Extreme detailing of a kustom recumbent trike.
Therefore, we are grateful to John Preble of the UCM Museum in Abita Springs, Louisiana, organizer of the annual Bike Fest there, for allowing us to go through his personal parts archive, to pull out several bikes for our own pile.

Timothy Smith, For:
A description of how to build  a Short Wheel Base Recumbent Trike

The basic design of 2much!!!, including frame and steering geometry, was derived from an extremely useful set of articles by Timothy Smith, of Australia. We were able to build 2much!!! in a little over two months, due to our not having to go through a lengthy R&D process ourselves. Mr. Smith did all that for us, saving us much time, which we were able to put into the aesthetic aspects of the machine. Construction of the basic frame went very quickly, due to our having a set of templates to work from. While we didn't
The Headlights:
As 2much!!! was intended as an actual road vehicle, with potential night-driving involved,
it was imperative that it be equipped with functional lighting gear. Those who have read
my series on bike lighting will be aware that this is one of my favorite hobby-horses. 

Out of size considerations, we decided to use those chrome bullet lights compulsory for use on lowrider bikes. These lights are a joke, when it comes to function, but we chose to use them with modifications. The following is a description of how we made them work.
The styrofoam is dissolved out by lacquer thinner, although gasoline will work as well. This takes several stages. The styrene-saturated solvent is poured into a clean container. Don Morrison, in separate research, reports that this solution makes an excellent sandable wood sealer, so there is a good potential further use for it. It was determined at this stage, that the flat sides of the fenders were too limber, so a layer of fiberglass mat (non-woven, thicker material) was laid onto the inner surface with epoxy, for greater rigidity.
A pattern of the rear fender's profile is cut from foam-core board to serve as a cutting template. It is secured to the foam block with pins. The hot wire will follow the edge, while cutting through the foam. After the rear fender blank was cut, the template was modified by cutting part of the leading edge away, to make the shape of the
front fenders, which were then cut to shape using the modified
template.

Note: This method is ideal for making tanks. This is how the tank for Mr. Moto will be done.
1: Acquiring and preparing the basis frame:
This was more complicated than we'd hoped. We hit every thrift store in the immediate area, seeking a matched pair of 20" bikes. Dreamers that we are, we had originally envisioned building a matched pair of trikes. We wanted donor bikes for their rear stay assemblies only, as we planned to scratch build pretty much everything else. Everything we found was overpriced junk. We had gone to the Baker. LA area, to check out a guy who had a herd of bikes in his yard, but hadn't been there at that time. He wasn't there the second time, either. On the way back, however, Dave caught a glimpse of a strip-mall thrift store we hadn't noticed before. Quickly turning in, we found that they not only had a matched pair of garish little Huffys, but they were priced at $5 each. In our opinion, this was a pretty fair price for them, as a new one is only worth about $10, if that.
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Dave and I quickly dismantled the bikes and added their parts to our beginning bike parts pile.
Shane butchering the frames with the Sawzall. We would have used a big bandsaw, if we'd had one.
The part of each frame we planned to use.
Stripping the frames of their garish Huffy color schemes. For cheap crap bikes, their paint is pretty tough to remove.We used chemical stripper, then followed with a rotary wire brush in an electric grinder.
The stripped rear stay assemblies ready for the next step. The adding of the boom and front cross member. We opted to use exhaust pipe tubing, for its accessability and fairly
inexpensive price.
Welding On The New
Frame Members:
Shane used a wire-feed, inert gas welder for joining the new tubing parts.
This type of welder makes for a pretty nasty-looking joint. BMX and MTB technology's extensive use of TIG welding has got the consumer used to this crudeness of finish. It hasn't worked on us yet. So, we ground welds as smoothly as possible, without taking away too much strength.
At first, we thought that we would add brazing, then lead to further smooth the joints. We realized quickly that this would take forever to achieve the level of finish we desired, on the many joints making up 2much!!!'s framework. It was then decided that joints would be filleted with epoxy putty.
This image shows the front cross member joined to the rear section of the telescoping boom. The front member and kingpin mounts are 1.5" exhaust tubing. This is quite close to the diameter of traditional head tube stock; making it possible to use common 1" head bearings and steer tubes as the basis for the steering kingpins. The rear section of the boom is 1.75" exhaust tubing. Composite bi-metal holesaws were used in a drill press to make circular cuts for joining tubing, although our hand-held die grinder would have also worked, and was used on joints in the smaller stainless tubing..
This image shows the basic frame up on the temporary wheels which came with the donor bikes. Notice the 1/16" steel web reinforcement at the juncture of the donor frame seat tube and the rear boom section. This web was drilled with lightening holes, mostly for hot-rod style. It was later faired with epoxy putty. Steering geometry of the front kingpin mounts was based upon the designs of Timothy Smith (See acknowledgements below.) Note the wheel's camber.
The 1.5" dia. forward section of the boom was welded to a BB shell from a trash bike. We retained a section of seat tube ala
Timothy Smith, to act as a
mounting point for a derailleur. The telescoping tubing was rather loose-fitting. Tim Smith's solution to this was to make saw cuts in the larger tubing, at the end, with a muffler clamp compressing it around the smaller tube. To us, this lacked elegance. Shane, by inclination and profession, a hot-rod mechanic, dug out a Ford pinion bearing from his parts pile.
It was a tad too snug for the 1.5" tubing to fit into, so he spent hours with a die grinder opening it up. When he was finished, the forward boom section fit it as snugly as a submarine periscope. The bearing was then welded to the juncture of the rear boom section and the cross-member tube, with welds faired with epoxy putty..A 3/8" stainless bolt in drilled holes,
locks the boom sections together, with adjustable length.
Among Shane's other hot-rod odds and ends, was a supply of 1/2" stainless-steel tubing, used as hydraulic line or something in NASCAR racers, maybe. We used this to make the sliding seat mount and surrounding cage structure. It is bent  using a handy tool which Shane also just happened to  have on hand.
Once we became familiar with the bending tool and its usage, we used it for many other areas of the trike structure, such as the framework of the tail section. With some elbow grease and a range of abrasive papers, we were able to polish it to a chrome-like finish. It was then used for many other decorative uses, such as the shift and parking brake levers.
Above: Tubing bender with short section of tubing in jaw, and bent kiddy passenger hand-hold.
Once we had the seat track and lower structure finished, we built the basic seat form from 3/4" plywood. This was later covered in 2" polyurethane upholstery foam. Once this was in place, we added side rails to the seat framework.
Seat width was determined by measuring the seat of the largest member of the team. Shane was also our benchmark for gauging the strength of the seat structure, frame welds, and wheels. All survived the test.
Although 2much!!! is a kustom-styled human-powered recumbent tricycle, the tools and processes used in its construction are applicable to almost any configuration of small vehicle. With that in mind, we extensively documented every step we made in building it. You may be familiar with some aspects, but there are some techniques shown here which have never been published in any other source. We hope you find it edifying and useful.                                        for Wizard Brothers, and BikeRod&Kustom
Making The Composite Fenders:
One of Dave's leading items on the wish list for 2much!!! was "Indian-Style" fenders. These are valenced (skirted) swept-back fenders ending in a "duck tail".  This was no problem. For the past thirty years or so, I've been exploring and refining a process which I call "minimal-surface stretched composites" in technical papers. It is based upon the use of Lycra Spandex, a stretchy polyurethane-based woven fabric. In use, the fabric is stretched over an armature or form and saturated with a catalyzed resin. When the resin cures, the fabric is "frozen" in the stretched configuration, forming a rigid membrane. While this membrane is not terribly strong, it is a suitable surface for adhering other, stronger materials, such as fiberglass or carbon fiber. I have taught this technique to many people over the years. Some call it "The Jim Wilson Method".  For brevity's sake, (and modesty's) I prefer to call it "The Spandex Trick".

In the case of these fenders, the spandex was to be applied over common white styrofoam forms. The resin used was epoxy. Polyester resin is more commonly used with fiberglass, as it is less expensive than epoxy. However, its more volatile chemistry tends to attack the spandex fibers and dissolve styrofoam. The styrofoam forms were made by cutting the foam using a hot-wire cutter, which we made ourselves. The transformer is from Radio Shack, and the nichrome wire is salvaged from a broken hair dryer. Electric current running through the nichrome wire heats it red hot, letting it slice through the foam like a knife through warm butter. After cutting to shape, the foam forms were given rounded contours with an abrasive mesh commonly used for smoothing drywall seams. This work goes very quickly.
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A pattern of the rear fender's profile is cut from foam-core board to serve as a cutting template. It is secured to the foam block with pins. The hot wire will follow the edge, while cutting through the foam. After the rear fender blank was cut, the template was modified by cutting part of the leading edge away, to make the shape of the
front fenders, which were then cut to shape using the modified
template.

Note: This method is ideal for making tanks. This is how the tank for Mr. Moto will be done.
A front fender blank being hot-wired, using the
modified rear fender foam-core template.
Rear fender form being contoured with mesh abrasive pad.
Contoured front fender forms ready for covering with composite skin.
Cutting glass cloth reinforcement layer.,
using the fender form as a pattern.
Pinning glass cloth pieces to a foam front fender form. The pins are removed during the spandex stretching.
Stretching spandex over the dry glass cloth layer. As it is stretched tightly, it is stapled to a temporary wood strip fitted to the bottom of the foam form.
Catalyzed epoxy resin is brushed onto dry composite layers, being sure to also saturate the glass cloth layer beneath the spandex. Total saturation is very important.
After saturation, the fenders are set aside for curing. Overnight will usually suffice. Although there are epoxy resins with faster cure rates, slower formulation gives more working time, so it is preferable.
After curing, spandex is trimmed away from the
edges. Any low places are filled with Bondo and block sanded at this time. It is good to do any vigorous work on the fenders while the foam is still in place, as it lends considerable rigidity to the form.
The styrofoam is dissolved out by lacquer thinner, although gasoline will work as well. This takes several stages. The styrene-saturated solvent is poured into a clean container. Don Morrison, in separate research, reports that this solution makes an excellent sandable wood sealer, so there is a good potential further use for it. It was determined at this stage, that the flat sides of the fenders were too limber, so a layer of fiberglass mat (non-woven, thicker material) was laid onto the inner surface with epoxy, for greater rigidity.
The rear fender, ready for priming and spot putty work, is test-fitted into the extra rear stay assembly. It would be mounted using screws at the usual fender-mounting locations.
This front fender, seen during a test-fit has been sanded, primed, filled, sanded, etc. It is ready for the next stage- the mounting and fairing-in of the running light. We feel that when another element is to be added to a component, that it is best to have the foundation part finished before the addition.This simplifies the process, in our opinion.
The Tail Section:
Another of Dave's wish-list features was that the rear of the machine be covered by a "boat tail" fairing, rather than the usual unadorned rear wheel and associated structure and mechanicals. As design began on this section, an opportunity presented itself: pillion seating for a child passenger. As we had decided to not build two trikes right away, this seemed like a good idea, and lent itself to all sorts of extremely cool styling possibilities. Working with stainless steel tubing and Shane's bender, I made the various structural bits of the tail's frame, directly formed to the existing frame structure. First was a pair of side rails extending from the rear frame to the dropouts of the rear stays. This provided triangular bracing to strengthen the entire structure, and gave perimeter support for a pair of running boards/footrests. I next formed two U-shaped sections joining the two rails front and rear.  These gave the overall volume of this area, and provided mounting for a curved piece of 2" strap steel which was the basis for the passenger seat. When these pieces were ready and fitted, Shane welded them together. This structure was not welded to the existing frame, but had fittings for bolting it on. This gave the option of changing this section for something different, after the children had outgrown the passenger seat.

After the composite seat pan was finished, we were ready to stretch the spandex membrane over the structure. We mounted the tail framework and rear fender to the existing frame, after wrapping it with kitchen cling wrap. Epoxy does not adhere to this material (mylar) or polyethylene either, which is quite useful. We stretched the spandex over the fender so that the lines would flow together smoothly. After the spandex skin was cured, Dave pointed out that, as we now had the fender's shape as part of the overall form, we no longer needed the fender itself. The resultant roomier fender chamber now gave us room for a fatter tire. He proceeded to start eBay bidding on NOS 20 X 2.125" sliks, and eventually got one for about $12. We were thrilled, as there's nothing that sez hot rod like a fat slick tire.
Welding the tail framework while separate pieces are bolted to the frame and clamped to each other.
Finished tail structure, ready for mounting the composite seat pan.
The composite seat pan was cut from paper-faced foam-core board. knife cuts were made in one side of the paper skin, which allowed it to flex in one direction. Glass cloth and epoxy were added to each face, it was then wrapped in polyethylene plastic and taped in place on the curved steel seat strap. When cured, it held the curve.
With the fender and seat pan in place, and everything except the tail structure wrapped in cling-film plastic, it was ready for the epoxy soak. In stretches over an armature  the glass reinforcement is usually
applied to the inside after the initial stretch, resin saturation, and cure.
These views show the tail section after the epoxy was cured, and extra spandex was trimmed off. Shaped plywood panels were clamped into the running board area to pull the spandex down there. Plastic-wrapped foam-core was used to draw the spandex into the front opening. It was at this point that the decision was made to discard the original fender which had been made for the rear end. The profile has a slight resemblence to a narrowed Model-T Ford Roadster shell, another nice hot-rod reference. A layer of glass mat was added to the inner surface of the shell. for stiffness and strength.
In the midst of its primer cycle, the tail shows typical pinto pattern from spot putty filling various pits and sanding scratches in the Bondo layer This is sanded, then primed again, puttied again if needed, sanded- yadda, yadda, yadda, until perfect. At that point, it is ready for adding the tail light and fairing it in.

Left, near the end of the primer cycle, a layer of epoxy was poured into the seat pan to level and thicken it.
Next step was a skim coat of Bondo. This was then sanded, in preparation for priming.
Our tail light is a reproduction 1939 Ford unit from JC Whitney ($12.99). It has a glass lens, and is a very beautiful hot-rod-style light. We cut a hole in the fender for mounting its light housing, then we checked it for tire clearance. It required spacing away from the fender to avoid the tire. We spaced it with hexagonal 1/4"-20-tapped-steel standoffs, cut to length. This gave a secure mounting. Since the mount was so solid, we were able to use Bondo for fairing it to the fender, rather than the stronger, and more expensive epoxy putty. Between Bondo layers, I trimmed off high spots with a knife, rather than sanding, The third image shows the final contour of the fairing. The final image shows the lens and chrome bezel test-fitted to the painted fender.
The Gearshift and Parking Brake:
As we were going with total street-rod style, it was decided that the shifter for our 3-speed derailleur setup needed a serious hot-rod style gearshift mechanism and lever, as opposed to the toy-like versions found on musclebikes. This required doing some blacksmith work. A C-shaped chassis of 1/16" steel plate was made for it, designed to be welded to the boom. This was made using the Sawzall for cutting the stock, a large vise, a propane torch, and a hammer. The steel was heated, and the bends were hammered, with the plate clamped in the vise. An L-shaped lever was cut from 1/8" plate, and drilled for pivoting at the corner of the L. Another hole was drilled midway on the flat lever, for mounting the shift-cable-clamping screw. The shift cable was fastened and the lever was calibrated according to the derailleur position of each shift point. This worked out to about 1/2" for each position on the shifter chassis. Saw-tooth gates were cut into the steel top bent section. A tubular stainless-steel tube shift lever was mated to the flat steel shift lever, which had a compression spring at the pivot point, to force the lever into the detents. An extension spring was added to help draw the lever toward the bottom gear position, rather than only depending upon the derailleur's spring.
The parking brake mechanism was added to the other side of the shift chassis. It consisted of another flat-
steel lever, inserted between the handle-bar mounted brake lever, and the rear brake. This lever was
also spring-loaded to latch into a detent we welded to the chassis. When the lever is pulled up, it engages the detent, and stays latched until the handle grip is twisted counter-clockwise to release it. This lever also has a helper spring. This assembly is covered by a console topped with an UltraLeather shift boot. The parking brake lever extends through a slot in the front panel. The front panel of the console also mounts all electrical switches to control the trike's lighting and audio systems.
Wood Work:
Although most of 2much!!! is metal, wood is sometimes the best material for a given job. Fortunately, Dave is a serious woodworker with a well-equipped shop. As such, he had plenty of wood scrap on hand for us to use in the various wooden aspects of the vehicle.
The wooden seat form is made of 3/4" plywood. the seat and the backrest are joined by triangular cross- section cleats, attached with glue and screws. This has a 2" layer of upholstery foam added, then UltraLeather covering material was added.
The console is made of 1/4" plywood panels, glued together with epoxy adhesive. Corners were rounded with a belt sander, then it was hand sanded and given primer and the same paint finish as the rest of the trike..
The space between the derailleur mount tube and the console was filled with this transition form of plywood, faired to the frame with epoxy putty. After priming, it was given a textured bed-liner spray finish.
The audio system required a housing made of 3/4" plywood, as it housed some rather powerful little Kicker speakers. These and the receiver/cassette deck/30-watt amplifier came from Shane's collection of auto odds-and ends. The housing is shaped to exactly fit the plywood back of the seat, and is screwed to it.
Making The Tool Kit:
Rather than having a utilitarian cover to fill the opening into the tail section, we opted to have it serve as the housing for a tool kit, in case of possible road repairs. The wooden frame outline was traced from the actual opening, then bandsawed from plywood. The inner panel was made from three laminated layers of 1/4" plywood glued together. The top layer had the tool outlines cut out of it before glueing. All three layers had graduated-diameter circular openings for the spherical handle of the dual screwdrover The frame and tool panel were covered in UltraLeather seperately, and glued together upon completion. Retaining straps with snap fasteners were added, to hold the tools in their recesses. A Lexan unbreakable plastic cover was added, secured with stainless steel wing-nuts. The tool panel is held into the opening with wood screws and fender washers on the back, locking it to the tail section opening's stainless tubing frame.
The Painting Process:
We decided early on that the paint job would be done using spray cans. This, in spite of the fact that both Dave and Shane have powerful compressors and spray guns. As we were dealing with fairly small forms and painting them at various times, the normal setup and cleanup times would have been onerous. Shane picked the finish color: DupliColor Cayman Green, an iridescent metallic finish, similar to some attractive beetles shown in National Geographic last year. It is fairly transparent, to show the metal content. This makes it very difficult to do touch-ups, as we were to discover later on in the project. We used DupliColor's sandable grey primer, until we finally got tired of its quirky spray quality and thin-ness. We switched to Krylon primer, and were much happier with its performance. The color coats were topped with DupliColor clearcoat, which worked very well.

The Headlights:
As 2much!!! was intended as an actual road vehicle, with potential night-driving involved,
it was imperative that it be equipped with functional lighting gear. Those who have read
my series on bike lighting will be aware that this is one of my favorite hobby-horses. 

Out of size considerations, we decided to use those chrome bullet lights compulsory for use on lowrider bikes. These lights are a joke, when it comes to function, but we chose to use them with modifications. The following is a description of how we made them work.
Radio Shack carries an extremely powerful halogen lamp for use in rechargeable flashlights. It draws 800 milliamps, as compared to the maybe 200 drawn by the lamps customarily used in lowrider lights. These wimpy lamps are normally powered by two AA penlight cells in an internal holder. Our first challenge was the physical difference between the lamps themselves. The stock lowrider lamps are screw-base, the halogen are the usual flashlight type. We solved this by buying two $1.49 yellow flashlights, and using their bulb mounts. This was remarkably easy to do, as the size of the reflector opening was the same for both.

The second was the voltage level. 2much!!! has a 12- volt system. The halogens are rated for 5 volts. Fortunately, Radio Shack also sells electronic voltage regulator chips. These are three-lead devices in TO-220 packages. They have one which puts out 5 volts,.
even with 12 volts in. The three leads are +voltage in, Ground ( minus voltage), and +voltage out. This is about as simple as hookups get. We ripped out the battery holder, changed lamp mounts, and added the voltage regulator in about an hour. We
tested a headlight, and determined that we would need to heat-sink the regulator to the headlight shell. With 12 volts going in, and 5 volts out, the extra 7 volts is converted to heat. Our test showed that the heat degraded the peformance of the regulator after about 15 minutes. We then used heat sink compound (also sold at Radio Shack) to thermally connect the regulator to the shell. From that point, it worked flawlessly. The headlight housing gets warm, but not blazing hot. The difference in light output is astounding. These headlights now put out an intense white light, very suitable for road use. As the mass of the batteries has been removed, the fairly flimsy headlights are less prone to vibration damage- a big plus. This is a very suitable conversion for other types of headlight as well. They would work just as well on six volts, and wouldn't waste as much current, in the form of heat.

Sculpting A Fender-Mount License Plate Holder In Epoxy Putty:
This was the very last part which was made for 2much!!! It is a good example of the possibilities of epoxy putty for making custom-fitted parts which perfectly mate with the surfaces they join. As this type of license-plate mount will work with any bike fender, no matter its material, we chose to show its use in step-by-step sequence. It starts with the making of a 6 1/2" wide T-shaped bracket from 1/8" aluminum stock. It is covered in packing tape, which resists the putty sticking to it.
Kitchen cling-wrap is taped tightly to the fender, covering the working area. Epoxy putty will not stick to this film's surface. A small amount of putty is pinched off the stick, kneaded together, and squished onto the film surface. With a wet fingertip, it is spread out. to cover the mount's "footprint". More putty is kneaded, and added to the base putty layer. While it is still soft, the bracket is pressed into the surface, to start a socket for it to fit into. It should start at the angle you wish it to stay..More small amounts of putty are added around the bracket, and smoothed with wet fingertips. Small amounts are best, as larger masses set up faster. All this kneading will deposit considerable putty on the hands doing the kneading,as seen in the end photo above.

Timothy Smith, For:
A description of how to build  a Short Wheel Base Recumbent Trike

The basic design of 2much!!!, including frame and steering geometry, was derived from an extremely useful set of articles by Timothy Smith, of Australia. We were able to build 2much!!! in a little over two months, due to our not having to go through a lengthy R&D process ourselves. Mr. Smith did all that for us, saving us much time, which we were able to put into the aesthetic aspects of the machine. Construction of the basic frame went very quickly, due to our having a set of templates to work from. While we didn't
After sufficient buildup has formed a socket around the aluminum bracket, it may be removed, for more access to the form which is gaining shape. Putty may be added over the socket area, provided it is trimmed away before it sets up hard. It is good to replace the bracket in the socket after every step, so as to avoid creeping fill in the socket.
After the form is built up to the approximate final shape, the bracket it removed from its socket, and the form is sanded with coarse sandpaper (80-100 grit) to achieve the base's symmetrical outline and to make the upper sides symmetrical as well. The bracket is replaced in its socket, and the assembly is placed back on the fender to see how you like the shape at this point. The base fits the fender so well that moistening the base with saliva will hold it in place. More putty is applied to get it closer to the final shape desired. It may be sanded again, at this point.
Having achieved a pleasing basic form, I added more putty fore and aft of the bracket, to fair the mount and bracket together.
The bracket was removed again, for final sanding with 220, 320, and 400-grit wet sandpaper. The cling film was removed from
the fender at this point, and I adhered the final sculpted mount to the fender with spit. In the last view above, it may be seen that the lines of the mount go very well with the lines of the fender and its tail-light fairing. It is now ready for priming and paint.
These views show the mount painted and finished. The second view shows the license plate mounted to the bracket using stainless-steel screws with chrome acorn nuts. It was then adhered to the fender with a few drops of epoxy adhesive. Rubber cement could have been used, to make it more readily removable. This process can be used to make a license-plate mount for any bike's fender. It is recommended that the fender be totally finished before molding putty to it, in order to make for a perfect fit between the two mating surfaces.

Epoxy putty may be found at almost any hardware store, in the plumbing section. There are many makers of it. All are similar in use.
Grateful Acknowledgements:
Timothy Smith on one of his trikes.
slavishly copy every construction detail of his designs (maybe not even any, I forget the specifics.) We did meticulously follow his dimensions and angles. The result is that there were no surprises at the end of the process. While we had some inevitable glitches to work out, none of them were related to the basic design. The trike handles and steers well- a tribute to the soundness of Mr. Smith's design.

Although we made an initial purchase of two functional 20" Huffys, it is very difficult to take on a project of this nature without having a bike-parts pile. For most people who mess with bikes, this is a herd of basket cases which are used for raw materials, components, etc. As neither Dave nor Shane had ever done any messing around with bike building, and my parts pile was back in New York City, we were faced with the problem of putting together a parts pile very quickly.
Therefore, we are grateful to John Preble of the UCM Museum in Abita Springs, Louisiana, organizer of the annual Bike Fest there, for allowing us to go through his personal parts archive, to pull out several bikes for our own pile.

John also introduced us to James J. Lala, Chief of the Abita Springs Police Department. Chief Lala kindly allowed us access to his department's shed of found bikes. As this shed is also a source of bikes for the community's less fortunate, we were careful to only choose those which were not readily fixable. One bike in particular, which had been pulled from the river, had literally no usable components. However, it was a very useful source of various lengths and diameters of frame tubing, which were used to good effect in our project.
Shane's friend, Ben Fabre, in spite of having a broken arm from a recent motorcycle crash, managed to bring us several useful additions to our parts pile. We are most appreciative.
Artist John Preble,
and his Horsigator bike.
While most of the salvaged bike components from our instant parts pile were eventually replaced with new parts, it was extremely useful to have a set of usable, if ugly, wheels and tires on hand during the construction of the bike, the same for driveline components, shifter and brake cables and hardware. Having a lot of rusty handlebars on hand to chop up and experiment with made it possible to take a Sawzall to a brand-new set of expensive handlebars, with the knowledge that the resulting pieces would work for our purpose. Many of the bits and pieces from the pile are still part of 2much!!!, such as seat-post clamps, goosenecks, BB shells, etc. We highly recommend that you keep your eyes open for trash bikes for your own pile, should you consider building a machine of this nature. It will save you much time, effort and money when you start construction.
Ben Fabre in the driver's seat of
2much!!!
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Make Your Own Scorchers
License Plate!
By right-clicking
on the image to the right, you can save it to your hard drive.
It may then be printed-out on clear adhesive film, as we did, or photo glossy paper, and you can glue it down.
This image is copyrighted, but permission is granted to reproduce it for your own use. Permission does not cover doing multiples for commercial purposes. This is a 100 dpi low-rez version. Higher-rez versions are available.The Scorchers Bicycle Mob is the name of the local, national, and international chapters of the International Bike Rod and Kustom Association. Membership is free, and open to all. 
Extreme detailing of a kustom recumbent trike.