Project Bernard. (Yet more bike based action)

[goaferboy]

Picked up the lowrider today. Immediately braved the dog turd minefield that is my back garden to start with the sex change operation to change it from a girly, training bra wearing, tea party having pansy-mobile, to a bear punching, beer chugging, wife beating manly bike.




PHASE 1: Medium Pimpin'


How it arrived:



Removed all the unneccasary girly bits:



Tried it without the saddle to get a rough idea of what it would look like with a normal saddle instead of the chopper style one:



Set the saddle to full mast:



Quite like it high but decided low was the way to go:





I'll get on with phase 2 at the beginning of August when I have 2 weeks off work and a fresh paycheck to play with.

Also took the wheel reflectors off since the pictures and moved the handlebars a bit further forward.

All the bits I took off are going free if anyone wants to collect them. See here

[alecw35]

Always thought those Bratz were good for being a lowrider

[TS]

Are you gonna respray? Seems a shame to if the paintwork is good.

Also what about brakes? Are you getting new ones or going brakeless.

I quite like the mudguards. I'd have kept them on personally.

[goaferboy]

I'm going to be going brakeless I think. It'll probably only be used as a mobile seat at car shows so it hopefully won't need them.

The paint has a few scrapes in a places. It's definately not as good as the pictures make it look. Plus I need to hide the origin of the bike! ;D

I'm going for a "cleaned" look so thats why I took the mudguards, brakes and everything else unneccesary off. Hopefully all will become clear once its done. Either that or I've made a cock up of epic proportions!

[alecw35]

A lot of those lowriders have coaster brakes
My Bridgestone did.

But a new wheel to match would cost more than the bike.

Ive got a Sachs Coaster that I built into an alloy 20" rim
But is only 28 spoke. So wouldnt match.

Might go on my other Puch though

[disasterbus]

nice - loads of potential there for a really cool bike

[grizz]

yes,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, beer bellies rule.

[goaferboy]

Jul 19, 2008 16:49:46 GMT alecw35 said:

A lot of those lowriders have coaster brakes
My Bridgestone did.

But a new wheel to match would cost more than the bike.

Ive got a Sachs Coaster that I built into an alloy 20" rim
But is only 28 spoke. So wouldnt match.

Might go on my other Puch though

Are they the ones where you pedal backwards slightly to brake? Was thinking about that. How do they work? Is the braking mechanism all in the rear cog or is there all sorts of ropes and pullies at work? ;D

[alecw35]

the back pedaling brake looks just like a single speed hub, well a bit fatter.
it has a torque arm on the left side.
theres ramps and ball bearings in the hub. These move out when you back pedal.
It can lock up a bit sudden.

The original mountain bike racing...down big hills in America. The used coaster hubs. These get hot after a lot of use. So the races were called Repack. As the grease in the bearings would melt out.

[TS]

If its only a mobile seat then its probably fine to go without brakes and mudguards. I'd still want at least one brake though personally. Perhaps you could make it fixed by welding up the freewheel (I'd not reccommend this for normal bikes but if its just for cruising round the shows then you'd not be going too fast anyway).

[goaferboy]

Yeah riding it without brakes is sketchy, especially when my garage is down a steepish hill from my house! I'm getting used to it now though. Just a case of only going speeds which I'm willing to bail out at!

I may see if I can find me a coaster brake. Seems like the logical choice. Ideally one with a wheel attatched and a matching front wheel.

I'm still undecided about what wheels to have. I wouldn't mind some mag wheels but I'm not sure whether they would suit the bike or not. All depends on what colour scheme I go for I suppose. Anyone have a rough idea of how much a frame would cost to get resprayed at a body shop? Just in case I decide "amatuer hour at the chataux del goafer" isn't good enough.

[Deleted]

What about a suicide handbrake mounted on a tall chrome lever on the frame?

[jettadeluxe]

Jul 20, 2008 14:46:03 GMT @goaferboy said:

Anyone have a rough idea of how much a frame would cost to get resprayed at a body shop? Just in case I decide "amatuer hour at the chataux del goafer" isn't good enough.

Depends on how much prep work you do yourself.

If you took it in 'as is', your prob looking at about £100. There's as much work to put into it as a single panel on a car, and the going rate for one of those is about £100.

[trg1984]

Jul 21, 2008 10:46:13 GMT Jonny69 said:

What about a suicide handbrake mounted on a tall chrome lever on the frame?

belting idea!!!

[goaferboy]

Right, the saddle is coming to work with me to hopefully get retrimmed in Rolls Royce Phantom leather. BLING! Providing I can find a bit of spare leather big enough that is. It will probably be done in black.

So what paint scheme do you reckon I should go for? I'm feeling:

Matt black, red wheels but keep the chrome spokes and whitewalls.
Nato green with black wheels. Possibly mag wheels.
Red with all the chrome left as it is
Primer grey with black wheels. Again, possibly mags.

[disasterbus]

INHO not matt back - been done to death

How about a heavy dose of 70's metalflake over candy orange, chrome wheels and whitewalls?
otherwise bright red with the chrome left as it is?

;D

[goaferboy]

Well the aim is to spray/brush paint it myself so I'm kind of limited in what I can do. I was thinking of just brush painting a load of the red POR15 stuff (providing its appropriate) over the existing paint. Obviously sand it down first.

Basiacally I'm looking for anything good that can be put on with a brush or rattle can!

Edit: Could have sworn there was a red version of POR15. Damn...

[trg1984]

u can get metal flake in a can from Kroozin'

ive never used but i think some flake on the frame would look brilliant.

although i do like the sound of nato green and white plastic wheels

[CR500Dom]

Your in Banbury

Take it down to Central Blast Cleaning and get it powdercoated in black.... will cost you about £40

A lot easier than stripping and painting, will look a hell of a lot better too

Fixie would be cool and help with braking

[Deleted]

Metal flake in a can sprays pretty well, I've used it. Mine was more like a heavy metallic than flake though, but it looked gooooood.