TRAX
Member
The snow is all but gone, I'm getting ready for this riding season and had a few ideas I wanted to try out.
1. Flipped the handlebars, This was my Sons idea, I was just going to swap them for a low rise set but he suggested I try flipping the old ones and I like the way it came out way better (thanks Thomas)
2. Modified the exhaust, trimmed down the outer horn, and added more rivets. I think the look is cleaner and more in keeping with overall ascetic, it sounds almost the same (read loud lol)
3. Changed the Tires. I have had these Kenda K838 Blackwalls on my mountain bike for a while. Because of their domed shape they offer much less rolling resistance going in a strait line but also good surface contact for turning. That and I like the way they look.
4. Rebuilt the headlight mount (my Son helped with the handlebars and headlight mount. It's helpful to have the extra hands some times and it's great working on a project together. The old headlight mount was really just a mockup the mount was a thin bit of scrap steel with some holes drilled. The retaining bolts were too small so I made a nice thick bracket and put in some beefy bolts it's solid now. The electrical needed some TLC too. The light is made up of an antique bullet lamp and the guts of a 15 LED flash light. The switch in the back had a short so it killed the batteries when not in use. I re-wired/tested it it's a lot brighter now.
5. Added a saddlebag (leather hand bag from savers) to keep the toolkit at a spare 2oz of two stroke oil in..
6. Swapped the plastic air reservoir bottle with metal one from spray bottle (was blue painted it black) and relocated it from the bottom tube just behind the front tire to behind the seat in between the rack supports.
Still a few things to do for this season, I still have to finish mending the copper fuel tank. The bike was tipped over at a ride ( someone was taking a picture and someone else bumped it) it went over and the stopcock got bent, that caused the solder joint to fail. It started to drip ever so slowly, so I drained it and pulled it right then. Lucky for me a guy at the ride had two kit tanks he was looking to sell. He gave them to me at a great price. I installed one on the bike so I could finish the ride and have been running with it since then. I need to de-solderer the old stopcock and put in a new one. I have the part jut haven’t had the time. Also, with forward facing dropouts on the specialized frame, the rear axle tends to slip ever so lightly forward under sudden power load and the chain gets sloppy. So I'm going to make/install tensioners. took it for a short test ride today, with the bars lower I want to push the seat back too, going to work on a layback post . Here are some current pictures
1. Flipped the handlebars, This was my Sons idea, I was just going to swap them for a low rise set but he suggested I try flipping the old ones and I like the way it came out way better (thanks Thomas)
2. Modified the exhaust, trimmed down the outer horn, and added more rivets. I think the look is cleaner and more in keeping with overall ascetic, it sounds almost the same (read loud lol)
3. Changed the Tires. I have had these Kenda K838 Blackwalls on my mountain bike for a while. Because of their domed shape they offer much less rolling resistance going in a strait line but also good surface contact for turning. That and I like the way they look.
4. Rebuilt the headlight mount (my Son helped with the handlebars and headlight mount. It's helpful to have the extra hands some times and it's great working on a project together. The old headlight mount was really just a mockup the mount was a thin bit of scrap steel with some holes drilled. The retaining bolts were too small so I made a nice thick bracket and put in some beefy bolts it's solid now. The electrical needed some TLC too. The light is made up of an antique bullet lamp and the guts of a 15 LED flash light. The switch in the back had a short so it killed the batteries when not in use. I re-wired/tested it it's a lot brighter now.
5. Added a saddlebag (leather hand bag from savers) to keep the toolkit at a spare 2oz of two stroke oil in..
6. Swapped the plastic air reservoir bottle with metal one from spray bottle (was blue painted it black) and relocated it from the bottom tube just behind the front tire to behind the seat in between the rack supports.
Still a few things to do for this season, I still have to finish mending the copper fuel tank. The bike was tipped over at a ride ( someone was taking a picture and someone else bumped it) it went over and the stopcock got bent, that caused the solder joint to fail. It started to drip ever so slowly, so I drained it and pulled it right then. Lucky for me a guy at the ride had two kit tanks he was looking to sell. He gave them to me at a great price. I installed one on the bike so I could finish the ride and have been running with it since then. I need to de-solderer the old stopcock and put in a new one. I have the part jut haven’t had the time. Also, with forward facing dropouts on the specialized frame, the rear axle tends to slip ever so lightly forward under sudden power load and the chain gets sloppy. So I'm going to make/install tensioners. took it for a short test ride today, with the bars lower I want to push the seat back too, going to work on a layback post . Here are some current pictures
