Keep being faced with the same Question
- Thread starter Uncle Stretch
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There are two reasons I sold my (Paul's) bike. I'm 6'5" and didn't fit on it; and I could not bring myself to modify it to make me fit it. I didn't even clean it up because I didn't want to get too attached to it. I do miss the bike terribly, but am so happy to see it in it's glory. I was prepared for someone to modify it, but am really happy that you are keeping it as is, Paul.
Thanks for posting photos of it. You did a great job. I'm really glad you love the bike.
Thanks for posting photos of it. You did a great job. I'm really glad you love the bike.
Its my favorite stock bike so far. then my ...needs a touchup rollfast and my could stand a redo elgin . At 6'5'' you needed one of my custom built coson clone bikes. 8'' of stretch makes for a smooth comfortable ride ,oh and the 26 x 3 tires don't hurt either. :wink:
It rides really nice doesn't it? I've been admiring your stretch frames. If/when I am liquid again I just might have to get one from you. I fit very well on my Electra Rockabilly Boogie though so I am in no hurry.
I'd chrome the tank too. It's a question we all deal with. I had no problem raking the frame on a Schwinn cruiser because the kickstand was broken off the frame when I got it, so I figured, why not? On the other hand, my Murray Skybolt is all original except for new tires, indicator chain, and shift cable.It's not perfect, and has a little patina to it. I know the Murray isn't as desirable as most bikes out there, but as stated before, it's only original once. I recently saw a 1965 Shelby Cobra, 289 small block, unrestored, go to auction and sell for well over $1,000,000 for the reason tht is was not restored. It had some door dings, lots of patina, but it was something that could be enjoyed, driven, and parked at a grocery store. I thought it looked great. I guess it depends on the person. If I spent the money to completely restore a bike, new chrome, paint, nos parts, yeah, it would look great, but I'd be afraid to ride it. I don't know if I'd enjoy it as much as a bike that I could hop on and take out for a ride that had a little wear and tear on it.
That is so true. I'm just mad at myself for not building a shop with a 15 foot roof where you could hang all the cool bikes you get and save them . I have an elgin that I completely redid. I have ridden it once. It lives in my house on a buffet . Kinda like a picture. :lol:
Where did you get your tank? I've got a columbia just like that one, but mine's black and cream. Nice thing about black is you only gotta match the luster, not the shade. 
They are repop tanks for a 39 to 45 I think. They have them at Memory Lane Classics for $25 and about $8 shipping...Got the horn hole but no horn
Take off the front fender or chainguard and take it to a paint store or big box home improvement store and they can put it on a Spectrometer (sp)and match it up.Near where I live there is a auto paint supplier that will mix up your color and put it in aerosol cans. It is not cheap but it is convienient.Maybe there is something like that near you. :wink:
Well I think the bike in most cases can tell you what to do and you can see that in so many of the bikes on this forum and on the cabe.
Yeah, the 90% complete bikes don't get ratted out even by those in this crowd who would push Howard Carter out of the way and add a headlight and a ratrodbikes.com sticker to King Tut's tomb. And the ones over at the Cabe will restore even those that are less complete but have good paint or a historically worthy pedigree.
Today, a bike with good not great paint, with the scallops still showing but with beat up fenders that could never be straightened might get cleaned up and have the fenders torn off. Exactly what the 15 yr old would have done when he got the bike used in 1966 from his older brother. If more parts were missing, or the metal and chrome is pitted beyond hope that certainly makes a rat rod done cheaply an option as viable as a full blown expensive restore. And again, that is what people did with those old bikes back in the day too. What I mean is that sometimes the rat rods and modified bikes are just as historically valid as the originals.
Yeah, the 90% complete bikes don't get ratted out even by those in this crowd who would push Howard Carter out of the way and add a headlight and a ratrodbikes.com sticker to King Tut's tomb. And the ones over at the Cabe will restore even those that are less complete but have good paint or a historically worthy pedigree.
Today, a bike with good not great paint, with the scallops still showing but with beat up fenders that could never be straightened might get cleaned up and have the fenders torn off. Exactly what the 15 yr old would have done when he got the bike used in 1966 from his older brother. If more parts were missing, or the metal and chrome is pitted beyond hope that certainly makes a rat rod done cheaply an option as viable as a full blown expensive restore. And again, that is what people did with those old bikes back in the day too. What I mean is that sometimes the rat rods and modified bikes are just as historically valid as the originals.
My whole purpose was to do the same thing as the rain forest. May sound funny but they looked up one day and said ,hey if we dont stop, there wont be a tree left. Now there are lots of trees in the world but maybe some of us should look at our rain forest. It was just to get everybody thinking a little about whats left. No biggie and in the scheme of life a few old bikes ratted out shouldnt matter. But we should think sometime we are the custodians of the history of the bikes past and it might be up to us not to ruin it. Ill leave old paint if I can. That dosent mean that I will become a cabie but I go there sometimes just like the rest of us. :lol:
Uncle Stretch, that bike is really sweet!!! Love the yllow and black. I just wanted to add if anyone saw the history of kustom bikes on bikerodnkustom.com. It kinda reflects a lot on what we are also discussing here, and about their (kustom bike) historical value.
I ask myself that question once in a while... These are my thoughts.
Really original bikes, nice original paint frames, bikes in nice complete shape missing only several minor or one or two major components (85- 90% complete) should probably be left original. They sure did a nice job designing and building them years back, and it is nice to preserve some as a record of their glory. Restored bikes are very nice, but I can't ride them without feeling bad about any little nick. I think patina and rust can be beautiful, and really original bikes, complete and with no or little paint left, can often be left as is and be enjoyed thoroughly. In this way they also stand as an example of what the bieks originally were. I think rat-rodding is a very nice way to recycle vintage frames and incomplete bicycles that would otherwise be donors or deteriorate elsewhere slowly due to fear of modifying them and having no current purpose. I mean which is worse- modifying an old cruiser skeleton, or leaving it to deteriorate because you are afraid of modifying it? The modified bicycles can eb beautfiul and are a form of art, and are more enjoyable to me than a show bike- it's nice to look at, but you know it hasn't touched the road usually in quite some time, and will probaably not for some time. (That's not always the case, I'm sure a good few of the restored bikes are ridden by their owners). I think that nothing lasts forever and that eventually (however soon) there will be considerably fewer bikes due to the natural cycle of things. Scrap prices go up and down, nice bikes and rougher bikes alike get scrapped or rot away on farms in woodlands, backyards, etc. To modify the bikes and make them enjoyable in a less traditional way does no disservice to the bike, you may have increased it's life by 50 years. :wink: Many of the changes are reversible anyway- if a bike is ratted then restored down the road, what's the difference? I say just keeping the bikes around, whatever changes done, is great- through the survivor bikes should stand as tributes to genuine styling and perfection and be left either cleaned, restored, or as is. Also, I see no problem with reversible changes like tires, grips, and add ons that make an old bike useable (again, to keep the bike running slightly modified is better than letting it sit in a barn or shed PERFECTLY stock to me)...Even the not-so-reversible changes can be undone by someone with skill and will to do it. I don't really like the idea of ratting cheap repro cruisers made here or in other countries, so if there is no more ratting, build and then rat custom, homebuilt frames.
There's truth to me in both "Bikes are only original once" and in "Bicycles were built for riding".
By the way, I love those Colson clone frames! Those are sweet! I need to start building frames.
Really original bikes, nice original paint frames, bikes in nice complete shape missing only several minor or one or two major components (85- 90% complete) should probably be left original. They sure did a nice job designing and building them years back, and it is nice to preserve some as a record of their glory. Restored bikes are very nice, but I can't ride them without feeling bad about any little nick. I think patina and rust can be beautiful, and really original bikes, complete and with no or little paint left, can often be left as is and be enjoyed thoroughly. In this way they also stand as an example of what the bieks originally were. I think rat-rodding is a very nice way to recycle vintage frames and incomplete bicycles that would otherwise be donors or deteriorate elsewhere slowly due to fear of modifying them and having no current purpose. I mean which is worse- modifying an old cruiser skeleton, or leaving it to deteriorate because you are afraid of modifying it? The modified bicycles can eb beautfiul and are a form of art, and are more enjoyable to me than a show bike- it's nice to look at, but you know it hasn't touched the road usually in quite some time, and will probaably not for some time. (That's not always the case, I'm sure a good few of the restored bikes are ridden by their owners). I think that nothing lasts forever and that eventually (however soon) there will be considerably fewer bikes due to the natural cycle of things. Scrap prices go up and down, nice bikes and rougher bikes alike get scrapped or rot away on farms in woodlands, backyards, etc. To modify the bikes and make them enjoyable in a less traditional way does no disservice to the bike, you may have increased it's life by 50 years. :wink: Many of the changes are reversible anyway- if a bike is ratted then restored down the road, what's the difference? I say just keeping the bikes around, whatever changes done, is great- through the survivor bikes should stand as tributes to genuine styling and perfection and be left either cleaned, restored, or as is. Also, I see no problem with reversible changes like tires, grips, and add ons that make an old bike useable (again, to keep the bike running slightly modified is better than letting it sit in a barn or shed PERFECTLY stock to me)...Even the not-so-reversible changes can be undone by someone with skill and will to do it. I don't really like the idea of ratting cheap repro cruisers made here or in other countries, so if there is no more ratting, build and then rat custom, homebuilt frames.
There's truth to me in both "Bikes are only original once" and in "Bicycles were built for riding".
By the way, I love those Colson clone frames! Those are sweet! I need to start building frames.
Hello Uncle Stretch and All,
I bought this straightbar in hopes of a restoration but I need so many parts
looks like I'm gonna do a reverseable rat job. My point in choosing this
candidate was that it clearly need a repaint. The onlt thing any good is the
frame and that reflector.
Cheers.
I bought this straightbar in hopes of a restoration but I need so many parts
looks like I'm gonna do a reverseable rat job. My point in choosing this
candidate was that it clearly need a repaint. The onlt thing any good is the
frame and that reflector.
Cheers.
I love the ones like that. They are clearly Rat material. No inner turmoil on what to do. Get out your masking tape and your chosen colors of paint and get after it. Looks like a good starting point.
Unchained I think you said it perfectly. It boils down to Life is for the living...Bikes are made to be ridden....and if it has good paint dont mess with it.
Of course, most if not all of us here don't have an extra $1500 to do a museum quality resto! And as has been said, then you're afraid to ride it. Like a show car, it's practically redundant. Just something to look at. I guess my point is, there's nice, and then there's TOO nice! As far as wether to mess with a bike or not, it's a fine line. Most of my bikes aren't particularly rare. There are a few that I want to "restify"; redo bad repaints, make 'em rideable, and get 'em close to original without breaking the bank or going clinically insane! ~Adam
I ran across this quote and really thought it appropriate.
"Derelict old bicycles have the patience of a giant sequoia as they are absolutely comfortable to sit and rust into the ground. Natural as can be. To rustle these slumbering beasts from their preferred state means the mechanic must exhibit that same patience...
Sometimes you need to stare at a bike for a couple days, weeks or years until you get that inspiration of what would be best to do with it.
"Derelict old bicycles have the patience of a giant sequoia as they are absolutely comfortable to sit and rust into the ground. Natural as can be. To rustle these slumbering beasts from their preferred state means the mechanic must exhibit that same patience...
Sometimes you need to stare at a bike for a couple days, weeks or years until you get that inspiration of what would be best to do with it.
