Warren builds a chopper

[RallySTX]

I couldn't before, but I can now. Not sure why that happened, but they work now, and that's all that matters right? I like thet jig ya got, I bet it makes the job easier huh. That bike is gonna be longer than my Spoiler!
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

Tubing roller demonstration video



-Warren.

[AussieJester]

Brilliant video Warren!! I can see by this it will take two passes
to do the top bend of my frame, 3-4 to do the rest of the bends
(my frame has alot less curves than yours) I anxiously await the bender ThudSTeR
has sent for me, it is alot bigger than i initially imaged, funny that, read the
dimensions but it doesn't click to you actually see it. We decided to forgo the wheel
due to increased postage costs, so I made one up one on Saturday at makes work on the hydraulic bender, i iz
all ready now! ... 8 meters of chromo awaits!

Thankyou for taking the time and effort to shoot the video Warren
much appreciated. Certainly beats my old hydraulic pipe bender!

KiM

[RallySTX]

Nice vid Warren. Makes me want to buy a bender. If I could just figure out how to get away with welding indoors!
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

Hey KiM - It's also HEAVIER than it looks.

Brian - I had a friend whose house I would go to to build high speed recumbent bicycles. We called his basement the WISIL skunkworks. WISIL was the name of the Wisconsin-Illinois recumbent bike club. We did a lot of brazing, TIG welding and other fume causing stuff in his basement. He would prop a box fan up in the windows and open a door to get positive ventilation through the basement, even in the winter. It worked pretty well and we built stuff all year around. I learned a lot about building stuff from him. He died at age 50 with a heart blowout during a race. He knew he had diabetes, but did not know he had heart disease. Sorry, I am digressing.

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

That's part of the story pertaining to your skill set, so it's not that far of topic. Sorry to hear of your friends passing, at least he went doing something he loved. I lost my pa like that, but he knew he had issues. He used to announce at race tracks like Fountain City, and Eau Claire Speedway. Fountain City is paved now, and they call it Mississippi Thunder. That's digressing! I built a V8 S10 in the parking lot here in 01, but with the new Mgmt, no way. If they cought me welding in my apartment, they would throw me out in five days. I don't even know how to weld yet. Sure wish I had a house, I would offer to open up Skunkwerks II for ya.
Brian L.

[chisixer6]

Warren;

Excellant video on the tube bender, I miss Bill too, if it wasn't for you guys(WisIL), I wouldn't know how to weld and had guts to build any kind of bikes or fabracate parts. I would in an instant buy that bender, if I really knew that I would use it, I have enough unused tools from harbor freight in the basement. I like your bike design. If Terry is having a xmas party this week or next, maybe I'll see you there.

Rallystx... I weld all the time in my so call kitchen. If it weren't for the stove and frig, it would be just another room.


Jerry

[www.recumbents.com]

Jerry: I think I still have one of the T-shirts you had made up in 1996(?)
WISIL HPVers
We could be rocket scientist
Hope to see you at Terry's!

Brian: I went through the whole gearhead thing too. Spent way too much money hot-rodding a 1970 Camaro. I miss it but bikes (even e-bikes) are much cheaper.

-Warren.

[strantor]

Hi, nice looking bike!

What type of welder are you using?

[chisixer6]

Warren;

I have a 1970 Duster and a 1973 Dodge Dart in the garage, and a 1975 Baja bug, that Ed Gin help me on in the backyard. All three are incomplete. Spent a lot of dollars on them. I still have a couple WisIl t-shirt too. Now spending a lot of dollars on e-bikes, trying to build 3 at the same time.

Jerry

[www.recumbents.com]

I am brazing using an acetylene torch and Welco silver-bronze rod.

[www.recumbents.com]

I'm looking at wheels because I will need to re-lace them anyway to fit the drum brake up front. I'm thinking that the 1.25" wide rims on my MTB currently may be too narrow for the Schwalbe Fat Frank tires I just ordered from Amazon.

Does anyone have an opinion on these Weinmann dm30 26 x 2 wheels? Are they really 2" wide or 1.75"?
http://www.niagaracycle.com/product_inf ... s_id=15731

I now have a pile of socket shoulder screws and matching brass sleeve bearings for the shock absorption side of the rear suspension. I'm waiting for some tubing to mount the bearing in.

Hopefully I'll get some time this weekend for some quality building!

-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

I put the bike back in the jig, and cut the rear stay tubes to fit between the pivot bearings and the Surly dropouts.

It was very difficult to ensure everything was straight with all the curved tubes. I'm not too concerned about perfection, but it would be really nice if the wheels were straight with the frame. Even with a frame jig this is difficult.



I brazed the chain stay tubes to the dropouts.



Today I will be fitting the pivot axle to the rear stays.

-Warren.

[AussieJester]

It was very difficult to ensure everything was straight with all the curved tubes. I'm not too concerned about perfection, but it would be really nice if the wheels were straight with the frame. Even with a frame jig this is difficult.

Agreed, tiz very tricky to get it all fully welded and straight, And itz critical to a good handling bike, don't want it 'crab walking' down the road...

Keep them pics commin' Warren chop chop all i can do is sit and watch while i wait for
my new bender, itz so frustrating, WE NEED UPDATES!!!

KiM

[RallySTX]

YAA, if it wasn't for Warren's bike pics, and Hyena's vids, I would be hunting for another excuse to haunt, lurk, or troll the forum! Yes, sir, if building was easy, we'd all be doing it!
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

I carefully measured and measured and measured again before drilling the hole in the chain stay for the pivot tube clamp. I put it all together in the jig and a small miracle occurred. It all slid together. I tack brazed the tube clamp into place. In this picture you can see the axle sticking out of the tube clamp. I will slit the chain stay on the bottom and braze a clamp in place which should hold the axle firmly.



I need to take it all out of the jig, put wheels back on it and eyeball it to make sure the wheels will be straight before going an further. The bike is going to be really low. Now I'll be able to see whether the suspension or the frame bottoms out first.

I ordered a Y shaped shock from ChainReactionCycles.com after seeing a recommendation from Dogman. It was a good price and free shipping from jolly old England, but all I have see from them for the last 5 days is the obligatory Paypal "yes we have your money" message. Let's hope it gets here soon.

-Warren.

[www.recumbents.com]

BTW, I now have a 6ft chunk of 6061 7/8" x .058 wall aluminum tubing. This will be bent into handlebars with a conduit bender. If there is interest ( or maybe even if there is not ) I will make a video to show how.

-Warren.

[dbaker]

Nice job, Warren What is your experience with Chain Reaction Cycles getting stuff to the USA? I was looking there the other day for a shock spring and shock bushings. Good inventory and some reasonable prices.

[AussieJester]

I carefully measured and measured and measured again before drilling the hole in the chain stay for the pivot tube clamp. I put it all together in the jig and a small miracle occurred. It all slid together. I tack brazed the tube clamp into place. In this picture you can see the axle sticking out of the tube clamp. I will slit the chain stay on the bottom and braze a clamp in place which should hold the axle firmly.



I need to take it all out of the jig, put wheels back on it and eyeball it to make sure the wheels will be straight before going an further. The bike is going to be really low. Now I'll be able to see whether the suspension or the frame bottoms out first.

I ordered a Y shaped shock from ChainReactionCycles.com after seeing a recommendation from Dogman. It was a good price and free shipping from jolly old England, but all I have see from them for the last 5 days is the obligatory Paypal "yes we have your money" message. Let's hope it gets here soon.

-Warren.

The pivot setup for suspension is something thats been dogging me, i haven't got any full susser
doner bikes left (although i have a VERY efficient Matt.P on the case and expect i will have one in the near future)
I am interested to see how your pivot ends up, the thing with the cheap pviots is alot of side play, your setup
looks like it will be ALOT more solid! Some SERIOUS chain stays you have to Warren hahaa i went for some piddle 19mm chromo for the chain and seat stays...

Lookin forward to next update, would definately like to see the bars being bent never seen a 'conduit bender' in use...

Finally, thankyou for the excellent documentation of this build, i'm sure it will inspire others to have a crack at building their own frames, your showing what can be done without spending a huge amount of money...

KiM

[RallySTX]

And enspire those with less lofty goals, to see them through.
Brian L.

[AussieJester]

I ordered a Y shaped shock from ChainReactionCycles.com after seeing a recommendation from Dogman. It was a good price and free shipping from jolly old England, but all I have see from them for the last 5 days is the obligatory Paypal "yes we have your money" message. Let's hope it gets here soon.

Forgot to mention, i have oredeed a bit from CRC in the past and they are yet to take more than 5 days to deliver the goods, incrediable service, spoken to Timma2500 whos also bought a SHITLoaD from CRC and same deal 5 days from payment to the door. If they can get stuff from Ireland? UK? to OZ in that fast a time why does it take a week to get something from the East coat of OZ to West Coast of OZ at times?!?! ...

KiM

[gtadmin]

I ordered a Y shaped shock from ChainReactionCycles.com after seeing a recommendation from Dogman. It was a good price and free shipping from jolly old England, but all I have see from them for the last 5 days is the obligatory Paypal "yes we have your money" message. Let's hope it gets here soon.

Forgot to mention, i have oredeed a bit from CRC in the past and they are yet to take more than 5 days to deliver the goods, incrediable service, spoken to Timma2500 whos also bought a SHITLoaD from CRC and same deal 5 days from payment to the door. If they can get stuff from Ireland? UK? to OZ in that fast a time why does it take a week to get something from the East coat of OZ to West Coast of OZ at times?!?! ...

KiM

Yeah, same here guys and I'm regional Warren, your chain stays are about the same size as mine so I reckon they're

[www.recumbents.com]

Nothing from CRC yet but I'll let you all know when it arrives.

I took the bike out of the jig and stuck some wheels on it to see how far off the rear swingarm was. Hrrm. I need to hack off one of the rear dropouts and take about 1/4" (5mm) out to make it straight. Oh well, that's why I just tack it together until the frame is all completed.

-Warren.

[RallySTX]

I like the way you work Warren, what would you charge on commision to build a steel FS Chopper for me?
Brian L.

[www.recumbents.com]

Sorry Brian, I wish I had time for that but *Real Life* always seems to get in the way.

Fixed the rear suspension so the wheel now points straight, but now I see it leans a bit to the left. Arg. More tweaking...

I sent CRC a note and they say the shock was shipped on 12/2 via air mail, so I should be receiving it soon.

-Warren.