I'm not in favor of rat bikes!

[Saving Tempest]

It's great if you want to do a complete restoration!

I did not. I have no clue as to the exact model Tempest, my Rollfast is and it came in about six or seven coats of primer over a red frame. I didn't get much out of carefully removing the primer. The headbadge was almost flattened and of course all color was gone. When I decided to paint I went with light and dark blue, white-apple green and white-dark blue fenders and the same green for the fork.

In all honesty, the Columbia repro tank must have been telepathic because although I had never seen a 1941 Columbia the design of the tank graphics and maybe the chainguard came out looking like a Columbia!I really like the split red reflectors a bunch as well and they go on all the bikes I've rode or sent out since.

The motorcycle panniers I used first were not very good, kept popping open while riding so now I am going to adapt the custom welded rack/pannier carrier for Saddleman saddlebags and also a late seventies Honda fairing.

IS is RAT? Seriously, In 37 years (late starter) I really don't know what a "RAT" is.

It will look even better than THIS-Where it was 43 years ago.

BTW I had to have some bracing do to the BB or it wouldn't even be here.

I wanted a 'motorcycle' bike with the Rollfast (who is Tempest), an old fashioned big fendered tank bike with custom striping and a Zephyr light for Germaine ('95 Schwinn Custom Cruiser) and I ended up with a horizontal Western Flyer tank and a small Delta torpedo-like light to mount under the basket unless I can find a longer chrome fender...I am trying to keep this one simple though and ALL have head, tail and signal lights.

 

[rustyspoke66]

Boy that,s a long read. I would just like to get back to the original post. First and foremost these bikes are 100% Americana. Another thing is the classification of rat rod or custom. I think any bike that has been taken from it's original manufactured state or condition should be considered "Custom". So even the guys restoring bikes are building custom bikes to some extent and they may be correctly restored but they usually are not. Most restorations I see have had the chrome redone in show quality triple plate and really nice shinny clear coats on the paint. Don't get me wrong I think they look great but wouldn't they still be considered custom? As far as the rat bike thing goes if a guy want's to build a bike that would be consider'd a rat bike, do some research on what makes a car a rat rod and go that direction. Otherwise you are building a custom bike. That's it, just custom and as long as you are having fun, go with it.

 

[brownster69]

rat bikes

jeff, you said it i see restored bikes and they are over restored and too shinny i own a lot of vintage gas pumps and it is hard to make them look original like when they were new so i hate them compared to my original un restored pumps in my collection. same with rat rod cars i have a vintage era correct chopped/channeled model a and i built it to 50's era correct and it is not painted yet and i get the stigma nice rat rod .. and it pisses me off because it is a 50's era traditional custom hotrod. so the second bike i am building a so called rat bike but it is not i call them hot rod custom bikes i use junky rusted house painted parts and powder coat and paint them so atleast the parts do not go to the scrap yard but on the flip side i have a lot of original un restored bikes from 1912 to 1953 that i love to death and i ride the tires off them every month so yes most of these bikes i think are customs not rat bikes.

 

[rustyspoke66]

Boy, I didn't think this post would keep guys from posting their bikes. I hope no one is taking this to heart, after all the things being said are just opinion and personal preference. Just to hopefully help clear some stuff up this section of the Cabe is called "Custom Bikes" which is just that and I hope it doesn't die from a few comments. So lets see some custom or rat bikes. Here are some examples of cars that this all came from.
RAT ROD.

Custom Crazy.

Custom with taste.

So lets get some bikes in this section and once again the pictures above are just my opinion. Not set in stone.

 

[Saving Tempest]

Boy, I didn't think this post would keep guys from posting their bikes. I hope no one is taking this to heart, after all the things being said are just opinion and personal preference. Just to hopefully help clear some stuff up this section of the Cabe is called "Custom Bikes" which is just that and I hope it doesn't die from a few comments. So lets see some custom or rat bikes. Here are some examples of cars that this all came from.
RAT ROD.
So lets get some bikes in this section and once again the pictures above are just my opinion. Not set in stone.

I've got one less bike to work on since my Flyer was stolen over 2 weeks ago.

Tempest has been on hold for almost a year. It's not that hard perhaps but life owns me too much. Dad had lung cancer, we held his last reunion in July and he died December 10. I never gave the style a name, it's my bike. I've never been a full resto type anyway. The bike is for me and I'm a klutz.

I like seeing them as much as any saved from the swamp in an old barn Columbia. DO post.

 

[70mustangmatt]

i dont know what this is

i saved this 1954 schwinn from the scrap heap when i was ten and its been sitting around doing nothing for the longest time until a couple weeks ago when i dug it out of the back yard i intend to put a tailfin on the fender thats why the coke cardboard is there early prefab im also looking for a cheap repop of the phantom or hornet style tanks if someone could help that'd be very nice

 

[videoranger]

I call this build a "street rod". Started with a bent and dented frame and put together a great riding seven speed cruiser. 26 mile rides are my usual Friday afternoon relaxation and this bike is very comfortable for me. I sold off quite a few complete in need of restoration bikes and held back my best complete originals for my collection. A custom or rat build can be a great way to put together a bike that suits your individual riding and styling tastes. The fun thing about a custom is that you can put together some very cool combinations of parts to make a great ride. Using what you've found is much cheaper than searching for the correct part you need. The Dyno Moto Glide is one I found on Craig's a couple weeks ago for $200 in mint condition. It's a 1999 pre- pacific cyce GT factory custom that's done very nice. I'm more into spending $200 for a super nice complete rare bike than putting big bucks into a resto.

 

[yeshoney]

Ooozing Cool!

My Roadmaster....

 

[danny7147]

Define it!

How would you define a rat bike? One modified from its original form? A non authentic bike? Or both? My bikes have won best in show at numerous events, yet not a single one is original. Authentic, maybe. The fact is, change a brake pad, it's no longer original. Grease the bearings. No longer original. And take it a step further, say that brake pad is a modern copy by some Chinese manufacturer, it could be identical, but it's not authentic. Unless you want to leave rust as rust and leave a bike sitting in a cocoon from the day it was made then we're all guilty of ratting/modding, even those with a beautiful 1895 boneshaker... Polished it? Then it's not original.

 

[danny7147]

Poll!

Here are two of my bikes which will prove my point... which would you say you prefer out of the two, as in, go to a show, which catches your eye first?

This one, is a 1905 Sunbeam. Totally authentic in every way, but missing a few cables. It's completely rusted out, but has the potential to be restored with sound metal underneath the rust. Always a head turner because it's 'original', but without a serious amount of restoration it will continue deteriorating and in a few more years time will end up in a little pile of rust on the workshop floor.

This is my 1950 Norman Light Roaster. The first photo is of the day I got it. Everything you see was wrong, the mudguards, brakes, even the handlebars. After a HUGE amount of money and searching, it ended up as the bike you see today. Completely unoriginal other than the frame, but LOOKS authentic. There's not a single part on it that came from another Norman Light Roadster. So does that make it modded?

As I said, change one part and it's no longer original... but if you're a restorer/collector then I can guarantee you're as guilty of destroying history and heritage as the guy who goes one step further and takes out a welding torch to one.