Text and Photo Copyright 1998 by Fred L. Hajny |
Fred Hajny's JUICE, McFall Cruiser, and Der Fliegende Ostereichen (Flying Austrian) |
cog crank gives 6 speeds. A fixed position derallieur provides chain take up. It's not very radical but I have taken great pains to refurbish all original components to new condition and replacement items are all new. Graphics were created using.002" thick vinyl adhesive backed letters and ordinary automotive striping tape. It's a fairly simple and inexpensive alternative to decals. |
Text and Photo Copyright 1998 by Fred L. Hajny |
McFall Cruiser The McFall Cruiser started out as a very solid single-speed Premier bike that I bought at the Salvation Army store. Al McFall has lusted after my 3-speed (recently upgraded to 7-speed) cruiser for a couple of years. As payment for storing one of my cars in winter time, I promised to someday build him a 3-speed cruiser. |
Juice The color is neon orange with darker shading around the head tube and rear dropouts. In addition, I blew on a little metalflake that reflects the light spectrum in sunlight. It makes normal orange look like mud. its name is "JUICE". You see, I have a winter home in an orange grove in FL. I started with a much better than average Murray lite10-speed with all alloy components, braze-ons, slotted cable stops, etc. I have replaced the freewheel with a spanking-new Sturmey-Archer AW 3-speed hub. This along with the two |
The bike was completely stripped of paint and rust on all components. The frame was primed and painted with a silver base coat and then painted with a clear candy apple red paint. Finally, it was clear-coated after all the graphics were attached. The finish fairly sparkles in the sunlight. I used the wheels that I had built for my cruiser since I wanted to upgrade to the 7-speed hub, alloy rims, stainless steel spokes, and alloy front hub. I had to add gussets to the fork crown and seat stay bridge in order to mount the caliper-brake assemblies. A new stem, bars, shifter, grips, lever-type seat-clamp bolt, pedals and chain were fitted also. The seat is an old Messenger saddle that will be replaced by a gel seat. Since the picture was taken, I replaced the large sprocket with a smaller one to reduce the final drive-train ratio. The result is that first gear is somewhat lower than the original single-speed while third gear is substantially higher; just what you want in a cruiser. The change also allowed me to reposition the chainguard, which improved the appearance somewhat. The bike delivers a very smooth and stable ride albeit a little slow in steering due to the angle of the head tube and forks. It is so attractive I was reluctant to give it away; but promises must be kept. |
Der Fliegende Ostereichen I was given the bike in 1997 by a neighbor. It had been his son's last bike and did news- paper delivery duty for some time. It is of Austrian make and sold by Sears. The bike has a lugged frame and had a cottered crank. The 3-speed says Sears on it but looks similar to a Sturmey-Archer. The shift mechanism is identical to S-A. It was in sad shape when I got it. It had no seat or handlebars and was very scruffy in the paint dept. I could see though, that it was basically sound and, most importantly, the 3-speed worked fine. The 26-inch wheels were also in good condition. |
Since the bike is Austrian, I decided to paint it in the colors of the Austrian flag, which is red with a broad horizontal band of white. In the center is the Germanic imperial eagle. I found a picture in a Porsche catalog of a medallion containing the likeness of the eagle. I scanned it and changed the shape to oval to better fit the seat tube. The mods I made are: Changed the crankset to a 2-cog cotterless crank unit. Used a rear deraillieur in fixed position as a chain takeup. Installed a 28-tooth cog on the 3-speed. Added a set of drop bars in the reverted position. Added small chrome fenders. Installed a parcel rack. Installed a Greenfield alloy side stand. In addition I added new: seat, grips, cables, pedals, tires and tubes, quick seat-post clamp, handlebar-mounted light/radio/horn unit, and electronic flashing tail light. The bike is a delight to ride and being geared low with 6 speeds, climbs hills well. The handlebars are very comfortable for street riding but are looked upon unfavorably by road snobs. I have several bikes that originally had drop bars, which I have changed to normal street bars and bar-mounted shifters. |
