the school colors bike project

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

Philphine posted on FBN in 2012 .....

""More of just using the frames I made for family that I still have."



"From the giveaway thread back before Christmas. This is the last of three frames that were all the same. I had painted one of the first two red, then decided to keep it and make a bike representing my local school. I ended up giving the bike away, but I liked the school bike idea, so I pulled out the third one and it will be the one."

"So far the couple of things I've done are make a big chainguard."



"Sort of a cross between old Elgin chainguard, and ones from the old muscle bikes. I wanted something big enough to paint something on. Not sure what exactly yet. Came out ok, still working on some chain rattling but I think it'll work for what I want."

"Also working on a head badge."

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

"A key fob with the chain hook ground off. The center section spins, so I made the holder with enough room for it to spin if it gets enough wind. Don't know if it will, but made it possible anyway. I mean to go by some sports place or something to find a logo water bottle and maybe some kind of bag with the school logo. I mean not to let this bike get as cluttered as my main cruiser."

"Gears are still a little up in the air. the plan is just a three speed with coaster brake, but luck may bring something else. So yeah, another project. I'm actually still doing work on past projects, I just never seem to get to the end of them. oh well..."


Replies ....

Chainsaw ... "I like that headbadge you got going on. Looks really good."

Gizmo ..... "Chainguard...... and the handlebars with the twisty things too!!!"

Philphine ...... "Thanks y'all! Trimmed the chainguard a little."



Philphine ..... "Between the length of the chain and my getting it a little close, I needed to trim a little of the bottom away. Still get some rattling against it, but it takes a harder bounce to do it. I'm gonna go with this as the final shape.

I experimented with sticking a 24x3 tire on the back and got it to work, but it's complicating the try at putting gears on it. Whenever I can come up with rear wheel I like, I can finish up some cable guides and keep going.

I've got to knuckle down and learn some wheel building. it's deadening too many of my projects."

"The chain guard's kind of become a project on it's own."



"An idea that's been in my head since I made the guard. It's so big I kept thinking I could do more with it. Hopefully this will be a little cubby/stash area.

I just had the guard with me at work when the how to do it came to me. It's a piece hvac type pipe cut in half (with one side squeezed down a bit to taper it some), with a couple of strait pieces filling out the shape. It's made just enough and tacked to the guard so I could stick it on the bike when I got home and make sure it would clear everything.

It does, it can even be a little bigger. the piece of cardboard sticking out off of it is what i used to make sure it could be wider and still be able to get it past the sprocket to get the guard back on. It's also about the width that the actual guard sticks out on the other side (a little less though) to make sure it clears the pedal on the other side.

Another little side bennie, is it looks a little like the section of some motorcycles that connects the engine to the tranny.

So it looks doable. I'll take it back to work and make a wider box when I can, and work out a door for it. I have a couple ideas, but I needed to make sure of the box fitting in place before i started worrying about it.

Still need a rear wheel decision, and I'm trying to get back to what was gonna be my real project for this winter (painting my "sun king" bike), but this box has become a fun side, side project.

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

Philphine .... "Chain guard stash box about 4" wide now. this pic was supposed to show pedal clearance, but the shadow makes it look like there isn't much. There's a little more on this side than there is on right chain guard side though."



"Door on/door off."




"Fit over the box isn't too bad. could be better, but I don't know if I could do it better myself, so I'm going with it. Hoping to hinge it to the box and find a latch for it next.
Next time I have both guard and bike at work I'll probably make at least one more mounting point to the frame for the guard/box on the left side of the frame."

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

Philphine ..... "Hinged and latched."




"Still meaning to brace it in one or two more places, but we've had pretty good weather here so I've been biking to work.

edit.... Added one brace on he left side."



"I wanted to add one towards the front on the left too, but it made the guard impossible to take off. I had it on, but trying to take the guard off after tacking it in place got it bound up in the chain. For a couple minutes I got it stuck to the point of it bending. I thought I might have to cut it off and start again . Luckily the tacks broke off easy and I was able to unbind it.

I may still try something else just because I want it braced as well as possible, but I think it's good anyway. If you grab the box and try t move it on it's own, you move the bike."

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

Philphine .... "A few bits and hand-me-downs."



"The seat that was on my main cruiser and the front fender (used as a rear) from the set i got to put a black fender on the rear of my main cruiser.

Also got a new black springer. Seems like the best deal on ebay is about $40 for a springer, so I got one while I could. I think I'll be keeping an eye out for black parts with the frame being red. Also found a water bottle with the school logo so that's the first thing actually on the bike to identify it with the idea.

One set back. I had to grind the cup I made to hold the head badge off. I though it would clear the springer 'cause I had gave it a quick try on my main cruiser, but I didn't account for actually sitting on the bike and having the fork sag a bit. I may be able to move it further up or down the head tube to find a place it clears. I'll have to see.

It's already gotten a good test ride in. When I was having trouble with my main cruiser (the new seat breaking), I took this one week for my river walk ride. Luckily I had done sort of a test a few weeks earlier by riding my main cruiser most of the whole route in one gear that's as close to a single speed gear as I have on it, so I knew I could do it on the one speed if I cruised it pretty easy. I'm thinking now one of these bikes will get a two speed kickback if I can find one. I didn't think it would be enough, but as long as the hills aren't too big it might do fine."

"Also figured I'd show this. I don't think I've mentioned this idea here before."




Replies .....

Junkman .... "What school colors are you going to use?

That's a good tip on adjusting the rake on the springer forks.

I used a similar idea on my bent springer forks to get the rake at a better handling angle.

Chop On!"

Philphine .... "U of Louisville, Ky., so the main color will be red. And I'll be trying to find black or red parts. Black is sort of their second color."

"Ideas for one bike help finish others."



"I've been keeping an eye out for a bag for my dreamcycle project, but came across this for this project (I never really forget the old projects. It's what I call the scatterbrained/a.d.d. method of building multiple bikes.)

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

Philphine .... "Once I had it, I needed a hanger/mount for it, so I kinda copied the dreamcycle idea some."



"That let me use some of the little handlebar lights I found earlier in the same way on this one too. two birds, one rock. Because the tubing for the bag mount, and the bike tubing it's self isn't as big and thick as on the Dreamcycle bike, it felt kind of flimsy, so I needed to brace it more with some added tubing."



"It ended up looking like a little sissy/grab bar. that wasn't what Iwanted. I really wanted it to kind of skim over the fender and follow it's curve to connect to the other side, but my tube bending skills aren't good enough, so I settled for this."

"Also got my headbadge mount back on. I think it will clear good this time."



"I moved it a little further up the head tube, and also cut a hole in the head tube so the little spinning part of the medallion I'm using for a badge will still spin (if you could see down into the badge mount, you'd see the steering tube of the fork). I've tried bouncing the fork as much as I can to try and hit it on purpose, and it's cleared. Hopefully there won't be a time when I slam into something and find out it can hit with more effort."

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

Philphine ......

"On the front end, I made a caged fender mount extension thing."



"I don't know what it'd really be called. Think like the thing that lets a 16" fender on a stingray krate sit right over the 16" wheel when the fork is really for a 24" wheel. I got the cages to try and make more caged handlebars, but I decided they weren't as strong as the ones I used before. I think they will work good for this."

"A headlight mount, kinda copied the one on my main cruiser, but I think this one is more stable."



"It's more isolated from the forks action than my other bike. I think if I do any more in the future (like I know I'll be doing at least one more) this will be how I do them.

Also by chance, I came across this big light for a buck at the habitat restore."



"I'm not sure if it will stay. it's kinda ridiculously big, but I found out the bulb is good and only works on 6v, so if it grows on me it'll stay. the mount will hold a regular bike headlight too, if I change my mind. I think a generator should power it well enough, so I'll pick one up eventually."

["Chainsaw" Jim Johnson]

Philphine .....

"The whole bike in probably close to it's finished, but unpainted form."



"My old enemy is the final step. I need gears and it looks like an internal gear hub something, preferably with a coaster brake, will be what I need. the 24x3 tire makes a derailleur hard to use (the tire rubs on the low gears), and I've never lucked across an internal gear hub wheel in the size I need. so it's either break down and buy one, keep waiting to find one, or finally get a grip on wheel building and see if I can build one from a hub I find on a thrift store bike or something. Or go back to 26" wheel so I can use a cluster, which may have it's own problems since I bent the frame some to fit the wider tire, and needing some kind of brakes. Plus with so many bikes alike I kinda wanted the 24x3 just for a bit of variety.

Guess this project will go dormant again for a while, but not forgotten...

edit: I forgot about the chainguard. I've had it off working on it separately and forgot about it not working with a derailleur, so it's internal gear hub or bust."

"Well, coulda should woulda. Since I started this the football team won a fairly major bowl game, and the basketball team is going to the final four and favored to win (the women's team is doing better than expected also). But I puttered around like usual and when the impromtu parades started on my street I could have been riding this.

I have found my rear wheel though, or at least the hub. three speed with a roller brake on a 24" rim."



"Got it off ebay for about as good a price as i thought I was going to get. One problem though is the radial spokes. turns out that a roller, drum or disc brake isn't recommended for a radial spoke wheel. So I can put it on and set up things, but i guess I'll need to get the wheel respoked before I can use it regularly. the rim is white too. so weather I paint or replace it, maybe taking it apart would be best anyway.

who knows, maybe if i get lucky finding the parts I need to finish (and actually concentrate on finishing it), maybe I can have it for the mayors ride on memorial day if they win. The hype should still be strong by then."