Bikes on BikeRodnKustom

[frameteam2003]

Take a look at the bike rod&custom site and tell me honestly; do the custom jobs look right with a rider on them? Do they look comfortable? Efficient? Do they even look perfect from every angle?

Most kustom jobs do lack in detailing.My good friend Jim Wilson who is editor of rodbikeNkustom gets on his soapbox about this quite often.But not all the kustoms lack in this area.John Youngs bikes do ride and handle very good.And my Ghost bentley is a pleasure to ride and stops on a dime with aloy rims and V brakes.Takes a lot of work to do kustomizing right.Remember it easy to just change parts---design and build is a new ball game.The kustom cruzer in a post below is a good example of a bike done right----sam
PS take courage to do a new kustom so heres to all who give it a try---some fail---but they are the ones that did have the courage to try.

[Dr.Deltron]

If only BikeRodnKustom was around when I built this Schwinn!
(Back in '75!) My high school metal shop project.
I received an outstanding achievment award at school and it took 1st place at the local car show 3 years running!
My main reqirement was that it be RIDEABLE! (as apposed to lowriders where the cranks hit the ground):rolleyes:

[Sledbikes]

If only BikeRodnKustom was around when I built this Schwinn!
(Back in '75!) My high school metal shop project.
I received an outstanding achievment award at school and it took 1st place at the local car show 3 years running!
My main reqirement was that it be RIDEABLE! (as apposed to lowriders where the cranks hit the ground):rolleyes:

theyre supposed to hit the ground jackass

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IU892MCJ9Qs

[Dr.Deltron]

theyre supposed to hit the ground jackass
Gess dat's why i left HIGH skool aftr 10th graid.
toond in, tirnd on & droppd owt.
no ideuh how 2 bild a bik.
jes thinck whar id b ifn mi peduls hit da grownd!

[Sledbikes]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvJuqIjpzv8

[Dr.Deltron]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvJuqIjpzv8

:beer:

That vid reminds me of the gizmos that I had for my rollersk8s. They were these little wire frames that held flint sticks. When you lifted your toe, the flints would drag and make HUGE spark trails!

Thanks for the flashback! :D

[FlatTop]

Take a look at the bike rod&custom site and tell me honestly; do the custom jobs look right with a rider on them? Do they look comfortable? Efficient? Do they even look perfect from every angle?

Most kustom jobs do lack in detailing.My good friend Jim Wilson who is editor of rodbikeNkustom gets on his soapbox about this quite often.But not all the kustoms lack in this area.John Youngs bikes do ride and handle very good.And my Ghost bentley is a pleasure to ride and stops on a dime with aloy rims and V brakes.Takes a lot of work to do kustomizing right.Remember it easy to just change parts---design and build is a new ball game.The kustom cruzer in a post below is a good example of a bike done right----sam
PS take courage to do a new kustom so heres to all who give it a try---some fail---but they are the ones that did have the courage to try.

What I said:

The rear triangle may be shorter in overall length than a cruiser's. I think you got the front triangle perfect. I have no data to back this up, and haven't seen dimensions for frames anywhere on the internet.
Although you didn't ask, I suggest that the bike looks very good by itself, and only when a rider is on it does it look small. It's not of great importance in my view. Customs succeed or fail as they stand alone. Even function is not of primary importance unless that is your wish. Take a look at the bike rod&custom site and tell me honestly; do the custom jobs look right with a rider on them? Do they look comfortable? Efficient? Do they even look perfect from every angle?

My points:
... Although you didn't ask, I suggest that the bike looks very good by itself...
This is absolute truth. The flyingdutch's bike looks great.
...and only when a rider is on it does it look small.It's not of great importance in my view...
Also true, but is subjective. To my eye that is how it looks. He ASKED us. And I DON'T think it's really important. Reason why?
...Customs succeed or fail as they stand alone....
As with any work of art. The Mona Lisa is the same painting in or out of the Louvre. You don't necessarily need to know the scale of a piece to appreciate it. Guernica was huge...but in any rendition in any size it is amazingly powerful.
...Even function is not of primary importance unless that is your wish...
I stand by this as sternly as holders of the opposite viewpoint ("form follows function") stand by theirs. We KNOW how to build a bicycle. What's truly at issue IMHO is how we choose to EXPRESS that knowledge.
...Take a look at the bike rod&custom site and tell me honestly; do the custom jobs look right with a rider on them? Do they look comfortable? Efficient? Do they even look perfect from every angle?...
Given the context outlined in my first four points, I hope that it is obvious that I'm not indicting bike customs or Bikerod&customs for ANYTHING. I just wanted to make that really damned clear. I love their site, I love custom bikes. My final point was meant to be salutary advice, and not criticism.

[Fast Eddie]

i can see things from the "purist" angle, and i can understand that ride comfort, frame geometry, materials, yadadada are important when building a certain kind of bike. but i also think that those same things and ideas are limitations when customizing. beauty is in the eye of the beholder and builder. who would be so arrogant as to call one persons art less than another simply because that person's opinions are different? what a boring world that would be if that kind of silliness were reality!!! in the bicycle world there's room for everyone, pedal scapers, tall bikes, "correctly built" bikes, bikes w/ motorcycle wheels, mini's, zoo bombers, gravity bikes, klunkers, rat rods, unicycles.......... viva variety!!!!!
fast eddie outty

[Artkansas]

http://bikerodnkustom.homestead.com/

Just added a link to make it easier to visit.

I think there's been a culture of just having fun making bikes without any pressure to do the fine detailing. I see nothing wrong with this. Like hotrodding in the '50s. There were plenty of rat rods, and then again there was George Barris.

[Doug5150]

Take a look at the bike rod&custom site and tell me honestly; do the custom jobs look right with a rider on them? Do they look comfortable? Efficient? Do they even look perfect from every angle?...
If every bike featured had to be comfortable and efficient, all they'd have there would be lowracer recumbents.

As to "looking perfect", that's partly dependent upon the tools one has available. CNC machines and TIG welders aren't exactly cheap.

Most kustom jobs do lack in detailing. My good friend Jim Wilson who is editor of rodbikeNkustom gets on his soapbox about this quite often. But not all the kustoms lack in this area......
Some of them are functional--particularly the recumbents and semi-recumbents, and some of the stretch bikes:
http://mywilson.homestead.com/gallery59.html

...but for a lot of people, improving functionality wasn't a goal. Destroying pedals was. :rolleyes:
~

[Greenblazer]

Hey my Kustom Fuzzy Green Chopper was built to look really cool, but have a very comfortable riding position that allowed me to enjoy the scenery. I will never again own a mountain or road bike because they are a pain in the neck literally. Recumbants are cool, but really expensive. My bike was a stretched Sting Ray kid's chopper, and it was extremely useful and fun. I used it for meeting the carpool, grocery getting, trips to the bank, and just about any other time I could avoid using gas by riding it. It was stolen and I hope I can find it someday.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d118/Greenblazer/Green%20Fuzzy%20Chopper/GreenFuzzyChopper050.jpg

Later,

Allan Greenblazer

[Bikedued]

Like hotrodding in the '50s. There were plenty of rat rods, and then again there was George Barris.

And Bill Hines, Daryl Starbird, Larry Watson, Dean Jeffries, Norm Grabowski, Gene Winfield, Bob Hirohata, Willie Wilde, Junior Conway, Joe Bailon... Just to name a few;),,,,BD

[FlatTop]

And Bill Hines, Daryl Starbird, Larry Watson, Dean Jeffries, Norm Grabowski, Gene Winfield, Bob Hirohata, Willie Wilde, Junior Conway, Joe Bailon... Just to name a few;),,,,BD

Ed Roth built some of his customs to be fully useable on the street or dragstrip. Others were high-concept pieces for show only. Love his work or hate it, but it's possible to make a case for him being the most creative and freehanded of all customizers.

I don't know if he was the first to build a custom as utterly it's own creation (meaning not a modified '35 Ford or '56 Olds but a completely handbuilt body on a frame and running gear from various cars), but Ed Roth epitomized originality and freedom-to-create for many of my generation.

[Bikedued]

Yeah, I'm a huge Big Daddy fan myself. Got a lot of the model kits, an autographed likeness shift knob. As a kid I would read all my older brothers car magazines, and there was always a car of his in them it seemed. I am glad I got to meet him person, and in the Superdome no less. He was a living legend in my eyes.,,,,BD

I have ALWAYS wanted to build a car like he did. Something like the Road Agent, or maybe Beatnik Bandit. Mysterion is a very close third.