Fat Tire Chopper Bicycle

It's time. Building mini choppers and 2 1/2 years of dabbling with MB's It's time for me to
combine one sport bike with another.

I've spent 3 weeks working on a frame to fit a 6 ft. adult rider. I saw this frame design a
year ago and couldn't stop thinking about it so I gave it a whirl. Not as easy as I thought.

In tradition of keeping a radical bicycle look, the frame is designed with a single down tube.
Of course keeping a peddal drive train. (different than my mini choppers)

Im going with a 45 to 47 deg. rake, with a 24" 72 spoke front wheel. Chrome billet forks.
I'm not building the rear frame until I find the ultimate 11"wide x 23"tall rear tire/rim combo.
The head frame is bowed, to accept any engine style. I may start with a HT to save costs.
If I love the bike I may upgrade.

This will be a slow going project due to a busy life. This is where i'm at so far. I'll keep this
thread updated as things progress. graucho

 

[srdavo]

Looking Great!!!

 

[Irish John]

You beauty! This is such a well documented project and a great asset to a Forum such as this. Roll on hot weather and the final coat of paint.

 

[Junster]

Dude, total work of art. I'm curious with the tight radius bends are you packing the tubing with sand first to fight collapse?

 

[graucho]

pipe shaping/bending

Dude, total work of art. I'm curious with the tight radius bends are you packing the tubing with sand first to fight collapse?

Thanks Junster, great question. I have heated to a glow then used silica sand in the tubes before for a tight bend. But not this time. I wanted to box in the engine area this time for a different look. (personal design preference for this build)

I angle cut the tubes, heated them to a glow, waited 45 seconds, mig welded them to molten lava becoming one piece. Then ground flush with a bit of automotive sandable spot putty. Bingo-bango clean strong angle with the look I was after. As far as the other angles, its a visual thing in the photos. In person there not as tight as they look in the photos. Take care, graucho.

 

[srdavo]

Now....

For my favorite Q.....


Can I ride your Bike?

 

[AussieJester]

HOW i missed this worklog i don't know :: slaps own face :: SIMPLY SUPEEEEERB Mate VERY professionaly setup indeed!!! I skimmed through the worklog reading your posts apologies if i missed where you said you 'first saw' the frame design, i asume it was on ChoppersUS the front section looks identical well done ;-) I neeeearly purchased that partucular frame myself before deciding on building one from scratch.

Anywayz bud freakin awesome job ...

KiM

p.s SUBSCRIBED!!111oneone

 

[graucho]

Thank you Jester. Yes, those dudes at http://www.choppersus.com have their act together with all aspects of their business. I have ordered many parts from them. I loved the frame so much when I saw it I just had to build one. In my mind I needed a 8ft bike so I bought the frame, used it as a template and stretched my frame out another 6"and slightly increased the rake. The existing purchased frame I will be making a chopped trike out of it. (one bike at a time)

They made it easier for me selling things like crank tubes http://www.choppersus.com/store/product/513/Machined-Wide-BB-for-Super-Fat/ and front end parts http://www.choppersus.com/store/department/5/Front-Ends/ Anyone interested in building a larger scale chopper (you OCC guys) you can put a 4.5" tire on it and a HT engine will fit perfect.

Im also looting at this design to mount my GEBE kit on it. Then it could be a GEBE pusher trailer. WOW, cool. Anyone see this with a GEBE mounted on it yet? http://www.choppersus.com/store/product/958/Trail-A-Bike-Add-On-Bike-1-Spd/

 

[graucho]

Still in the mid 30's here so no paint yet. I've been putz'in on the fuel tank and lighting issues. Here's what I came up with for the tank. It's only 34oz. I hope to get an hour out of it. I have room to expand if its a problem.

 

[AussieJester]

Here's what came up with for the tank.

OH **** yeah that fits into the whole scheme of the bike too a tee doesnt it...i was looking for a "tool bag" on ebay to "hang off the rear of the seat mount" for my own ride few days ago that looked remarkably similar ...AWESOME graucho look forward to next installment...

KiM

 

[graucho]

Took her to paint finally

Took her to paint finally. My color scheme/concept was to match the seat colors from front to back. To get the colors I wanted I only needed 3 colors. Yellow, red and black.

I've been here more times than I can count, mixing colors and feathering with the airbrush pen is just plain fun fun fun! Painting with the airbrush pen is a lot easier that you may think. After you have bought the airbrush pen, the cost of painting your bikes is only a few dollars more than spray cans and gives excellent quality.

I'll give more details how to use the pen and paint/acetone when I get a little time. After I give it a week to cure I will finally be able to start re-assembly. YEA! LOL