Bike Themes

[The Renaissance Man]

What makes a theme bike?

There are many builds in this years build off that are based on a theme. Building around a theme can mean very different things to every individual so I thought that it would be interesting to see how people interpret it.

My theme sort of presented itself to me as I started looking at my parts and what I could do with them. The idea of cross dressing a girls bike in men's clothes lead me to the term 'drag king' which immediately set my mind on drag racing and the double entendre that it created. In that moment, my theme was set in motion.
The idea of building a drag racing bike gave me a direction to follow, but for me, it's still a bike first and it's my goal to elude to the racing theme second. I suppose that I don't feel the need to copy all aspects of a drag car because, well, it's not a car!

So, how did you get your theme what does it mean to you?

 

[Gold Street Customs]

My theme came from the moon discs sitting in the corner next to the trailer wheels in the corner of my garage,and the love of early sixties style drag cars and the show cars of the day with the brilliant candy colors,everything else just falls into place.

 

[bleedingfingers]

The winter build off was my first and the hardest part was coming up with a theme I just wanted to build a bike but after staring at the parts for a while
it just kind of came to me the colours and the period that the bike came from sort of steered me there .
This time I put more thought into it with the vintage British Car /Motorcycle vibe .

 

[raggedjim]

I've thought a lot about this over the years.

To me, a theme can get you moving in a particular direction. That is good. But many times a theme can be pushed to the point of parody (and in some cases this may be what the builder is trying to achieve). But I think that once the smoke and welding sparks clear, the theme is secondary, and the bike must stand on it's own.

I say all of this while posting on a ratrod themed website! I'm complicated like that.

Build nice bikes, use a theme if it makes you happy, but don't give the theme the reigns, the bike will show you where it wants to go. Rg

 

[yoothgeye]

I didn't need another bike this year, so I'm just reinventing a bike I already had, my "theme" could be "freecycling" since I used that in my build name. I used freecycling for 2 reasons, 1) I don't like recycling, so freecycling switched it up a bit, and 2) alliteration.

Based on the name I am also using free and repurposed parts, but that's nothing new or different for me or a rat rod build, so I don't really feel pigeonholed by my "theme" or title, which can get tricky sometimes.

Basically, in the end, it's just going to be a bike that I think looks cool but even more importantly, I can ride around and not be worried about it falling apart or pieces breaking. I don't build wall hangers.

 

[deven_science]

I feel like this thread was started based on the conversation going on in my thread, but I'll reiterate here.

My "tractor" theme wasn't really intended to be a "themed build" in the OCC, Paul Jr. sense. The build got its name due to the one item of the bike that I knew would most stand out, the "tank" I'm making from the body of a kids pedal tractor. The only item that helped perpetuate the theme was deciding to use one of two chrome exercise bike seat pans that I have... yes... because it looks like a tractor seat. Other than that, it's simply about building a cool bike with odd, vintage parts that I already have. I mean, I also have these cool Triumph motorcycle bars I'm using, and those should stand out pretty good, as well. I've been wanting to use those seat pans on something for a while, besides.

I won't let a very loose "tractor" theme dictate the build. It was just a jumping off point, if anything. No one should be a slave to the theme. It could easily end up an overcomplicated bike with too many doodads, if you did.

 

[The Renaissance Man]

Yep deven, I thought this thread would be a good place for continuing the discussion that seemed to be culminating around your build. I had already been thinking about it as it applied to my bike because I didn't want to box myself in either.

No one should be a slave to the theme. It could easily end up an overcomplicated bike with too many doodads, if you did.

That pretty well sums it up!

 

[kingfish254]

Don't talk about over use of doodads. You will be publicly called out by the Doodad Dude if you do. We are supposed to blindly love excessive bad taste now. It is an unwritten rule.....
Clean, well thought out builds have no chance anymore....

I don't remember anyone being publicly called out for talking about over use of doodads. If I remember correctly Mr. Owl was publicly called out for obsessively counting, mocking, and passing judgment on how much or how little people do various things on RRB. But who am I to quibble over details. There is room for all opinions here on RRB, including, but not limited to defining the correct number of doodads allowed on a build. I think the correct number is Tha-reeee.

 

[deorman]

Mine's pretty basic. Westfield (Connecticut) rust-pile that I found dead in an abandoned barn years ago, gets reanimated (zombie) yet again.

 

[Bicycle808]

I think all this talk about themes is distracting us from the best part of building a bike.... When I build bikes, I've got unlimited freedom to build what I wanna, with the only constraints being my budget, my tools, and my skills. (Prolly the laws of physics, too, but I don't usually let that worry me much. ) Skills, tools, and budget aren't even really finite limitations, b/c I can always make more money, buy more tools, and learn new skills. However, worrying about whether or not I have a "theme" and whether or not my "theme" is cool, let alone whether or not "themes" in general are cool? That's gonna add a new limiting factor... the needless worry about what the cool kids are doing at their lunch table. That's a waste of time....

Which brings me to my next attempted point: for the build-off, TIME is a limiting factor, as well. We got til August to figure out that themes are a personal choice, move one, and (like Jake says), "get to buildin'".

 

[deorman]

Speaking of doodads, whatever happened to Gaskill?
Just don't do any don'tdads.

 

[kingfish254]

Sorry, Smoops. You've been building those super clean well thought out builds that don't have a chance. Maybe you should make your theme "No Chance".

Everyone knows that a Smoopy build can compete in most any style. From over the top Scooby Snack muscle bikes to a doodad loaded super rat like Tuco to custom paint jobs that remind us of the classic custom car builders. Regardless of theme, doodad count, or build name, I hope to see Smoopy in the BONINE mix before the dust settles.

 

[raggedjim]

Is the eagle from the top of a synchronized swimming trophy (mens division) a doodad?

 

[kingfish254]

Is the eagle from the top of a synchronized swimming trophy (mens division) a doodad?

Now there is a theme no one was expecting.

 

[dracothered]

My theme is build a cool trike that ain't your grannies trike (tricycle)... Beyond that it is your basic rat with three wheels.

 

[dragnusa]

I guess you could call my bike a theme bike but for methis year it was how I could rrelate to the guy that built the first steam engine. He wasn't well educated and basicly taught himself how to do everything.

 

[baldwooky]

I got my theme after seeing Fordsnake's bike last year. I just think its one of the coolest looking bikes I've ever seen. Had never heard of Steampunk before, yet I had always like the style it entailed, apparently I'm not alone, because I think theres about 4-6 or so steampunk themed bikes in the build off.

 

[sensor]

Don't talk about over use of doodads. You will be publicly called out by the Doodad Dude if you do. We are supposed to blindly love excessive bad taste now. It is an unwritten rule.....
Clean, well thought out builds have no chance anymore....

You called me? The Doodad Dude is here to be heard!

 

[Jake Sensi]

My theme came from last year. Last year I had -it's clobbering time and I got clobbered in the voting. So I'm coming out harder on Gears of War cuz of course you know this means War!! Also it was a cool name and I need a Tuff bike. You wanna see a theme bike check out my - I hate myself for building you ( tribute to Joan Jett bike) next question??! Peace

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N900A using Tapatalk

 

[outskirtscustoms]

As far as a "Theme" I try not to have one so my builds are spontaneous and influenced solely on what kind of junk I pick up at yard sales, scrap yards, and have laying around in my junk pile at any given time. I do try to make up my mind about a style like if I want to build a Klunker, cruiser, or board-tracker. Sometimes I try to make a cross breed between two genres of bicycle but I just try to build something cool and not worry about anyone else's opinion, if it upsets the purists and haters that makes it better to me.