This has been an interesting early morning read. I had thought initially it would be a simple rehash of the old Huffy vs vintage debate, but due to the thoughtfulness of our fine members it has been an informed discussion. I especially appreciate the detailed photos and commentary regarding welds, quality of metals in frame construction and discussion of wheel sets.
We come to this table with different skills, experiences, preferences, expectations, budgets, and needs. Some of us are young and in a hurry. Some are old with a lot of time on our hands. Some of us need transportation and we need it soon. The motorbike is going to get us back and forth to work and we need to have it running yesterday. For others a bike build is a winter project to be enjoyed and savored. And for some of us the projects get dragged out into years, with multiple projects going on at the same time. As was said back in the sixties, "different strokes for different folks".
I see now that I have over 7,000 posts on this forum. Good grief, get a life, mister! One might imagine that such a person must know an awful lot and be an "expert". Nope, not an expert, but I am experienced and an old guy. So, what follows are just my opinions and preferences and should not be taken any more seriously than anyone else's, especially people with real expertise in welding, engineering, mechanics, etc. I claim none of the above and bow to others here for what they know. I ask for more advice than what I give.
Like many of you I like to tinker with motored bikes and like many of you I don't have deep pockets. I tend to use what I have, look for true value in what I purchase and try to stretch my dollars. At the same time I appreciate quality and want to build fun, safe rides.
In my view it makes little sense to buy two sets of things, one which I will actually use and the other will get shifted from one spot to another and eventually end up at the metal pile of the landfill. If I know I'm going to replace wheels, fork, brakes and such why not just get one set? I admit that I have never bought a new bike. I came close once when the Schwinn Jaguar was still being sold at K-mart I think it was... a pretty good deal for the money.
I like vintage frames. In running through an inventory of current builds plus my daily rider there is a 50 Schwinn straightbar (found at the dump) 51 Schwinn cantilever (given to me as junk), a 63 Schwinn American Deluxe step through purchased on ebay, a 1934 Elgin 4 star step through purchased on ebay and a Worksman frame from around 2,000 with a 1960's girls bike front down tube welded in to the Worksman frame. So the Worksman is not vintage, but I consider it of vintage quality. Good, solid frames all. The frame is the backbone, the foundation, the beginning point of any build. After that everything else is add on. Every one of these frames has a moped/light motorcycle triple tree suspension fork. One is new Suzuki and the rest are salvaged, good quality forks. Front wheels are all built from moped drum brake hubs, 11 or 12 gauge spokes on vintage rims, usually Schwinn and salvaged. Fatty tires of good quality finish them out. The wheelset is the other part of the foundation. For not much money I have the rolling chassis I feel good about having under me, the best I can do on my budget and with my skills (which are not awesome). Rear brakes are either drum or refurbished Bendix coaster brakes... good quality components. From there each build is different with vintage motors both 2 stroke and 4 stroke, one build being a hybrid incorporating an electric wheel. Each build is quite different from the other.
And all of them are slow builds, not intentionally, but that's how they turn out. The Indian Hiawatha tri car is running on four years now. Or is it five? Coming on four years for the Elgin. Correction on the front forks; not all use triple tree forks since the tri-car suspension front end was hand made by Fasteddy.
I don't mean to be advocating much anything for anyone else. Just kind of stating where things have come to for me. What groove I've settled in to, you might say. My bikes are very much a hobby bordering on obsession and are a kind of personal expression of creative energy of sometimes artistic merit, I like to imagine anyway... that's the intention. I'm glad there is so much elbow room within this forum for different approaches to things which lead sometimes to surprising results.
Carry on. To each his (or her) own and whatever you ride stay safe. Coffee cup is empty & so am I.
SB