my cruiser project, paint, suspension, etc.

tire

tire

New Member
apparently i posted in the wrong section of the forum, oops. so here we go:

i started with this huffy cranbrook frame which apparently is commonplace. it's some steel/alum hybrid probably made from recycled cans, but is somewhat weldable and lightweight too. not to mention i like the cruiser look. i've taken a mountain bike front fork suspension and cut and welded the bearing shoulders so that they fit the huffy frame, which is smaller in diameter. i'm very excited i could get the suspension to work because it will make riding this thing much more pleasant, and safe. i am using two old ammo cans as saddle bags, which i think will be very practical and look pretty cool. i'll add a rear rack and weld the ammo cans to it, i think.

the motor kit is a grubee gt5 kit with "high performance" carb, though i don't think i'll have to worry about competing with my 1602cc yamaha road star anytime soon...

i wil be asking y'all a lot of questions, as i don't know much about 2 strokes other than the basics.

i'm going for a SoCal beach cruiser/1910 harley look with a black/red paint scheme as you can see in the picture. the head will be red and the block and casing will be black. i think painting the exhaust "glass pack" part red will look tasteful as well. i'm not sure about the chain guards. i ordered a decal to put on the gas tank.

austin
 

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Good luck. I've had nothing but problems with my Cranbrook. well, at least with its rear wheel, drive sprocket from engine kit, and drive chain from engine kit.
 
Well, when I installed the drive sprocket on the rear wheel, the drive chain rubbed the tire. When I flipped the sprocket over, it rubbed on the frame. The seat stays will need to be widened I believe. The crappy bearings in the rear wheel fell apart when I went to grase them, and never went back together right.
 
i've built a lot of cranboobs and kind of like them, everyone needed the sprocket mounted against the spokes method with the sprocket dished out ) that means only using one of the rag joints inside the wheel with the 3 mounting plates. have had no problems doing it that way on cranbrooks. the newer ones have more heavy duty wheels than the ones from a year or two ago.
 
I see I'm not the only one that builds bikes in the house... TV on etc... Big work done in the garage, I don't think the couch would fair so well welding upstairs!! PIX #2, where ya gonna mount the kitten?? LOL, would make a heck of a horn!!

Mac
 
haha yeah, the kitten tries to get into everything, including pictures. as far as ghetto "body shops" are concerned... i am painting in my tiny patio, stringing things up on a clothesline basically, and they dry out there under dry to touch, then i tie them onto my shower curtain and close the door so my cats don't screw with it.
 
My shop consists of the living room of my 1200 sq. ft. apartment. I have parts and tools scattered everywhere... hope it's not bothering my 3 roommates too much.
 
This is what I want to do when I build one for me. I have a set of RST Gilla struts I could mod to fit..or not.

I too will get a Cranbrook, and my dad wil have the stock version and I will have the sport/race version lol... I like the upside down handle bars.... My dad wants his kept stock...

Can't wait to see yours finished..I bet it will look pretty sweet.
 
I like the MB forks on the cruiser frame idea...it's very slick and if I used my Gillas from my Respone Sport I could even use the disc brakes and caliper.

What about the caster though? The original forks were bent for more relaxed caster, but now it's straight....will that make the steering a little more quick?... will that be a bit more dangerous?
 
good eye, but not quite. the caster is the same. the cruiser fork was bent gradually and this mountain bike fork has the bracket slot where the wheel goes just welded onto the front. long story short, the wheel ends up in the same place though it doesn't look like it.

it was an apprehensive test drive, and i didn't fall down or hurt myself so so far so good.
 
thanks. yeah my front engine mount is temporary. once i get the chain and i know things that will stay put i will redo it or at least improve upon it.

here is it updated.... i had to change the pretty wheels for the mountain bike wheels but i will move the white walls over to them eventually.

i am aware that the fuel tank is backwards... i had no choice due to the petcock but overall it still looks alright, i think. the racing numbers help hide this frankenstein huffy crankbrook haha.
 

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tire said:
i am aware that the fuel tank is backwards... i had no choice due to the petcock but overall it still looks alright, i think. the racing numbers help hide this frankenstein huffy crankbrook haha.
Click to expand...

Good looking bike! I really like your front fork... Can you give any details about make & model of the fork?

You do have some options on the petcock... Go to your local Ace or Lowes or Home Depot and look through the brass plumbing fittings. A regular pipe thread fitting will fit the tank nicely, especially if you use some thread sealant or the fuel-specific teflon-style sealing tape. Check posts 43 and 50 in this thread.
 
Three-Wire said:
Good looking bike! I really like your front fork... Can you give any details about make & model of the fork?

You do have some options on the petcock... Go to your local Ace or Lowes or Home Depot and look through the brass plumbing fittings. A regular pipe thread fitting will fit the tank nicely, especially if you use some thread sealant or the fuel-specific teflon-style sealing tape. Check posts 43 and 50 in this thread.
Click to expand...

i'll check on it in the coming days, thanks. i already sealed it but if i get a wild hair in me i might use your advice.

the fork is middle of the line ~1999 royce union downhill mountain bike, a "GXR 1000". if i build another one of these for whatever reason, the university sells tons of abandoned bikes for 10$ each and this will be a good scrap yard for me. i lucked into the front fork... looks a lot like a motorcycle, right?
 
i can't really see anything salty.

welding a rear rack on... and mounting an ammo can saddle bag, and if i can figure how i should do it, front pegs. :)
 
here come some pictures... i think it's "done"...? that is until my frame brakes which it surely will. :-(
 
I built a cranbrook; the late model with heavy spokes.....the very reason I used it. Plus the cool two tone retro look. Works great with sprocket dish out. Chain just about touches frame. Taking some paint off. If it bothers you, put some washers on the left side axle to shim the frame a little wider. I've got about 275 miles on it. Is a great ride seems to be holding up fine.
 
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