Anybody built one of these?

[Velodrome]

Yup. Steel wool b helpfull. Your using Caswell Dragons Blood? If so, I just made extra sure the front was absolutly seald with the JB and mixed up a little extra Blood and after sloshing let the "blood" settel in the tail section to congeal. Making sure of a perment seal at the rear. DONT mix up so much you end up sealing your petcock hole though I almost did that...

 

[biknut]

Yup. Steel wool b helpfull. Your using Caswell Dragons Blood? If so, I just made extra sure the front was absolutly seald with the JB and mixed up a little extra Blood and after sloshing let the "blood" settel in the tail section to congeal. Making sure of a perment seal at the rear. DONT mix up so much you end up sealing your petcock hole though I almost did that...

I don't actually have the dragons blood. Mine is just the Caswell regular clear motorcycle tank sealer.

I'm still dealing with sealing the rear part of the frame around the seat post as we speek. I kind of went overboard with the adheisive stuff I decided to use. It's probably going to end up about 2 inches thick on either side of the seat post. I don't think I'll have to worry about any leaking from back there lol.

The bore scope is the best tool I ever could have bought for this process. Without it this would have turned into a real mess.

 

[biknut]

i just remenbered I was supposed to get my wheel back from REI today, but they didn't call me.

 

[biknut]

Dig these tires I ordered

http://luxlow.com/products-page/cho...4x-3-city-slick-chopper-cruiser-bicycle-tire/

 

[Dan]

Those are gonna look awesome on her, BN. A lady needs proper shoes.

They being 3", will that be a problem with chain clearance?

 

[biknut]

Those are gonna look awesome on her, BN. A lady needs proper shoes.

They being 3", will that be a problem with chain clearance?

It's not supposed to be. My KW Machine motor mounts are offset to compensate for that, but I hope these tires aren't bigger than the stock ones, because it's probably going to be close. The original tires and these are both are 24 x 3, but another possible problem could be from these tires being low profile. There's no adjustment on the kickstand. When I get them I'm going to compare them side by side, and we'll see just how low profile they really are.

I think the white tires that come this bike look good, but on a motor bicycle I don't think they'll stay that way for very long. After they get chain lube on them they'd probably look like yuck. I've come to the conclusion that MBs are better off with black tires.

 

[Dan]

Big time! Drove me insane trying to keep white walls, white.

Best thing I found was shop hand cleaners like "Goop" and the like. Grease and brake dust, big mess and time consuming.

 

[culvercityclassic]

I think the tires will be fine as far as fit. The look will make that bike pop for sure.

 

[silverbear]

Yeah, the cream tires are a pain. On the other hand no doubt they were back when, too, and no doubt it was more accepted that they got dirty and were just part of the look. When I had them I just kept them moderately clean. From a distance they still looked good. Now my daily rider (American Flyer) has black walls but the Indian Hiawatha tri car just has to have cream tires. It's always a choice I guess between what's practical and what's 'the look'. Can't completely win, I guess.
SB
SB

 

[biknut]

Today I used a screwdriver to apply JB Weld to seal the opening in the tank that leads to the front down tube. At least that was easy, and only took about 5 minutes.

The rear area around the seat post was a different story. It's sealed now with the E6000 adhesive I bought, but at great effort. When I poured it in, I thought it would just plug up the passage and dry, but that's not exactly what happened. It slowly ran past the seat post passage, and into the rear frame like a slow motion mexican jail break. When I checked on it the first time, after about an hour, it was starting to run out one of the condensate holes down by the dropout in the rear frame. When I looked down in the tank with the bore scope, it was nowhere in sight. I immediately turned the frame up and after a while, the adhesive started showing up back at the seat post. That started a long process where I had to keep rolling the adhesive back and forth past the seat post till it dried enough to finally plug it up. It only took about 3 days to completely get it blocked. Remind me not to try that again lol.

If it wasn't for the bore scope allowing me to see what was happening down there, this might have turned out worse than thanksgiving at the mother in laws lol.

I'm going to wait 24 hours for the JB Weld to cure, and then I think I'll wait another day just to make sure the E6000 is good and hard.

 

[biknut]

Yeah, the cream tires are a pain. On the other hand no doubt they were back when, too, and no doubt it was more accepted that they got dirty and were just part of the look. When I had them I just kept them moderately clean. From a distance they still looked good. Now my daily rider (American Flyer) has black walls but the Indian Hiawatha tri car just has to have cream tires. It's always a choice I guess between what's practical and what's 'the look'. Can't completely win, I guess.
SB
SB

Silverbear, you touch on a point that for some people isn't important, but for me has been a big deal all my life. I'm always in search of the look. I love that search. Rarely can you buy it. You have to make it. You can't always tell how something will look until you try it. That's why I have a giant reject pile lol. But in the end I find it very satisfiying to get a bike looking like I think it should look, and knowing there's not another one exactly like it.

 

[biknut]

Big time! Drove me insane trying to keep white walls, white.

Best thing I found was shop hand cleaners like "Goop" and the like. Grease and brake dust, big mess and time consuming.

I know what you're talking about. I've made a couple of bikes for friends that had color tires. They look good at first, but it's impossible to keep them clean.

I like my bikes to look clean and new, even when they're more than 10 years old. People are always amazed when I tell them how old my bikes are. Minor wear isn't a big problem, because every scratch has a story behind it.

 

[GearNut]

If you use this chain lube, and let it fully set up before riding, it will not fling off at all.
Also it does not attract dust and grime either. For the very first application the chain needs to be clean, degreased and warm to the touch in order for it to fully penetrate into the rollers and pins.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VJST8A...e=asn&creative=395109&creativeASIN=B000VJST8A

Your whitewalls will love it!

 

[biknut]

If you use this chain lube, and let it fully set up before riding, it will not fling off at all.
Also it does not attract dust and grime either. For the very first application the chain needs to be clean, degreased and warm to the touch in order for it to fully penetrate into the rollers and pins.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B000VJST8A...e=asn&creative=395109&creativeASIN=B000VJST8A

Your whitewalls will love it!

Chain lube is only half the problem. There's also nastiness blowing out the tail pipe.

Speaking of chain lube. I tried that stuff, and it's ok. I give it a above average rating, but it builds up on the chain and looks dirty.

I'm really liking this chain lube though. I've tried almost everything over the years, and this stuff is amazing. It not like anything you've ever tried.

http://www.rocklube.com/

 

[biknut]

I think the adhesive I used to seal around the seat post has finally cured. There was a chemical odor coming out of the tank for a few days, but now it's gone.

The next step will be pouring the Caswell into the tank. When that's done, this pre build thread will be complete.

 

[Harold_B]

Chain clearance might be pretty close. I have the KW mounts and a Sportsmans Bike sprocket mount on the rear. My tires are 26" X 2.125" and the gap to the chain is .375". Take the difference between our tires 3.00" - 2.125" = .875"
Half of that .875"/2 = .4375"
Subtract the current gap .4375" - .375" = .0625" or about 1/16" ish.
Not to say that my quick eyeball tape measure is accurate or that my chain alignment is as precise as it could be but there it is. Great looking tires by the way.

Thanks for posting all of your process on the tank sealing. As I was reading I decided that it was not the path for me. I can always change my mind later. Maybe in the spring or early summer when it's warm.

 

[biknut]

Chain clearance might be pretty close. I have the KW mounts and a Sportsmans Bike sprocket mount on the rear. My tires are 26" X 2.125" and the gap to the chain is .375". Take the difference between our tires 3.00" - 2.125" = .875"
Half of that .875"/2 = .4375"
Subtract the current gap .4375" - .375" = .0625" or about 1/16" ish.
Not to say that my quick eyeball tape measure is accurate or that my chain alignment is as precise as it could be but there it is. Great looking tires by the way.

Thanks for posting all of your process on the tank sealing. As I was reading I decided that it was not the path for me. I can always change my mind later. Maybe in the spring or early summer when it's warm.

I've been warned the tire will be close. It's just one of those things to deal with. I did have email conversation with Dutchman motorbikes. He's build a Deep 6 with the same motor mounts, and said it's close, but just fits.

Don't let my experience discourage you from sealing the frame. If I had stuffed steel wool down in the seat post area it wouldn't have been nearly as much trouble. Next time will be a lot easier. Get a bore scope though.

 

[biknut]

I'm ready to apply the Caswell. Anybody got any idea how much to use? I have 24 oz total. I'm going to do 2 applications I'm thinking the first one either 8 oz, or 12 oz. I can't decide.

 

[biknut]

I finally poured in the Caswell. I guessed on using 8 oz. That ended up being about right. After swishing it around for about 25 minutes, only maybe 1 oz poured out. Probably less. Any more than that would have been a waste. If I add a second coat, I'll probably only use about 3 or 4 oz.

I'm going to check on it after 10 or 12 hours and see if it needs a second shot of Caswell. So far so good.

 

[biknut]

Caswell dries pretty fast. It's already hard. Looks pretty good. I already stuck the borescope down in there, and it looks good. I probably won't need a second coat.