Warren builds a chopper

[teklektik]

Harley with sidewinder Chevy V8.

[www.recumbents.com]

The Bobber is now painted and pretty much completed. It makes a fun commuter bike. Here's a picture of it on the patio by where I work.

bobber_painted.jpg (150.48 KiB) Viewed 526 times

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Looks like pics don't do it justice. You can certainly be proud of it, I would be. Is that a generator front hub, or a drum brake? Very happy to see it works well for you.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

Hi Brian,

That's a drum brake front hub. Here it is from a side view:


My wife says I look "funny" on it. I think it's because my arms are stretched out and I'm all hunched over, but that is typical chopper position.

I tried to make a wiggle 3D GIF, but I think I took the two pictures from too far apart and it looked spastic. I'll try again later. Sick now. Bleh.

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Get well soon Warren.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

The dual bike stands were a good idea, but I never could figure out a way to make them stay in the up or down position without too much of a PITA factor. I ended up using Velcro straps to keep them from rotating down when I went over the railroad tracks. That would probably make me crash.
I decided I needed a heavy duty kickstand for this heavy duty bike. Instead of dinking around for 5 minutes to raise or lower the stand, I'll be able to just kick it up or down.This bike weighs 75 lbs, so a standard bike kickstand is not strong enough.

Here is the kickstand after brazing the mounting tube onto the left side of the rear subframe. I made the kickstand from 1/2" steel rod.

In this picture you can also see the tail light (red LED flashlight bolted to the bike).



It's a bit hard to tell what's going on here with all the flat black paint, but it's cool, just trust me...



-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

I have used this bike for commuting this year, whenever I forget to charge my main commuter e-bike It handles well and has a cushy ride. I have heard concerns that the head tube is too steep. It did turn out steeper than I had intended.

Here's what the bike would look like if I change the head tube to 60 degrees, the same as on all Harleys. Also I 'shopped in a tractor seat because I hate the saddle.



Winter is coming, and I have a hacksaw. Hacking off the head tube this weekend.

I'd like to change this bike over from the Ping pack to LiPos, but the Ping pack refuses to die.

-Warrenn

[RallySTX]

Glad to see you're still arround, and pluging away at it Warren. Nice job on the kickstand.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

After several hours of hacking, grinding, and brazing, it's beginning to look like a bike again. I'm still contemplating the tractor seat. It's BIG.



You may need to right click on the image and open it in a new window to see the whole thing.

-Warren.

[AussieJester]

Head angle looks much better imo Warren should be more stable at speed but reduce the
low speed stability...

KiM

[www.recumbents.com]

I finished the brazing, cleaned it up, painted it and re-installed the fork and handlebars. It does look much better.
The obligatory test ride went well, I think that low speed handling is better now. We'll see about the high speed handling once the electric parts are re-installed.



-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

Re-soldered and taped the connectors for the throttle, Cycle Analyst, and headlight to the "snake" cable that goes to the battery box. The extension cable is made from an analog computer. These cable have about 14 individual low powered wires in them. video cable I found some "cold seal" tape at the car parts store to wrap up and de-uglify the wires and cables that go from the front of the bike to the back. This rubbery tape is cool stuff because it sticks to itself, but not anything else, so you can tightly wrap up the wires without worry of them getting all sticky with tape goo.



Also reconnected the rear brake and derailleur cables and re-attached the battery box. I'm happy I made it so easy to install and remove.

Time for an e-powered test ride!

-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

It's all back together now. I'll try to get a new picture during the test ride. Probably it will be a picture in the dark, since it's dark when I get home from work anyway. That will show off the lights anyway...

[www.recumbents.com]

Took a better picture of the bike outside.



This bike is now almost done. I still don't like the seat and am thinking about building a motorcycle style seat.

-Warren.

[Chalo]

If I used a bicycle seat on something like that, I'd want one with more "swayback" to help position me and hold me in place. The cruiser seat I go for is the Electra "cruiser with elastomers" seat, even though I don't have a wholesale hookup for it and I have to pay full price:


This one is the kind that has metal springs instead of rubber bumpers, but you can get a better idea of its shape from this photo:


You can buy one directly from the Electra online store if you don't have a local Electra dealer. There is a similar design called "Ergo" in an XL size that might be even better for your application.

Chalo

[www.recumbents.com]

Hmm, good idea. I like this too.

http://www.amazon.com/Electra-Bucket-Bi ... tra+saddle

[www.recumbents.com]

The Dirty Bucket seat arrived yesterday and I had to take it for a test ride. It is much more comfy than the Planet Bike "comfort" seat I was using before, and has a bit more attitude.

Img_0773_800.jpg (112.82 KiB) Viewed 238 times

Img_0774_800.jpg (94.89 KiB) Viewed 238 times

I have a small seat back cushion with more spiffy chrome studs on order from Taiwan. $10 with free shipping. Amazing.

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

Lookingt forward to seeing that rear support. That's a lot of bike there, kudo's for a distinctive home built ride. I hope it serves you well.
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

To attach the seat back I need to build another bracket. I have built Soooo many brackets over the years. I took a look in the box of short tubes & small brackets and found all these brackets. One of these surely has to be the correct size, right?



Well yes and no. One was the right size but used metric hardware and I have been using 1/4x20 cap heat screws on my clamps for this bike.

Here's the seat back mounted on the bike, I'll take another picture when I have weather / daylight cooperation.



It officially has recumbent seat now, albeit a minimalistic one.

-Warren.

[chisixer6]

Warren;

Looks great.....Are you going to be at Terry's party next Saturday 12/22/12? If possible, would be great to see it in person.


Our annual Christmas/biker/friends/relatives party will be held at the Terry Lee's place on December 22nd approximately 6:30pm Hope to see all you party revelers again for some great food and cheer.
If you can RSVP so we can have a head count for plates and glasses (we always have enough food) that would be great.


I just cut off my head tube on my sort of Tour Easy clone too, it had a very shallow angle and got wheel flop when standing still, its a little steeper now. Also went from 1" headtube to 1 1/8" and is now disc compat. It is still being reconstructed.

Jerry

[www.recumbents.com]

Hi Jerry,

Unfortunately I have a conflict this year. I will miss seeing you all.

I'll be interested to see the TE - E bike!

-Warren.

[chisixer6]

Warren;

Oh, well, next time then.

tour Easy clone still under construction....currently using my e-bmx.....