Diagnosis:Tripolar Some Progress

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Re: Diagnosis:Tripolar Fender Fab and Shifter Mount

Jake Sensi said:
YOU ARE GOING TO MAKE PEOPLE VIEW TRIKES DIFFERENTLY. TRIKE STOCKS GOING UP NOW. YEAH THE CROW IS IN MY TOP TEN. I EVEN HAVE THE #1 COMIC BOOK. I WAS GOING TO BUILD A TRIKE FOR THE BUILD-OFF,BUT WHEN I WENT TO BUY IT IT WAS SOLD. OH YEAH -CHECK THIS OUT
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NOW GET TA BUILDIN'!! PEACE

Cool ink,Jake!Good luck finding a trike.There are always a few on CL in Denver.They usually go for $150 and up.I got lucky and scored this one,along with 3 other bikes for $200.A pretty good bargain in my book.The others are 2 Ross Central Parks and a Hiawatha muscle bike.Time to get back ta buildin'!
 
Re: Diagnosis:Tripolar Moving Forward!!

Sorry for my absence lately.Life has been busy lately,but I have been making progress when I have been able.

A couple weekends ago,I spent most of my available time carving a filler strip for the tank out of a chunk of oak I glued up.
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Profile
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Top,before cutting
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I don't have pics yet of the piece in it's finished state.I fought with the attachment mechanism before coming up with a decent solution.A whole weekend on this piece :roll: Easily the most time consuming aspect of this build so far :shock:

Last weekend,I hooked up the shifter to the derailleur to make sure it was going to work.Should be sweet when final assembly occurs.I also discovered that when I pedalled the bike,it tried to rip off the fenders.I,need to re-think the lower fender braces.Then tore the bike apart for paint stripping,sanding,cleaning,polishing,lube,etc. ...........
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Another pile of parts
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I found a Huret speedometer in my pile of parts that fits nicely on this build.I just need a cable and gear for a 26" wheel.This one has a gear for a 16"/20" wheel and none of the cables I have seem to have the proper size ends to thread into the back :(
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Got the frame stripped.
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Filled a couple holes,sanded and prepped for paint.
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Shot a few coats of Duplicolor Hot Rod Gray.
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I am pleased with the color.I need to sand and repaint a small area around 2 holes I bondo'd but am happy with the results so far.The color is actually darker than it appears in these photos.My phone does wierd things to pics sometimes.And that's basically where things stand at the moment.
I hope to have the tank and chainguard painted with the first color today.I need to remove rust,fill a hole I made in the tank removing an internal bracket,fill the crank rub on the chain guard and polish exposed parts I want polished before sanding for paint.And strip the old paint.Lots of work,but should be cool when finished. :wink:

Thanks again for watching my build and your encouraging words :!: :!: Time to get busy.........
 
Re: Diagnosis:Tripolar Fender Fab and Shifter Mount

hey Eric.. They mentioned you down at Cycle-Analist on friday afternoon when i went to get my new pedals. They said they hoped i would win and if i didn't that you probable would.. any who.. your progress is looking good. I had a 26" speedo i could have donated to the cause but i sold it on a bike about 3 weeks ago. Timing is a real bummer sometimes. I like the placement of the speedometer! I have never rode a trike before. I am thinking of buying one or build a side cart for my dog. I really want to make a reverse trike cycle truck dragster looking ride. I better get back to breaking stuff..
 
Re: Diagnosis:Tripolar Moving Forward!!

Thanks Mick.Except that last time I was at Cycle Analist they said they hoped I would win :lol: When you get to ride this trike,you will definitely want to get one.They are a lot of fun and have a very unique ride.It's a little disconcerting at first,since they follow the terrain.You will feel the crown in the road.I've been wanting to put a side car on a Schwinn stationary bike for when I get around to getting a dog. :roll: That's kinda how I got into old bikes a few years ago.I wanted an old cruiser to put a basket on for errands and to cruise my dog to the park.Now I have around 150 bikes and no dog :( And none of my bikes have baskets(I keep taking them off).Speaking of which,I finally bought a Spaceliner :D .I've been trying to add one to my collection for a while now but kept missing out on one due to timing.It had a basket(which I removed)that I may be able to use the supports for my revamped fender braces :idea: .I was very excited to finally be getting a Spaceliner.The guy also had a couple womens bikes on CL.When I went to pick the bike up,I couldn't help noticing another old bike sitting there that wasn't posted.After talking to the guy a while,he wanted to pick my brain about the old bike sitting to the side.It turns out to be a Schwinn from probably the 30's.It has the sweetheart skiptooth sprocket running to a New Departure 2 speed coaster brake hub with shifter and laced to chrome clad wood rims.It has a long spring seat on a lucky 7 seatpost,a 9 hole rear carrier and some of the craziest handlebars I've ever seen with Coke bottle grips.The bars look like they may be old track bars flipped upside down.The tires are so old and dry,it's hard to read the size,but they are 28"x? and hard as a rock.I am very excited about this bike :D :!:I'll try to get pics today and post them in Fresh Finds.
This buying spree is a big part of why I didn't get much work done on my trike yesterday.That,and the fact that the parts I wanted to work on needed to soak longer to remove the rust.They should be good to go today. Speaking of which,time to get crackin'.......
 
LOOKING GOOD AS USUAL !! BETTER GET A MOVE ON . THE CLOCK IS TICKIN' SO...GET TA BUILDIN'!! PEACE
 
Nice trike ! I look forward to the finished pics. I am going to be looking for one for beer, groceries, beer not necessarily in that order.
 
Re: Diagnosis:Tripolar Out of Time

Well,the deadline has come and gone and I was unable to finish on time :cry: :oops: :cry: .I was probably less than 3 hours away from having a ridable bike.I am so bummed :!: At least every one that finished has a chance of winning the trophy now :lol: :mrgreen: .
I ran into trouble last Thursday,when I painted the tank and chainguard.I had the parts I wanted shiny,polished and masked off.Shot the first color,let it dry for what I thought was long enough,and masked for the second color.I shot the second color and let it dry for a while before removing the masking,and much of the first color :shock: .It was a very humid day,which doesn't happen often in Colorado.This is usually a semi-arid climate.The monsoonal flow has been brutal this year.At least everything is green rather than being on fire :) .So I had to basically sand everything down and repaint the first color on Saturday.With time running out,I was severely behind the eight ball.I had been cleaning/polishing parts all week so that I could focus on assembly this past weekend with a little time for finding a good spot for finished photos.Didn't work out that way.I ended working both days from 7a.m. till 10p.m. just to get ready to assemble on Monday.

Tank and chainguard ready to paint.
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Tank and chainguard after paint(twice) and pinstripes.
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Piles of parts waiting for assembly.Monday morning.
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Frame bolted up.
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Crank,wheels,tires,fork and derailleur installed.
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Sorry I don't have more photos of build up.I was trying to meet the deadline.Here is where I was at the time the clock ran out.
Uh oh!Flickr has the hiccups.Let me get back to you.
Cool.Flickr is back up.Here's my bike as of 9:00pm CST on Aug.1.I just got the derailleur hooked up and was out of time :cry: :cry: .
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I still have to put the seat together.
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Clean,lube and install the brakes and add new pads.Unmask the chainguard,wax,re-do pinstripes buggered up by masking and mount.Polish the seatpost and install with seat.Then I should have a ridable bike.Then I can finish the fenders and a few other details I set aside in hopes of having a bike in the voting.Then it will be complete.

Good luck to all you talented builders :!: There are some incredible bikes to chose from.I will have a hard time deciding on just 3 to vote for.Hopefully my bike not making the deadline will make it tough on the rest of the voters :p :lol: .Just kidding!This has been a blast and has taught me a lot trying to keep up with such imaginative and inspiring people.Be sure to check back with me to see how things finally turn out.I hope you are impressed with the results :shock: .I am happy with the results so far and can't wait to ride this thing.Having said that,time to get in the garage :!:
 
Re: Diagnosis:Tripolar It's a Rider!!!

I had the chance to finish installing the components to make Tripolar ridable this past Thursday,but took it for a ride instead of taking pictures.It is definitely a unique ride.Here is what I was hoping to have entered in the contest.
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I have some fine tuning to do and need to come up with a parking brake because if it's not on a perfectly level surface,it will roll.I also need to complete the fenders for it to be finished.I'll have them done as soon as I am able.Other than that,it's turned out just the way I envisioned.Thanks for checking back on the progress!
 
Ya know I was rooting for you. Better luck next year. Send us the pic when ya finish. Peace
 
Jake Sensi said:
Ya know I was rooting for you. Better luck next year. Send us the pic when ya finish. Peace

Thanks for your support Jake :!: Check out the recent pics and let me know what you think.I like your build-off bike as well.I can't wait 'til next year.I've got a Green Phantom skeleton I may need to gather parts for RRBBO 7.This year was a lot of fun and taught me a few new skills.Looking forward to another build-off :wink:
 
That is a wicked trike. I love the floating tank and the paint scheme.
 
kingfish254 said:
That is a wicked trike. I love the floating tank and the paint scheme.

Thanks kingfish!The tank is very solid as well.I was checking out your build-off bike and it made me thirsty.I really like the seat.How many beers are represented on the bike?
 
Circa Cycles said:
kingfish254 said:
That is a wicked trike. I love the floating tank and the paint scheme.

Thanks kingfish!The tank is very solid as well.I was checking out your build-off bike and it made me thirsty.I really like the seat.How many beers are represented on the bike?

Do you mean how many are on the bike or how many I had during the build????!!!! :p :p

I don't know how many varieties, but I think I counted up 83 or so beer parts on the bike.
 
I was curious how many different labels are on it.But how many did you consume building it :?: Maybe that could be a new way to classify projects.As in;"Oh,that's a 47 beer build." or "That project will take about 132 beers.148 if I do the paint." :idea:
 
Circa Cycles said:
Jake Sensi said:
Ya know I was rooting for you. Better luck next year. Send us the pic when ya finish. Peace

Thanks for your support Jake :!: Check out the recent pics and let me know what you think.I like your build-off bike as well.I can't wait 'til next year.I've got a Green Phantom skeleton I may need to gather parts for RRBBO 7.This year was a lot of fun and taught me a few new skills.Looking forward to another build-off :wink:
YO!! YA PICS ARE SICK. WHEN BEER RUN WAS IN PHILLY WE DISCUSSED YOUR BIKE. YOU MADE ME WANT THAT TANK EVEN MORE NOW!! SO IF ANYONE HAS ONE BREAKDOWN ! OH YEAH CUE UP THAT TOM PETTY SONG AS WELL!! CWAZY WRATTER!! PEACE
 

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