Bob Stormer: Stretched Chopper & Cruiser

The Chopper

This is the first custom bike I built. Used a 20" BMX frame as a donor. The frame was stretched three feet, the forks were also stretched 3 feet. The bike is just about 9 feet long (heheh). Rear tire is a single speed 20", the front is a 16". Found some old springy seat that looks cool, rides comfy too. Originally, I just cut the stock BMX fork in half and welded in the 3 foot extensions. We tested it out, and in the course of about 30 seconds, the front fork collapsed. The stock fork part on top was to weak so I added the hoop you see at the top of the fork. It's worked perfect ever since. I put some chrome fenders on it and some new tires and it looks pretty slick. Riding impressions: Twitchy... Lot's of fun though, a real head-turner. You sit real straight up on it, almost looks like you're riding a unicycle.

The Cruiser:

This is the second bike I built and I find I'm scratch building more of the bike (I think when I'm done with this one I'm gonna start building the entire frame from scratch, be a lot easier to get a particular look when you can design every last piece). I really wanted a neat triple-clamp looking setup with big tubes for the forks, so I built the one you see out of 1.5" tubing. Turned out very good, it really gives it the 'look' I was hoping for. Has a 20" rear tire and 27" front. The rear subframe is some huffy BMX bike. the crank and bottom bracket are from a 10 speed, and the fork and handle bars, I built myself and uses the 1" Huffy steerer tube. I moved the pedals forward 16" and that turned out to be about right. I didn't want the empty bottom bracket hanging there in the old spot, So I cut it out. I think it made the bike look cleaner. The frame isn't done, but I've been riding it, so parts of it might look rough. Updated the handle 

bars. (11-04-01) I didn't like the original bars, so I made my own that flowed with the lines of the bike more. I wanted the handlebars to follow the lines of the fork, then turn back and follow the lines of the frame. I think it turned out perfecto. Very comfortable to ride. You can compare the two versions of the handle bars and see the improvement. The new handlebars took about 6 hours to fab' up. These new bars weren't bent. I cut up 2 sets of banana bars into 5 pieces, welded them back together in the configuration you see. Spent about 2 hours grinding, filing, and then polishing to get them to look good again. I'll have them re-chromed when I'm done with it. Really helps the flow of the bike. Riding impressions: Because of the configuration of the pedals and the new longer handlebars, you cannot stand up on the bike, so all bumps are absorbed by your spine!!! I'm gonna put a springy seat on it, or one of those shock absorbing seat posts. Other than that, it drives really nice, really straight and smoothly. Very pleasurable. What's next for the cruiser? I'm working on ideas to box in parts of the frame to give it a real 50's look. And I'm trying to figure out how to put fins on the back like off an old 50's car. (without adding tons of weight to the bike). Eventually, I am going to put a derailer on the thing and make it a 2 speed, just shift the gears on the crank. It pedals just right on flat ground, get into a hill, and it's a workout. I don't want to sweat when I'm trying to look cool... Bob Stormer