Choppers, bars, stems, racks...oh my!

Hey folks,

Sorry that I've not posted much the last two days, but I've been putting in long days actually working in the shop, and quite honestly, since I'm on vacation from the fd this week, have enjoyed going to bed and sleeping for a change :)

One nice thing about the change in the weather is that I can keep the overhead door open to the shop. Lots of interesting folks stop by when the door is open; old friends, established customers, curious onlookers, and a of course, the local kids.

Monday brought one local kid from the hood into the shop...his bike had a 2" hole in the top tube where his "gas tank" had been ripped asunder and he was looking for some help fixing the damage. Despite being slammed and behind, how can you say no to good karma? Check out the hole in the top tube, located just beneath his arm...

I cut a section of 4130, split it in half, shaped it around a mandrel, then welded it in place. We also bent his forks back into alignment so that he could put the original 20" tire back on, as they were badly raked forward. Another save ;) ... I just hope he doesn't get a ticket for riding his chopper without a helmet.

Staying true to the effort to shed some pounds, my typical shop lunch...lots of veggies and some 0 cal water. I'm down 25 pounds now and rode 20 of the 24.5 miles at Moho forest this weekend. I wanted to finish the trail and reach my goal, but when I pulled up the the next section of trail where Kalten was waiting and he asked "Dad, are you OK? You look kinda pale", I figured it was a good time to bail onto the road to finish up. That darn kid did the same trail on a single speed, taking the climbs like they were goose bumps and not the hour long efforts I experienced. Oh to be young again!

I jammed out bars, the outstanding April stuff that I'm behind on (so sorry guys) and May/June work. Looking at a total of 75 bars the last two days. Getting ready to begin welding...

Once I sit down, I want to keep in the groove so I have lots of Tungsten sharp and available, although some of them are getting pretty darn worn to a nub...

The box for steelies is filling up for powder coating...

Those who have been so patient; Neil, Jeff, Alan, Jim...Christi will be shipping your Ti bars out on Friday. Thanks for understanding guys.

I also got moving on Basti's stem. After a few design changes, we settled on a 1.125" steerer stem with 90mm reach at 90 degrees, with a single bolt wide 31.8 handlebar clamp. Here are the critical pieces all cut down, faced and deburred on the lathe.

Let's get started by fitting the stem body to the steerer section and holding it tight in the vice to tack...nice and tight fit.

Tacking it in six aspects around the piece...

Once tacked, I check the alignment once more, then sequentially weld it together...

After welding, I set the stem up in a fixture on the mill and miter the handlebar clamp section in. Here it is all deburred and ready to fit...

Let's tack on the handlebar section, then check alignment. Here I'm using a 3 foot section of tubing as a mock handlebar to insure that everything is straight and true. The level tells no lies...

Satisfied that everything is as straight as possible, the piece is welded up and then the binders are placed for brazing...

I've used 45% silver and white flux to secure the binders, fresh out of the torch...see how nice the silver flows around the binders? You want an even, smooth bead around the piece for the greatest strength and visual flow.

Basti's stem then got soaked, binders cut, and then ran through the blast cabinet. This stem will be getting a nice glossy black powder coat and a single Groovy crown decal, simple and classy.

I also worked on a stem for Eric while I was in the mindset, got it into primer before moving on to other work...

I then turned my focus towards finishing Mike's custom light touring rack. Mike wanted something a bit more classy and minimalist than the standard racks that are available, I hope I hit the mark with this one. Fingers crossed.

Tonight, I quit early at 6 o'clock to try and grab a ride, unfortunately, Ohio weather spoiled the attempt. It began raining as I was loading up the bike, then began POURING when I started to lock up. Bike back off the car...looks like I'll be building wheels tonight inside instead.

Ibra...your request is looking good. I'll know something more definitive tomorrow.

See y'all tomorrow with more fun posting,

rody