Oranjeboom Bomber

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I drilled and tapped the bottom of the stem through the handle bars and put in a 1/4 bolt with the head sawed off and a slot for a screwdriver cut in the bolt head. Next Ill weld the bolt to the stem. Since it's on the bottom of the stem where it is not visible it will be able to be removed by grinding off the tack and screwing it out.

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Really like how this turned out. Color scheme kind of reminds me of a Kubota tractor.

Front brake is really cool. Do you know what time period it's from? Looks like you have some good off road gearing. That's the smallest skip tooth I've ever seen. Are those small holes for something to bolt to?
 
Really like how this turned out. Color scheme kind of reminds me of a Kubota tractor.

Front brake is really cool. Do you know what time period it's from? Looks like you have some good off road gearing. That's the smallest skip tooth I've ever seen. Are those small holes for something to bolt to?

The front brake was used on, I think, 1955, 56 and 57 Schwinn American bicycles. I can't find them used on other Schwinn's in their old on line catalogues. They probably were used on other models from that time period, but it is a very rare piece. The chainring is a modern Wald 28 tooth job with every other tooth ground off. I think the holes are for decoration but perhaps not. The rear cog is 10 tooth. It's still geared pretty high for steep hills. I have a real 17 tooth chainring from an antique Childs sidewalk bike that I was going to use but the gearing was too high for me. I went with the 14 x 10 skip tooth gearing as my best compromise.
 
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That drive train is super cool! Love the way the chain looks on that, big and nasty. Orange color and big knobbies look rugged, should get quite the looks at the Ore to Shore.
 
That drive train is super cool! Love the way the chain looks on that, big and nasty. Orange color and big knobbies look rugged, should get quite the looks at the Ore to Shore.

Most people don't notice my 30s-40s bikes when I race them. Out of hundreds of racers I might get one sometimes two comments. One from someone I pass and one from a fan at a bad spot on the trail, that's it. It's weird as I'm always checking out every bike I see. Also most mountain bike riders don't know what a Klunker is, don't know the origin of their sport. I ride Klunkers quite a lot on group mountain bike rides and people think I'm nuts. They cheer when I bring a real mountain bike, which might be my 1980 job or one of my 90s jobs. Perhaps with the movie "Klunkers" having been on streaming recently maybe more people will notice it this year. We will see. Most people think it's just a weird old geezer on his original POS bike from when he was a kid.
 
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"Most people think it's just a weird old geezer on his original POS bike from when he was a kid."
~ us56456712

I get that a lot. :grin:
 
Sweet build! Love that small skippy chainring!
I've had that same velcro bottle cage for years. Perfect to use on any bike anytime you need one. But, I don't think mine has ever had "water" in it :D .
 
Sweet build! Love that small skippy chainring!
I've had that same velcro bottle cage for years. Perfect to use on any bike anytime you need one. But, I don't think mine has ever had "water" in it :D .

Keeping in the Rat Bike tradition it's now held on with Velcro, Sho Goo and Duct Tape. The Velcro kept shifting on rough trails. You don't need a lot of water for the Ore to Shore race because of the aid stations. The race is Saturday and I hope the 80 year old chain lasts. I'm doing the wimp version, only 28 miles point to point.
 
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The chain didn't break. I finished the 28 miles in about 2hours 45 minutes. There were about 2500 racers and I passed some truly horrible accidents. It look like people were very seriously injured, unconscious and maybe one was paralyzed. I had a prefered start, I prefer to start about last to avoid the crazy handlebar jousting. Apparently people are much more aware of klunkers because I had many comments and a lot of cheers along the way, which was encouraging. A group of younger racers I never met before adopted me and drove my truck to the finish, cheered me at the finish and gave me beer and food. What a great community cyclist are. Excuse my tongue sticking out, since my mini stroke 2 months ago my tongue has a mind of its own.
 
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Man! You are an inspiration to us all! That is an incredible feat, and great time for a single speed, much less a 35 lb klunker that's older than nearly every other competitor.

Amazing! You rock. :rockout::41:
 
Man! You are an inspiration to us all! That is an incredible feat, and great time for a single speed, much less a 35 lb klunker that's older than nearly every other competitor.

Amazing! You rock. :rockout::41:
I though I did OK until the awards ceremony. I left in disgust after they announced the winners of the ten year old girls 28 mile winners, they were faster than me. In my defense I suspect them of doping. I'm considering an official race protest.
 
Today was the Ore to Shore hangover ride, a classic cruiser ride and party. What a fun weekend. I got commissioned to rebuild a New Departure coaster hub, build a klunker and build a classic cruiser from my spare parts. I might just sell Oranjaboom instead of building another klunker.
Got no room for it and I have too many klunkers. I probably will not ride it again anyway. Done that. I let people ride it and the consensus was that it was unreadable for more than 3 miles. What a bunch of wimps.
 
The chain didn't break. I finished the 28 miles in about 2hours 45 minutes. There were about 2500 racers and I passed some truly horrible accidents. It look like people were very seriously injured, unconscious and maybe one was paralyzed. I had a prefered start, I prefer to start about last to avoid the crazy handlebar jousting. Apparently people are much more aware of klunkers because I had many comments and a lot of cheers along the way, which was encouraging. A group of younger racers I never met before adopted me and drove my truck to the finish, cheered me at the finish and gave me beer and food. What a great community cyclist are. Excuse my tongue sticking out, since my mini stroke 2 months ago my tongue has a mind of its own.

Dude! That is awesome! Glad to here you had such a good time on your build off bike and you survived with no injuries :D ! BRAVO!!!!
 
I don’t know about anyone else, the the hangover cruise and party sound A LOT more fun than the actual race, which apparently left people maimed, shredded, and possibly paralyzed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
I don’t know about anyone else, the the hangover cruise and party sound A LOT more fun than the actual race, which apparently left people maimed, shredded, and possibly paralyzed


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I ran into an EMT this morning and he said that yesterday was the worst day ever or worse day in along time, can't remember his exact words. He said there were a lot of stiches and lacerations. There were also broken ribs, several broken shoulders, several broken hips, broken arms, broken legs, concussions and a multiple sklull fracture that he said was really a crushed skull. He said no one died, but that happened once before. They put you in a neck brace, on a back board and then someone comes on an ATV to haul you out to the nearest road hanging on a board on the back of the ATV. His reference to several or multiple could be two, or more, he didn't elaborate. All these injuries could be shared by a few or many, he didn't eloborate and I didn't ask.
 
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I just caught up on this thread...its been a few weeks. That was some good reading...I experienced shock, sorrow, and a couple of LOLs :grin:.

Fantastic topper to a nifty build :41:.

The latest rumor is that there was a broken neck in the race and that someone was airlifted to a larger center for treatment. I have not read anything about the carnage, just what people are saying about this race. If I do it again I will start at the back again. You come in way back this way as the hills I can ride get jammed up with people pushing. All it takes is for someone to have to push and it becomes jammed because of the single track.
 

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