USA maggot cruiser.

[Mod-Master]

It’s alive. Grunty stiff bent everything. It’s a medicine bicycle, hard to ride. It’s been warm this winter with more days of rain than snow. I don’t remember another winter like this. It’s +1C and has rained all day. That’s warm enough to work outside without gloves for 3 hours.
Dog leg crank. They used this design in the 1930s to clear chain guards. View attachment 694446
Maggot details. I still have to put on grips, but it’s ready for tavern cruising. Front wheel detail.View attachment 694447
Spent pistol casings valve stem covers.View attachment 694448
So beautiful.View attachment 694450View attachment 694451View attachment 694453
grip bars on the seat for a passenger.
View attachment 694454

If you can ride it, someone else can.

But I think you have hit “very” on the maggot scale.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Love it - but I have to object to the handlebars. You are not 12 anymore, don't need to do that paper round and know ET is a BS story.

You should know much better. Can you not flip them, cut the ends off to make some bull-horns in honour of "funny bikes / low profiles"?

The argument is compelling considering the wind chill factor and shaving off a few grams.

My rule is I could only use broken stuff on this project and the bars are broken. Bob Dylan wrote the theme song for this bicycle, “Everything is Broken”. Everything, including the chain which is mended and cobbled together from two broken ones. To flip the bars I would have to use a hammer to pound them in place. They are all gouged up as they are too big for any stem, some weird over size. I pounded in a pry bar to spread the gooseneck and twisted and pounded the bars into the neck. I also hammered the axles into the drops as the drops are bent. The bars are pretty tough to move so their staying put. I have several other rusty, crusty vintage bars but their not broken.

 

[Woz]

So no-go for the lo-pro

BTW: A dirt cheap trick to stop people riding off an unattached bike is a padlock in the chainring arch / gap and over the chain.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Who are we kidding, it looks nice and well put together already. It will be stolen, I predict.

The thief won’t get far. The bent fork, wobbly wheels and bent pedals take some getting used to. The front wheel bearing races are booby trapped so tight it tends to skid a little on snow or ice patches. If your not used to riding skinny wheels on snow and ice, the semi stuck wheel bearings will put you down. It’s still beats walking. Learning curve and probably not up to thief expectations. Next summer I’ll adjust the front bearings. Ha.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Love it - but I have to object to the handlebars. You are not 12 anymore, don't need to do that paper round and know ET is a BS story.

You should know much better. Can you not flip them, cut the ends off to make some bull-horns in honour of "funny bikes / low profiles"?

The argument is compelling considering the wind chill factor and shaving off a few grams.

I’m going to think about your idea. I may be able to cut them down. I want them high so I need to cogitate on this.

 

[Nabeaquam]

I have a broken set of of more traditional cruiser bars somewhere. The clamp area collar is loose. I can weld that so it doesn’t spin. I will remove the exiting stem and bars and put them in the scrap. I must have another junk quill stem. It’s still dark out here so I’ll go dig around in my junk later. The Wizard of Woz got me thinking about the bars.

 

[Nabeaquam]

Done. Corn cob grips were too brittle. So, I used old red rubber heater hose for grips and plugged the end with wine corks. It’s still raining.

 

[Nabeaquam]

I got some complaints because I changed the flipped bars. Apparently a case of beer fits between them. I didn’t think of that. Oh well, I’d probably crash on this bike with any beer weight on the front like that, with the stiff bearings and bent fork and all. I like these bars just as much.

 

[Mod-Master]

Done. Corn cob grips were too brittle. So, I used old red rubber heater hose for grips and plugged the end with wine corks. It’s still raining. View attachment 694719

Tbh I would want to ride that…

 

[Nabeaquam]

Tbh I would want to ride that…

It’s sketchy, but I’ll continue to ride it.