Thirty dollar tip shop chopper.

[datsonovic]

A MIG welder is a great thing, Iv`e had mine for a few years now, I mainly use it for automotive jobs.

However I have develped a bit of an interest in "creating" chopper push bikes out of recycled materials from the local charity tip shop.
My first was the "widow maker" it was over nine feet long and had coaster brakes, it was very low however and looked very mean.

I got hold of a 2-stroke chinese push-bike motor and tried it out on a couple of different tip shop frames, and the motor seemed good.

After watching too much "easy rider" I decided to make a "captain america" styled motorised push bike.

I`ve had it on the road for a few weeks now and after a bit of fettling it seems to run quite well, I had to replace the chain for a more heavy-duty item, but apart from that all is good ,and it pulls like a school boy. And looks pretty cool too.

The punter that I bought the motor off told me it was a 2nd series 80cc motor with roller bearings. and it made 3 HP?.

Cheers,

G O T H E D A T.

 

[professor]

Hi Dats, Welcome to Motoredbikes, where are you from? I notice terms I never heard before like "Tip shop".
I hope if that helmet ever gets away from you, that you don't land on it.

 

[wheelbender6]

Nice chopper. Plenty of rake! I have been toying of the idea of getting a mig welder since joining this site.

 

[ibdennyak]

Lots of work in that bike. Did you get the helmet from Mel Gibson????

Welcome to the forum.

 

[azbill]

welcome
sounds like an ausie
cool helmet LOL

 

[james65]

Nizze jobb!

 

[datsonovic]

Cheers,

Thanks for you positive comments.

Yes it`s true I do come from Australia, The tip shop is also known as the recycling resource center. It is a section of the local tip (dump yard, scrapheap, tip) where they employ the otherwise unemployed to scouer the tip face for re-sellable items, they then sell these re claimed items in the tip shop. It is a non-profit organisation with any profit going to local charities so prices are pretty good ( $10 for a good running, complete MTB ).

I have built a couple of choppers before and have found "if in doubt...... rake it out". I find that the more rake you have the more stable the bike will be at speed, and stablity is somthing you need in spades on a chopper. I can just manage to do a u-turn on a suburban street. however it is waaaay to long to fit on a bike rack even with the front end romoved.

My helmet was a gift from my sister in-law, She got it from inonesia, I don`t think it would pass the ASSA laws but it better than nothing, and one of those fancy modern pushbike helmets would just look wrong. I think that it is made from plastic with foam filled spikes covered in leather.

The motor on this machine goes like a banshee,

Once again thanks for your comments

G O T H E D A T!

 

[alarmguy111]

I would love to see some more photos of your bike, because this looks to be very close to the basic design I want to build in a few months.
alarmguy111

 

[datsonovic]

I`v found that your best bet is to start with a plan.

I got a side profile view of the "captain amearica" off the net and printed it out, I then traced the basic frame out and scaled it up to 1/10th, I subsituted the standard wheels for 1/10th sacle mtb and bmx wheels and tweaked the frame design to suit, then it is just a simple matter of marking out you frame design in masking tape on your workshop floor (at full scale) and welding up your frame using the masking tape as a guide.

Your best friends will be: 70 gsm tracing paper, 1mm graph paper, sharp pencils, good metric steel rule, good quality mig welder, and time.

My first chopper was built "on the fly" and although it was very comfortable it was hideous to behold, and took about 3 times the amout of time to get sorted.

I suggest you get a chhinese 80cc motor and fit it to a standard MTB and "run it in", you can also start collecting old bikes and nice chrome plated bits and bobs to make your new creation.

I`ll see if I cant upload some pics to the Picture Gallery section.


cheers,

G O T H E D A T!

 

[alarmguy111]

I look forward to seeing your other pics. Great bike, and the closest to what I have in mind that I have seen so far. Your hints will come in handy I think as I get this show on the road. AND, everyone else's of course. This site is a wealth of useful and practical advice, and ideas.