Retro Racer

[Galtbacken]

This is what I had time to do today before I had to do some other things.

Sorry about the blurry pictures, I was somewhat in a hurry... :roll: The thing on the second pic is a little piece that I decided to make and put on the topside of the frame. It looked a bit empty there when I had gotten the sidepieces in place.

That's all for now...

 

[ExtraBlaze]

Love the lines.Another one to watch.Thanks .

 

[BrigmasterA]

really like your work. on this one and your vincent-inspired bike.

 

[Galtbacken]

Thank you for the nice comments!
Soooo, I've got a few more things done the last couple of days. Not too much since I got my regular job to attend to, but at least I'm moving forward with the build...
The frame is pretty much completed, looks like this now

Here are some parts for the fork. Those things take a bit of time to make, but it's a good feeling when they're done!

And here's what I've done with the saddle so far. This time I won't fabricate the whole thing, but use an old one and then I'll make new upholstery for it.
As it was...

As it is now...

I really liked the shape of the saddle after I stripped it. I think I can make it look nice for the racer!

That's all for now!

 

[MrVelo]

If the pan of the saddle is metal just leave it as it is, looks good. Fits for the frame.

 

[Galtbacken]

It's made of plastic. But I really like the shape of it too, so I'll just put on some thin padding and make a cover for it and try to maintain that shape as much as I can. I've even thought of making a mold of it so that I can make my own saddles that look like it.

 

[Galtbacken]

Here's today's progress on the bike!

It's about half done. To me the fork is the trickiest part to make, difficult to weld with all the hard-to-reach angles, and many things to see to so that it will be straight. I guess the welding part isn't helped by the fact that I don't have a very good work area, sitting on the ground... :roll: Anyway, I hope that I'll have time to finish the fork tomorrow. Oh, and thanks to Olli I changed the design of the dropouts so that the trail is correct. This really is a nice site, so many friendly and helpful people!

 

[Galtbacken]

Haven't been able to work that much on the bike for a few days, I've got an illustration assignment that's taken up most of my spare time. Anyway, the fork is almost done and I'll probably finish it later today and post a pic of it. I've taken the hubs apart on the wheels I'm going to use, to clean them. I was a bit nervous to take apart the 3-speed rear hub, but I went for it and quickly sketched all the parts on a paper in the order I took them off so I now have a diagram of it. I think I'll be able to put it back together... :lol:
I've also made card board templates for the headlight, taped them together to see if they worked

And there's my caveman math scribbling on the paper...my secret formula! Well, not really, it's just length and width and angles.
That's all for now!

 

[MonsterMetal]

I just wanted to say what your doing is very impressive. Your eye for design is obvious, there are very few people in the world who can design, engineer and manufacture, or see an idea through from concept to creation. Well done. Its going to be a beautiful bike. I hope she rides as good as she looks!

 

[Galtbacken]

Thank you so much MonsterMetal! I'm glad you like it! I'm a bit surprized, because I didn't expect anyone to react in such positive ways about my bikes. I'm just starting to learn how to weld and make things from metal, and when I see what experienced metalworkers like you are able to make I know that I've got so much more to learn. Thank you again!
Here's what I've done today

Next up is to clean all the parts for the hubs and assemble the wheels so that I can put the bike together and start making chainguard and and mountingbrackets. I haven't Decided yet if I'm going to make lightswitches on both the front- and rear lights, or if I'll just put a swith in the front and run a cable through the frame to the rear light. I'll make up my mind as I go...

 

[Gold Street Customs]

That is really coming together nice, it has a real attitude!

 

[Galtbacken]

Thank you, glad you like it!

 

[hewey]

I'd missed this before, it looks awesome 8) Great style to the bike. I'd love to see an aluminum version fully polished, that'd be sweeeet! :lol:

 

[Galtbacken]

Thanks Hewey! I guess a polished aluminum version would look like it could break the land speed record! :lol: I don't know how MonsterMetal plans to make his version, maybe he's making one in aluminum? That would be cool! Mine's going to be silver and red...

 

[Galtbacken]

There's a first time for everything, and this time it was about taking apart the hubs and clean them properly.
I found the toothbrush to be a good tool for the job, so now I have no old grease and dirt on the hub parts, and a bad breath... Two of the bearings in the photo are for the crank.

But when I've greased everything and put it back together I was a bit puzzled for a while. There was this part:

I didn't remember it from taking the hubs apart, and I hadn't drawn it in the diagram, and I couldn't find anywhere where it would fit, so I guess it's from something else and just ended up in the same degreasing bath as the hubs.
I also cleaned and polished the wheels. They don't look brand new, but way better than they looked before! I also put new tires on them.

Then today when I got home from work (24h night shift) I did the first mock up of the bike,

I'm starting to get really excited about this build now when it's beginning to look like a bike! Next, I'll start on the saddle, fenders and chainguard. At least that's my plan...

That's all for now!

 

[OUTLAW]

man that bike is sic sic. wow, it looks fast too. oh yeah, i lkie it.

Outlaw 8)

 

[Lightfoot]

That thing is rolling sculpture!

 

[Galtbacken]

Thank you Outlaw and Lightfoot! It's such a good feeling to get such positive reactions to what I'm doing! I'm glad you like it!
The mystery piece has found it's place!! I went to the local bike dealer/repairman today and he knew (no surprise) where the tiny piece would go.

Here's what I've done with the saddle so far:
Cut a piece of padding

Glued it on and wrapped it with string to hold it in place while the glue dried

Tomorrow I'll buy fake leather for the cover.

That's all for now!

 

[Gold Street Customs]

Awesome,just awesome I am definetly watching this seat buildup it looks simple enough so far, I have seat cores and plenty of them.

 

[BrigmasterA]

This is turning out to be a REALLY good looking bike! I'm very impressed and each time I check it ou on here, I wanna see more. Hurry Up! Just kidding. But seriously. Keep it up man.