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Thunder

Thunder

Joined
Mar 23, 2008
Messages
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Location
On the plains of Colorado
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It's been a while, since my last visit. Many things in my life have changed. I am now "Single". My ex, left in a storm, leaving me changed for life. Because of the beating, the reconstructive surgery, and the struggle of recovery, I thought that I may never ride a bike again. Recently though, I have met an AMAZING Woman, who insists, that I WILL ride again. So my story begins.
I started with an old frame, a few years ago, but it has been pushed off to the side. Now the build begins. Built around a New Departure, skip tooth hub, I embark on a new adventure...
 
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As this bike is being built, in true "Ratrod" style, my goal is to spend little, if any money at all. I had a gooseneck, that I really wanted to use on this. However, it was just a bit larger in diameter, than the fork tube. Easy fix. Cut the top off the original fork tube. Weld the other one on. DONE! Silly me, I forgot to put the correct bearing race on. Two shims, similar to connecting rod bearings, were needed for the larger bearings. These were made with sheet metal, and shaved down to fit, the fork tube... More on this later.
 
So even though I wanted an "Old School" bike, I wanted just a bit of "Techno" thrown in.
I made the rear rack from a big screen TV mount kit. I put large hex spacers between the rails. The all thread rod ends, will be cut to length, and capped with castle nuts. The rearmost spacer, has a short piece of pipe welded to it, for the tail light.
 
Working on the chain guard tonight. This was made from a steel shelf, that I rescued (pulled) out of the trash... It spoke to me. It begged me "PLEASE. Please, let me live again. as a chain guard on you bike build"... Well, not really. But I thought that it would work.
Not done yet. More to come, on this...
 
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I felt that on this bike, truss rods would be mandatory. So I grabbed this, out of the parts box.

So off to the Auto Parts store to spend some money. Darn it. But I HAD to have, truss rods. Two 1/4" brake lines, offered to help with this.

I put a bend in them, then futzed with them both, until they matched and followed the line of the forks.

These washers, (front wheel safeties) will be used for the lower mounts.
 
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Loving the chain guard, almost has a casket type feel to it. The truss rods are really great as well!
 
For some silly reason, I even feel compelled to make the valve stem caps, from some old dice...

Yet in doing this, and even planning my next build, I got to thinking. Perhaps I should build my next bike, in a "Gambler" theme...
 
Let's get caught up, on some recent events. In riding this bike, I found my legs to be a bit cramped. Rather than raise the seat, I chose to curve the seat post, and slide the seat, a bit to the rear.


I went with smaller spacers, for the rack. The larger ones looked good, however, there was no good way to keep the 1/4" all thread rod, centered.


The rear spacer, was left as is, because of the tail light mount, that was welded to it. The All thread rod, was epoxied in place, for this part.


The rack is now complete. The all thread on the rear spacer, will be cut to fit, after the rear braces are installed.
 
My apologies, for not keeping up, with the progress here. Though many things lately, have occupied my time, I have been able to s l o w l y make some progress here.

The frame, is now ready for prime & paint. This frame was built as a "Girls" bike. I removed the upper tube from the "Girls" bike, and replaced it with two new uppers, making it a "Boys" bike. Sadly, I didn't take any pics of the conversion. At any rate, the gender has been changed, into something, that I am more comfortable with.




As this bike is progressing, I am already planning and fabricating, a new build. A similar frame, with rear dropouts, a tank, and a springer front end. This, on top of building my Schwinn, with a two speed Bendix.

I have REALLY, been MISSING this stuff. Let's ride...
 
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