Michael Watson-MTB-Based Chopper With Steerable WheelieBar |
My mind must have been a little warped when I got the brain egg for this one. A 24-inch-wheel chopper based on a CCM Ice 18-speed mountain bike. I found it in the garbage complete except for the front wheel and the front triangle cut in two, with sections of the the top and down tubes missing. |
I extended the front forks 5 feet and the front triangle was extended and raked using a bent piece of 2 1/4-inch tube sleeved over the 2 inch down tube and the top tube stubs were internally sleeved with 1 1/8 inch 65 thou' wall tube. I used a steerable wheelie bar wheel idea, that uses a laid back seat post extending back and bent toward the ground with an adjustable height head tube and fork arrangement with a 12-inch wheel. |
Four 6 mm coupling nuts were welded, two to the frame at the front and two to the sissybar, each with an adjusting barrel crewed in. There's crossed over cables from the forks that steer the wheelie wheel. The cables are anchored using steel center pull brake arms. I built a 6 foot long sissy bar using 1/2 inch solid rod connected much the the same way as on '71 red CCM. The bike has a 96 inch wheelbase, 6 foot long forks, weighs 70+ pounds. My brother was subliminal art director in painting as he gave me a can of gold and a can of "chrome" for Christmas. The tires are easy rolling, lively Shin Cheug 2.125 X 24 snake bellies, an early '80 BMX tire. All welding and bending done by Mark Jones of Alcon Welding and CNC Machining. No project is too bizarre for Mark, although I sensed he was close to his emotion limits on this one; as I had to bitch-slap him once when he broke down into hysterics, "Thanks I needed that!" Just joking Mark!! |
