The Story of Salsa Verde, a Radical Cruiser, Texas Style A 100% owner built hot rod This bike started as a TIG welding practice project. The only thing I had in the beginning was my pencil sketch and the desire to have the most radical cruiser I could build. The inspiration came from my Dyno Roadster and some of the drag frame based chopper motorcycles built by Walz of Germany and of course West Coast Choppers in L.A. I also wanted to create something that paid homage to my home state of Texas. Texas is a melting pot of cultures, wide open spaces, and audacious dreams that turn into reality. Cowboys and Latinos all sharing a laugh and a cold cerveza. I hope the end result reflects this. I started with the aforementioned pencil sketch which I refined, then put into AutoCAD. I first measured and drew the seating position from my Dyno Roadster , then rotated the hand grip and seating position around the center axis of the crank until I achieved the low seating position I was looking for. From that point, I could measure and order the tubing from Aircraft Spruce. I used 1.25" diameter .049" wall thickness 4130 Chromoly tubing for the main triangle, .625" diameter center/seat stays, and .75" chain stays. All of the tubing was cold bent over plywood fixtures which were adjusted (re-cut) to compensate for spring-back. After the tubing was bent and cut on a Joint Jigger it was laid out on the full scale drawing to check for accuracy, then tack welded on the surface table. Building the 130 lb surface table top was actually the first step in this project. The most time consuming process was building up the fillet welding in order to allow for die grinding and filing the welds to make a perfect transition between the tubes. The finished joints resemble vintage Schwinn non-lugged frames. Several of the parts were sourced from Lovely Lowrider , such as the fenders, which were cut down, the handlebars, which were narrowed, and the springer fork, which was left stock. The seat is completely custom made starting with a 16" banana seat. I cut off the clamp mount and both ends of the seat. Sheet metal was formed to create a smooth transition from the frame in front and the rear fender in the rear, then welded to the basic seat pan. The rear fender mounts to a hidden bracket which is welded to the seat in order to eliminate the fender stays for a cleaner chopper style look. The only part of the bike that I tried to outsource was the upholstery. In the end, I wasn't satisfied with any of the shops that I contacted and ordered a quarter hide of black leather from Just Leather and did the upholstery myself with help from my wife. I used sleeping bag ground cover for the foam as it is the densest foam readily available. The leather is attached with contact cement to the foam and pop rivets to the metal pan. At this point, I had given up on sub-contracting ANYTHING on this bike. After prepping the frame with a bare minimum of body filler, but weeks of filing, priming, and sanding, it was ready to paint. I painted the frame with a base coat of PPG VW Cyber Green pearl, followed by the second stage of a three stage Lamborghini Diablo Verde Gonna pearl, (yes, I mixed and sprayed the paint myself too) then almost three pints of clear. Another week was spent wet sanding and buffing the clear with Meguires #2 & #3 polish. This is a killer combination which resembles a Kandy lime gold over a silver base, but with a ton of pearlescent in it. After the bike was finished and assembled, my wife Nancy said that I had to name it. Hence the name Salsa Verde was given as it is a true TexMex bike. The bike is a blast to ride and is really fast (for a cruiser) thanks to the Shimano Nexus seven speed coaster brake rear hub. It's also a downhill screamer when in a crouched position because of the small frontal area for wind resistance. Specs on the bike are: Tires: Richey Moby Bite 2.1 x 26 sanded smooth Crank: Shimano sealed bearing Crankset: Powerlite 165mm billet aluminum Chainwheel: 46-tooth aluminum Wheels: 26" Schwinn Super Seven aluminum with stainless steel spokes Mirror: Rask Cycles oval motorcycle mirror Braze ons: Gaerlan Cycles except for owner-fabricated internal tubing guides. Handgrips: Aluminum units from Lovely Lowrider Special thanks to: Most of all, my wife Nancy for her patience and help in creating Salsa Verde. Harry Twidwell of David's Cycles in Spring Texas for answering questions and providing guidance throughout the project. Chris and Jeri Gasiorowski of Romic Custom Cycles of Houston for tips and advice on custom frame building. Jim Wilson for publishing Bike Rod & Kustom and exposing me to the real rodders of the cycling world, including my Aussie mate, Grant Zippel. Sonny Vasquez for inspiring me to put my sketch into reality. The BR&K article on Todd Brunengraber & Three Deuces for inspiring me to strive for perfection. My friend Dora Martinez for letting me cut up her old Free Spirit bike to use as a prototype. |
B I K E R O D & K U S T O M ' S D E S I G N L A B John Youens: The Soul of a New (Cruising) Machine |
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The Story of Salsa Verde, a Radical Cruiser, Texas Style A 100% owner built hot rod This bike started as a TIG welding practice project. The only thing I had in the beginning was my pencil sketch and the desire to have the most radical cruiser I could build. The inspiration came from my Dyno Roadster and some of the drag frame based chopper motorcycles built by Walz of Germany and of course West Coast Choppers in L.A. I also wanted to create something that paid homage to my home state of Texas. Texas is a melting pot of cultures, wide open spaces, and audacious dreams that turn into reality. Cowboys and Latinos all sharing a laugh and a cold cerveza. I hope the end result reflects this. I started with the aforementioned pencil sketch which I refined, then put into AutoCAD. I first measured and drew the seating position from my Dyno Roadster , then rotated the hand grip and seating position around the center axis of the crank until I achieved the low seating position I was looking for. From that point, I could measure and order the tubing from Aircraft Spruce. I used 1.25" diameter .049" wall thickness 4130 Chromoly tubing for the main triangle, .625" diameter center/seat stays, and .75" chain stays. All of the tubing was cold bent over plywood fixtures which were adjusted (re-cut) to compensate for spring-back. After the tubing was bent and cut on a Joint Jigger it was laid out on the full scale drawing to check for accuracy, then tack welded on the surface table. Building the 130 lb surface table top was actually the first step in this project. The most time consuming process was building up the fillet welding in order to allow for die grinding and filing the welds to make a perfect transition between the tubes. The finished joints resemble vintage Schwinn non-lugged frames. Several of the parts were sourced from Lovely Lowrider , such as the fenders, which were cut down, the handlebars, which were narrowed, and the springer fork, which was left stock. The seat is completely custom made starting with a 16" banana seat. I cut off the clamp mount and both ends of the seat. Sheet metal was formed to create a smooth transition from the frame in front and the rear fender in the rear, then welded to the basic seat pan. The rear fender mounts to a hidden bracket which is welded to the seat in order to eliminate the fender stays for a cleaner chopper style look. The only part of the bike that I tried to outsource was the upholstery. In the end, I wasn't satisfied with any of the shops that I contacted and ordered a quarter hide of black leather from Just Leather and did the upholstery myself with help from my wife. I used sleeping bag ground cover for the foam as it is the densest foam readily available. The leather is attached with contact cement to the foam and pop rivets to the metal pan. At this point, I had given up on sub-contracting ANYTHING on this bike. After prepping the frame with a bare minimum of body filler, but weeks of filing, priming, and sanding, it was ready to paint. I painted the frame with a base coat of PPG VW Cyber Green pearl, followed by the second stage of a three stage Lamborghini Diablo Verde Gonna pearl, (yes, I mixed and sprayed the paint myself too) then almost three pints of clear. Another week was spent wet sanding and buffing the clear with Meguires #2 & #3 polish. This is a killer combination which resembles a Kandy lime gold over a silver base, but with a ton of pearlescent in it. After the bike was finished and assembled, my wife Nancy said that I had to name it. Hence the name Salsa Verde was given as it is a true TexMex bike. The bike is a blast to ride and is really fast (for a cruiser) thanks to the Shimano Nexus seven speed coaster brake rear hub. It's also a downhill screamer when in a crouched position because of the small frontal area for wind resistance. Specs on the bike are: Tires: Richey Moby Bite 2.1 x 26 sanded smooth Crank: Shimano sealed bearing Crankset: Powerlite 165mm billet aluminum Chainwheel: 46-tooth aluminum Wheels: 26" Schwinn Super Seven aluminum with stainless steel spokes Mirror: Rask Cycles oval motorcycle mirror Braze ons: Gaerlan Cycles except for owner-fabricated internal tubing guides. Handgrips: Aluminum units from Lovely Lowrider Special thanks to: Most of all, my wife Nancy for her patience and help in creating Salsa Verde. Harry Twidwell of David's Cycles in Spring Texas for answering questions and providing guidance throughout the project. Chris and Jeri Gasiorowski of Romic Custom Cycles of Houston for tips and advice on custom frame building. Jim Wilson for publishing Bike Rod & Kustom and exposing me to the real rodders of the cycling world, including my Aussie mate, Grant Zippel. Sonny Vasquez for inspiring me to put my sketch into reality. The BR&K article on Todd Brunengraber & Three Deuces for inspiring me to strive for perfection. My friend Dora Martinez for letting me cut up her old Free Spirit bike to use as a prototype. |
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