Kasual Klunker (Formerly "The Ratical Rustin' Hornet")

[Bike from the Dead]

Once again, I'd like to give a shoutout to my friend @billn on ratrodbikes.com for inviting me to the event! I had a blast!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Got a small update to share: I changed the seat again to something a little less flashy than the last one.

On one hand, it's plenty comfortable, and it's not as nice and shiny as the previous white seat. On the other hand...

...I hate how it looks on this bike. Instead of being too bright, it's now too dark.

Out of all the seats I've had on this bike, that older slightly faded white seat looked the best. It was by no means comfortable to sit on, but it matched the bike. Odds are I'll throw it back on for the "finished" thread, but what this bike really needs is a custom seat with an off-white cover. Right now, I've got one seat that looks good but is a pain to sit on, and a couple seats that are comfortable but don't fit the look of the bike.

One other thing I noticed as I was putting the bike back up: rust on the springer fork. My guess is it's from getting soaked during the rainy drive to the Thanksgiving BMX show I checked out last month. I bet I can clean it up using some steel wool, but I might want to clear it down the road. Either that, or I don't take this bike out unless the weather's dry.

I haven't been able to do any real work on this bike due to the weather being an ugly mix of cold and wet for the past few weeks. And unfortunately for me, the weather is only going to get worse. In fact, the low for this Thursday is -3 degrees! We've had warm Decembers and Januarys down here in Oklahoma before, but this time, I doubt it's going to warm up anytime soon. So unfortunately, I'm going to need to wait to really finish this bike the way I want. That said, I feel like I'm at a decent stopping point. The bike still needs some work done to it, both functional and cosmetic, but it's a rider. I didn't get it right yet, but I did get it rolling, and that's good enough for me. That's one more bike I own that moves under pedal power! Once the holidays are over, I'll try and get some decent shots of the bike for the "finished" thread.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

 

[Bike from the Dead]

I've got a small update I probably should've shared earlier this week.

Earlier this Monday, I went back out to the local reservoir and shot photos of the Kasual Klunker for my finished build thread. Most of Tuesday was spent sorting through all 600+ shots. I just got done editing the select few photos I'm using for the finished build thread, so now I'm working on getting that thread done.

 

[Bike from the Dead]

Finished working on my 1952 Schwinn Hornet, Kasual Klunker, for now. There are still a few things I'd like to do to it down the road, but I achieved my primary goal, which was to get this bike riding again for cheap.

This was a first for me, as I'm not really an off road bike guy, but as I was mocking up the parts I had on hand to get this bike together, I realized how much it reminded me of the original klunker bikes of the 1970s, so I just ran with the theme. Plus, I wanted to try something new, both in terms of build style and in terms of riding. I like the looks of those old klunkers, and what better way to try my hand at off road biking than with an old school klunker just like the guys back in the '70s did? Plus, it was nice change of pace stripping a bike down to the bare essentials rather than adding a ton of different parts. I just can't stay in my lane; I gotta try new things!

Here's a highlight reel of where this bike started, and some of the changes I made to it along the way: