Schwinn Cruiser retro look

This is a one year old Schwinn Landmark cruiser.I never liked the orange color it was so I painted it, added chrome fenders, a chrome Springer front fork, a cloud 9 seat and an HDwheel from Spooky tooth. The front springer has cantilever brake bosses so the standard brakes worked well. The rear wheel has a 44t freewheel with a band brake. The tires were switched out for whitewalls. The box on the rear carrier is a 12 volt marine battery 8ah to power the LED headlight and the LED turnsignals. Easily get 20 hours run time on them. The headlight will be moved down to the front fender, the peanut gas tank will be replaced with a round one where the light is now. The horn tank sides are made of wood and hand fitted, they will be fiberglassed. The battery and an old oooooga horn will be enclosed in a red and white box on the carrier. I do not like the freewheel drive sprocket, it eliminates pedal starts as an option and sometimes is jerky when the engine slows and speeds up. The gray engine will be switched to an 80cc PK 80 and it will be black with and equipped with a pull start and centrifugal clutch. The springer fork and cloud nine sead made a big difference in the ride. The HD rear wheel's band brake moves the sprocket further to the right than I like. I cannot get the alignment with the engine that I'd like. I may make a new engine mount and shift the engine over half an inch toward the pedals.
Every where I go people stop and point and ask me to sell it to them (until they hear my minimum price that is) It's been a long slow process and is not completed yet. I'm rather proud of her as she sits now.
Woody

 

[insomniacshotrods]

Sweet bike, I like it alot. Have fun and watch that front fender brackets carefully for cracking. Usually they just break without any signs, throwing you over the handlebars..

 

[arkives1]

Sweet bike, I like it alot. Have fun and watch that front fender brackets carefully for cracking. Usually they just break without any signs, throwing you over the handlebars..

Thanks! I know about the fender brackets being a danger zone, I check everything before I ride, every time I ride. We still have some good riding weather here in Wisconsin but it is getting cooler. My other bike, an occ chopper is going up to the summer house for some October rides around the lakes there. Picture attatched.

 

[james65]

Sweet bike, I like it alot. Have fun and watch that front fender brackets carefully for cracking. Usually they just break without any signs, throwing you over the handlebars..

I was just wondering where the fender actually connects? The springer down tubes, wheel and fender braces all move so the fender can't attach steering down tube.
Please send a picture.

 

[james65]

cruiser

Great looking build!
Too bad the battery coulden"t fit inside the wooden horn tank. Good lighting system. How much time went into fabricating the horn tank?

 

[arkives1]

I could have fitted a small battery pack of AA's in the horn tank to drive the lights but that would have really shortened the working time for them. They're all LED but I ride with the tail light and head light on at all times. It will look better once the battery and horn are enclosed in a covered box on the rack. I hate the peanut tank more.
The fenders are attatched to the bottom of the steer tube and to the down tubes of the springer fork. Sounds illogical but it works and hasn't cracked or bent so far. I've attatched a photo. It looks like there's paint on the fork and cables but it's actually a reflection off the chrome. Frame was painted before anything was put back on it. This bike is ready to go into storage for the winter now. Still riding the OCC Stingray though.
Hope the pic helps clear up any confusion.

 

[arkives1]

Jim, I forgot to mention that it took several hours of cutting and hand fitting the tanks and then several more hours with several coats of paint. It's all automotive paint dried under heat lamps. It takes 48 hours to cure the paint enough to handle without damage.

 

[RedBaronX]

Jim, I forgot to mention that it took several hours of cutting and hand fitting the tanks and then several more hours with several coats of paint. It's all automotive paint dried under heat lamps. It takes 48 hours to cure the paint enough to handle without damage.

One of my winter projects is going to be repainting my tank... it's already pretty scratched, which is not THAT big a deal for the overall look of my bike, but I'm still bummed about the scratches

 

[james65]

cruiser

The tank looks great! I hope to do something similar in the future. Do you have any pictures at different stages?
The major problem with the painting/sanding is My lack of patience. Guess that is what seperates the hackers from the craftsmen.

I had asked about the fender thing because I have a similar fork with fender. Just coulden't bring myself to connect a moving fender to a stationary point. So I rode for sometime with fender just held by the fender/axel straps (NOT A GOOD IDEA). However I did get away with it until I made some two hole clips that wraped around the moving down tubes.

I agree that the peanut tanks look acceptable or even good on some bikes and not others. However your bike looks so good that you can get away with it.

Later
Jim

Jim, I forgot to mention that it took several hours of cutting and hand fitting the tanks and then several more hours with several coats of paint. It's all automotive paint dried under heat lamps. It takes 48 hours to cure the paint enough to handle without damage.

 

[wheelbender6]

Some guys don't think a springer fork improves the ride. Mine works good and lengthens the wheelbase a bit for stability at speed.
I'm sure you can com up with a battery box that will complement that good lookin motorbike. You can use something as simple as a small repainted coffee can mounted on the seat tube to look like and oil tank.