Last machines & RAFFLE results!

So, first I'm gonna bore you with a little story about a bike I made last night. Then I'll tell you about the raffle. Just to get one more bike in the mix, I thought the UGLY bike was close to a ride-able bike. But, I was wrong. Here it is before I did anything.

UGLY bike. The heaviest bike I've EVER felt too.

The usual check found all the bearings loose but rolling. I cut all the cables, then rebuilt the rear wheel and crank bearings. Beat the handlebars out with a mini-sledge and realized the forks weight about 20 lbs... really! Filled with lead I think! Decided to toss those in the trash and also the 5 lb right crank and steel chain rings. Left crank was aluminum... a keeper. Off to a good start.

I found some 26" forks that would fit the frame, and a 20" front wheel & fork. I decided this would be a chopper-ish bike. Pulled an old pair of taller bars from the pile and luckily old-school goose-neck fit into new-school forks. So far so good!

Used clipped cables to make this an "adjustable" one speed. Locking the front and rear deraileur in what seems like the best gear for a Burning Man environment. This also get's rid of a bunch of junk on the bikes, and you don't need to shift on the playa, I swear. 

I assembled everything I could including reworking the back brake. New pads, lube everything so the brake arms actually move. Blue taped some stuff not to paint. Here is a photo of everything together that I could do in the middle of the night. Grinding and welding would have to wait until morning. I know, looks about the same, but it is actually a quality ride now, way cooler bars and LIGHTER!

Ready for the rattle can paint shop. Just need to weld on the forks!

I made a list, that's what I do, just a couple things to do for all the bikes to be done by 3:00.

A short list to do in the morning!

Got up, drank some coffee, ground everything with the garage door closed to NOT piss of the neighbors at 8:00am. Welded the fork and had it ready for paint by 8:30. Sweet.

Done, going to paint it before I even ride it.

Yep, pretty much painted everything. Always weird painting tires.

Such a bad one-night-stand, it gave out the wrong number, 45 instead of 57.

Dual "drink" holders on bars...

...one drink holder on the frame too. Suspension still intact.

The UGLY One-night-stand 45 bike rides like a dream. Hardly any of the normal "chopper flop" in the front end and it's set up pretty comfortable as is... This will be a fun ride for anyone who just wants a cooler bike.

BIKE TWO - wrapped up in the morning & painted!

The side-by-side tall bike didn't work out, so I made the "Buckshot 57" aka the Tippy Tiller by adding a small wheel to the side. The other tall bike ended up being the "Colt 57" aka Tombstone - probably the best tall bike I've ever made. Originally I added a golf cart wheel that failed, I had to step it up to a kids wheel. Here are the last photos I took before paint. I think this is the most dangerous bike of the pack. Hard to turn left and does unpredictable things on uneven surfaces.AND, the handle bars are just plain ugly.

All done, ready for paint.

Doesn't touch when riding, can stop and lean on it when riding.

AND SOOOO -- THE RAFFLE!

The big winner was Eric aka "Latte" he brought me about 10 bikes so I wasn't that surprised when his name was pulled. He grabbed the Cool Hack 57 and went for the double dare by buying the "Colt 57" aka Tombstone - tall bike. Yes, all the tall bikes were named after guns. Ask me why if you really care. TLee was close in the statistics of winning with 5 bikes given, but ended up being happy just getting a flat fixed.

No one crashed or bleed or had to go get fake teeth so I'm calling it a success. If anyone is interested in BUYING any of the bikes left (six as of this writing) let me know and we can work something out. Any of the bikes left when I leave for Burning Man will be coming out... find me on the playa, who knows, maybe I'll gift you one!

BIG THANKS to everyone who gave bikes. It was a fun project and I hope more people will end up with some of these bikes for whatever bike fun they are into!

End of the Cycle - Wrapping it up..

As Stan Ridgway says: "The best laid plans, often go astray" and so it is with the LAST machine. Trying to make a "Sociable Tandem" TALL bike, I realized too late that it's just too much chopping to think they're gonna even be close to the same, let alone identical. HA! Tape on the floor has nothing on a real jig. And starting with two identical bikes may have helped, but I didn't do that either.

So, sorry to those who have to pick a bike from afar, the last bike(s) may not be done 'til the night before... but there will be a tall bike, probably one with training wheels too. And with no further delay, here's the last mishap, er, Mutant Bike Build of the 57 series!

Chopped up frame, figuring out filler.

The "guide" that was supposed to make 2 bikes pretty close. Fail.

The fancy stuff to make it work with just a longer chain.

Fancy fork welds!

Bars + 2 half bars = tall bars.

Tall bars + 2 drink holders = awesome.

Done and rides. Still no brakes..

SECOND tall bike. chopped and ready for filler...

Second frame "floating" on the bike stand - going much faster than the 1st!

This is where the magic happens.

And this is where the magic stops. The bikes were not even close, won't work for side by side steering. Damn.

THE RECOVERY!

These Golf Bag wheels will soon become Tall bike "training wheels" so at least you can stop and pose. 

CHECK IT OUT.

This is my garage, right now. Can you count how many bikes trikes are in this photo? Ha!