My Road Bike Re-Build-

[Matheneyr3]

After putting less than 200 miles on the Roadmaster mountain bike, it quickly became a nightmare to maintain. The last straw for me was the left pedal stripping out and leaving me stranded more than ten mile from Home....-Had to call the Misses on that one, found it too far to walk with Bike in hand. I'm not going to Bash the brand... I guess you really do get what you pay for.
With that repair being enough to make up my mind, I decided to use an old 27inch frame I had upset my wife enough with already, (it laying in the yard, sheltering weeds).
A rusty set of rims from a yard sale. My motor from the "diseased" mountain bike, front fork also (big guys gotta have cushion!). And as many other parts that I could scrounge up without spending anything other than for a Can of spray on truck bed liner for a matt finish, and I am much happy with the results...
The most enjoyable part of this build, was using as many of the parts I already had, either in the shed, or laying around the yard- too build something a little more reliable.

In case anyone is curious-The front headlight is a Led Headband type lantern mounted inside a all purpose fog light with a piece of plexiglass used as a lens to allow room for the batteries, and switch. -The output is somewhere around 115 lumens- plenty of light to ride by, and about 12-18 hours of battery life. I added the two small led flashlights at 25 lumens each just for overkill.

The Tank is Fiberglass and resin over a stock BGF tank. Add epoxy for lines.... Truckbed liner spray on top...and an easy durable finish to a custom tank. BTW- the Truckbed liner spray is a timesavor for anyone wanting to finish a tank in a Gas resist material- as long as you like matt finishes.... Each to his own!

-Comments are Welcome...

Richard-

 

[Bikeguy Joe]

The tank kinda freaks me out, but I like it!

 

[AaronF]

Nice and creative! How is it with a lay back seat post on a road bike? I like the tank design a lot.

 

[Matheneyr3]

Aaron-
Rides like my cruiser, without leaving me feeling cramped- @ 240 pounds, I'm not able to get comfortable on a standard road bike stance. The extra room lets me enjoy the ride for longer periods of time without getting too uncomfortable with it. -will tell you this, my back side could handle it about 15 years ago..... I used to ride to work on a mountain bike five times a week.
Don't miss haften' ta ride.....but I sure miss wanten' to.

Joe-
Thanks for the comment on the tank- I liked the size of the standard tank, just not the way it straddled the top tube- as for the final look, I didn't want to be overly symetrical, or plain looking. Believe it or not, it took quite a bit of time to glass over....sand....glass....smooth.....well, I'm sure you get the jist.
Thanks for lookin!

-Richard.

 

[BADBOOH]

I like that bike!!! Very old army/ madmax'ish.... I have that same handle bar bag under my seat. I love it, I have a tool kit inside mine. Does that big light run off the motor? I found a similar light at walmart, I think I can wire it to the motor, but have not done so yet. Very cool.

 

[Matheneyr3]

Thanks, Bad-

But I gotta compliment you on that bike, very nice style you've got going on with those handle bars!
Is that a flat finish on the paint? -Looks Good!

The light is just the housing from a Wal-Mart light- It came with a thick glass lens, that I removed, and replaced with a thinner piece of plexi- to give me room to put a LED headstrap, type headlight inside the housing- I put a small toggle just above the mount, and I have a pretty bright light. Runs on three AAA bat's, and lasts long enough to not be an issue being battery powered. I have not found (not myself) any light that would run off of the white wire, and be bright enough to be usable....

I have made some small mods since those last shots- added a small carrying rack to the back, works well enough for me to run to my local food lion, and get a gallon of milk, and some eggs.
Gotta say- I really enjoy getting out with my son (He's 17) and going for short rides to see my parents....running to the store for munchies....or just getting out of the house- You just can't beat the excuse for quality time, and a nice ride! He has taken ownership of the orange moondog in my avatar, and rides it to work five times a week, It has become a reliable and affordable form of transportation for him (three mile round trip)- as well as helping a young man learn about the necessary maintenance involved in the ownership of a vehicle- (Without expecting Mom and Dad to pay for everything)

Wow.....! sorry bout that.....got carried away for a min.....

Still love to ride my Bike- Richard.

 

[BADBOOH]

NO thats cool... My son is a bit to young still, but already calls my bike his soon. I ride mine as transportaion every day. These things are great as long as you have a little of mechanic skills and some tools. I love them... There's nothing like riding a MB!!! And I've driven some of the coolest cars in the world, thanks to my line of work. Love your bike! Got to go ride!!! Laters.

 

[BADBOOH]

And to answer the question, yes it is flat called satin black. The bars, wheels, tank,brake, and other stuff is gloss...

 

[Matheneyr3]

Bad, very nice work for a daily driver! Do you have to have your bike registered where you are? I think I see a Tag on the back fender in the photo.....Nice.
-My Daily driver is a 81 Tercel- Started as a restoration project....just never finished it. It takes me my 38 mile round trip to work and back.

I've ridden the bike a few times, but weather permiting- the car usually wins the coin toss. -Will say though, Through Traffic, the ride in the car is 38 minutes one way, On the Bike it's only 45!

Go figure.....

- -Richard

 

[BADBOOH]

No I do not have to register the bike, but the plate I found came of a old rusted JC wiggins bike from the late 20's, so I thought it would look very cool on my bike, representing San Diego.

 

[jmr3394]

Metheneyre where did you get a headlight like that? is it battery or white wire?

 

[Matheneyr3]

Jmr3394,

It was Battery- Bought an all purpose light from wal-mart, bout $12- replaced the halogen bulb with a coleman max l.e.d. lantern light, bout $24- and replaced the glass lens with a thin piece of plexiglass to make room for lantern light to shine through the stock reflector. -you can see in the pic where I had to enlarge the hole in the reflector for the l.e.d. light.
- it was a bit to spend on a head light, but it gave me one light that puts out over 100 lumens (whatever those are), but it's plenty of light to ride by at night with just one light. the plus side is that it runs on only three AAA batteries- and the rechargeable ones last me well over 10 hours on a charge.

Thanks for lookin!

I have made some changes since those pics- tried to hook it up to an old bicycle generator that I found to run my tail light, and don't ya know it runs it just as well as the batteries.

I'll open'er up and post some pics in a day or so, I'm workin' 12 hour shifts right now, and don't get home till 9pm, -three days on, and three off... Only sucks when I'm on shift- Great when I'm not!

-Richard.

 

[jmr3394]

how did you atttach it to the handle bars?

 

[Matheneyr3]

Jmr3394,

Late, yes, but I had a long night at work-
Here are some pic's to give you an idea of what I did to put together, and mount the light- I'm not saying this is for everyone, but it works for me, so...

First is the mount, right to the neck bolt. Then the piece of plexi I used to replace the glass lens- the glass took up too much room inside the casing. Middle is the shot of the LED light epoxy mounted to the back of the reflector, I did have to enlarge the opening in the reflector a bit. It's hard to see in the pics, but I put a toggle switch on the housing in the first pic to cut the light on and off.
Last shot is the changes I've made to the bike- oversize rear tire, fork off the moon dog to shorten to stance, and added a generator to run the head and tail light. Works great for me, (Looks a little Ratty), but then I think I prefer function over form. -Oh, almost forgot to add, I did add a beauty ring to the headlight from an old fog light i had layin' in the shed.

-Can't forget to Appreciate BADBOOH, for showing me how good the tool bag looks mounted behind the seat- Thank you sir!

-Richard.

 

[Matheneyr3]

This is Kinda off topic, but I thought I post a shot of my security guard, hard at work keeping my home safe and secure- You can see her through the gate, keepin' and eye out for what I'm up to.

 

[ezdoesit]

After putting less than 200 miles on the Roadmaster mountain bike, it quickly became a nightmare to maintain. The last straw for me was the left pedal stripping out and leaving me stranded more than ten mile from Home....-Had to call the Misses on that one, found it too far to walk with Bike in hand. I'm not going to Bash the brand... I guess you really do get what you pay for.
With that repair being enough to make up my mind, I decided to use an old 27inch frame I had upset my wife enough with already, (it laying in the yard, sheltering weeds).
A rusty set of rims from a yard sale. My motor from the "diseased" mountain bike, front fork also (big guys gotta have cushion!). And as many other parts that I could scrounge up without spending anything other than for a Can of spray on truck bed liner for a matt finish, and I am much happy with the results...
The most enjoyable part of this build, was using as many of the parts I already had, either in the shed, or laying around the yard- too build something a little more reliable.

In case anyone is curious-The front headlight is a Led Headband type lantern mounted inside a all purpose fog light with a piece of plexiglass used as a lens to allow room for the batteries, and switch. -The output is somewhere around 115 lumens- plenty of light to ride by, and about 12-18 hours of battery life. I added the two small led flashlights at 25 lumens each just for overkill.

The Tank is Fiberglass and resin over a stock BGF tank. Add epoxy for lines.... Truckbed liner spray on top...and an easy durable finish to a custom tank. BTW- the Truckbed liner spray is a timesavor for anyone wanting to finish a tank in a Gas resist material- as long as you like matt finishes.... Each to his own!

-Comments are Welcome...

Richard-

Pretty Nice Bike. I just love that Gas Tank. Great Job....