Re birth of Seans MotoRat

Bike Wall
shop deals on amazon
BOXKARS
Advertise with us
Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum

Help Support Rat Rod Bikes Bicycle Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
sean138

sean138

Joined
May 17, 2008
Messages
183
Reaction score
3
Location
Muncie, Indiana
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
About a year ago I got started on a motorized project. I had become infatuated with board track motorcycles. Knowing I would never scrape enough change together to buy a real one I decided to build a replica. I got bored with the bike I had built. Sure it gave me the feeling of riding something similar to what a 10's era motorcycle ride would have been like but it had no character. Time to back up and start over!
What was...
DSC02622.jpg

1st mock up...
DSC02928.jpg

DSC02931.jpg

DSC02930.jpg

DSC02929.jpg

The frame is a Sears Free Spirit. 26" Araya rims with a Shimano coaster brake rear hub. I'll rebadge it as a Sears bike on the tank sides since they did sell mail order motorcycles in the teens and twentys. Color is going to be royal blue with gold leaf pen striping. The motor is the cheep Chinese 2 strokes of the 49cc type. Hoping to add a vintage Troxel seat and some truss rods to the fork. Can't weld so we'll see what come of just putting odd parts together.
Sean
 
Way cool, thanks for the adds to, I didn't know Sears sold motorcycles back then!
 
cman said:
Cool. where did you get that tank?
Click to expand...
The tank was an ebay find. Same with the motor. The hanging tank holds a gallon. I think it was 30-35 dollars. Don't remember the seller but I know they sell alot of motorized bike kits.
Sean
 
hotfoot said:
Way cool, thanks for the adds to, I didn't know Sears sold motorcycles back then!
Click to expand...
I'm a Sears and Roebuck junkie! They even sold houses. They came in a kit form with instructions. Shipped as close as possible to you in box cars! Even came with all the nails and shingles.
1916_C2003.jpg

This one is from 1916.
Sean
 
Holy cow...and I thought IKEA was bad. :shock:

I worked part time for Sears in the hardware dept. starting when I was in High School until I graduated from college. Six years of selling tools for them. Working at three different stores....one in Schaumburg, Illinois...one in Houston, TX and then the last one up in Denton, TX.

I even met my wife at Sears....she worked in electronics. :wink:
 
sean138 said:
They even sold houses. They came in a kit form with instructions. Shipped as close as possible to you in box cars! Even came with all the nails and shingles.
Click to expand...

I have that book. I was researching my house as I was told it was a kit house. It was built in 1903, but I never found the exact house.

Rat Rod said:
I worked part time for Sears in the hardware dept. starting when I was in High School until I graduated from college. Six years of selling tools for them. Working at three different stores....one in Schaumburg, Illinois...one in Houston, TX and then the last one up in Denton, TX.
Click to expand...
You should have the whole complement of Craftsman tools then.
 
cman said:
I have that book. I was researching my house as I was told it was a kit house. It was built in 1903, but I never found the exact house.
Click to expand...
There were about a dozen different companies that sold kit houses. I've found 5 or 6 around here that are Sears kits.
Sean
 
Super cool cocept. I had something close to that on mind as well. but with kind od Hank Young twist to have that oldskool feel and look but with a more contemporary look.(longer, lower, meaner)
 
ratina said:
Our house is a sears house, from around 1944/45. Is that catalog online somewhere? Id love to see it in the catalog
Click to expand...
Look for Sear Archive. There are some ads for Sears houses there by decade.
Sean
 
jclo3313 said:
Super cool cocept. I had something close to that on mind as well. but with kind od Hank Young twist to have that oldskool feel and look but with a more contemporary look.(longer, lower, meaner)
Click to expand...
Thanks! If I had the ability to weld I would go for a more original look. Living in a second floor apartment has its drawbacks.
Sean
 
I'm sure you've thought of this already, but instead of Sears on the tank, put Sean's. I think it'd be the perfect touch.

Untitled-2.jpg
 
My god!! I just been cooking the same idea for the last couple of days!!
I even bought a welder yesterday to start the project, althou I have a couple of builds to start and finish first.
This will be great inspiration!!! Can´t wait to see how this comes along. :D
 
Here's a quick update on this one. Started stripping paint and won a seat on ebay. Also a look at the decal for the tank.
sears.jpg

Decal design
searstanklogo.jpg

Planning a fake oil handpump to place on the left side of the tank. We'll use the pump from a Coleman stove and some copper tube of different sizes. The clutch cable will run through the pump handle to the clutch arm. This way there will be no levers on the handle bars.
Pics coming soon.
Sean
 
Here's a crappy concept drawing for the pump/clutch control.
clutchcontrol.jpg

and what I'm trying to replicate
1084.jpg

Thoughts, ideas or comments?
Sean
 
Too cool! That tank is killer, the whole project is going to rock! Will be watching this one closely... the ads are too cool as well!
 

Latest posts

Back
Top