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Mostly building vintage mopeds, rare old Italian 50cc motorcycles, stuff like that. I haven't done anything with bicycles for awhile. Still have a few of them, but now I like making little engines go fast.

No. Sorry. I've got no more spokes and I'm not doing anything with old bicycles anymore.

It's been four years since I've been around here, and you two are still going at it. That's some special kind of love right there...

I've drilled a few of them. A drill press, a good vice clamped to it, and cutting oil is a must. The flanges are super tough. You'll break crappy drill bits or burn them out. There's just enough room to drill the holes large enough, but make sure you drill straight. I never broke out a hole...

I've known Pat since he got started with motorized bikes, raced with him on Kart tracks and seen many of his bikes in person. Everything he makes is top notch, high quality stuff.

Cool bike Pat!

The chances of an old cruiser wheel taco-ing are pretty slim. Most guys won't even ride off a curb, much less hit a jump or something. If the rim is egg-shaped or has flat spots, it takes some work to get them straight again, but there's many posts here of people doing it, with no catastrophic...

If it's really bent and actually damaged, I agree with you. If it's used on a performance bike, I agree with you. If it's on a 70+ year old bike that's gonna get ridden at 5mph, I don't worry about taco-ing wheels. I've built wheels since 79. I've taco-d rims on my bmx bikes from abusing...

48 DX frame, Emory fork, araya 7x's, acs Z front hub, Durex 135mm coaster, stamped Ashtabula cranks, kkt pedals, etc, etc.. I've changed a few things since this pic. Ideale saddle and fluted seatpost, husquavarna bars, so I'll post a new pic when I can.

I googled "bicrosser" and got nothing but transexual porn.

I hope the Luddites don't destroy it.

I can't tell if it's 2 or 3x from the pic with the hub in the way. If it's 2, you'll have to relace it. If it is 3x, and the wheel is true, you can grind off the tips. That's common practice with any spoked wheel. I've built hundreds of wheels and almost always have to grind down a few spokes...

I've got a 30's "fairy" (pre Colson) 20" frame, and some other parts for it that I'm dying to get rid of. (Size 9.5 shoe for reference. )

Like tripple3, I have a few bikes, depending on the ride. My most used is my 48 schwinn klunker. From bars, to the beach, to trails, this bike is one of the most fun. I can jump curb cuts, ride dirt trails, or cruise the beach. It's also the only one with a seat bag so I don't have to carry...

About a year ago I saw a beat up cruiser on CL for $40. Looking close at the pics, I could tell it was a 26" Laguna BMX cruiser. Called the guy, (i was the first caller) was on my way to meet him, and was a few blocks away when he called and said his wife sold it already (before he got home to...

If you want to over-think this some more, with your drop-outs, you're moving your wheel up or down on an angle, not straight back, which complicates all your calculations.

You can find hollow stem bolts anywhere. Call a bike shop or look online. There's plenty of walmart "freestyle" bikes that have them.

They made the western flyer repops, and emory makes some great industrial bikes. http://www.aerofast.com/aerofast/

Aerofast/ Emory made in Florida.

Spaceliners are notorious for lousy chrome. Everyone I've seen (or owned) had a lot of yellowing, and under the tank and other hidden areas the chrome was really bad, like they just chromed the parts you'll see. On yours, don't use anything abrasive to remove the clearcoat, or you'll damage the...

"Extreme" measures, you could dimple the frame where the tire hits. Less extreme measure, change the sprocket or the cog on the hub, meaning add a tooth or lose one, to put the wheel where you need it.

Not sure. I had an old Rixe from the 50's, and it came with some awesome aluminum drop center rims, with 11g spokes and a heavy duty Durex coaster brake in the rear and a drum up front that only said "made in germany." If you had the Rixe girder fork, that would be a sure sign it was really a...

What kind?

Could be a Rixe. West German made from the 50's to 70's, I think. I've mostly seen step-thru tandems, but yours has the same lug work and features.

In California, you can't get a DUI on a bicycle anymore. Since 2012 (I think) they changed it to a CUI, or cycling under the influence, which carries no more than a $250 fine, no jail time, but is a misdemeanor if convicted, meaning you have a criminal record. It was after the infamous OP Pro...

Many companies made, and still make double butted spokes. The obvious answer would be weight savings and strength. Don't know why anyone would care about saving weight on a prewar, 50+lb bike, though...

Simple answers, yes, they're called double butted because they're thicker on the ends. Yes, you can lace them with regular spokes of the same length and gauge. Spokes "touching each other" doesn't matter. Most people interlace their wheels, meaning the under spoke comes over the top of the...

Just an update. I'm out of 29'r spokes. And I'm working 6 days a week with no time to work on my own bikes. Once work slows down again after summer, if anyone's interested, I'll buy spokes for 29'rs, or use yours, and build more wheels, but for now, I'm just to swamped. If you absolutely need...

I build two strokes and use Klotz Benol. Works great, and you gotta love that old castor oil smell.

You'll get better answers at motorbicycling.com, but I'll tell you what I've done. I've raced the china motors since 2010 on kart tracks, and built my first bike in 2008. I had the first bike documented at over 50mph, while everyone else was trying to hit 40, and this was before you could buy...

Once the deal is made, it should stay made. I've had the "someone offered me more" thing happen to me a few times, and usually they just want me to up my offer. Most times I just say, "let 'em have it..." But if the other guy's offer hasn't been accepted yet, it's fair game. I bought 2 prewar...

I got as close as possible. Fake-tina Western Flyer.

For drum brake hubs, you can find many old moped wheels on ebay or CL for really cheap. The front hubs range from Grimeca to Lelui (spelling?) And other brands, and the size is about the same as an Atom drum. Rear moped drums usually have a single freewheel, and the other side has the engine...

I built some out of solid aluminum rods before. Hammered the ends flat with no problems. They were pretty thin after hammering, and I was worried they may split at the axle holes, but they never did, even after taking the front wheel off countless times. I didn't heat the rods at all, just...

If it wasn't rusted thru, I'd be interested. But... I'll pass.

WD40 it. Then send it to me. I'll build it and ride it instead of making a useless wallhanger.

I've had bikes I couldn't sell for a reasonable price, doubled it, then sold them for my original asking price. Sometimes that works.

I have some Klein dykes I've been using for a long time that chop cables no problem. To me, that's the best trick. Use good cutters and you have no problems. Krazy glue is a great thing, though. If you ever wrap exhaust pipes with header wrap, squirt a line of krazy glue on it, cut with...

It's worth the few bucks for a new chain, tires, tubes, and a few hours to grease it all up if you have a cool girlfriend who appreciates old, crusty stuff to ride around with you.

Here's a few boring photos

i'm an assembler for Walmarts and I build those bikes every day. A lot of stores have me set up inside the garden centers and I've made it a policy to not give customers my opinion on the bikes. And yes, people think Schwinn is still a reputable name and that the quality is better than the...

The hardened old grease probably glued the internals together. Cleaning it broke it all free. Had an NOS Sachs hub that was like that. barely rolled, wouldn't brake, but after cleaning it thoroughly it worked fine.

Just got back from a weekend of racing on the Willow Springs kart track. 90° temps, very slight winds, and a bumpy, cracked up track. My chopped up Shelby airflow with a 70's minarelli V1 moped motor blasted me into 2nd place in the 8hp midrange class, and 3rd place in the unlimited (8+hp)...

Wash it, spray it down with an entire can of WD40, let it soak while you get new pedals, tires and tubes, wipe it off, and ride it.

If saving them requires buying more than tubes and tires, no.

It's a Dana three speed. Made by the same Dana that makes car and truck transmissions. Early to mid 70's. Virtually indestructible, except for the plastic shifting mechanism in the transmission unit. Not really rare, I see complete NOS kits pop up now and then.

If the Brooks has no rips and the leather isn't dry enough to crack easily, it probably still has a lot of riding life in it, as well as already being broken in. I've saved far worse saddles and rode them for many years.

It "rides like crap" compared to "modern" bmx bikes, with the mushy rear shocks. But mine was fun, I just wouldn't jump anything bigger than a curb cut on it.

I can't get rid of this stupid bike. It's friggen cool, rides great, and I can't drop the price without giving it away. I'm about ready to strip it down, paint it red and black "rat rod" style, or just leave it outside till some tweeker steals it.

Here's an Atom with the slot at the top.