CDoherty95 Posted March 19, 2012 Report Share Posted March 19, 2012 Hey y'all I've recently started watching Fall Guy, and developed an extreme love for the truck. For anyone who's unfamiliar with the show, here's a picture of the Goliath of a truckLook at it!! Its what all pickups should be like. Massive wheels and tires, roll bar, push bar and winch. Seen as I'm probably never going to be able to build one, I've done the next best thing and decided to build a bike version!!"oh no here we go again", I hear you say.I began searching for a decent donor on Wednesday, and by Friday had found one. I got it delivered earlier today. Heres a picture of it before I touched it.It's a top of the range off roading bike, costing several hundred dollars new. I managed to get a little bit off the price because of a few small faults. As it is it's a pretty good bike (much better than what I usually start off with) but it only has 7 inches of ground clearance at the pedals. So I've decided to raise the whole frame up about 7 inches. I used mahogany for the ski bike, so I might make a couple of risers out of mahogany and see how they work. Or I might get a small kids bike with the same sort of frame and swap out the front forks and rear dropouts of this bike with the kids bike.I'll post more pics as I go along, but don't expect the posts to be frequent, because I've got a lot of projects going on at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MaryAnne Posted March 20, 2012 Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 Oh man, I love the 80's GMCs/Chevys. You're right, THAT's a truck. Khee! (I loved The Fall Guy back in the day too, probably why I love those trucks of that era).Can't wait to see the bike inspired by this. Here we go again? Yeah!By the way, your "before" photo of the bike isn't showing... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 By the way, your "before" photo of the bike isn't showing...Hrm that's weird...is there anyway I could edit that post and put the picture back in? Or is it too late to do that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted March 20, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2012 I've done something I've never done before for one of these projects and drawn up a plan.I've decided to try and use mahogany for the lifters. I used it in my ski bike and it seems strong. The red circles are where the old wheels would have been,the orange squares are the wooden blocks are the new wheel positions.I'm planning to have 7 inch lift in the front and 8 inch lift in the back. The only problem I face now is that the wheels are to low for the brakes,so I've got to figure out a way of lowering the brakes.And finally I'm going to repaint and mount the bull bar from my General onto this bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 I got the wood blocks cut up today in my woodwork class. Its mahogany, which is a hardwood so it's really strong and tough.Here's a picture of the blocks. The two on the left are for the front wheel, they're about 6 inches long. The ones on the right are for the back wheel and they're about 7.5 inches long.I used two axles from these wheels to mount the blocks to the original frame.I found an eye bolt in my garage,so I used that on the fourth block. This is in case I need to tow someone or somethingI used the angle grinder to cut off the excess axle, and then grinded back the bolt and axle so the bolt can't come undone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Here are a couple of pictures of the blocks and how everything fits together.The bottom of the forks sit conveniently on the top of the blocks. It's almost like the company planned for such an eventuality I've taken advantage of the holes intended to hold a mudguard, and used them to put screws into. In doing this I've elimated the possibility of the blocks moving forwards or backwards.I drilled a second set of holes lower down in the wood to hold the axles. As you can see theres a little gap, I'll probably add washers to it to stop the wheel moving from side to side Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted March 21, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2012 Here's a picture of the bike before I did any work to it. Note the distance from the pedals to the ground...And here's one taken after the blocks had been added. Look at the difference they make!I've yet to reconfigure the rear gears,but I'll probably screw them into the wood.Just to help give you an idea of how much I've raised the bike,look where the front brakes are in relation to the front wheel... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CARLOS-ARGENTINO Posted March 22, 2012 Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 Hello friend, you did a great job but .................. remember that wood is fragile, if you use your bike for "use protection throughout your body and especially in your head."Congratulations, Greetings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted March 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2012 remember that wood is fragile.I know that Carlos but I've used mahogany which is a hard wood. Sailing boats are made out of hardwoods,and so are floors, tables and benches. Hardwoods are very tough and durable so I should be ok.Thanks for your concern though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Coltrane Posted March 24, 2012 Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 This is gonna be one heck of a bike! Can't wait to see if you get an A-Team or a KITT version going. There's no stopping ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted March 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 24, 2012 Can't wait to see if you get an A-Team or a KITT version going. There's no stopping ya!I considered building a KITT bike when I first got the front part of the tandem bike, but decided against it because the bike didn't seem to have any likeness to the trans am. I'm still on the lookout for a KITT or A-Team bike though, so don't give up hope yet... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted March 26, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2012 Today I tackled the brakes. At first I was uncertain about how to do this. It had to be strong and also had to be light. In the end I settled once more on mahogany blocks. I only need two this time,one for the front and one for the back. Unfortunately the original brakes that were on the bike wouldn't work because they had a different mounting system. Luckily though,the donor bike for my recumbent had the style of brakes I was looking for.Here's a picture of the blocks Here's one with the brakes mounted. These brakes are mounted to a long bolt which screws through a hole in the frame.This is where the original brakes were. I'm going to mount the blocks using these two mounts. And here's what the whole thing looked like fully assembled. It took about 20 minutes to strip the old brakes, drill the holes, fit the brakes, mount the blocks and wire the brakes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 I cut up some longer blocks for the back today. The old ones were 8 inches. The new ones are 12 inches...Unfortunately they still move about when I'm pedaling,so I'll probably cut a grove into them that will hold them more securely to the frame.As a result of these new blocks the bike now has 14 inches of ground clearance. My next biggest bike only has about nine. Needless to say this will be a beast when it's done...A side shot of the two bikes. Look where the pedals are on the bike on the left in relation to the bike on the right... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted March 28, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2012 I still haven't mounted the pushbar,there's a spacing issue that I've got to try and work out. In the meantime I've tied a rope onto the front suspension forks,using the hole that was originally intended to be for a light as an anchor point.Yes I'm aware that the rope is possibly the most unmanly color there is,but it was the only rope I had in the garage.When I lowered the back wheel I encountered a problem with the chain. Because the wheel was lowered,the chain has to stretch down,and unfortunately it rubs off the frame as it moves. To solve this I've taken a cog from a rear gear set and mounted it to frame. This prevents the chain from rubbing off the frame and also gives the chain a little tension. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted April 11, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 11, 2012 I fitted the pushbar from my General Lee today. I'm not going to bother painting it until I have the mechanics finished. For some reason the rear blocks keep moving forward when I pedal, and as a result the wheel rubs off the frame. I tried to get a local mechanic to weld the back of another bike onto this bike, but he didn't think it would be strong enough and didn't want to get in trouble if i was cycling and crashed and got injured. Anyway for now here's a few pics of the pushbar mounted on the front of the bike. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted April 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 I spoke with my dads friend today. He suggested that I cut the back off another bike and bolt it to the main bike. Luckily enough the 2nd unit Rosco bike was mostly damaged at the front, and the rear end remained practically unscathed. I cut the entire back section out earlier.The only problems that the rear end had was some flaked paint, but that doesn't matter because I'm going to eventually strip the paint off and repaint it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted April 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 This is when I first assembled it. You can see how bad the paint had gotten. Even as I was working on it, the paint was coming off in my hand.As with the original wooden blocks I'm taking advantage of the mounts intended for the wheel.I originally set out to cut off the excess and grind down the sharp edge,but I ended up sanding off most of the paint as well.I got a few funny looks as I went up and down my street. The only problems I have with this bike is that it takes a lot more power to start off and maintain any sort of speed. I told my dad this and he described it as fitting massive wheels to a car. Because of the extra weight starting off in first now seems like starting off in 2nd or 3rd...it made sense when he first explained it to me anyway haha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted April 13, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 13, 2012 The new rear end gives the bike about the same amount of lift as the old blocks did. Just to give you an idea of the height of the bike, I'm 6 foot tall and the saddle is level with my ribs...And for a visual comparison, check out the General's handlebars in relation to the Fall Guy's handlebars...Another thing I fitted was a rear rack I had lying around. Usually they can't be fitted to bikes of this kind because the rear suspension allows the rear wheel to move up and down, and mounting the rear rack would prohibit this from happening. However because of the new rear lifters, I can mount the rear rack and not worry about suspension issues.This picture gives you an idea of how the lifters were fitted,how they look,how the rear rack fits and how much ground clearance I have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted June 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 I spent all of today working on this bike. I went into town this morning and bought gold and chocolate brown spray paint. Both are gloss, but I'm still going to give the bike a final clear gloss coat.Here are some pictures of the bike stripped down to bare metal. I filled in a few holes that I drilled but didn't use, I also removed the rear lifters to be painted separately from the main frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted June 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted June 19, 2012 And a couple more...Unfortunately the pictures don't do the paint job justice. The gold has a reflective shine off it, and the brown/gold contrast is really really something.I've only got to do a few small touch ups, a clear gloss coat, and then rebuild it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDoherty95 Posted July 5, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2012 I finally finished painting and reassembly today. Now it's ready to go on bounty hunter missions and jump broken bridges!!I've had to put the original rear rack I bought for this bike on the back of my motorbike, because it's the strongest one I have and can easily support the weight of the engine. Aside from that however, I haven't changed anything on this bike since I've built it.Now to decide on my next project... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skipper Duke Posted September 1, 2022 Report Share Posted September 1, 2022 On 7/4/2012 at 9:42 PM, CDoherty95 said: I finally finished painting and reassembly today. Now it's ready to go on bounty hunter missions and jump broken bridges!! http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g368/GeneralLeeBike/b61970b0.jpg http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g368/GeneralLeeBike/9ad9718e.jpg http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g368/GeneralLeeBike/7ffe2faf.jpg http://i1098.photobucket.com/albums/g368/GeneralLeeBike/418b55d2.jpg I've had to put the original rear rack I bought for this bike on the back of my motorbike, because it's the strongest one I have and can easily support the weight of the engine. Aside from that however, I haven't changed anything on this bike since I've built it. Now to decide on my next project... Christine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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