Ok. This is my first rat bike. I didn't really have an idea in mind but I was watching The World's Fastest Indian (if you haven't seen it, i highly recommend it!) and i found some inspiration towards what i ended up with. So i just kind of went after it! Here's what i started with:
Just an old beater bike I picked up local off of Craigslist for $50 (Cruisers are a little harder to find out here in Vegas).
I then decided I wanted to fill the frame and i decided i would just use good old wood.
So i cut up an old peice of pine i had laying around and fitted it in and then i flipped the bars.
And in the mean time i also ran across an old PurLux Fog light that was made to fit in the bumper of a semi truck. I had it sittin on the shelf in the tool room and decided it was just what i needed. So i fabbed up the old bracket to make it fit my neck.
After i got the wood to fit "good enough" i took it back out and i distressed it with a pocket knife and then i soaked the wood in dilluted black paint ('lot cheaper than wood stain!) to give it that ol' fashioned used look. Then i strapped it on the frame with some leather string.
My local bike shop has a used bike part bin that happened to have a pretty worn Brooks Saddle laying in it for $10. I didn't argue price, i just drooled and pulled my wallet out. :lol:
I cleaned out the black paint can i used for the wood with some good old diesel :idea: and decided to use it as a saddle bag. But i needed a way to easily acces the can without carrying a flat head with me to pop the top! So i poked a couple holes and ran a spring internally from the lid to the bottom of the can, now i can just grad the lid and rotate it out of the way for access and it still seals snug.
I also switched out the black tire with a WALMART special (BELL Streamliner smoothie) and i kept the old knobby up front.
I didn't take as many pictures as i wanted throughout the whole process. Mainly because i didn't think it would make it to the forum being how most of my projects fail to be completed! :wink: But anyway, I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out. There's still a hand full of things I need to do to it. I need to figure out the best way to power my light. I removed the old bulb already. So i will probably just use a LED flashlights guts and wire up a switch (one of these days). And in the future I may change the paint. Maybe i'll strip it and let it get nice and rusty
. Otherwise I may do a gloss black or a dark green. We'll see! I don't consider any of my projects completely finished. Thanks for looking!
-Erick (rookie rat maker)
* For some reason my pictures are too big, but i guess it's okay.
Just an old beater bike I picked up local off of Craigslist for $50 (Cruisers are a little harder to find out here in Vegas).
I then decided I wanted to fill the frame and i decided i would just use good old wood.
So i cut up an old peice of pine i had laying around and fitted it in and then i flipped the bars.
And in the mean time i also ran across an old PurLux Fog light that was made to fit in the bumper of a semi truck. I had it sittin on the shelf in the tool room and decided it was just what i needed. So i fabbed up the old bracket to make it fit my neck.
After i got the wood to fit "good enough" i took it back out and i distressed it with a pocket knife and then i soaked the wood in dilluted black paint ('lot cheaper than wood stain!) to give it that ol' fashioned used look. Then i strapped it on the frame with some leather string.
My local bike shop has a used bike part bin that happened to have a pretty worn Brooks Saddle laying in it for $10. I didn't argue price, i just drooled and pulled my wallet out. :lol:
I cleaned out the black paint can i used for the wood with some good old diesel :idea: and decided to use it as a saddle bag. But i needed a way to easily acces the can without carrying a flat head with me to pop the top! So i poked a couple holes and ran a spring internally from the lid to the bottom of the can, now i can just grad the lid and rotate it out of the way for access and it still seals snug.
I also switched out the black tire with a WALMART special (BELL Streamliner smoothie) and i kept the old knobby up front.
I didn't take as many pictures as i wanted throughout the whole process. Mainly because i didn't think it would make it to the forum being how most of my projects fail to be completed! :wink: But anyway, I'm pretty happy with the way this one turned out. There's still a hand full of things I need to do to it. I need to figure out the best way to power my light. I removed the old bulb already. So i will probably just use a LED flashlights guts and wire up a switch (one of these days). And in the future I may change the paint. Maybe i'll strip it and let it get nice and rusty
. Otherwise I may do a gloss black or a dark green. We'll see! I don't consider any of my projects completely finished. Thanks for looking!-Erick (rookie rat maker)
* For some reason my pictures are too big, but i guess it's okay.
