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Post by oldchopperguy on Nov 11, 2017 22:26:59 GMT -5
God bless the fellows who built that tribute chopper and left it at the monument, and God bless all those who never came back from Viet Nam.
That bike is a tribute very much akin to the "missing man" formation in aircraft fly-bys. Seems we now live in a nation that outside our valiant military, is largely devoid of morals, conscience or remorse... Thinks WWII was a movie, thinks the Nazi holocaust never happened, and thinks "sacrifice" is suffering through a shortage of condoms and rolling-papers.
A year or two stuck under the cruel hand of a tyrant like North Korea's "Kimchi Yuk" (OR whom we MIGHT have had in the White House without the wisdom of the Electoral College...) might give them a reality-check... Yeah, God bless the creators of that bike... and God bless our troops of yesterday, AND today.
Leo (Army vet) in Texas
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Post by bagga on Nov 16, 2017 11:25:45 GMT -5
God bless the fellows who built that tribute chopper and left it at the monument, and God bless all those who never came back from Viet Nam. That bike is a tribute very much akin to the "missing man" formation in aircraft fly-bys. Seems we now live in a nation that outside our valiant military, is largely devoid of morals, conscience or remorse... Thinks WWII was a movie, thinks the Nazi holocaust never happened, and thinks "sacrifice" is suffering through a shortage of condoms and rolling-papers. A year or two stuck under the cruel hand of a tyrant like North Korea's "Kimchi Yuk" (OR whom we MIGHT have had in the White House without the wisdom of the Electoral College...) might give them a reality-check... Yeah, God bless the creators of that bike... and God bless our troops of yesterday, AND today.Leo (Army vet) in Texas perfect, i have nothing to add to that.
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Post by bagga on Nov 17, 2017 12:45:32 GMT -5
speaking of Cadillacs, here's our sun tandem bike. we have well over 500 miles on it since we bought it in may. i took the black walls off and put the white walls on it. i think it' looks better with the whites.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Nov 17, 2017 21:45:43 GMT -5
speaking of Cadillacs, here's our sun tandem bike. we have well over 500 miles on it since we bought it in may. i took the black walls off and put the white walls on it. i think it' looks better with the whites. Ohh... Gotta SEE it! Leo
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Post by bagga on Nov 18, 2017 8:20:52 GMT -5
i forgot the pic.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Nov 18, 2017 22:39:18 GMT -5
Bagga,
What a great bike! Several years back, I fabricated a pre-war Schwinn (sorta... LOL!) to have something old-school to get the mail on and get some exercise... Many parts ARE original pre-war, like frame, crank, chainwheel, gooseneck, bars, etc. but I used a '70's springer fork With handbrake) and wheel, and a stock-appearing rear wheel with a coaster brake and 7-speed gears-in-hub tranny. It's just like riding a classic balloon tire bike from the WWII era, but with 7 speeds! THAT is SO much fun! The icing on the cake is a set of NOS pre-war whitewall tires (yes, GENUINE 1940's pre-war!) Union brand with the tread being the raised UNION logo over and over... Incredibly, they are still soft and pliable, NO dry-rot and have held up for years at 50 PSI under my 225 pounds... Took DAYS to scrub the yellowed whitewalls white! They made some GOOD tires back in the forties! Hope they last, I'll never find another set...
For a stone-age board-track look, I used NOS Schwinn vintage bars (which I actually had from my childhood!) mounted upside down and backwards "mustache style" on a '50's 12" tall gooseneck sot they end up in a useable cruiser position. Even the speedo is a WEIRD NOS 1950's piece with a friction-wheel that rides on the front tire. It's SO "Rube Goldberg" or steampunk... Just right on a bike the "Lil' Rascals" might have shared...Even the rear rack is a NOS 50's piece... That spring seat is period-correct, but new. Couldn't find EVERYTHING old stock! The thing rides like a Town Car. But, it is HEAVY! My favorite "mod" is a NOS '40's headlight can and lens I got off eBay, and installed the LED and reflector from a 6V Wally World flashlight! It was EASY and teams with a '50's Miller generator and taillight... Along with a handful of NOS '40's glass reflectors. I'm incurably lost in the fifties... LOL! I woulda killed to have this bike as little nipper... Well, not KILLED, but cried and moaned and pestered dad a lot... LOLOLOL! Reminiscing over these old pix, I see the doggoned thing is just begging for a Whizzer motor...Pedal safe!Leo If I can find pix, I'll post them. It's probably your style of ride... Yup! Well, I found some pix! I "badged" it as a "Yellowjacket" a fictitious Schwinn model never made... I made all the decals from my own original art. It's actually EASY to make your own waterslide decals on a computer printer! I built this "FrankenSchwinn" in the living room over a winter... The missus was really understanding!
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Post by bagga on Nov 19, 2017 8:16:54 GMT -5
WOW
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Post by oldchopperguy on Nov 19, 2017 22:55:24 GMT -5
Greatest one-word post ever! Many thanks!Yeah, I got really carried away with this old Schwinn... I had some health issues, and over the winter decided to make my "boyhood bike of my 12-year-old dreams"... LOL! Took my mind off my troubles and gave me a cool toy to "exercise" on!I began searching eBay, and first found the early forties' frame... straight and sound, but AWFUL looking, with MANY coats of hideous paint... Got it CHEAP and figured to have it sand-blasted but too expensive. I attacked it with a disk-sander to smooth it out some, then did the TV carbuilder's trick of Bondo over EVERYTHING... Easy then to sand it to perfection. Lots of paint then... and decals! Suddenly I began to find all this great NOS pre-war stuff on eBay and seems I was the only one who wanted it... Then, I found a guy parting out a mint seventies' Schwinn fat-tire repop and snagged the spring-fork and rear wheel with 7-speed Shimano coaster-brake hub. All parts like NEW and totaled less than $50 with $15 shipping. I then found the NOS headlight can and lens separately for less than $5 each and mated them with the 6v LED bulb and reflector. Bought a NOS front wheel (the original off the repop with drum brake brought $150!) Too much for me. Found a used front-brake setup free, and had the gooseneck and vintage bars left over from my grade-school days... The seat is a new leather repop, pedal crank, pedals and chainwheel were NOS prewar off eBay as well as was the rear-rack. I had the 6v generator/taillight left from my youth, and the delightfully weird speedo came from a failing bike shop. Tires off eBay and a new Chinese chain finished it. Lots of hours in the living room assembling and the yard painting... LOL!I don't think I have more than $125 total investment, but it's a real hoot to ride! Sometimes it doesn't need a motor to be fun!Ride safe! Leo
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Post by bagga on Nov 20, 2017 8:51:47 GMT -5
there's a bicycle group here that does some real wild stuff with bicycles. they even talked the local tech college into having a bicycle class at the TC car show. there's bike swap meets too. i even go to them, never thought i would do anything like that a couple of years ago.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Nov 20, 2017 23:11:29 GMT -5
there's a bicycle group here that does some real wild stuff with bicycles. they even talked the local tech college into having a bicycle class at the TC car show. there's bike swap meets too. i even go to them, never thought i would do anything like that a couple of years ago. Bicycles can be a great pastime... And, easier to build than motorcycles and scooters, AND a LOT cheaper!
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Post by bagga on Nov 26, 2017 11:59:58 GMT -5
we had upper 30's for temps on saturday. i got the old hog to fire with the help of an hour or so on the battery charger and went for a 60 mile ride out to a HD dealer in the area. without my heated grips or vest i couldn't have done it. the dealer had his annual "turkey blow up" he puts 250 plastic golf whiffle balls inside the paper turkey and blows it up with a charge of dynamite. the balls are different colors. when it blows up there's a mad dash by the crowd to collect the balls which are turned in for various prizes. saw a couple of friends there then met them at a bar i use to hang out at and had a can of coke.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Nov 27, 2017 1:28:13 GMT -5
we had upper 30's for temps on saturday. i got the old hog to fire with the help of an hour or so on the battery charger and went for a 60 mile ride out to a HD dealer in the area. without my heated grips or vest i couldn't have done it. the dealer had his annual "turkey blow up" he puts 250 plastic golf whiffle balls inside the paper turkey and blows it up with a charge of dynamite. the balls are different colors. when it blows up there's a mad dash by the crowd to collect the balls which are turned in for various prizes. saw a couple of friends there then met them at a bar i use to hang out at and had a can of coke. THAT, my friend is a GOOD DAY in anybody's book!What a cool promotion! Dynamite DOES have a tendency to turn one's balls different colors... LOL! You reminded me of my teen days on "Old Blue"... Today, it's hard for me to even comprehend kick-starting that monster filled with HD molasses-oil in zero-degree weather, let alone actually RIDING it for transportation... When I had a perfectly good 1950 Chevy in the garage... LOL! One aspect of my current scoot that I really love is a GIVI windshield (added by the former owner) which actually WORKS... Even keeps the wind off my knuckles! It's light-years ahead of my old 74 with its WWII style windshield... Hunkered down behind all that Lucite is like being in a comfortable bubble of dead air! I can ride down to about 45 degrees in relative comfort, but at my age, no more below freezing jaunts... Ride safe, stay warm! Leo
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Post by bagga on Nov 27, 2017 7:51:21 GMT -5
from 2010 but it's the same as this year.
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Post by oldchopperguy on Nov 27, 2017 23:55:05 GMT -5
Woo-HOO! What a totally cool promotion! Thanksgiving, Harley Davidson and dynamite... An unbeatable combination for sure!
Thanks for posting!
Leo still eating turkey in Texas!
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Post by bagga on Nov 28, 2017 19:54:12 GMT -5
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