Bike from the Dead's Mockup Mash

[Bike from the Dead]

Sometimes inspiration strikes as I'm cleaning out my workspace.

I picked up this step-thru Foremost Murray for free last year at the Haysville bicycle swap meet. I originally got it for parts and tubing bends, but I decided to play around with it during this whole "Mockup Mash."

I didn't even mock it up until I was almost ready to put it up! I was cleaning out the garage and loading frames and parts into my car to take back to storage when I decided to do a very loose mockup of this bike. What set it off was this handlebar and handlebar stem that almost perfectly matched the blue paint of the frame. I found a set of white grips and a white seat to go with the white paint, and then took the front fender and mocked it up as a bobbed rear fender. And just like that, I decided that I'll throw this bike together this way. I'll likely use a set of whitewall tires and maybe some white pedals too, but just laying the all the parts on the floor like this was enough to help me decide what to do with this bike!

I'll be taking a break from the Mockup Mash for a bit, as I needed to free up some space to work on my bikes, and I have plenty of bikes with an actual plan in mind to work on now. That said, once I get a few bikes done, I'll be sure to pick up where I left off! I still have plenty of frames that need parts, and plenty of parts that need frames!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

While I was down in Texas last month pet-sitting for my brother and sister-in-law, I sketched up a few ideas for some more bikes I'd like to build. Among the ideas I came up with was taking a JC Higgins Colorflow frame I bought back in April and turning it into a BMX-style "street bomber."

Normally when I sketch a bike before physically mocking up parts, the idea winds up looking better on paper than it does in practice. BUT NOT THIS TIME!
While I couldn't mock up all the exact parts I wanted to use (the fork's steerer tube was too narrow for all but one of my BMX handlebar stems,) the mockup was all I needed to know my idea worked, and even better than I expected! The only thing that didn't work from my original idea was using a pair of pink wheels, a pink seat and pink handlebars to accent the red, blue and black paint on the frame. It sounded better in my head, but eh, my second option for chrome, silver and black accents works better anyway.

There's just one small problem with making this bike a reality: The rear triangle is bent to the left, leaving the rear wheel uncentered. I think I can fix it, but I've never messed with the rear triangle of a bike before, so I'm not sure.

I've got a few more mockups I want to play around with on some other bikes this week, so I'll hopefully have more to share soon!

 

[Porkchop & Applesauce]

I’d say put the white tire and wheel set on this one and get er done!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I’d say put the white tire and wheel set on this one and get er done!

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Hahaha! Glad to know I'm not the only one who likes goofy bike ideas like this one! Thanks!

 

[Porkchop & Applesauce]

I’ve had a girls frame in my shed for years just to do a build like that! My frame was broken and welded back together crooked so no harm no foul!

 

[Porkchop & Applesauce]

Done a few girls bikes but that build is the one I’ve wanted for awhile but never seem to find time for

 

[Bike from the Dead]

After mocking up another (less desirable) bike of mine as a klunker, I decided to see if I could make a good klunker out of a frame I actually like: my X-53 frame I got over a year ago for $15. It already has some good patina on it, and I have plenty of parts that are a close enough match to it.

The first mockup actually turned out pretty well in my opinion. It kind of had a dual-sport vibe going on, where it could be used both on-road and off-road and still look good either way. I can't get the seat post to go down any lower as there's some junk in the way, but I might be able to fix that and get the seat down lower when I need it.

My next mockup sounded like a good idea in my head, but in practice... it just did not look right. I wanted to fit the spring from the fork inside some BMX bars like how I put the truss rods through the handlebars on my last klunker, but it made the handlebars sit at an awkward angle, and it just didn't give the look I was hoping for.

Having the black bars upright looked much better. I would've used the other stem, but I didn't want to reassemble that mess at the time.

My next idea was to use a seat with some spring in it, and some flatbars. Not sure I like how this particular seat looks on there, but the flatbars would make another good option for this bike.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

As nice as those first mockups turned out, I still had a few more ideas I wanted to explore on my X-53 yesterday. I wanted to see how the bike would look with white accents, so I threw on a white seat and some Wal-Mart whitewalls. I figured I could make a hot rod-styled klunker, but those Wal-Mart tires just looked too small for this bike.

Even though I wanted to build a klunker, I decided to see how the bike would look in street trim. I threw on a different set of handlebars, replaced the black bottom bracket parts with chrome, added some old white pedals, and put a 26" x 1.75" whitewall up front and a 26" x 2.125" Jerald slick whitewall out back. Suddenly, my previous mockups didn't look as good as they did before.

Just to take it a step further, I threw on some ape hangers just to see how they'd look. It turns out, they look perfect on this bike! I was all geared up to make this X-53 into an off-road bike, but this has "old school hot rod" written all over it!

I was all geared up to mock up a few more parts white these wheels and tires, but I feel like that won't be necessary now.

I did mock up one more idea this evening though. I wanted to give the line from the twin bars a place to go, and I figured I could modify a sissy bar to make a nice rear rack. I think it totally works!

I also though that I might use a white banana seat along with the horizontal sissy bar, but I think the regular white cruiser seat will work just fine.

 

[Porkchop & Applesauce]

Ummm that’s the seat for the Schwinn! Blaaahhahaaha

 

[Miq]

There's just one small problem with making this bike a reality: The rear triangle is bent to the left, leaving the rear wheel uncentered. I think I can fix it, but I've never messed with the rear triangle of a bike before, so I'm not sure.
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You can improve the wheel centering by adjusting the rear triangles. Search for "cold setting" here and online. It looks like you need to push both sides to the left a little. Use a 2x4 and the ground. The steel frame is pretty resilient. Try adding more and more force to the 2x4 until you get the frame to move where you want. The fork ends need paralleled (lined up) and will need adjusting once you get the triangles where you want.

I always enjoy seeing your sketches. Thanks for posting them.