the man in black

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Sep 2, 2008
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i'm not sure witch way this build will go. it will be stripped down, simple, and black.
it will either be all black w/ a few chrome bits and fasteners or it will be 1/2 black and 1/2 chrome. we'll see.
i got this early 50s JCHiggins for free from a pal of mine and i bought a murray 3spd for 5 clams just for the fork.
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Well, you wonder why I always dress
in black,
Why you never see bright colors on my back,
And why does my appearance seem to have a somber tone.
Well, there's a reason for the things that I have on.
I wear the black for the poor and the beaten down,
Livin' in the hopeless, hungry side of town,
I wear it for the prisoner who has long paid for his crime,
But is there because he's a victim of the times
.
I wear the black for those who never read,
Or listened to the words that ..... said,
About the road to happiness through love and charity,
Why, you'd think He's talking straight to you and me.
Well, we're doin' mighty fine, I do suppose,
In our streak of lightnin' cars and fancy clothes,
But just so we're reminded of the ones who are held back,
Up front there ought 'a be a Man In Black.
I wear it for the sick and lonely old,
For the reckless ones whose bad trip left them cold,
I wear the black in mournin' for the lives that could have been,
Each week we lose a hundred fine young men.
And, I wear it for the thousands who have died,
Believen' that the Lord was on their side,
I wear it for another hundred thousand who have died,
Believen' that we all were on their side.
Well, there's things that never will be right I know,
And things need changin' everywhere you go,
But 'til we start to make a move to make a few things right,
You'll never see me wear a suit of white.
Ah, I'd love to wear a rainbow every day,
And tell the world that everything's OK,
But I'll try to carry off a little darkness on my back,
'Till things are brighter, I'm the Man In Black.

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i did a little work this weekend.
i'm makin' my own truss rods and mount bracket.
i took a bunch of pix before and during, but those are in my other camera, so here's all i got.
i did this w/ a scrap of strap steel, a couple steel rods, and a reflector mount.
i thought the truss' mounted in front of the axle instead of the normal above would look cool.
i still need to bend and tap the other ends, or weld some alan bolts to 'em.
i'll keep y'all posted.
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not much to show, but i think i've got it set up the way i want.
the handlebar is from my buddies royal enfield(motorcycle). i'll probably cut 2" off each end.
i scored the wrights saddle off ebay a week ago.
i guess i'll dis-assemble it next week and sand-blast it.
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Great dude. As soon as I saw that first picture I thought to myself, "That would look awesome as a board tracker." Sure enough! It looks excellent so far.
 
i stopped by a bike shop in town. not my regular and favorite shop, but i had to run some errands sunday morning and i was on that side of town.
they had a pair of quick bricks in stock. that was exactly the tread pattern i was lookin' for.
they were white walls and i wanted black walls. the guys workin' there said they couldnt(wouldnt i think :x ) get 'em in black wall.
anyhow they were a little priceyer than i wanted to pay, but than i thought i didnt have to wait a week and pay any shipping. yeah, i'm all about instant gratification.
i mounted both on my rims an i think they look great. the front tire really fills out the fork.
no pix rite now, but soon i promice.
 
well, my first truss rod design didnt work out, so i tried again, and finished last night.
i used 5/16th steel. welded tabs to the bottom and cut threads into the top.
now it's dis-assembled and i'l try to sand blast it this weekend.
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I'm liking this a lot. Acorn nuts on top of those truss rods would look great. Sears Hardware has them if you don't already have a couple.
 
ifitsfreeitsforme said:
I'm liking this a lot. Acorn nuts on top of those truss rods would look great. Sears Hardware has them if you don't already have a couple.

yup, i got 'em. in chrome no less 8)

those pix were still during the built and test fit stage. they must've been on and off the bike 20 times.
 
i had a shiney chrome chainring i wanted to use.
i found some chrome BB hardward from some bike i stripped and a nice new crank off another. still had the right and left stickers on it.
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i knew the frame was ruff, but oh, man was it ruff. i got it media blasted last week. it was worse than i though. it looks like it was handled by the samsonite gorilla and than tossed into a lake for 20 years :shock:
i welded up a couple cracks and primered it. after sanding for 2 1/2 hours i realized it would take 2 days to make this frame look perfect, so i'm just gonna paint it now. the wind started to pick up and it looked like rain, so i rushed and ran the paint. i'll wet sand the whole thing and re-paint it friday and final assy this weekend.
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I want to build a set of truss rods but I want them to be functional. being new to this stuff I have to ask:

a) are truss rods on old bikes functional? did they actually take some of the road chatter out?

b) how do they work? I can't quite tell from the photos if there is a swivel bracket for the front wheel or what?

great work. looking forward to seeing how it turns out.
 
ras said:
I want to build a set of truss rods but I want them to be functional. being new to this stuff I have to ask:

a) are truss rods on old bikes functional? did they actually take some of the road chatter out?

b) how do they work? I can't quite tell from the photos if there is a swivel bracket for the front wheel or what?

great work. looking forward to seeing how it turns out.

Nope, they don't really do anything. So if you make them feel free to make them light.

However, they will keep a hanging basket from rubbing the headtube! :D
 
I disagree. The truss rods on your bike are functional. Their function is to look cool! Nice job.
 
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