Could your sister’s old bike be your new motorbike?

 

        Well, here is my little van after a fun morning at the local Flea Market. On the back you will see a girls cruiser bike. This bike, apparently Japanese made was abandoned in an area where people dump stuff they don’t want to take home, rusty wheels, worn paint, but a solid steel welded Bike next step?

 

Turn the bike upside down, spray the rusty wheels with an acid-based wire wheel cleaner, and scrub with a plastic bristle brush.

Ok, nice and clean! The wheels cleaned up real nice, it was just surface rust! The chain is rusty and broke later the handle bars are unacceptable, and somebody’s sister was a wild one, this bike had a derailer (removed) and she stuck a 24” wheel on the front! Now I have sawn out the upper bar, replaced the front wheel with an old alloy I found, couple of tires, and you will see the piece of steel tubing that will become the top bar.

Ok! All easy so far? Now with a conduit bender I bend the tube, “fishmouth” the ends on my bench grinder, and weld the tube in with an acetyl torch. After that I did a standard Star-fire type installation, which always includes a front brake, this time salvaged off of a 24” girls mountain bike. Evening had fallen but I took a pic anyway, Later I plan to do an underframe tank for this bike, so I left out the center bar till I figure out what the tank will look like. In the interim I just used the kit tank so the bike can run.

Was this Your Sisters bike?? It could have been! More to come later on this bike, as it will get new tank, fenders, an old-timey paint job, generator lighting and a few other niceties!   Later!  Mike