Just what I needed, another "project"

Zoey's having her 6th birthday on July 12th
And she needs a bicycle

So, what's a dad to do... You build her one yourself ofcourse

So, it's gonna be an OCC style project... including deadline (29 days and counting)
And I get to be Sr., Jr., Mikey and Vinnie all at the same time

It's supposed to become kind of a "cruiser" bike, cause the little lady wants a "cool" bike

So, sunday I picked up a donor bike for $10


Stripped it right away


This morning Christy picked up a simple tubing bender


So tonight I started by fabbing new handlebars



I'm gonna get tubing for the frame later this week...

29 days and counting - tick, tock, tick, tock...

Applying a proper flame paint job, will we?

not quite sure, but hasn't been ruled out either...
it should turn out close to this

Sure, anything to keep from getting the 914 done....

I just realized I have lost all of my bikes..

My first Bicycle was in storage in Palo Alto and I lost the storage because I couldnt pay for it

Then my third bike was stolen out of the bed of my truck a year or so ago..

How sad. I kept my first bike thinking that my first would ride it..

OK. Now that I'm bmmed.

My first bike was a 16inch Schwinn "Pixie"

My dad built my second bike (BMX styel)

And my final/third bike was a Schwinn "SkywayII" Yellow and Black just like my first 914.

Good job Jeroen!


B

Dang, hope those o' mine hubs are still there..java script:emoticon(':(', 'smid_2')

Still there Mike. They still have a bearing attached to them. I carry enough crap in the bed of my truck to assemble a 914. If you would show up to 1 or 2 NorCal events you would find me and the truck (like 2 weekends ago when I was in town for 3 days)

I guess I could ship them.


B

ha! you noticed huh?
how's that saying go....

Life is what happens while you're making other plans

Here's some designs I've been working on
which style do you like best?

The bottom one

You ought to get your own show and call it Pimp by bike.

Cool Bike project! Keep us updated and if you have any bike specific questions or need any parts just let me know. I've got a few bike mechanic friends and a good relationship with a shop so just let me know.

Sorry if this is a hijack, but here is my team after regionals with all our winnings.

Very Kewl!!! Top design with the fenders, get's my vote...

I decided to go with the bottom design
the other one had too much a BMX feel to it for my liking

First I needed to fix a problem with the tubing bender, cause it was pushing dents in the top of the tubing (so I need to redo the top bar)
Once I figured that out, I bent the lower "S" bar

Dented tube (top bar)


I also cut the parts I needed from the donor bike
The ballhead (is that what you call it in English? The part that holds the front fork)
The part that holds the cranks and the rear bottom fork (which will be lenthened)





Next, I'll need to jig it all up, cut the tubing to fit and weld it all together
(sounds easy enuf )

Zoey is curious as hell
Usually, she comes "help" or watch when I'm working in the garage
Since the bike will be a birthday present, she can't come into the garage now
Every once 'n a while she'll sneek up to the garage and I have to chase her away
It's too much fun

24 day left...

Hey Jeroen,

seems like you're make good progress!
looks totally cool, it's a killer birthday gift that's for sure!

good luck on the project and in keeping Zoey away from the garage

greets
Jacco

very cool project! I always thought the custom bike scene was really interesting....

I liked the second (lower) design much better. Looks like you're makin' some seriously good progress there. Can't wait to see the final product!!

-Josh2

The design needs a targa bar!


Way cool project Ya-roon! Yellow is faster...

It's really starting to take shape!

I bend a new top tube and fish-mouthed it (what a PITA)

then I needed to figure how to jig it all out...
(check my blog for details - click the 'seven year bitch' logo to get there)

wasn't as difficult as I feared and so far, everything lines up nicely







to get some idea of what it's gonna look like, I clamped on the rear fork and mounted the front fork and wheels

I think it looks cool



I'll continue on the bottom or "S" tube and the rear fork tomorrow

23 days left...!

Jeroen, the bike looks great The only problem is that the gear stack on the rear wheel is on the wrong side



Not to rain on your parade or anything, but are you planning on buying a custom/longer chain?

That is very cool dad! I'm sure she'll cherish this bike. Keep posting pictures!

That bike looks awful big for a six-year-old! I think its for daddy! She'll love it!

Jeroen, you are insane! (and I mean that as a compliment!) I can hardly wait to see it when it's finished.

I just slapped the wheel on there
But I think it's on the right side (check the first pic of the complete donor bike)


Got the chain all figured out. Well, I think so...
I'll double check once the rear fork is welded in place

I hope the size of the bike works out
I tried to measure Zoey the best I could, but the rest is all guessing and eyeballing

A great kid is getting a great present ---- A one off 914 bike built by "DAD" ---- a present that she will cherish for the rest of her life. "DAD" is getting a present by building a 914 project bike and the love from a great daughter.

Great job and great project!!!

Steve Hurt

Cool I really like the design, I mean, how many kids get a custom bike

This thread is not good at all for me.

You got me thinking what I can do with my wife's old beach cruzer.



I'm about done with my car so this may be just the ticket.....

Paul

oh yeah!
I finished the frame today!
I turned out really nice

Here's some pix while the first coat of primer is drying

Wow, lookin good ! Now to install some Mueller bearings on it...

I'm saving the Mueller bearings for the teener...
Hmmm... Elephant polybronze maybe?

even though I measured and checked everything twice before I started welding today, the rear fork still warped and made it impossible to align the rear wheel correctly

so out came the and again

everything lines up correctly now

tomorrow start fitting everything back together again
(still need to fab brackets for the fenders)

also need to make new handle bars (these are way too big)

then take it all apart again for paint

rear fender, painted, stickered and clearcoated...




front fender too


frame with all the mountingtabs welded to it and primed/ready for a coat of yellow paint



On a side note, Zoey "graduated" from pre-school today, isn't she lovely

So, is "Bike" Dutch for "Bike"? Or have you Dutch just plain given up on Dutch? Certainly looks like Dutch kids are just as addicted to McDougal's as American kids.



5 more days...

Bike in Dutch is "fiets" (pronounce as "feets")
Doesn't sound anywhere near as cool as bike

the pic above shows you why NOT to feed your kids the Mickey D crap

4 days left actually...
saturday, sunday, monday, tuesday...

wednessday is her birthday

Sweet! Nice work my bro from across the sea. And when I see your customer, I smile extra big! Awesome kid you have there! Excellent photo. This is the stuff life is made of.

Yep, Jeroen, great photo of Zoey. She is a real cutie. Cool bike project, too.

When I lived in Germany in the 80's I visited the Netherlands quite a few times. I always enjoyed it. I thought the large number of people using bicycles and the bike paths provided for them were a wonderful part of Dutch life. The most common type of bicycle seemed to be a simple large sturdy black cruiser. Is that still true today?

The bike is coming along nicely... Can't waitfor the finished product. The daughter is precious...

ok... first coat of yellow is on

the gun works nicely
it's just the tool handling the tools that leaves a bit to be desired...
(did I mention that I suck at paint before?)

trouble with yellow is that it covers real badly
so you have a tendency to keep spraying on more paint
which ofcourse leads to runs

I'll let the paint cure and sand out the runs
then more paint...

I'll also need to look into suspending the frame a little differently

Overall, I'm not too unhappy

Nice work!

Don't try to get full coverage on the first coat, DWEEB!



You gots a cutey, and she gots a nice dad!


M

I made it! I made the deadline... barely, but I made it
I finished the bike at 03.30 this morning (it's already Zoey's birthday, though she's still fast asleep)

Paint was a major PITA (read my blog for the gory details) but I persisted and won
I'm really pleased how it turned out. Even better than I had hoped

Here's some pics (more in my blog)
I'll post some with Zoey on it tomorrow...

WOW, I am impressed! She is gonna go crazy.....


What kind of lock is the bike gonna have, big I hope.


Way to go Dad!


Happy Birthday to Zoey!!!!!!!

very cool!

that looks great

happy birthday Zoey

hey you can finish off my chopper I started about 4 years ago.

Great job, what a dad, she'll love you forever.

Here's the birthday girl

I am impressed and Zoey is soo big. How old is she now?

Monique can't believe you built that bike for Zoey, nice work and she says "Hi".


Way to go Jeroen!

she turned 6 today
(say hi back to Monique!)

Wow!!!!!!


Happy Birthday Zoey!!!

What a cool birthday present!!!

-Josh2