# Dumpster Diamond, My Entry for the 15th Annual RRBBO



## Bike from the Dead

Here is the bike I built for my first ever Rat Rod Bikes.com Build Off. It's a 1950 Snyder-built Montgomery Ward/Hawthorne frame with Western Flyer pedals I bought at the 2019 Springfield, MO swap meet for $20. The fork seen in the pictures wasn't included with it, I just had it and thought it'd look good with the original paint.













As it turned out, this frame was _BENT._ The seat pole in particular was really bent.




I took this frame to a couple bike shops around town to see if anyone could straighten it out for me. One recommended this guy at a radiator repair shop, so I took it there. In hindsight, I should never have done business with that guy, because all he did was bend it in a different direction, and he messed up nearly every other part I brought to him. I was not happy.




Since the original paint and patina was ruined when this guy burnt off a fair portion of the paint, I decided to try and wire-brush everything down to bare metal to see how it looked. In the process, I found this cool diamond design hiding underneath some of the surface. While it didn't return after the initial build, I plan to bring this design element back when I rebuild this bike again later.




I mocked up some parts and made some rough plywood tank inserts to try and get a feel for the direction of this bike. It was about this point that I decided to go for a sort of board track racer vibe.




My dad had a bunch of these halo lights from a Sonic drive thru he wasn't using, which I felt would make perfect number plates for my bike.




I took everything to my dad's welder buds, who did a much better job of fixing this bike than the first guy. They cut out the mangled seat pole and welded in a replacement from a junk frame I had, bobbed the rear fender, made one good set of forks from two bad forks, cut the number plates, and tweaked the chain guard to fit better.






I then had all the parts sandblasted down to bare metal, then I wire-brushed everything to shine it up. I then hit everything with a few layers of some satin clear coat spray paint, and began putting the bike back together.








On literally the last two days of the build off, I put together this custom wood tank out of some scrap pine boards I got for free off Craigslist. I don't have a bandsaw, so I just used a jigsaw and my dad's belt sander to shape it. I had never done this before, so this first tank... could look better, but it came out okay for my first try.








I was one of the last, if not _the last,_ guy to finish my bike before the deadline, but I got it done. It's not perfect, it's not done like I had originally planned, but it's done.




One of the other details that I added to the bike before I finished it were these custom decals for the chain guard and number plates I designed in Adobe Illustrator. I got the name "Dumpster Diamond" from a combination of the diamond I found hiding under some of the paint, and the fact that multiple people who saw this bike before I started on it asked if I had found it in a dumpster, or have said it belonged in a dumpster. Those people made me determined to take this "dumpster bike" and turn it into something beautiful, and I like to think I've succeeded.




















The picture that helped me finish in 17th place out of 68 finished entries in my class. I wanted to do something a little funny and poke my head out of a dumpster like I was Oscar the Grouch, with my bike sitting in front of the dumpster like I found it in there.




I've still got plans for this bike and how to make it even better, but for now, I just want to fix a couple things to make it ride a little better.

For the full build, here's my build thread: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index...er-build-off-with-a-postwar-hawthorne.111100/

For the finished build thread, look here: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/dumpster-diamond-is-done.112194/


----------



## the tinker

Real nice job.


----------



## Bike from the Dead

the tinker said:


> Real nice job.



Thanks!


----------



## BOB LOBLAW

7th place? Where can I see what beat it?


----------



## Superman1984

@Bike from the Dead I dig it man! If it took 7th not finished the way you wanted then do it the way you'll enjoy it the most. I wouldn't hide my head if I had built it & owned. I have cheap bikes I enjoy for various reasons & visions of what they could be once I have the time & money together for'em. Welcome to The Cabe man!


----------



## Bike from the Dead

BOB LOBLAW said:


> 7th place? Where can I see what beat it?





Superman1984 said:


> @Bike from the Dead I dig it man! If it took 7th not finished the way you wanted then do it the way you'll enjoy it the most. I wouldn't hide my head if I had built it & owned. I have cheap bikes I enjoy for various reasons & visions of what they could be once I have the time & money together for'em. Welcome to The Cabe man!



I would have loved to have finished 7th, but I finished in 17th place. Here's the voting gallery of all the finished bikes in my class: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/bo15-class-1-final-rankings-gallery.112289/ There were a ton of great bikes in this year's Build Off, but what surprised me is which bikes I placed ahead of. There were many bikes I ranked above that I thought were just as cool if not cooler than mine! 

I'm definitely going to continue working on it and making it into the bike I want, but right now, I'm just happy that I got it done. It's funny too, I had originally no desire to keep this bike, as it was in my "for sale/trade" stash, but after putting it all together, I want to keep it and enjoy it. 

Thanks guys!


----------



## cbustapeck

Making a tank out of pine is Brilliant!!! I love it. Some quality time with a belt sander sounds a great way to achieve “good enough”. This is going to get me into a lot of trouble. Thank you!


----------



## ian

Bike from the Dead said:


> Here is the bike I built for my first ever Rat Rod Bikes.com Build Off. It's a 1950 Snyder-built Montgomery Ward/Hawthorne frame with Western Flyer pedals I bought at the 2019 Springfield, MO swap meet for $20. The fork seen in the pictures wasn't included with it, I just had it and thought it'd look good with the original paint.
> View attachment 1287296
> 
> View attachment 1287295
> 
> View attachment 1287294
> 
> As it turned out, this frame was _BENT._ The seat pole in particular was really bent.
> View attachment 1287293
> 
> I took this frame to a couple bike shops around town to see if anyone could straighten it out for me. One recommended this guy at a radiator repair shop, so I took it there. In hindsight, I should never have done business with that guy, because all he did was bend it in a different direction, and he messed up nearly every other part I brought to him. I was not happy.
> View attachment 1287297
> 
> Since the original paint and patina was ruined when this guy burnt off a fair portion of the paint, I decided to try and wire-brush everything down to bare metal to see how it looked. In the process, I found this cool diamond design hiding underneath some of the surface. While it didn't return after the initial build, I plan to bring this design element back when I rebuild this bike again later.
> View attachment 1287298
> 
> I mocked up some parts and made some rough plywood tank inserts to try and get a feel for the direction of this bike. It was about this point that I decided to go for a sort of board track racer vibe.
> View attachment 1287299
> 
> My dad had a bunch of these halo lights from a Sonic drive thru he wasn't using, which I felt would make perfect number plates for my bike.
> View attachment 1287304
> 
> I took everything to my dad's welder buds, who did a much better job of fixing this bike than the first guy. They cut out the mangled seat pole and welded in a replacement from a junk frame I had, bobbed the rear fender, made one good set of forks from two bad forks, cut the number plates, and tweaked the chain guard to fit better.
> View attachment 1287302View attachment 1287306
> 
> I then had all the parts sandblasted down to bare metal, then I wire-brushed everything to shine it up. I then hit everything with a few layers of some satin clear coat spray paint, and began putting the bike back together.
> View attachment 1287307
> 
> View attachment 1287309
> 
> On literally the last two days of the build off, I put together this custom wood tank out of some scrap pine boards I got for free off Craigslist. I don't have a bandsaw, so I just used a jigsaw and my dad's belt sander to shape it. I had never done this before, so this first tank... could look better, but it came out okay for my first try.
> View attachment 1287310
> 
> View attachment 1287311
> 
> I was one of the last, if not _the last,_ guy to finish my bike before the deadline, but I got it done. It's not perfect, it's not done like I had originally planned, but it's done.
> View attachment 1287312
> 
> One of the other details that I added to the bike before I finished it were these custom decals for the chain guard and number plates I designed in Adobe Illustrator. I got the name "Dumpster Diamond" from a combination of the diamond I found hiding under some of the paint, and the fact that multiple people who saw this bike before I started on it asked if I had found it in a dumpster, or have said it belonged in a dumpster. Those people made me determined to take this "dumpster bike" and turn it into something beautiful, and I like to think I've succeeded.
> View attachment 1287313
> 
> View attachment 1287314
> 
> View attachment 1287315
> 
> View attachment 1287316
> 
> View attachment 1287317
> 
> The picture that helped me finish in 17th place out of 68 finished entries in my class. I wanted to do something a little funny and poke my head out of a dumpster like I was Oscar the Grouch, with my bike sitting in front of the dumpster like I found it in there.
> View attachment 1287318
> 
> I've still got plans for this bike and how to make it even better, but for now, I just want to fix a couple things to make it ride a little better.
> 
> For the full build, here's my build thread: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index...er-build-off-with-a-postwar-hawthorne.111100/
> 
> For the finished build thread, look here: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/dumpster-diamond-is-done.112194/



Absolutely Bad Ass!!


----------



## Bike from the Dead

cbustapeck said:


> Making a tank out of pine is Brilliant!!! I love it. Some quality time with a belt sander sounds a great way to achieve “good enough”. This is going to get me into a lot of trouble. Thank you!



Thanks! Yeah, the 2 outside pieces are from a waterbed frame I got for free off Craigslist, and the middle chunk that you can't really see is a piece of plywood I got at a garage sale where everything was free! The belt sander probably did most of the work, as I was a bit too cautious with the jigsaw. Gave myself too much material to shave off.

Give it a try! Check Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace, you can find all sorts of good wood for free to turn into custom parts there!


----------



## Bike from the Dead

ian said:


> Absolutely Bad Ass!!



Thanks Ian!


----------



## Superman1984

cbustapeck said:


> Making a tank out of pine is Brilliant!!! I love it. Some quality time with a belt sander sounds a great way to achieve “good enough”. This is going to get me into a lot of trouble. Thank you!



Use treated 5 1/4 deck boards, jigsaw, & sander. Can do 1 in the frame & or 2-3 ; 2 for each side with 1 in the middle for that wide motorcycle tank style + any creative ideas you wanna add of your own; hollow out the back side for a 'stash' pocket or rotozip designs through them or light them etc


----------



## Mymando

Great bike build young man. Some of the ones ahead of you weren’t as nice. Good use of “ what you had” to make something special!


----------



## Bike from the Dead

Mymando said:


> Great bike build young man. Some of the ones ahead of you weren’t as nice. Good use of “ what you had” to make something special!



Thanks Mymando!


----------



## Lonestar

Awesome job!!!


----------



## Bike from the Dead

Lonestar said:


> Awesome job!!!



Thank you Lonestar!


----------



## Phattiremike

Great job!  I enjoyed the progression photo's along the way.

-mike


----------



## ian

Watching the transformation of your Dumpster Diamond into a cool, rideable bike is inspiring. I'll be looking at doing something similar with a bunch of "extra " bits and bobs and making my own piece of art! Thanks for sharing your creation!

Ian


----------



## Bike from the Dead

Phattiremike said:


> Great job!  I enjoyed the progression photo's along the way.
> 
> -mike



Thank you Mike! Did you check out the build thread I linked at the bottom of the post? There are hundreds more photos there. This was sort of a highlight reel.


----------



## Bike from the Dead

ian said:


> Watching the transformation of your Dumpster Diamond into a cool, rideable bike is inspiring. I'll be looking at doing something similar with a bunch of "extra " bits and bobs and making my own piece of art! Thanks for sharing your creation!
> 
> Ian



Thanks Ian! I highly encourage you to give it a try!


----------



## JLF

Congratulations!  Killer build (and thread)!  

BTW, what’s it do in the quarter mile?  Looks fast.


----------



## catfish

Nice work


----------



## Bike from the Dead

JLF said:


> Congratulations!  Killer build (and thread)!
> 
> BTW, what’s it do in the quarter mile?  Looks fast.



Thanks! 

Not sure yet. I need to redo the coaster brake and tweak the chain guard before I can ride it again.


----------



## Bike from the Dead

catfish said:


> Nice work



Thanks!


----------



## mickeyc

I like the bare metal look too.  My 1939 Road Master.


----------



## Bike from the Dead

mickeyc said:


> I like the bare metal look too.  My 1939 Road Master.View attachment 1294616



That's a good-looking Road Master you got there! 

I like how my Hawthorne looks in bare metal, but I really intended to have this bike primed and painted to look reminiscent of a 1920s Harley Davidson. Plus, I've got another bike, a 1950/1951 Schwinn DX, that I want to leave bare metal with a satin clear, like what's on the Hawthorne. I really don't want to have two similar-looking (in my opinion) bikes with the same bare metal/satin clear finish. My bike collection's too small to have duplicates. I want each of my bikes to look different from one another. For now though, I'm just going to keep Dumpster Diamond like it is, and ride it until I have some money saved up to build it the way I really wanted.


----------



## Bike from the Dead

Here were some of my original plans for how _Dumpster Diamond_ was supposed to look. Originally, I planned to paint the bike a light grey with black details and orange pinstripes, topped off with a gloss clear coat. I was going to try to add each modification to the bike in stages, with stage 1 just keeping the bike fairly stock.



The tank would've probably been shaped like a diamond when viewed from above. It would also have been painted grey with black and orange details, which I still have yet to figure out.



The number plates would've been about the same as they are now, just painted light grey with black and orange numbers. Obviously, I skipped a couple stages and went ahead and had the number plates made. 



Here's where I would've really taken this bike over the top: a pair of stealth cup holders disguised as a small V-twin engine, cradled by an equally phony extended down tube. I wanted to add an optical illusion with this fake engine to couple with the classic auditorial illusion of sticking some playing cards against the spokes to make it sound like a motorcycle. Why? Because I thought it'd be funny to watch people try and figure out why anyone would be pedaling a motorized bicycle while the "engine's" running. I still haven't figured out how to make the cup holders fully functional while looking like a believable engine, but I'm still working on it.






After an unfortunate accident involved with a brass wire wheel and a power drill, I had to take a critical amount of time off from working on my bike, which meant I had to scale back some of my original plans for my bike. I figured I could still add some black details on top of a bare metal frame, but it didn't take long for me to realize that would still be too much work with the little time I had left before the deadline for the RRBBO. Still, I like the placement of the diamond scallops on this design better than the first design, so I'll definitely want to keep this design in mind when I redo this bike.






When I found that the only way to finish this bike was to leave the whole bike bare metal with just a satin clear, I drew up this design. I knew I could spice up the chain guard with a vinyl decal, but sadly, I ran out of time to make a decal for the tank. Still, I at least made the tank trail past the seat pole like I originally wanted, so I'm pretty proud of that.



One last idea I had to save for a later date: a custom "reversible" triple tree fork with truss rods. I briefly played around with the idea using some scrap conduit and one steer tube off another fork I had in my "sell/trade" pile. The idea is to use the open tops of the fork tubes to hold a pair of steer tubes, cut to line up with the top of the main steer tube, and shaped at the bottom to match the diameter of the fork tubes on either side. The three steer tubes (one real, 2 dummies) would then have a matching set of nuts and washers on the threaded portions, and 3 identical handlebar stems to mimic the triple tree forks of some 1920s board track motorcycles. Tying it all together would be some custom truss rods based off said board track motorcycles, but mounted via nuts, bolts and a little tension. I wasn't sure if I wanted the truss rods to be straight like what I usually see on those earlier motorcycles, or curved to match the slope of the bottom of the fork.


----------



## ian

Bike from the Dead said:


> Here were some of my original plans for how _Dumpster Diamond_ was supposed to look. Originally, I planned to paint the bike a light grey with black details and orange pinstripes, topped off with a gloss clear coat. I was going to try to add each modification to the bike in stages, with stage 1 just keeping the bike fairly stock.
> View attachment 1295158
> The tank would've probably been shaped like a diamond when viewed from above. It would also have been painted grey with black and orange details, which I still have yet to figure out.
> View attachment 1295159
> The number plates would've been about the same as they are now, just painted light grey with black and orange numbers. Obviously, I skipped a couple stages and went ahead and had the number plates made.
> View attachment 1295160
> Here's where I would've really taken this bike over the top: a pair of stealth cup holders disguised as a small V-twin engine, cradled by an equally phony extended down tube. I wanted to add an optical illusion with this fake engine to couple with the classic auditorial illusion of sticking some playing cards against the spokes to make it sound like a motorcycle. Why? Because I thought it'd be funny to watch people try and figure out why anyone would be pedaling a motorized bicycle while the "engine's" running. I still haven't figured out how to make the cup holders fully functional while looking like a believable engine, but I'm still working on it.
> View attachment 1295161
> View attachment 1295162
> After an unfortunate accident involved with a brass wire wheel and a power drill, I had to take a critical amount of time off from working on my bike, which meant I had to scale back some of my original plans for my bike. I figured I could still add some black details on top of a bare metal frame, but it didn't take long for me to realize that would still be too much work with the little time I had left before the deadline for the RRBBO. Still, I like the placement of the diamond scallops on this design better than the first design, so I'll definitely want to keep this design in mind when I redo this bike.
> View attachment 1295163
> View attachment 1295164
> When I found that the only way to finish this bike was to leave the whole bike bare metal with just a satin clear, I drew up this design. I knew I could spice up the chain guard with a vinyl decal, but sadly, I ran out of time to make a decal for the tank. Still, I at least made the tank trail past the seat pole like I originally wanted, so I'm pretty proud of that.
> View attachment 1295165
> One last idea I had to save for a later date: a custom "reversible" triple tree fork with truss rods. I briefly played around with the idea using some scrap conduit and one steer tube off another fork I had in my "sell/trade" pile. The idea is to use the open tops of the fork tubes to hold a pair of steer tubes, cut to line up with the top of the main steer tube, and shaped at the bottom to match the diameter of the fork tubes on either side. The three steer tubes (one real, 2 dummies) would then have a matching set of nuts and washers on the threaded portions, and 3 identical handlebar stems to mimic the triple tree forks of some 1920s board track motorcycles. Tying it all together would be some custom truss rods based off said board track motorcycles, but mounted via nuts, bolts and a little tension. I wasn't sure if I wanted the truss rods to be straight like what I usually see on those earlier motorcycles, or curved to match the slope of the bottom of the fork.View attachment 1295127
> 
> View attachment 1295128
> 
> View attachment 1295130
> 
> View attachment 1295132
> 
> View attachment 1295133
> 
> View attachment 1295134
> 
> View attachment 1295135



You must have quite a pile of trade/sell parts!


----------



## mickeyc

You certainly have an inventive mind.  Like the many variations of paint, up to you to decide which you like better, after all, it's your creation.  Can't say I've ever seen a triple tree fork, but it sure would be interesting!

Rock on my friend!!


----------



## Bike from the Dead

ian said:


> You must have quite a pile of trade/sell parts!



I do, but admittedly most of what's in that pile is fairly common stuff. Funny enough, _Dumpster Diamond _was built almost entirely out of parts from that sell/trade pile, including the frame!


----------



## Bike from the Dead

mickeyc said:


> You certainly have an inventive mind.  Like the many variations of paint, up to you to decide which you like better, after all, it's your creation.  Can't say I've ever seen a triple tree fork, but it sure would be interesting!
> 
> Rock on my friend!!



Thank you Mickeyc! Yeah, I still need to go back and work on my designs again. I've had some more ideas for this bike since the Build Off ended back in September. Here are some pictures of where I got the triple tree fork idea from:


----------



## St.Peter

Love the name. Great build


----------



## Bike from the Dead

St.Peter said:


> Love the name. Great build



Thanks!


----------



## non-fixie

Wonderful stuff! For me, being a Dutchman, this is uncharted territory, but I love the look of your bike. (OK, and some of the others, too) Thanks for posting this.


----------



## Bike from the Dead

non-fixie said:


> Wonderful stuff! For me, being a Dutchman, this is uncharted territory, but I love the look of your bike. (OK, and some of the others, too) Thanks for posting this.



Thanks! Pardon me for asking, but how is this uncharted territory for you as a Dutchman?


----------



## non-fixie

Bike from the Dead said:


> Thanks! Pardon me for asking, but how is this uncharted territory for you as a Dutchman?




I guess it has to do with the big difference in bike culture between our countries. Here in Holland (and most of Europe) cars weren't available cheaply enough until the 1960's to take over the role of the bicycle as an important means of personal transport. Where in the US bikes were relegated to the toy and sports departments shortly after WWI, here in Europe they were, and still are, serious adult business, which led to different, less playful types of bicycles being popular.

In the world I grew up in a bicycle either needed to be appropriate for daily transportation and last a lifetime, or be fast enough to win the Tour de France.  

These cruiser / klunker type frames were never really considered here, and neither was the idea of rat-rodding. Both concepts were alien to me, until I joined forums like this one, with a predominantly American audience.


----------



## Bike from the Dead

non-fixie said:


> I guess it has to do with the big difference in bike culture between our countries. Here in Holland (and most of Europe) cars weren't available cheaply enough until the 1960's to take over the role of the bicycle as an important means of personal transport. Where in the US bikes were relegated to the toy and sports departments shortly after WWI, here in Europe they were, and still are, serious adult business, which led to different, less playful types of bicycles being popular.
> 
> In the world I grew up in a bicycle either needed to be appropriate for daily transportation and last a lifetime, or be fast enough to win the Tour de France.
> 
> These cruiser / klunker type frames were never really considered here, and neither was the idea of rat-rodding. Both concepts were alien to me, until I joined forums like this one, with a predominantly American audience.



Okay, that makes sense. Where you're at, bikes are/were more of a practical appliance, whereas here in the States, bikes are/were more of a fun luxury item. I can see why cruiser bikes and custom bikes may not be as common in areas where bikes are still a primary mode of transportation. You need something reliable, predictable, and easy to pedal to get you from point A to B. Thanks for sharing! I learned something new today.


----------



## non-fixie

> Bike from the Dead said:
> 
> 
> 
> (...) Where you're at, bikes are/were more of a practical appliance, whereas here in the States, bikes are/were more of a fun luxury item. (...)
Click to expand...



Excellent summary. 

Of course we did have our own luxury and fun bikes, but they were at another level. Those were the bikes hand-built by René Herse, Alex Singer and the like.


----------



## JimRoy

Bike from the Dead said:


> Here is the bike I built for my first ever Rat Rod Bikes.com Build Off. It's a 1950 Snyder-built Montgomery Ward/Hawthorne frame with Western Flyer pedals I bought at the 2019 Springfield, MO swap meet for $20. The fork seen in the pictures wasn't included with it, I just had it and thought it'd look good with the original paint.
> View attachment 1287296
> 
> View attachment 1287295
> 
> View attachment 1287294
> 
> As it turned out, this frame was _BENT._ The seat pole in particular was really bent.
> View attachment 1287293
> 
> I took this frame to a couple bike shops around town to see if anyone could straighten it out for me. One recommended this guy at a radiator repair shop, so I took it there. In hindsight, I should never have done business with that guy, because all he did was bend it in a different direction, and he messed up nearly every other part I brought to him. I was not happy.
> View attachment 1287297
> 
> Since the original paint and patina was ruined when this guy burnt off a fair portion of the paint, I decided to try and wire-brush everything down to bare metal to see how it looked. In the process, I found this cool diamond design hiding underneath some of the surface. While it didn't return after the initial build, I plan to bring this design element back when I rebuild this bike again later.
> View attachment 1287298
> 
> I mocked up some parts and made some rough plywood tank inserts to try and get a feel for the direction of this bike. It was about this point that I decided to go for a sort of board track racer vibe.
> View attachment 1287299
> 
> My dad had a bunch of these halo lights from a Sonic drive thru he wasn't using, which I felt would make perfect number plates for my bike.
> View attachment 1287304
> 
> I took everything to my dad's welder buds, who did a much better job of fixing this bike than the first guy. They cut out the mangled seat pole and welded in a replacement from a junk frame I had, bobbed the rear fender, made one good set of forks from two bad forks, cut the number plates, and tweaked the chain guard to fit better.
> View attachment 1287302View attachment 1287306
> 
> I then had all the parts sandblasted down to bare metal, then I wire-brushed everything to shine it up. I then hit everything with a few layers of some satin clear coat spray paint, and began putting the bike back together.
> View attachment 1287307
> 
> View attachment 1287309
> 
> On literally the last two days of the build off, I put together this custom wood tank out of some scrap pine boards I got for free off Craigslist. I don't have a bandsaw, so I just used a jigsaw and my dad's belt sander to shape it. I had never done this before, so this first tank... could look better, but it came out okay for my first try.
> View attachment 1287310
> 
> View attachment 1287311
> 
> I was one of the last, if not _the last,_ guy to finish my bike before the deadline, but I got it done. It's not perfect, it's not done like I had originally planned, but it's done.
> View attachment 1287312
> 
> One of the other details that I added to the bike before I finished it were these custom decals for the chain guard and number plates I designed in Adobe Illustrator. I got the name "Dumpster Diamond" from a combination of the diamond I found hiding under some of the paint, and the fact that multiple people who saw this bike before I started on it asked if I had found it in a dumpster, or have said it belonged in a dumpster. Those people made me determined to take this "dumpster bike" and turn it into something beautiful, and I like to think I've succeeded.
> View attachment 1287313
> 
> View attachment 1287314
> 
> View attachment 1287315
> 
> View attachment 1287316
> 
> View attachment 1287317
> 
> The picture that helped me finish in 17th place out of 68 finished entries in my class. I wanted to do something a little funny and poke my head out of a dumpster like I was Oscar the Grouch, with my bike sitting in front of the dumpster like I found it in there.
> View attachment 1287318
> 
> I've still got plans for this bike and how to make it even better, but for now, I just want to fix a couple things to make it ride a little better.
> 
> For the full build, here's my build thread: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index...er-build-off-with-a-postwar-hawthorne.111100/
> 
> For the finished build thread, look here: https://ratrodbikes.com/forum/index.php?threads/dumpster-diamond-is-done.112194/



Your dumpster pic would make a nice canvas picture for your shop.  JimRoy


----------



## JimRoy

Nice work.  If you’re not done with the bike, might I suggest a banana seat with a long sissy bar and ape handle bars.  And maybe a unique springer fork.  JimRoy


----------



## Bike from the Dead

JimRoy said:


> Your dumpster pic would make a nice canvas picture for your shop.  JimRoy



Yeah, I'll probably edit it better in Photoshop (I didn't have much time left in the competition when I originally edited it, hence why it looks so rough,) and hang it up somewhere. I don't have a shop, but I might stick it in the garage or my bedroom.


----------



## Bike from the Dead

JimRoy said:


> Nice work.  If you’re not done with the bike, might I suggest a banana seat with a long sissy bar and ape handle bars. JimRoy



If you follow the link to the original built thread, you'll find that at one point, I had planned to use a banana seat and sissy bar. I chose not to go that route as I wanted more of a board track vibe with a touch of OCC chopper. My current project, however, is more of a muscle bike-style build. I can give you a link to the build threads on that one if you like.


----------



## Sven

You are definitely an artist. Great build !


----------



## Bike from the Dead

Sven said:


> You are definitely an artist. Great build !
> View attachment 1316877



Thanks Sven! I really appreciate it.


----------



## Grumpy Grampy

That's one cool ride. I didn't know that they had those kind of competitions. Gonna have to find something to build myself. Right now I'm working on a western flyer cruiser. Don't know what year. Thanks for the post


----------



## Bike from the Dead

Grumpy Grampy said:


> That's one cool ride. I didn't know that they had those kind of competitions. Gonna have to find something to build myself. Right now I'm working on a western flyer cruiser. Don't know what year. Thanks for the post



Thanks! Yeah, they have an annual summer build off, then a winter build off. Sometimes the winter build off has a specific theme, like muscle bikes and BMX bikes for this winter build off. I recommend checking them out and giving it a try!

Got photos of that Western Flyer? I'd love to see it.


----------



## Grumpy Grampy

Just posted some in the Murray and thread. Thanks for your interest. I want to do a total restoration on it.


----------



## tacochris

Here is one I built a few years back from a Columbia frame I had spare.  Seat has custom rigid front and rear mounts, bar are built from a set of old paperboy bars and the weld is hidden underneath the grips so they maintain the original patina, and the front fork supports are all fabricated from bar stock and threaded rod.  I loosely modeled it after a 1912 dirt track racer and used knobby tires....I have two and put 100's of miles on em and they rode like a beast.


----------



## Bike from the Dead

tacochris said:


> Here is one I built a few years back from a Columbia frame I had spare.  Seat has custom rigid front and rear mounts, bar are built from a set of old paperboy bars and the weld is hidden underneath the grips so they maintain the original patina, and the front fork supports are all fabricated from bar stock and threaded rod.  I loosely modeled it after a 1912 dirt track racer and used knobby tires....I have two and put 100's of miles on em and they rode like a beast.
> 
> View attachment 1337586
> 
> View attachment 1337587



Duuuuude, that is niiiiice! You got any additional photos of the seat mounts?


----------



## tacochris

Bike from the Dead said:


> Duuuuude, that is niiiiice! You got any additional photos of the seat mounts?




I dont have any pics of the red one but here is a close-up shot of the rigid mounts on my tan tracker I built first.  You can see that its 1/4 steel flat bar basically utilizing the original rear seat pan spring bolts as mounts and mounting thru the frame with small heavy grade bolts.  I have since improved this design and on the red one the vertical supports and the bracket under the seat are separate so i can fine tune the rear of the seat angle and flow better with the bike frame.
The front mount is a tad harder to explain but let me see if I can paint a picture.  I cut the seat mast off flush with the top of the frame so the seat nose will sit directly on the frame.  Then I took an old seat post and welded a nut to a washer and flipped it to sit down inside the seat post and welded it.  Basically this turns the seat post into internal threaded rod.  I screw the seat post to the front seat pan bolt then stick it down in the seat tube until the seat sits flush.  

Folks give me alot of grief about my riding position (_O that cant be comfortable_) but I assure you its actually much more comfortable than folks would think and Ive made alot of folks believers by letting them ride it.  The science is, yes you are sitting in a downward position like a road bike, but the seat is dropped around 4-5 inches from stock and backwards around the same amount so the position is quite nice and Ive put 100's of miles on this bike.


----------



## Bike from the Dead

Alright, I'm itching to revisit this bike and rebuild it the way I really want, so it's time to begin...
*PHASE TWO!!!!!! (I even made this GIF in Photoshop to help emphasize how ready I am to get this bike finished up!)*




Okay, so when I originally built this bike, there were a bunch of finishing details I didn't get to add to _Dumpster Diamond. _I had to settle for a "good enough" design in order to meet the September 1st deadline for the 15th annual Rat Rod Bikes Build Off at ratrodbikes.com. I think it looked okay in the end, but I knew I'd want to revisit this bike again at some point. Well, I still have some cash left in my bike build fund, plus some additional "play money" from Christmas and my birthday. So, _Dumpster Diamond's_ getting rebuilt, hopefully even better than before.

I did some more mockups on Friday last week, mostly so I'd have something to trace over in Photoshop. Here, I'm exploring my earlier ideas for a custom triple tree fork and a set of stealth cup holders disguised as a V-twin engine. I know I want the triple tree fork to happen, so that most likely will be the first new element I tackle, but I'm still not sure about the fake engine. My original plan for that engine was to add a false down bar to make the frame look more like a motorcycle's, but the more I looked at that false down bar illustration, the more it made me think of a cow's udder. It just didn't look right. I'm also still not sure how I'd build this engine and make it functional.




I also want to move the front-facing number plate down a few inches, as it just sat too high up for my liking. I feel that making it level with the head badge looks better. I also want to add some truss rods to mimic those old 1920s board track racer motorcycles. I'm not 100% sure how all of this will go together, but it should be a whole lot easier to figure out than the dummy engine.










It's so much cooler to see the triple tree fork idea on a mostly-complete bike, versus when I had initially mocked this up on a bare frame. The sight of those 3 handlebar stems together like that just looks so cool to me. I'm going to need to redesign the tank so I can steer though, as the current tank has too much material up front for the forks to rotate properly.




So what's next? Well, I want to trace some of these new photos in Photoshop so I can better flesh out my ideas for the final design of this bike. In addition to the forks and engine/cup holders, I'll be coming up with a new paint scheme similar to my initial concepts, as well as new decals for the tank. I'm probably going to want to find a new set of handlebars, as the ones I have aren't exactly straight; one end dips lower than the other. If I can't save the pair of pedals I had originally planned to use, then I'll be on the hunt for some new ones.

Realistically, I probably won't start any actual modifications to this bike until I finish a few other bike projects first. This one's still technically a rider, while the rest of my project bikes are in pieces. My main goal is to get most if not all of my bike projects finished or at least close to finished by the end of the year. While that means I'll probably work on more than one bike at a time, I do have a few I want to get done by a certain date.

Stay tuned for more!


----------

