Another B.T.R. Build.......

I measured the outside diameter real quickly, comes out to a little over 27.5". It actually might be a little bigger once they are mounted on the narrower rims I have on the way...

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And just for fun, here's one next a 26" Felt Quick Brick...

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The picture doesn't really do justice to how much bigger these are than the Q.B.'s
 
Have you started on the frame yet? Do you have a drawing?Would like to see what you have in to go with those tires.
 
I haven't started on the frame yet, I'm still collecting parts for mock-up, etc. I'm thinking I will use 1.25" od tubing for most of the frame and I'll be real happy if it looks similar to this Indian...

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JohnThomas Sorrels said:
I haven't started on the frame yet, I'm still collecting parts for mock-up, etc. I'm thinking I will use 1.25" od tubing for most of the frame and I'll be real happy if it looks similar to this Indian...

bzucb.jpg
Click to expand...

John... I think you should consider 1 in .120 tubing, it sure makes it easy since Its not an odd size. I am not sure what tube bender you plan to use. My next frame will use that tubing size and I will mix in some .065 for the seat tube and lower top tube to save a little weight.

BTR are sure fun to build...hope yours looks like the picture... That bike is hot
 
culvercityclassic said:
John... I think you should consider 1 in .120 tubing, it sure makes it easy since Its not an odd size. I am not sure what tube bender you plan to use. My next frame will use that tubing size and I will mix in some .065 for the seat tube and lower top tube to save a little weight.

BTR are sure fun to build...hope yours looks like the picture... That bike is hot
Click to expand...

Weight really isn't an issue and that seat post tube can be 1" .120 DOM and then use a piece of 3/4" for the seat post. The more I build frames the thicker they get! .120 wall DOM is good stuff.
 
Yea, I was planning on all .120 wall dom, but was thinking 1.25" might look better scale wise. I plan to take a side shot of an Indian and scale it to my tire size so maybe 1" will be fine. It would be nice as I think 1" is a lot less expensive.
 
The rims showed up today, They're used but in good shape other than some paint chipping, double walled, with large spoke holes. I didn't take a picture with a tape but the outside diameter of the lip is right at 22". This rim size is 1.6" wide but since they're so thick the outside thickness is about 2.5"....

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I stuck one of the tires on a rim and measured the overall o.d. which now is a little over 28"!

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I didn't measure the width of the tire on the rim because it's not inflated yet but as it sits it is closer to 2.75" wide...

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Overall I am very pleased with these and can't wait to start building.
 
Cool they look like the MX rim i have, is that what they were off?

I actually quite like that tyre
 
JohnThomas Sorrels said:
I haven't started on the frame yet, I'm still collecting parts for mock-up, etc. I'm thinking I will use 1.25" od tubing for most of the frame and I'll be real happy if it looks similar to this Indian...

bzucb.jpg
Click to expand...

While discussing the Davenport show & looking up videos for another thread I found this one that shows that very same bike in the 2011 antique class flat track race...

At about 1:22 there is a good view of the other side if that would be helpful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYYQUz3bjiI

-Kirk
 
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John,
I like the way you're planning this out. I can already see that it is going to be a great bike. Love the wheels and tires. I've been planning to upgrade the front wheel on my Panther... finding that the 70mm drum is way underwhelming. 90mm is what I've been planning on and this confirms it. And I like the rear hub very much. And yes, the price sure is right.

Cobra,
Thanks for the information on the lighting... didn't know there were such bulbs that would keep the lights lit while at idle with a dynohub. I had been figuring on battery power while stopped, but your solution is much better. I wonder if those capacitors can be purchased separately so that there is a wider choice in bulbs. Do you know?
SB
 
I ordered some 9 gauge spokes for the rear wheel from Newsonsportec in Taiwan. They arrived today and thankfully I did my calculations correct. Here they are packaged up, the hub was offset so it required some dishing...

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They make the 11 gauge spokes on another bike look pretty thin...

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All laced up, I still need to true the wheel...

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I'll hopefully be ordering tubing for the frame at the end of May and will have some real updates soon.
 
So I've been drawing up my frame and had some questions. Through looking at different pictures of old bikes, specifically Indians, I have noticed there seem to be some with shorter wheel bases. There are the street bikes with all of the bells and whistles that have quite a bit of room between the rear tire and the seat tube and there are the stripped down racers that look like there is only a couple inches. The Indian below is one the shorter looking bikes and has the looks I am going for on my build. Can anyone confirm if there are shorter B.T.R.'s or are these just visual illusions from different pictures. If there are shorter bikes, does anyone know the wheel base on them?

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Here is a Cyclone that I based my drawing off of, I changed the bottom tube and scaled it to fit 27" tires.

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I know that scaling it down will make the wheelbase shorter but it seems like it shouldn't have changed as much as it did. I also changed the head tube angle to give it more trail which pushed the front tire out more. What I'd like to know is even with the trail I have will the short wheel base make the bike squirrely at speed? I can probably add an inch or two in the rear triangle but that still only puts it at 52" where as I've read on here 55"-58" is best. I don't want to lose the look of the compact Indian above so without going to larger tires I don't see another way to make up the wheel base. On a side note, if anyone has more info on the Indian I'd greatly appreciate it if you shared because it looks like it has modern tires and rims which I think are the same size as I'll be running yet still looks proportionate to the frame.

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Doing a quick PS overlay shows your Cyclone geometry is pretty close to the “little” Indian.

I used the rear triangle for alignment.

Granted the depth of field & perspective of a photo can cause tricks in 2D, but it does look like the only notable differences are a slightly taller tank, slightly different seat tube angle, and slightly longer mid section to the frame...

Longer is usually better for speed.

Interesting observation you made about the different frame types... Nice detective work!

-Kirk
 

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Ok, I stretched out the frame a little and got it to 52 7/8", It'll probably be more like 53" with the rear dropouts, I'll also probably lower the middle tube an inch or two but I think I'm overall happy with these dimensions...

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I played with the drawing a little more and stretched both the front and back out till it was at 55", I also lowered the middle tube leaving an even 5" for the tank, I think this will be it, time to order tube...

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