Art & Inspiration O/T "SUHR Bicycles" prewar build

I'm jealous. LOL
Seriously though, along the lines of what Jeem said, do your legs or knees hurt with the seat that close to the pedals? Do your legs get extended enough at the bottom of the pedal stroke?

 

Very nice but it doesn't walk

 

Very cool! I'd like to see a tech on the tree tubing bender.

 

You should check out <www.motoredbikes.com> Right up you alley.

 

What happened to my post? Go to motored bikes .com

 

Neat idea.

Maybe an optical delusion, but in the 1st photo it looks like maybe the fork is bent back like from running into something in 1950?

 

thanks guys
it doesnt walk.....but that looks like a project for the future!

the forks were bent on both bikes
i straightened the one i used a bit...its not bad now

heres a little video...proof you can ride it...(maybe not this fast? )

 

sweet bikes.

 

Nice video, but I think you need period correct clothing and helmet to complete the visual.

 

Very cool, ever want to sell that jig let me know!


Lots of folks do not realize the crossover between hotrod,motorcycle and bicycle folks. I could "out" a dozen or more of us that play with or have played with motorized and non.

Your work is always stellar Zach. I hope we cross paths some time to BS about bending metal!

 

Does Coker make ALL WHITE tires that would fit your rims? That would really make it look like 1915 or older. There are new bikes in the sporting goods store were my wife works that sell for money than a Brookville body!

 

Wow thats really bitchin.

Looking at the sketches though,
you gotta know or start learning about shelby bicycles.
If you don't here's a quick primer thats probably half right!

Shelby made and still makes tubing for bike builders.
so back in the day they needed to show off there stuff and had a line of their own.
(western flyer put their tags on them too, as well as some others)

Anyway (to me) the coolest shelby frame designs are between 1935 & 1941.
They had this crazy seat post design.
I got into prewar bikes hard (before having kids),
and had to sell alot of the schwinns and monarchs etc to fund hotrodding,
but always tried to keep the shelby's.
Search for their tank bikes, the Hiawatha and the airflow, their insane, a little too insane though.
They made a smaller battery tank though thats kinda more hot rod than custom.

This particular one is a shelby flyer, probably '40 or 41 original paint, postwar sprocket and wheelset though.
I'll try to take some other bike pics soon for ya.

TP

Oh yeah,
once you get into them, its cool to see the use of bicycles as a stepping stone to other forms of transportation, cars, cycles, trains and planes.
Especially towards the future customers of these, kids.

Shelby had some of the most advanced paint schemes around.
They used the same paints and colors used on high-end cars of that era.
Lots of really fine metallics and off-color combos were used .
We used to, and still do, wonder who pinstriped these things on the assembly line!

 

Not sure if it what he is using, but these are pretty nice. I've seen them and played with them a bit.

http://www.henryjames.com/ujig.html

 

thanks guys
first of all....period clothing...well.... i dont have anything
but i just made this quick to show the bike is ride-able....

maybe ill do something else eventually??

t-man, i doubt i'll sell this jig, its long paid for but im sure you could build one pretty easily
I'll look forward to our meeting and the BS session to follow!

37...white tires were an option but i figured they'd turn green riding in the grass?

i have seen some shelby bikes....that seat tube design is pretty cool, might have to copy that!
ive been researching alot of old bikes to get ideas along with board track and teens-20's motorcycles

the henry james jig is nice, i believe that is what mine was copied from but a home made version
mines a bit too bulky but it does a good job of getting things where you want them

thanks
Zach

 

not sure about coker, but FELT makes BROWN quick brick tires (as well as creme and black...)
http://www.feltracing.com/products/product.asp?catid=1436,1437&pid=8558
Theyre just kinda tough to find...

Zach, come visit ratrodbikes.com, (dont mind the name...) And show off your bike, they would LOVE your bike over there.

 

I think the hard part in recreating it is finding the tapered tube from the seat post to the axle.
TP

 

cool bikes.

thanks.

 

Dude...that bike rules! I built a very similar one for a co-worker about a year ago. My neighbor was moving and gave me an old Hawthorne because he figured I would do something with it. I used old, pre-war Harley colors, bobbed the rear fender, and de-raked it by building a custom front fork from a repro Schwinn fork. I got these crazy wide beach cruiser bars and cut-down/flipped them.

You are a very talented person, some of the best style on the HAMB!

Adam

 

Great bikes!
Love that style.
I'll have to dig out my 1937 CCM and take some pics.

Norton

 

Great video, rides just like mine!

 

Zach, did you just use mild steel tubing, or did you use a reynolds/nova/etc tubeset? I've just been getting going with my TIG, hoping to get good enough to weld up my first bicycle frame this winter. Do you back purge the tubes, or just leave them open?

Thanks!

Ben

 

Here's my bobber bike, built from an old Western Flyer middleweight my wife dragged home from Florida. I put a 50cc Chinese bike motor on it, and now can't find any photos of that, of course. It's WAY fun, and well worth the 200 bucks I paid for the motor kit. Goes fast enough to make my eyes water, , and attracts more attention than a whore in church.

 

thanks everyone

adam, thats a cool bike, are those the cheng shin tires? if so...did they hold up alright?

bcarlson,
i just used mild steel tubing, no back purge....didnt think it was that crtical for a cruiser bike
i used mostly .063 thickness so its a bit overbuilt anyways

brian, i ordered an 80cc engine, which i guess is more like 65cc?
anyway, i'm glad to hear of everyone who likes the small engines...
guess we'll see how this bike handles at 40mph!

 

I'm doing a '45 Simplex with a 6.5 h.p. engine. Hey gas is expensive.

 

fucking sick Adam that bike rules too

 

Holy shit, that's sweet!

You never should have posted it that--I have a '49 JC Higgins that I lost direction on. Now, I'll probably be PMing you for ideas.

Great work!

 

That's funny. Awesome stuff, Zach!

 

Very cool,..but then you already know that! HA!

Great thread Zach!

 

WOW!!!! That bike is SWEEEETT!!! I want one!!!

 

awesome bikes, here is a pic of my putrid custom., its 8 feet long and has a 3spd sturmey archer drum brake rear hub . the rear brake handle is a old 3spd shifter.






here is another one i built to look like a old 50's bobber.