I thought I had shown this bike in a prior post but I can not find it so maybe I did not . The bike itself is one and a half junked BMX's and other assorted salvaged parts. It was a experiment to see if it would work and it did. I built it a couple of years ago I think.
The light is an idea toward a steampunked bike. It's 2 and 3/4 pounds of brass and heavy glass but first.
It has not changed much from the original finished project. That is if any project is ever really finished. The front sprocket is now as big as it can get (frame limit). The rack is a 50's vintage child torturing device that has been modified to haul groceries. It was much cleaner when first put on the road but has been neglected and now has much more rust. Everything rusts here or it mildews or grows moss. I have 10 ride able bicycles and I only care about one so I have a hard time keeping up.This bike rides well and was my main ride for a while. It's nice for just cruising around looking a things bike. It gets lots of attention, which means people talk to you, especially kids. You can relax because when you stop you can just put your foot down and you have a comfortable seat. You look cool. For me it's as cool as a gray haired old man can look.
Back to the front head lamp. It is a start at steam punking this bike. I plan an red oil lamp like what used to be used on trains. for the tail light. I left one of those in Mexico when I escaped. Of course I never ride at night so this is just an art project. I want the frame to have a black iron look but I may settle for rusty since I'm already half way there. I'm thinking of trying my hand at making wooden fenders but I probably won't for this project as it doesn't really go with the industrial metal look.. I have some old growth cypress that came from a water barrel that would look good but we'll see.
Steam? I have an idea for a real steam whistle. Who needs a bell if you have a steam whistle. I make train whistles but they require a lot of pressure so I have to solve that problem. That would surely Intimidate the dogs around here. heh heh
Let us see how it works out.
7 comments:
That's a pretty awesome looking bike. I was going to mention a brass bell, but I like your idea of using a train whistle. A steam whistle would be really cool. That would probably require a coal tender and a fireman to keep the fire stoked, etc. That would probably be too much weight.
Yes, a brass bell. I don't know why I didn't think of that. It's going to a long time project so it will probably get both.
I have a few other things to do first.
I made a small but very loud steamm whistle for a bike. I took a CO2 bike tire inflater and drilled and tapped it to 1/4" pipe. Attached it to an old steam whistle, made a bracket, and mounted on my handle bars.
Wow, I hadn't even thought of that. I'd love to see a picture. How big a whistle? How much could you use it before it went flat? Nevermind I'm going to try it anyway.
I would get about 3 screams out of a cartrige. You need to get an inflater that has a valve on it. If your whistle has a valve on it you need to wire it open. You need a small whistle[1/4" inlet]. A truck air horn also should work. I don't have the bike any more but I will take a picture of the co2 whistle. I don't know how to post it on this site.
Sending a picture is easy. just send it to
oldfool(at)oldfool.org. just change the ( ) to @
I sent you a picture but I don't know if it went through. I had a lot of trouble with the address. Please let me know if you got it.
Post a Comment