Another Love Letter: BONEEN

[furyus]

Hi Darlin' Baby Doll,

Nothing says romance and intimacy like a love letter, especially one splashed across an internet forum dedicated to rusty bicycles. It is with tenderness and affection that I welcome you to Rat Rod Bikes Build Off 9.

It's been almost exactly two years to the day since I wrote my first love letter to you, Baby Doll. You were my best girl then; now you're my precious wife.

http://www.ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/love-letter-to-my-baby-doll.56520/

Just about everyone who enters a bike in these build offs has a theme or inspiration for their build. My inspiration is you, Sweet Baby. When I found out that you had never gotten the spider bike of your dreams when you were a child, I of course had to build one for you. I was thrilled that you became involved by adding fenders, hand-made streamers and flowers for your basket. I've tried to build a Sting-Ray of my own but you know how those bikes just didn't work out. I think now, though, I've found the perfect companion to ride along beside you.

Here's your 1968 Schwinn Slik Chik. I built it frame-up using the nicest, shiniest bits I could find. I wanted it to be like new:



And this will be my ride, and my entry for the build off, a 1968 Schwinn Typhoon.



My Typhoon won't be quite as shiny or pretty as yours, but you know I like my bikes a bit more beat. The 24" wheels will give me a little more room than the Sting-Rays did, but it's still a kid's bike, which is important to me. I want our rides around the neighborhood or down the boardwalk someday to remind us of innocence, and a fancy adult bicycle simply won't do. My goal is to build the perfect companion to your Slik Chik, and as we're learning ourselves in our own marriage the perfect companion doesn't mean being the exact same. They'll be enough in common to see the relationship, but there will also be differences that will keep it interesting.

I hope we have years of riding our '68 Schwinns together, Lord willing.

Yours.

PS: Be sure to cruise around and check out the other bikes being built - there are some real artists on here.

 

[mikeeebikey]

Awww, I almost broke a happy tear!
So are you gonna do different size wheels?
Show us!!!

 

[kingsting]

Great write up!

 

[kingfish254]

I remember watching you Slik Chik build and look forward to this mushy but cool build too.

 

[BabyDoll]

Aaawwww Thank you Furyus! Please hurry up and finish building your Typhoon so we can go riding together soon! Your bike is already the Build Off winner to me!

 

[grasscutta]

now come on mate your make the rest of us look bad

 

[LowpowerD]

Oh my feels...they've just been murdered. You sir, are a true romantic.

 

[furyus]

Aaawwww Thank you Furyus! Please hurry up and finish building your Typhoon so we can go riding together soon! Your bike is already the Build Off winner to me!

Hey Sweet Baby, we'll be riding our bikes with the fire flies some evening soon. Just hafta be home in time for The Brady Bunch. (I actually have spoken that sentence before, buts it's been about 43 years since I did it).

Yours.

 

[furyus]

Awww, I almost broke a happy tear!
So are you gonna do different size wheels?
Show us!!!

I've got some really nice wheels but have to start at the start, you know? I do appreciate you watching!

furyus

 

[furyus]

Great write up!

Thanks, man. Hope you'll drop by again sometime.

furyus

 

[furyus]

I remember watching you Slik Chik build and look forward to this mushy but cool build too.

Mushy! I like it! Woulda been a great name for this bike!

furyus

 

[furyus]

now come on mate your make the rest of us look bad

C'mon, man, you can write your girl a love letter right here on Rat Rod Bikes too! I think secretly it's every girl's dream.

furyus

 

[furyus]

Oh my feels...they've just been murdered. You sir, are a true romantic.

I've gotta make up for all my other failures as a mate somehow...

furyus

 

[LukeTheJoker]

Looking forward to seeing the build.

Luke.

 

[Kroozerdave]

You sir have set yourself a high bar for success.
No room to drop the ball on this one, or more than the fire flies will miss you.
On a serious note hope it all goes together soon so you both enjoy the build and riding.

 

[furyus]

Hi Baby Doll,

Got the garage cleaned up and the Typhoon frame on the stand today. Hope to really get some wrenching done on my next day off from work, but we are going in the right direction at least.



There is a decal on the seat tube from Bent's Bike Shop in Lakeland, Florida. Amazingly, they're still in business and have been at the same location since 1961. I like to think about where this bike has been over the last 46 years. Who was the first lucky kid to own it? Was it a birthday or Christmas present? I like to imagine that he was extremely proud to have such a nice bicycle, and that he had a lot of fun on it, whoever he might be. I bet he never thought some old dude would be rebuilding his bike in 2014, or writing about it on an "Internet."



This is why I like original paint so much - the history that it represents. A complete restoration is cool, but never as cool as "survivor."

By the way, Baby, it really amazes me that after nearly 20 years of parking your car in the garage every night you practically gave me the whole thing for my toolbox and workbench and motorcycle. Now you park outside and all my toys stay inside, warm and dry. Your unselfishness is but one of the reasons I love you so much.

Yours.

 

[LukeTheJoker]

I bet he never thought some old dude would be rebuilding his bike in 2014, or writing about it on an "Internet."

I bet he wouldn't!

Luke.

 

[BabyDoll]

"I've gotta make up for all my other failures as a mate somehow..." furyus

Dear Furyus,

You have no failures as a mate! You are the best husband ever. Although I hesitate in telling you so only because I don’t want you to stop being a romantic and writing love letters to me!

From the few bits and pieces of it I’ve seen, your build is going to be great. And it will be a nice companion to my campus green Slik Chik. You’ll have to send a picture of it to Bent’s Bike Shop when you’re finished! I’m sure they’d love to see that one of their bikes is still being ridden and loved.

Thank you for cleaning up what was all my mess in the garage. You know I love having your stuff in there --because it means you are here too. And you know I always wanted a real workbench with a vice, as I used to love to play with my dad’s vice and tools when I was little. (And the girly little sofa table I used to have in there as a makeshift workbench, just wasn’t the same thing!)

And it will be great fun to see the progress on your Typhoon every time I come and go through the garage.

Love you FuryusGeorge.

Signed,
BabyDoll

P.S. You may want to print out the “no failures as a mate” part just for future reference. In case in the heat of an argument, I claim otherwise, …you will have written proof!

 

[LukeTheJoker]

P.S. You may want to print out the “no failures as a mate” part just for future reference. In case in the heat of an argument, I claim otherwise, …you will have written proof!

Don't miss this chance Furyus!

Luke.

 

[furyus]

Sweet Baby Doll, I'm hardly the best husband ever, but I surely do like to hear you say those words. Honestly, I think you are a far better spouse to me than I am to you. I love you very much, Darlin'.

Made a tiny little pinch of progress on the Typhoon today. I am going to use the same sprocket I used in my last two builds, which is the inner chain ring off of a 1966 Scwhinn Varsity 10-speed. It's a Huret Sprint sprocket, and it looks like the miniature version of a Schwinn Fastback sprocket. I love the chrome bolts which at one time held the outer ring to the inner ring. The original sprocket that came on this Typhoon had 46 teeth; this sprocket has 39. The lower number of teeth will make it easier to accelerate from a stop and easier to pedal slowly on the boardwalk, for instance. It will end up being a little slower at top speed, but the top speed of a 24" Schwinn Typhoon isn't anything to brag about anyway. This bike will be for cruisin'.

I had painted the sprocket black for my "Blackened White" build last year.



Black won't do for the Typhoon. Color will be one area where I try to make my 'phoon the perfect companion to your Slik Chik. So I bead blasted the sprocket; here it is warming in the sun before getting primed:



Now I'm letting the primer cure before I shoot it with a new color:



These fascinating and authentic build pics allow me to bump my thread back onto page 1. Really, though, my build isn't going to be very complicated, and we should be riding before you know it. Remember, the fire flies are pretty much gone shortly after the Fourth of July around here, and we'll be riding before then. In fact, since I have the Fourth off, maybe we should plan a ride down to see fireworks at Ida Lee Park. Our American-made Schwinns will fit right in to the festivities.

Love you a bunch, Baby Doll.

Yours.