race bike, pit bike, or death trap?

just got this running over the weekend. it's a 1936 Colson Double Bar JR frame and fork.

originally, it had 24" wheels, but now it has 16" moped wheels with Atom drum brakes front and rear. i re-laced the drop-center, dimpled rims with 12g in the front and 11g spokes in the rear. originally, it had a 2 cross pattern, but now it's 4x in front and 3x in the rear. woulda done a 4x in the rear, but the hub has mounting tabs for a sprocket so i couldn't do it. they're pretty much bulletproof.

a 16" moped rim is the same as a 20" bike rim, so i've got some Pirelli ML75 tires on the way. for now, it just has some POS kenda's i stole outta my junk pile. Pirelli ML75 Scooter Tires - KneeDraggers.com

my buddy welded new drop-outs on the rear, as the old ones were really cheesy, and one was cracked. now they're 1/4" steel and strong as ****.

we also widened the frame so the wheel would clear.

i had to customize a sprocket to keep the chain in line, as the original sprocket was about an inch offset to the left of the engine.

it's got 3.5" cranks on it so my feet don't hit the ground. it's also got a big-ass front sprocket, which i'll probably change out. it's way too hard to pedal.

obviously, the tank, CDI, etc is just on there to get it running to see if it was even rideable. i'll be making a tank and dialing in the motor soon, as well as moving the seat back over the rear wheel for the mini-cafe racer look.

it rides kinda like a BMX bike, and with the stock GT5A motor it wraps up around 35mph, it's pretty smooth at that speed, and it corners like a light cycle in TRON.

if i can get the speed up, and if the pitted and rusted frame holds up, it might be my new race bike.

if not, it's just gonna be a freaky little bike that took up way too much of my time, that i'd never be able to sell, but is a blast to get smokes from the corner 7/11 on.

check the last pic for a size comparison with my other race bike...

yup. it's too bad they don't make any in larger sizes. at least, nobody's discovered any, yet.

norm, if i woulda done that, the pedals would hit the ground!

yeah scotto, it's a pretty small. while you guys keep going bigger and bigger, i'm going for cornering speed.

plus, i got the wheels for 40 bucks, and i needed an excuse to use them.

and with the crazy red paint, i don't have to worry about bleeding allover it...

yup. in-frame tube tank. should be done in a few days.

my other bike has 24" wheels on it, so it's not a very large bike, either. that's another advantage to being short.

if the weather's ok, and i get the bugs worked out, i'll head over to derilict donuts on saturday with it.

i dunno what the wheels came off. they were old and rusty. the rims are "silverstreak" and the hubs are "Atom," which haven't been around since the 70's. it had vendestrian tires on them, so it's probably an old french moped.

the aprilia scooters use 16's, that's why pirelli makes tires for them.

mag, hopefully it makes a good track bike, otherwise you'll see it buzzing around the pits...

no problems yet. this frame was built right, 75 years ago, but the rust has taken it's toll. we'll see how it holds up.

i'm 5'7", and 135lbs. perfect bike jockey-size.

just got my Pirelli ML75's.

a whopping total of 56 bucks, with tubes!

they're 16x2.5, directional, with a J speed rating, which is 62mph.

totally changes the look and feel of the bike. at first i thought it might just be a toy, but now it's shaping up to be a real contender.

here's a pic:

braking's never been a problem for me. you saw me do a "stoppie" in the pits at grange, right? if they worked any better, i'd flip over the bars or wash out the front end...

i figure, if i can lock up the wheels, no matter which braking system i'm using, that's good enough for me.

besides, who needs brakes, anyway?