For good stopping measure, the old caliper brakes were ditched in favor of a second hand set of V-brakes. A bit of modification was necessary to fit them to the chain stays. As it is now a beach cruiser I felt a front brake was surplus to requirements. Routing of the cables through the frame keeps everything looking nice and tidy. . Starting with ¼ inch oak paneling I shaped it to fit the frame snugly, then I framed it with ¼ inch thick poplar stripping. A coat of stain on the oak and 3 coats of marine urethane make it look like an old woody. To hide the business on the chain side a new custom guard was fabricated, with sculpted cut out and bottom edge. To make this stand out I designed and hand cut the surfer girl and wave decals on the 1910 True Blue color. A few new parts were needed to make everything stand out, the beach cruiser bars, chromed fenders and a pair of white wall tires. A few black items tie it all together. Flat pedals finish it off and make this ideal for any barefoot surfer, all you need is is the surf board rack! Alan McKay |
Alan McKay: Little Low Rider, Custom Lowrider, Woody Surf Bike |
Little Low Rider. You don't get wheels much smaller than this, so you won't get a low rider bike much smaller either. A collection of parts from half a dozen different bikes, a scooter and a Ford V8 valve spring. All in various stages of being worn out, or broken, and unwanted. Sourced from all over the local suburbs during general clean-up, while I was living in Sydney, Australia. All blended together, along with a few new bits to make a one off custom low rider for a 5 or 6 year old kid. . The scene: Walking the bike down the street, a father with his young son walk past in the other direction. Dad "That's cool." Son "Is that a motor bike Dad?" Dad "No, it's a custom bike." I can't help but smile as I continue on my way, job well done. The quintessential low rider, with a subtly altered old old Southern Cross (brand) frame, hand made front suspension, freshly blackened banana seat and topping it off, small ape hanger handle bars. A bit of fresh silver paint on the bars and old style pedals. . Straight from the pages of the latest hot rod magazines comes the yellow to orange, red tipped flames over a white frame. The fire has spread to the chain guard, maybe it's a sign of the blistering performance this machine looks capable of! . Hot rod orange wheels, dice valve caps and fat tires give the little tikes a good grip on the road, only hope that they have a good sense of balance. |
Custom Lowrider. From the humble beginnings of a well loved (read; used, abused and dumped) original 60's-style kids bike, this lowrider made a comeback. . Spotted hiding in a junk pile was a small kids bike. Not your ordinary 16" BMX, something with infinately more character, with long sweeping curves and brutally bent forks, it was an original cruiser bike. Soon liberated from the horrible fate of going to the great bike rack in the sky, the frame was stripped of all parts given a sand blast- condition: not terminal. . Having seen that the rest of the parts were beyond help for the resurrection of a classic (some of the parts were not standard anyway), a source of a whole lot of new parts was needed. So along came a couple of donor bikes and a host of lowrider parts. All blended, with a bit of fabrication into a dual suspension Custom Lowrider. Studies of past and current lowriders yielded a modified design for the front suspension. Some bending of tubes, an old bike wheel hub, a bit of welding and grinding, and the donation of a vale spring from a Ford V8, all combine to be the springer style front end. Some ape hangers handle bars finish off the look. . Having mounted a banana seat (with a re-bent sissy bar), a test fit of the wheels proved it to be a dangerous wheelie machine. Solution to this unbalance problem was finally solved with the idea of rear suspension to move the rear wheel back 4 inches. Lots of fabrication, welding, filling and grinding, the use of a 'monkey/clown' bike suspension unit gives a limited travel rear suspension that was bolted into the standard frame. . To compliment the red banana seat, the rims were painted red and fitted with white wall tires. A pair of dice finished up as valve caps, in lowrider style. Taken directly from hot rod books is the multi-color flame paint job over the primer gray frame. |
Woody Surf Bike. . From the first time I saw a surf board being carried on a bike, I thought it would be cool to combine this with a 1940's woody wagon, the traditional surfer culture choice of transport. This idea gave the inspiration for my version of the woody. . Looking around for a suitable start to the project, I came across an old mountain bike of uncertain origin that was begging for a little attention. Once stripped to the bare frame the modifications could begin. First change was to the gears, a reduction from 15 to 5 speeds and to remount the shifter, gear stick style along the top bar. Addition of an 8-ball shifter is an old hot rodding tradition. |
For good stopping measure, the old caliper brakes were ditched in favor of a second hand set of V-brakes. A bit of modification was necessary to fit them to the chain stays. As it is now a beach cruiser I felt a front brake was surplus to requirements. Routing of the cables through the frame keeps everything looking nice and tidy. . Starting with ¼ inch oak paneling I shaped it to fit the frame snugly, then I framed it with ¼ inch thick poplar stripping. A coat of stain on the oak and 3 coats of marine urethane make it look like an old woody. To hide the business on the chain side a new custom guard was fabricated, with sculpted cut out and bottom edge. To make this stand out I designed and hand cut the surfer girl and wave decals on the 1910 True Blue color. A few new parts were needed to make everything stand out, the beach cruiser bars, chromed fenders and a pair of white wall tires. A few black items tie it all together. Flat pedals finish it off and make this ideal for any barefoot surfer, all you need is is the surf board rack! Alan McKay |
