On a later day, I mocked up a few more parts. First, I swapped out the previous seat for a banana seat and sissy bar, partly for the look, but mostly for a better seating position.
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Next, I found a chain guard from an AMF bike that could fit the frame with a little modification.
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Then I found a pair of ape hangers that
just barely fit inside the 2 fork-mounted handlebar clamps. They might not stay, but I still feel they fit well enough. I also make a rough cardboard gusset for the front of the frame.
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The last part I mocked up was a front fender I could modify to fit the rear. And just like that, I found the look I was aiming for! This feels like those early BMX bikes that seemed more like an evolution of the muscle bikes that came before. Kind of fitting too, since I wanted to make this into a muscle bike before I chose to go the BMX route. In fact, I might pull triple duty with this bike; it's got a pair of slicks that would be great for the skate park, but I also have a fresh pair of 24" knobbies I could use for off-road rides, and if that's not enough, I even have a 1.75"-wide tire I could mount up front for a more muscular appearance! It's a triple threat!
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I did my usual digital mockup in Photoshop to see what the final look might be, and after weeks of tinkering with colors and graphics, I ultimately decided on this:
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Ideally, I'd like to run a black banana seat, but if that's not in the cards, I have a perfectly good black-and-white banana seat I could use instead.
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I plan to have Dad powder coat the bike in this super cool "Sparkle Granny Smith" color he has, with satin black and chrome accents to help break it up. Felt like a good color for a bike that's meant to be a transition between muscle bike and BMX.
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But why call a 24 inch Free Spirit 10-speed turned 1970s-era BMX cruiser "
MUTT?" Well, there's 2 reasons for that.
1. This bike's a hodgepodge of different years, makes, and manufacturers of parts, and I don't quite know what even the main frame's supposed to be, just like how a "mutt" is made up of different dog breeds, including some that may be hard to identify. It's not one of the more "purist-type" bikes I'm used to seeing at the vintage BMX shows. This thing's cobbled together out of dirt-cheap parts I had on hand. In fact, the most expensive parts I have on this bike have got to be the 2 slick tires I currently have mocked up. Everything else I either got for free or close to it. So it's not a true period-correct build, but it is period-inspired.
2.
"Mutt" is the name of a "character" from one of my favorite short-lived cartoons:
Motorcity. "Mutt" is an amalgamation of 1970s muscle cars with a built-in escape chopper from the distant future that sports a flashy green paint job with black stripes. And like my plan for this bike,
Motorcity's "Mutt" may look like a muscle car, but it has no problem forging its own path. I'd been itching to build a couple bikes as an homage to the show, and this would be a great one to start with!
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So far, this is where I'm at: a loose mockup and a dream. Good news is I should be able to make some serious progress on this bike soon. Unless something comes up, I'll be meeting up with my friend Allan sometime this weekend, who's going to teach me how to weld so I can weld the gussets to the frame myself.