The Rustoration Build Off

Silver Bear, what a great,great look. You too have reached back into the sands of time and found a jewel.
Fenders look great. Rockenstein "rocked" with his help in getting the clutch working. The cherry blossoms are out and your on the road.

Life is sweet.

Steve.

I'm a vintage bicycle attic.. I need a intervention.
I got a new bike.. A red 1959 western flyer.. ALL original and yet in good shape.
The only thing left on the higgins is the throttle and sprocket.
Hope everyone has a happy day of bikes.... I did
sam

my bike's still the same, still running great, but i busted another chain yesterday. no reason, it just snapped. it was a 41 chain from Fastenal, but still made in china. now i've got the stock kit chain on till i find something better. it should last me a few months, i hope.

i've got that 26" Colson frame on the way from another member, so i'm gonna swap all the parts from the Colson Vogue girl's bike onto it.

and of course, a few new tricks up my sleeves.

i'm in a crappy apartment for a month until my buddy's lease is up and we find a house, so i dunno how much work i can get done in his living room and the tiny patio, but i can do some stuff, just no steel fab'ing.

on another subject, my custom, handmade frame and forks i've been alluding to are about done, at least the first prototype, so stay tuned for that.

Geoff, your bike looks great, you too, Silverbear. this turned into a great competition!

but as long as they run and we can ride them, we're all winners.

Lol than I'm a loser

silverbear said:

I got my 39 back on the road this morning, thanks to help from Rockenstein in advising me on the centrifugal clutch repair. It works perfectly now. The expansion chamber exhaust is snug and is so much better than the kit catalytic muffler... no more hot ankle, I think it is a bit quieter than it was and the sound is more throaty. I'm also not imagining the increase in power. I have a total of $30 dollars invested in that exhaust including flex pipe and clamps. The ride is super and without a rattle anywhere. I'm already thinking about next winter's build of my 34 Elgin and am planning to give it a shift kit. It will be black with pin striping and more attention to quality of paint, etc. I've learned a lot from this build which will help to make the next one better yet. Even so, I really love this bike. I'm calling it an Elgin 'Velocipede'. I hope you like it, too
SB

Click to expand...

Very nice, SB.

I'd bet if you made a few of those rear racks they'd sell quick. Hint hint.

Oh, and nice tank.

Weekend Fun,
You're not a loser for sure. You just got started later than "Dos Tres Caballeros" (can't remember how to spell that, but it means the three cowboys) gettin' their ponies ready to ride, ya know. You'll get yours later on. Pictures of your new old bike, please. And as Bairdco said, once we get to ride 'em, we're all winners.
And speaking of Bairdco, good to hear you're still waking up in the morning and have not returned to your home planet (that would be speedy Mercury, I believe, as no moss grows on this guy). I hope your living situation smooths out for you and look forward to hearing / seeing what you're up to with the new Colson project. Your using a men's frame and finishing it out with parts from the step through sounds good and what I have in mind for the 38 Elgin step through I picked up this winter. I've been watching ebay and will wait for the right men's frame at a price I can manage. Of course I'm picturing your copper tank on it. I'd like it to be one of two projects next winter. As you know, finding a cool 30's men's bike with all the parts is a pricey deal, well beyond my reach. Going this route makes good sense. Everything you learned on the first two Colsons along with some new ideas will make number three a standout I'm sure. Stayin' tuned in on this one! (Don't change that dial!)
Rockhopper,
Thanks for the nice comments. The rear rack is something you have to find and then modify. The three I have came off 1960's Schwimns as front racks and had a spring deal for holding books and such. I use a dremel cut off wheel to cut away all the spring clamp stuff and then bend the rack to fit behind the seat, using the seat post as the front mount point. Flat washers and small hose clamps keep it in place vertically. Very sturdy and kind of minimal with nice lines. They're out there and aren't very expensive since front racks are not valued like the rear racks, thus make a good choice.
Barely,
That looks like a good solution to the drop stand problem and could work for any bike frame in principle. And that will be welded on, I'm guessing. And the little tab area to the front of the mounting hole will get bent outwards to act as a stop for when the drop stand is in the down position, is that right? This would be the ticket I think for a Worksman or vintage build wanting the old look and for those wanting to make room for an expansion type exhaust routed below the engine. Would that have to be welded or could it be brazed with say a maps torch? Can you braze a butt joint? I wish I knew more about this stuff. I like what you're doing. I have to figure out how to do something like that which will also permit mounting a bicycle trailer affixed to the axle. A lot going on in a small area. I'm still staring at the American as I'd like to change the exhaust on that one, too, but the dog votes no if it means no trailer. Anyway, good going! Yes, a bike ride with you guys and a cold beer or two sounds just right. We ride together in spirit anyway.
SB

Im not really a loser, just a joke
about cowboys and getting on their horses.... im thinking I hopprd on too soon :0
I dont know if MB's are right for me... atleast know. It seems to me Kits have soooo many small variables that when changed the whole bike cant work. And me, im not exactly the patient kind lol.
basicly, i think im over my head and maybe i need a 'leave of absence' like good ol' Urban Meyer

Sam,
I know what it's like to feel discouraged. I bought a pull start automatic a month or so ago and got it mounted on my 63 American recently... had a broken clutch lever, the pull start broke after three pulls and I had to take it apart and fix it. Tried to start it and could not to save me. After swapping the carb, plug wire and cap, different spark plug, checking connections in the magneto... I finally swapped out the CDI units and that was it. It is the first time I've had a bad one. After a lot of wasted time and pushing the bike back home the ngine fired right up and the new motor went twenty feet when the clutch stopped engaging with the engine. I'm disgusted, discouraged and feel like I've just wasted a hundred and sixty bucks on junk. I don't have high hopes of the seller making things right, although I'll try. So in a situation like this you wonder what you're doing and if it is all worth it. This is on the heels of much frustration with the automatic clutch on the 39 Elgin. Here I thought I was getting pretty savvy with these kit motors and old bikes, but I've spending a lot of time fixing and very little riding. And I'm not a kid, at least not in age. So it happens. What works for me sometimes is to just step away from a problem for awhile and give it and myself a rest. Then later I'm ready to try to make a go of it again. You and I both tend to make things difficult for ourselves with wanting to start out with rusty, cool old bikes which of course have all kinds of problems. Getting cranks loose or the handlebar goose neck. Or trying to find a part for a bike that's sixty years old. Getting the engine to fit and drive chain to clear... all kinds of things to deal with. Some builds are pretty easy and others seem to fight back. Maybe a real easy build on a pretty new plug and play bike is a good idea. I've resolved for myself to stop trying to save a few dollars on an engine and go with a seller who will make things right when the engine is wrong. Getting bummed over build problems, lack of knowledge or tools or a workspace is natural enough. But I'll tell you, Sam, when you do finally get one going and feel the wind in your face... oh boy, how cool is that? You know a lot more than I did at your age, so don't sell yourself short.
SB

im not realy gunna quit...
ive hopped on the horse.. might aswell buckle up and enjoy the ride

going out to work on the bike now

that reminds me, Silverbear, i'm gonna have an extra step-through frame laying around that i'll probably never use, if you're interested, pm me and i'll send it to you real cheap...

Sam, good going, Bud.

Bairdco,
I'll have to think about it as I'm kind of in an Elgin groove and would need to come up with lots of parts to finish it out. At the moment I'm bike rich and engine poor. It is a very neat bike, however. I really like that rear rack and don't recall seeing one like that before. I don't know what the men's frame you're getting looks like, but judging from your other Colsons and the parts you'll take from this one it is going to be a looker. Will it get another copper tank? What a question. Sure it will.
SB

the men's colson is basically the same frame as my 24" with the streamlined double-bar top tubes. it's from about the same year as the Colson Vogue, so i'm gonna switch over almost all the parts. the handlebars and seat on the Vogue have been sold already, and i'm looking for a leather Brooks saddle and some bars with more of a pull-back to them.

i'm gonna re-lace the wheels with 12g. spokes, maybe add a front drum. i'm also using the chainguard, rear rack, fenders etc, so all i'll have left over from the Vogue is the frame.

as for a tank, i dunno if i'm gonna make a copper one, but whatever i do it'll be painted, and it won't be the stock peanut.

it should be a pretty quick and easy build, as i have pretty much all the parts, so i don't have to buy a lot of stuff, but the only thing that might hold me back is a place to build it. as of now, drilling, cutting and grinding parts on our tiny patio is out of the question. if you sneeze too loud in these apartments the neighbor's call the cops.
(on that subject, i know they love it when i fire my bike up in the parking garage.)

but soon, i'll have a full shop set up, then i'm going pro.

as for the Vogue frame, just let me know, i'll probably have it for awhile, and you can have it for super cheap.

bairdco said:

the men's colson is basically the same frame as my 24" with the streamlined double-bar top tubes. it's from about the same year as the Colson Vogue, so i'm gonna switch over almost all the parts. the handlebars and seat on the Vogue have been sold already, and i'm looking for a leather Brooks saddle and some bars with more of a pull-back to them.

i'm gonna re-lace the wheels with 12g. spokes, maybe add a front drum. i'm also using the chainguard, rear rack, fenders etc, so all i'll have left over from the Vogue is the frame.

as for a tank, i dunno if i'm gonna make a copper one, but whatever i do it'll be painted, and it won't be the stock peanut.

it should be a pretty quick and easy build, as i have pretty much all the parts, so i don't have to buy a lot of stuff, but the only thing that might hold me back is a place to build it. as of now, drilling, cutting and grinding parts on our tiny patio is out of the question. if you sneeze too loud in these apartments the neighbor's call the cops.
(on that subject, i know they love it when i fire my bike up in the parking garage.)

but soon, i'll have a full shop set up, then i'm going pro.

as for the Vogue frame, just let me know, i'll probably have it for awhile, and you can have it for super cheap.

Click to expand...

lol Baird you need this.Vintage late 1800s leather seat

BarelyAWake said:

Decided I'd stick my poor camera in my sock again and take a coupla quick vids, the shiftkit is ossum... but hard to describe with jus a pic lol TBH I'm ofc still working on the bike, you may notice a "pulsing" sound from the engine - this is from one binding link on the primary chain (415) and although I thought I had that sorted, Murphy decided otherwise lol

Anyhoo, this is a small, hilly back road - a perfect place to demo shifting. It's clear that while I wasn't winding out the RPMs "beatin' on it", I still need to lose a tooth off the chainring drive sprocket, from the 10t to the 9 (10% reduction heh) - while it's perfect for a less hilly area than I live in... well... there's a lotta hills around here

Just a quick run up through the three gears;
YouTube - Shiftkit 3sp short

A nice lil cruise w/both up & downshifting;
YouTube - Shiftkit 3sp long

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Thanks for the videos. What was your top speed?

Sounds good, Barely, and the shifting seems smooth. Man, I want one! I see what you mean about the third gear not being quite low enough. The nine tooth should be perfect. I really like that you can change things around to tweak it for your particular conditions.
Thanks for sharing the vids.
SB