Build #2: Rat Rod Chopper/Bobber

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man im so glad you brought this bike back!!! lots of cool inspiration here!! i think you should go with some bars like the ones that are on that Nirve. or those smaller black apes dont look that bad. and i think that i would cut those black rubber things off the forks. just my opinion. take it for what its worth. sweet lookin bike though!!!

Easy E
 
Here's a third photo I wasn't going to include because after trying it out, it just didn't feel right. Maybe it's because the seat is still too high...

IMG_0417.jpg


That's as close as I have to the Nirve bars. I want it to look good, but I want a comfortable ride and with the MTB bars I felt I was leaning forward to much. Handlebars are easy enough to change out though, so I'm sure I'll try them all out once the bike is painted and assembled.

I made some changes to the bike rendering I made last year to reflect the direction my project is going.

chopper-bike-rendering.jpg
 
I must have missed this build before. Looking good! The frame really started to appeal to me when you added the bent tubes, nice work! :D
 
I finished truing my rims this morning which actually went a lot faster than I expected. Since I had some time left over to fill I decided to pull the white wall tires out of their protective hiding spot (can't tarnish that beautiful whiteness) and mounted them on the rims. I think the finished wheels look spectacular! :D

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There was barely enough room between the spokes for the dice valve caps I got. Glad I didn't get 144 spoke wheels!
 
I liked the way it looked with the Mt bike bars, it had a nice low slung bobber feel to it, but if you think you're going to be too stretched out, go with the apes. I'm using 16" apes on my bike and they're pretty comfortable.
 
Well, my Rat Rod Chopper is finished! ...mostly. :mrgreen:

After the frame got welded, I used some body filler to fill/smooth out the seams. The bike then received the usual primer and then some Rustoleum Metallic black rattlecan paint. The color is pretty cool... it looks black when you first see it, but in direct sunlight it has some metallic gold flakes in it.

Here's a couple of pics of the mostly finished bike:

front-shot.jpg

chopper-rearwheel.jpg

headlight.jpg

web.jpg


There's not enough dropout in the rear to pull the wheel and chain tight so there's a bit of slack in the drive train. Until I can get some plate welded in there I'm using a "super custom" chain tensioner I made out of a roller blade wheel.

rear-dropouts.jpg

roller-tensioner.jpg


It works pretty good... at least keeps the chain from jumping off the rear sprocket. I'm hoping that by modding the rear dropouts and widening them, I'll be able to install a 7 or 8 speed internal hub. The single speed works great on flat walking trails but inclines are a bit of a pain since you can't stand over the pedals to climb hills and there's no seat back to push against for real power.

I think I'm going to stay with the ape hangers. They are super comfortable! I tried the MTB bars but I had to lean too far over.

In all, I'm super pleased with the bike. It's extremely comfortable to ride and a lot of fun. The kids out at the walking trail loved it and I could see a little envy in the eyes of the lycra-shorted riders with their sideways glances and stifled smiles.
 
Dude I really like how that thing turned out! Love the curved tubing and the fork rear triangle area... I really like how that bike looks man!
 
that came out great. has serious attitude. would a half link in the chain help you get the right tension?
 
AMAZING!! where did you get your light and the fork boots at? those are gonna a couple of the finishing touches i'll need for the indian project once i get closer to being finished. thing looks pretty sick man for sure!
 
Thanks for the great compliments! I'm really enjoying this bike. It's much more comfortable (and better looking) than my first chopper bike attempt. I think the only thing it's truly missing is a few more speeds. With the single speed coaster wheel, it's perfect for flat trails but it lacks some oomph going up hills. It does remind me of being a kid again and pedaling as fast as you can to get some speed and reaching that speed where you just can spin your legs any faster! :mrgreen:

I think I might modify the rear dropouts and make them a little wider to see if I can squeeze a 7 or 8-speed hub back there and give my self a little room to pull the wheel/chain taught. So far, the roller blade wheels has worked great, but if I could clean up the design a little and remove it, I'd like to try. Might be hard to do though since I can't stop riding this thing! The half-link is something I thought about too. Do those really work? I asked my LBS about 'em one day and he'd never heard of such a thing. Does it create a weird gap between links?

I did someone's advice (don't know if they were on here or Freak Bikes forum), but I switched over to the black cruiser style bars I had on an earlier mock-up. They look just as sick as the ape hangers, but when I put the chrome/black handle grips on there, it sealed the deal. They're real comfortable too. Check out this pick:

IMG_0517.jpg


Also, I had a little fun last night playing with iPhoto and iMovie and I threw my build-up photos in a slide show video. I couldn't figure out how to embed it into the forum posts here.

RE:atomicclutch - the fork boots I picked up at Choppersus.com and I think they have the same light. I got my light at Bicycledesigner.com and fabbed my own bracket out of flat aluminum ribbon and some rivets. The ChoppersUS light might be a better deal since it carries 2 C-cell batteries. Mine only has 2-AA's so it's not too bright. ChoppersUS also has it in black.
 

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