the tinker
Cruisin' on my Bluebird
Everyone has some girl's bars laying around or maybe some rusty boy's bars that they will never use. If you're making a klunker rider and want a set of el cheapo cross bars for it, and you have a boring Sunday afternoon to kill, here you go. Girl's bars work the easiest, but old, beat to death longhorn boy's bars work too. No matter what bars you use, some bending is required. All you need is a sturdy vise, some sand and a piece of 1/2' metal electrical conduit. A short length of pipe [ a seat post will do] to pry the hot bars while bending.
I'm building a klunker rider out of this very rusty '39 Colson. Just finished cutting and bending these truss rods for it .
They turned out perfect. Used an original '39 rod as a pattern for a perfect match. The only difference is the new ones are bolted on to the truss plate with a threaded bolt, rather than a nut. Only person that will spot that is a Colson guy. I'm leaning towards a crusty flat black finish on this 39, so these rusty steel tubes will fit in perfect. Bending the steel tubing or solid rod is pretty simple. The ends have to be heated red hot and beat flat, to be able to drill for the axle. Hollow pipe can be easily bent too. Just pack the pipe with some sand. Get as much sand as you can in it. Cover one end with tape and jam it in. Tap the sides of the handlebar with your hammer handle to shake down the sand and fill any voids. Leave the other end open, or close off with tape. Don't cap the ends off tight. Sand will have moisture in it that will have to vent as you heat the metal bars red hot. If the bars are not filled tight with sand, they will badly kink and be ruined. Pack the sand down with a rod. Extension pipes [ for extended grip length ] can be welded or fastened to the ends with machine screws threaded into the bars. Grind the welds or screw heads and ends flush. Make these extensions a bit shorter than your grips. The grips will cover the joint. If your bars are long enough, no extensions needed. No one will ever know. The rusty bars below are off the 39 Colson shown above.
These bars on the "Zep," shown below, are the original 1953 girls bars that came on this bike. Grip ends bent "in" to a 90 and extended. Cut the slots for the cross brace with a small grinding wheel.
Yeah, I know...why not just buy a ratty pair of cross brace bars? Search the bay or run a want add on the CABE for a set of Colson truss rods? The answer to that is: I get deep satisfaction of making stuff out of junk, using the most basic hand tools. Don't have to be perfect. As always, keep having fun!
These bars on the "Zep," shown below, are the original 1953 girls bars that came on this bike. Grip ends bent "in" to a 90 and extended. Cut the slots for the cross brace with a small grinding wheel.
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