Pictured below are three bikes. One is an Elgin step through about the same year as the one in the Rustoration thread which burned. I think it's around a 1941. the one in the picture is not my bike. I have one in Minnesota of a similar color also with a rear rack, but older, a 1934. Pertinent to this thread is the frame design. The black bike is a 1950 Schwinn Panther and the blue bike is a Worksman. The three bikes were worked on last summer and are in Minnesota. Eventually the Elgin will get a behind the seat tank juice can tank, the Panther will have Pat's prototype "Motorbike" stainless steel tank and the Worksman will get a cylindrical tank covered in harness leather which will fit between the crossbars. I'm trying to figure out which one to focus on this summer as a kind of commemorative build to be called the Firebird in recognition of the truck fire which destroyed my winter's work and my efforts at coming back from this major setback. I won't have the resources to finish all three, but will do my best to complete the Firebird. I want to call it that because that is one name for the mythological Phoenix which died in flames and rose to life again from its own ashes... so it is a kind of symbol of rebirth or resurrection. My fledgling motorbicycle business attempt turned to ash before a single bike was up for sale. For awhile I was ready to give it up, but I have gotten much help and encouragement from my friends here and want to honor that with this build. I also want it to become my main ride and a more serious attempt at a bike which is reliable transportation so there is less need to drive a truck for a simple 12 mile run to town. It is going to get a stock PK 80 engine, maybe lightly ported, but pretty much left alone other than an expansion chamber exhaust and iridium plug. Maybe someday it will get Jim's billet cylinder. I want it to have a pull start since it will get the SPB shift kit and I'm guessing a three speed rear hub, although I'm still researching the options. It will also get a sidecar, probably made from a canoe section which is one reason for the shift kit to handle the additional weight and drag. The many hills here in Maryland restrict where I can ride if I want to avoid serious pedal assist. Having read about BarelyAWake's shift kit experiences and now Big John's, I think I need to experience this for myself. Hills would no longer be a problem even with the sidecar and I would think the life of the engine would be greatly increased. I understand that some frames lend themselves to the shift kit more readily than others. Barely seemed to think the step through frame could be problematic. I don't know which bike frame would be best for this project. I like all three bikes or I wouldn't have them. I want this bike to be special and a reminder each time I fire it up of the people here of this forum who helped bring the Firebird to life. I don't know how long it will take, maybe clear into next winter before I can get the parts together. If it is either the Worksman or Panther it is not going to be a board tracker attempt of any kind. It is going to be a old looking cruiser which I hope is also good looking, but mostly it is going to get ridden. it will never be sold. If it were you, which bike would become the Firebird? I want to be thinking of something besides the fire and what was lost, instead looking ahead and dreaming of something new rising from the ashes. Help me dream a little if you will. Which one?
SB
SB
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