flame Jigger]

mind if i steal your shifter idea, i to like the clean handlebar look. Awsome job man 8)

Feel free to use any of my ideas that you like. After I came up with the idea for the shifter I was reading some older post and I saw another bike with a suicide grip shifter that was built before mine was.

 

[Pencap914]

Yes I love this build. It embraces the spirit of the rat rod. The bondo really cleaned it up nicely and it does give you a lot of room for some pin striping if you can find someone who can do it. How effective is that brake? have you tested it yet?

 

[Flame Jigger]

Yes I love this build. It embraces the spirit of the rat rod. The bondo really cleaned it up nicely and it does give you a lot of room for some pin striping if you can find someone who can do it. How effective is that brake? have you tested it yet?

Thanks! The brake works O.K. but I did notice the rivet were the handle attaches the clamp has loosened up a bit. I am going to replace the rivet with a bolt before I put it back together. I got the frame painted and was planning to paint the wheels red but decided against it since the rim brake would rub the paint off. I am trying to get in touch with a guy who used to paint signs and see if he will do some pin striping for me. I am thinking about stretching a chain guard and maybe adding fenders to have more space for striping. I will probably work on the bike tomorrow and will post pics if I do.

 

[Flame Jigger]

I have not done much the past few days but thought I would post a pic of the bike of my progress so far. I got the frame painted and through a few parts on to see how the new color looks. I decided to go with a bigger front sprocket that has a nice patina to it.

I am liking it so far but still think red wheels would have looked good if it weren't for the rim brakes. I actually thought about doing away with the 3-speed so I could use red wheels but it makes it alot nicer pulling hills, plus I really like the shifter. Oh well maybe someday I will run across a 3-speed hub with a coaster brake. I can't wait to get this one finished so I can start another one.

 

[UncleKudzu]

well, you just had to go and paint her, didn't you? couldn't leave well enough alone. it still looks good, though :wink:

 

[ExtraBlaze]

Looks good man.The lines look good all painted up.How did you like that krylon? I used the indoor/outdoor on my hawthorne cause they had some new colors but it was crazy thin and runny.Did you have any problems?

 

[Flame Jigger]

well, you just had to go and paint her, didn't you? couldn't leave well enough alone. it still looks good, though :wink:

I know. It was a hard decision to make but the ugly welds were getting to me. If the welds were better quality I would have done a rusty finish. I have an old higgins frame that has a split seat tube I am thinking about stretching. If I do I will have a friend do the welding so I can go for the rusty bare metal look.

Looks good man.The lines look good all painted up.How did you like that krylon? I used the indoor/outdoor on my hawthorne cause they had some new colors but it was crazy thin and runny.Did you have any problems?

Thanks Blaze. The paint went on real good and covered nicely. The only problem I had was on the forks which I painted first. I tried to put too thick of a coat on it did run a bit, but the paint sands almost like primer once it is dry. I slowed down and applied a couple thinner coats and had no more problems.

 

[UncleKudzu]

oh man, i just kidding you. that's a cool bike any way you finish it!

 

[Galtbacken]

Looks great, with or without red wheels!

 

[Tempe-Terror]

was not expecting such an in depth build when I clicked into this thread. The lines on that frame are rad.

 

[Flame Jigger]

Re: Western Flyer / Murray- Now Named Crack Shot

I have had the bike back together for about a week now but due to working overtime and stuff I wasn't able to take it for a ride until today. It was cold out but I was anxiuous to try it out since I changed the front sprocket to larger size. It rides smooth and the larger sprocket improved the gearing ratio. Here are some pics of it as close to finished as a rat gets. I still have a few minor details to work on but I am ready to start a new build as soon as I figure out what I want to build.

I am really pleased with how it turned out but I haven't decide if I like the square headlight. I might trade it out if I can find a tear drop shaped one.

I found a cool taillight and even cooler place to mount it. The light it from my Dad's old lantern style flashlight. I still need to convert it to LED and maybe make a small leather bag from the smae leather as the seat to hide the batteries or maybe make a dummy oil tank/battery holder.

Here is a close up showing the patina on the front sprocket.

My nephew named this bike Crack Shot when he saw how close the seat is to the back tire.

 

[jaysmo]

This my friend turned out to be a pretty neat build i ike the lines the bike has everything is smooth and flows well together...GREAT JOB!!!!

 

[Flame Jigger]

This my friend turned out to be a pretty neat build i ike the lines the bike has everything is smooth and flows well together...GREAT JOB!!!!

Thanks man!

 

[wcc]

Flamejigger. I have to ride with brigmaster on this man. there are rat bikes and then, there are RatRodBikes! and yours is a RatRodBike! to the true definition. I appreciate your reasoning and that's true. different strokes for different folks? but I personally applaud the guys who really go there and build to the meaning. Inbraces the patina, aged paint, resurrecting old parts. just cleaning and fix up what you got, bolt it on and go. To the welders out there like you? Man, you guys are gifted. Wish I had that skill and a workshop to go with it. But who knows. If I keep looking at examples like yours I might be provoked to do the impossible. Learning to weld.
Please, If you do decide to paint it, please don't make it look new. PLEASE!
wcc

 

[rusty1]

...really cool build, I like it. My suggestion on a headlite would be a small round one and mount it on a bracket off the top of the fork (just below the headset) above the wheel...just a thot, keep buildin, show us yer next one too.