My latest creation

[Sad, little man]

The "Longoose." It's a work in progress. All of the bare steel is just plastidiped for now to keep it from rusting. I think I have most of the bugs worked out of it now. Next step is to hook up the rear brake. Currently only has the front. I also found some fat tires with a road tire tread, so I should have those on soon. Someday maybe make the rear derailleur functional again. Right now it's just adjusted to stay in one gear by itself.

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3246&d=1557114748

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3247&d=1557114766

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3248&d=1557114780

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[Rare White Ape]

That looks fucking neat.

[Crazed_Insanity]

Looks interesting... can you take a pic with a rider on it so that we can have a better perspective?

[George]

Wow! :up:

Would love to see and hear more about this.

[Cam]

Wow.

[speedpimp]

Very nice. Needs a set of ape hanger handle bars.

[SkylineObsession]

You should be getting paid for every photo you take, all your pics are bloody awesome.

And that bike is... different!

[Phil_SS]

Is it comfortable to ride? Would be cool to see a video of you riding it.

[George]

...and taking it off some sweet jumps!

[sandydandy]

Looks good!

[Yw-slayer]

...and taking it off some sweet jumps!

Or rollin' down the street, smokin' Indo, sippin' on gin and juice.

Cool bike, man!!

[Sad, little man]

It's really not uncomfortable to ride. I probably rode it about 10 miles on Sunday. However the handlebars are still a little too far forward. I'm going to buy a handlebar with some more rise in order to bring it further back and make it a little more comfortable. However I don't want ape hangers, at least not with them pointing up in the air. That's not the look I'm going for. Ape hangers have always looked kind of silly and impractical to me.

Initially I wanted to just get the seat as low as possible, but stretching it out so much to make room for my legs to reach the pedals kind of gave it a Bonneville salt flats look, and I like that. But it's never been intended to be any sort of "chopper," so no ape hangers.

I don't have a video of me riding it, but I think somebody took some photos, and I will post those once I get home from work.

[Sad, little man]

And here's how you ride it. Like I said, could use some longer handlebars, but otherwise it cruises.

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3251&d=1557266997

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[Crazed_Insanity]

Actually the seating position doesn’t look as bad as i originally thought! :p

If you don’t like the chopper look, then maybe make it more like a race bike?

Have the rider be on his belly? Feet pedaling at the back with a much shorter chain or maybe no chain at all? ;)

Anyway, we need to change your username to clm, creative little man!!! :D :up:

[21Kid]

That's.... uh... interesting.

[Yw-slayer]

Definitely needs longer handlebars to enable relaxed cruising.

[Tom Servo]

That's goddamn awesome.

[George]

Like I said, could use some longer handlebars...

I'm sure this isn't the size and style you want (unless you get a really long stem), but I just learned about Detroit Handlebars.

https://domotion2011.wordpress.com/category/detroit-handlebar/

and

https://domotion2011.wordpress.com/rev-2-modification-dyi/

One example of several from those pages:

https://domotion2011.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/mar0112-001.jpg?w=500&h=373[B]

[Sad, little man]

I've done a lot of work to the bike since those photos were posted. I didn't really plan all this from the beginning, but as I ride it more, and ride it on the street, I needed some additional things on it. So, I've added:

Road tires
Larger 203mm brake rotors
Longer more swept back handlebars with bar end mirrors
Chrome fenders from a 1970s Honda CB350 in order to block the water and mud that was getting kicked up on me
Functional 7" round headlight and tail light
Functional turn signals off of a moped
Dual FIAMM freeway blaster horns
Military surplus 50cal ammo can panniers
Mounted an authentic Michigan motorcycle plate to the back that I still had from my old Triumph. And through a legal loophole I'm pretty sure it's 100% legal to have on the back of this. ;)

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3318&d=1561295576

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3319&d=1561295620

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3320&d=1561295656

http://gtxforums.net/attachment.php?attachmentid=3321&d=1561295672

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[Crazed_Insanity]

You’ve been busy... that thing looks...AWESOME!!! :up:

[2ndMoparMan]

That's still pretty damn cool.

[speedpimp]

Looks nice. How does it ride?

[Tom Servo]

That is still goddamn awesome.

[M4FFU]

That's brilliant.

Does it wheelie? :D

[Crazed_Insanity]

Out of curiosity, if you don’t mind me asking, how much money and how many hours did you spend on it? Or you didn’t really keep track because you were too busy having too much fun working on it? ;)

[Sad, little man]

I've put about 20 miles on the bike in its current form. It's a pretty good ride. It does weigh a lot at this point. I have not actually checked, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was cresting 80lbs at this point. So, riding it is definitely a game of momentum. If you work enough to get it moving, you stay moving. Uphills are a challenge. But on downhills, watch out, you're moving.

I will say that all the weight tends to make it glide pretty well over smooth roads. It's whisper quiet and just cruises. I do enjoy the clattering the ammo can handles make over rough roads though.

I didn't keep track of how much time I've worked on it. I wouldn't be surprised if it was 80 or 100 hours at this point though. I don't have the best kinds of tools for working with metal, so that slows me down a lot. All the metal cutting I just did with a pneumatic 3" cutoff wheel. I think I have around $1000 into it. I forget if that includes the initial $200 cost of the bike, but I think it does. I could have done it a little cheaper. I've ordered and tried a few different seats and a few different sets of tires before settling on the ones I'm using now. I also found the same headlight I put on the front for a little cheaper after I ordered it. It was $50. I think I found it for $30 or $40. I also didn't NEED to upgrade to larger brake rotors, but they look cool. But I could have saved $45 there. So I probably could have shaved $200 off the cost if I was really pinching pennies.

[Crazed_Insanity]

You probably did quite a bit of welding too? Anyway, thinking of possibly turning this thing into an e-bike?

Someday when I have the time and the money, I want to do what you did!!! :)

Yeah, I’d like to build me an electric trike!

[Sad, little man]

Just weighed it, 97lbs. Not the lightest bicycle in the world. :lol: