I need some ideas for my Schwinn American

[OctopusHook]

So here is another one of my bikes, a 50s Schwinn American. I'm not sure what I want to do to it though, I was hoping to get some suggestions. I recently made the seat post and flipped the bars around for a more speedy look and ridding position. The seat post is not in it's final form (gotta round out the corner and shorten the horizontal bar) but basically that's how it will work. I definitely like the board racer look but what I'm not sure about is what to do about the paint, if anything. Possibly do a springer fork? I just don't know. What do you guys think?
Thanks,
Nate

 

[Walker]

I'd find a theme and then adapt the bike around that. If you like "boardtracker", do some research, lets say you find a particular antique motorcycle brand that appeals, make some changes to the bike that reflect that particular machine. Make it your own.

A fake tank would be easy on that bike, something out of plywood could slip between the lower canti bars.

 

[Rev.LowBuck]

MTB riser bars
new tires
clean up the wheels
don't touch the paint!

 

[kram]

I think they look good with some balloon tires stuffed under the fenders. Here is mine.

 

[ratina]

I think they look good with some balloon tires stuffed under the fenders. Here is mine.

I was gonna say the same thing. Get a different set of rims and put some ballooners under those fenders. I did the same on my 56 speedster

 

[SimpleMan]

I love middleweights with Balloon tires. Yours would look very good that way. Not a Schwinn but same idea....heres my '60 Huffy with ballooners. It's a tight fit and the rims need to be true......makes for a good look.

 

[Buck Masterson]

GREAT bike, you gotsta fix those handlebars though.

 

[OctopusHook]

Nice bike Kram! I definitely gotta get some balloon tires and I like how those black rims look too. how wide are the tires? I like the look of your light too, I actually bought an old tractor light on ebay the other day that kinda looks like that. I plan on modding it to an LED but I'm not sure what bike its going to go on yet. I'll definitely try it out on this bike.

I put the bars like that so I could get more forward torso extension so I wouldn't have to use seat position alone to get the riding position I wanted. I know they look a little odd but they get the job done. If anyone knows of some other bars the would give a similar riding position and look less goofy let me know.

So if I don't repaint it what can I do to keep it from rusting more and make it look as good as good as possible?
Thanks,
Nate

 

[OctopusHook]

I started a build thread for this bike.
viewtopic.php?f=21&t=37997&p=372188#p372188