1930's Colson Motor-bike. my new project.

getting parts together for my new bike. it's gonna blow my old bike away...

here's a sneak peek at some parts.

nice tease, hunh?

the frame and fork i'm getting is like the bottom picture from this ad...

i'm sure the motor will fit. the bike's takes 28" rims, but 26's work fine with fatter tires. the dimensions in the ad say it's got a 20 1/2" seat tube, which is 5 more inches than my 24" Colson, so the problem will be filling up extra space, not making it fit.

i've got unassembled Worksman wheels in raw steel coming, so there's not gonna be any chrome on this bike. not gonna say what's taking the place of that chrome, y'all just gotta wait and see.

i've also got some new, never before attempted motor tweaks in the works, and if they work out, this bike will be faster than anything currently out there.

basically, i'm making the bold statement of "you ain't seen nothin' like this before..."

i mean, just by the petcock you gotta know it's gonna be different...

the funny thing is, i've had nothing but problems with the stock kit petcocks, and have been searching for something that looks cool, and works good. when i got these in the mail today, i was totally excited. it's such a well engineered little product, and it'll look awesome on the custom tank i'm going to make...


and a big plus, was i got 2 for 5 bucks.

here's a quick look at what i'm going for. notice the rear drop stand!

(sorry, my photoshop skills aren't very good...)

ok, now that i've got my new frame and fork, no more foolishness (yeah, right)

UPS came through with my 1930's Colson Flyer today. gotta track down the serial number for the correct date.

it's burgandy, just like the 3 other Colson's i've got, so it's gonna get stripped and painted. not sure what color yet, but it's definitely not gonna be flat black and red. or chrome...

here's some shots:

everything pictured is what i got. oh, and a "7" seatpost, too.

the original fenders are available, but they're those "rain gutter" types. they're kinda squared off with channels in them. i don't really like that style.

the forks have holes, not slots for the wheels, so you're just supposed to bend the blades apart to stick your wheel in, and that's kinda sketchy, since new wheels have longer axles. i'd like to get some newer, stronger ones, but the headtube's only 3.5" long, so i'd have to find some threaded that far and cut them down or something.

the space in the frame is smaller than i thought, it's only 2.75" tall, so just a pipe would be pretty small, like 15" or something, so i've gotta use the whole area to get any mileage outta it.

i've got a bunch of parts so i don't have to part out the step through, but i'm just making mock-ups now. i've had some really cool ideas floating around in my head while i was waiting for this to arrive, but now that i have it, those ideas are changing.

right now, i'm hungover and i don't have any ideas, except i think i'm gonna get a burrito and not play bikes for awhile...

here's an update.

i found a buyer for this bike, and he wanted it black and chrome. i was against painting it black, just because there's a million black bikes out there, but if someone's gonna give me money, then, well, y'know...

so i get a $150 deposit by telling him i need it to buy the motor. i strip the bike and paint it black, and while i'm stripping all the rust off of other parts, he calls, tells me he can't afford it right now, and wants his deposit back.

i'm a nice guy, so i say, sure, i'll give it back, after i sell the bike to someone else. i mean, i'm already commited to a black bike, and i'm not gonna strip it back down, and he did agree to a deposit, so...

i'm not trying to be a jerk about it, and he understands, but even on this small scale, it's still business. if any of you out there disagree, try getting anything custom made, and then ask for your money back. it'd be different if i had 100 bikes in stock, and could just put the black one back on the shelf, but it's kinda hard to come by a 1931 Colson Flyer. another thing, is i'm not at the stage where i can make a bike exactly how someone else wants it. i'm still relatively new at all this, and if i'm not coming up with my own ideas, then i'm just not that into building the bike in the first place. that's the main reason why i haven't just built up a bunch of cheap Cranbrooks for the easy money.

so...

it's black, and fake orange anodized, using Duplicolor fake anodizing paint. i'm a little worried about how well the anodized paint resists chipping and scratching, but we'll see. it's still better than chrome.

i've got just about everything i need to make a rolling chassis out of this (wait, wouldn't a rolling chassis be a bicycle?) by the end of the day. just need to hit the bike store for some little parts, get some grips, and do some more painting.

i need to build a rear drop stand and a tank, which'll probably happen later on this week, once it starts raining hammers and nails again. we're supposed to get a soaking friday and saturday.

for the tank, i'm gonna keep it "period correct" and build a simple tool box tank, like the one in the picture, only, y'know, with gas inside of it, instead of tools...

i'll update this, uh, when i have more updates...

yeah, that's the rub. if i didn't know the guy, it'd be half up front, no returns. i only asked for $150 because i was low on cash, and he more or less offered. but now that the money's spent, he's gotta wait till i sell it.

i'm happy with the way the bike's looking so far, and i'm glad i didn't get into it so deep with how he wanted it.

basically, for now, i just want to make bikes the way i want to make bikes. i'll start taking customer input when i run low on ideas.

and that might be awhile...

yeah, that's the way i look at it too. pretty much all the money, save for a coupla packs of smokes and a 12 pack went into the bike. and that was just for paint and stripping supplies. those 3M wheels ain't cheap. I've got the receipts from ACE, and it's about $100. i haven't even begun to add up the bike parts...

so here's how it sits as of today.

got the bike built so i could ride it, and made a rookie mistake. didn't put it all together before painting, and found out my tires are too big. they're 26x2.3, and they rub the chain stays. they'll only fit at the very edge of the drop-outs, with half the axle nuts not contacting it. i could stretch the frame, but i'd have to touch up the paint. that's not a big deal, but what worries me, is putting that much more stress on an 80 year old frame.

so i think i'll just get smaller tires.

i rode it to the local bike store to check what they have, which was nothing, and suddenly found myself as the King Of The Fixies. there was 4 fixter hipsters there, and they were all creaming their tight girly jeans over my bike. they were all wondering why i had a coaster brake on one side, and a giant sprocket on the other. i might have accidentally started a trend. they were talking about buying Jim's adapter and sprockets, and running a front wheel on the rear. if this becomes popular, remember, you read it here first. (and you're welcome, Jim, if this increases your business...)

the bike rides amazing, even with the back wheel barely hanging on.

now i just gotta modify some fenders and the chainguard, change out some hardware, touch up some paint, build a tank and a dropstand, install a motor, get rid of the masterlink, make some cables, wait for some grips in the mail, find some tires, cut down the handlebars...

me and Happy should be riding by monday...

oh, i think i'm keeping the alloy wheels on. i'm waiting for some Worksman's, but i think they'll be too fat. dunno if i'm gonna take the wheels apart and paint them to match, that's a lot of work, and if i leave them silver, they'll match the engine. but ya never know. depends on if i'm satisfied with the look or not.