Alt Bike Culture - Tandem/tall/chopper/thing

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/hollowgrind/Bike/MarkandFP.jpg

Built this thing a few days ago. That's my roommate, Mark, standing next to it to show size comparison, he's about 6' 2" tall. The first set of forks I put on it were from this bike:

http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/hollowgrind/Bike/Photo99.jpg

After several successful rides with the first fork both solo and tandem, it was deemed 'semi-safe'. Later that night, after several beers and lots of whiskey, I decided to go for a spin. At the end of my driveway, the fork snapped just past the head tube and I went down hard resulting in this:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/hollowgrind/Bike/injuries.jpg

I managed to bite through my top lip, loosen a tooth, get road-rash everywhere including the INSIDE of my bottom lip, break my nose, and knock myself totally unconscious for several minutes. Upon waking in a pool of blood and then refusing an ambulance ride to the hospital, I drank a little bit more and vowed I would build better (and longer) forks. Here is a better shot of the result:
http://i173.photobucket.com/albums/w53/hollowgrind/Bike/FP.jpg

These new forks are much stronger and cooler looking but still not complete. You can see the old broken fork in the rear, it's A LOT shorter than the new one. I think I'm going to lay another set of long forks over the top and running them up to a custom stem. Those babies will NOT break! The bike rides great and is actually really easy once you take off. My friend, Topgun and I figured out that if you sit on the rear seat and hold the front handlebars to start off, you can climb up and over to the front position during a coast, eliminating the need to find a place to lean against! Next thing is to figure out how to mount the rear position while the bike is already in motion. Anyway, hope you enjoy it!

P.S. I named it 'Face-Plant'

That is a great design, both the before and after....too bad you had to learn the hard way that design is not just looks but strength as well.

with that long a fork, you might wanna think about a fork sort of like motorcycle forks:

http://www.bmbikes.co.uk/photos/mechanicalphotos/R%20fork.jpg

where the forks connect to the steerer tube above and below the headset, just for some added strength. with two people on that tandem, you're putting a LOT of torque on that headset/fork combo...

with that long a fork, you might wanna think about a fork sort of like motorcycle forks:

http://www.bmbikes.co.uk/photos/mechanicalphotos/R%20fork.jpg

where the forks connect to the steerer tube above and below the headset, just for some added strength. with two people on that tandem, you're putting a LOT of torque on that headset/fork combo...

Thought about that. I might actually build a set of springer forks like the ones reccomended in the "minibike forks" thread. The spring will probably help with fork longevity too.

I'm diggin it's name — sweet work!

I'm diggin it's name — sweet work!
Thanks man. I'm hoping it will attract the attention of some crazy kids who might want to start up a group. Boston and providence has SCUL, NYC has Black Label, and Worcester has NOTHING. Worcester is the third largest city in New England, what the hell?!?!? I've been talking about the idea for years but can't get anyone organized. I think the answer is to just ride my silly-dangerous bikes around until people join in.

Do it Blais!

Perhaps Rat Patrol Worcester? Haha!

What about scul dude arent you ZOOM?

It looks to me like the weak point of that bike is probably the stem itself itself or a failure in the front part of the frame- good luck with it. Do you actually ride it with two people?

What about scul dude arent you ZOOM?

Thats me! Did you recognize me from the picture? Holy cow, I didn't know any SCUL pilots were on here! I would definitely start up a SCUL chapter here but I think I'd want to run it by Skunk first. I need to get out to Boston and ride a mission soon. It would be a little tough getting my bike on the train though...

It looks to me like the weak point of that bike is probably the stem itself itself or a failure in the front part of the frame- good luck with it. Do you actually ride it with two people?

The headtube is a concern, and most of the welds on the frame! I'll just beef up whatever breaks and eventually it will be bullet-proof. We've tried it with two people, not easy at all. I think I may remove the rear seat and handlebars and replace them with some sort of cargo rack.

Snapping your fork and busting your **** is sort of a baptism of the freakbike world. Congratulations, today you are a man.

You know, in 2005 about half of the Chicago Rat Patrol was from Worcester Mass, the "Paris of the 80s". Some of them have even moved back there (perhaps they missed living in a town whose centerpiece is a sculpture of a little boy having sex with a turtle). It would be a perfect place for a chapter, all the better as a staging base to raid SCUL, who for some reason has snubbed every national bike club event of the last 15 years.

ok then! Rat Patrol Worcester it is!

Fokin YEAH MAN!!!! Sounds like fertile ground :)

maybe worcester's got so little bikers because it's the most goddamn hilly place in the world. the absurdity of chopping around worcester is probably reason enough to start a gang, so good luck!

p.s. nice to see other scul guys here. nosepicker pops up in unlikely places it seems.

It is pretty freaking hilly but one can ride down park ave, almost from greendale to oxford, most of highland before Belmont, main st and most of downtown without too much trouble. So basically just the center of worcester... I can almost picture a fleet of mutant bikes being pushed up Belmont hill by wheezing pilots.

To lessen the load on the fork, why not throw on some apes and a bananna seat for the stoker to move their weight directly, or past the rear wheel?

To lessen the load on the fork, why not throw on some apes and a bananna seat for the stoker to move their weight directly, or past the rear wheel?

Not a bad idea. I was thinking along the same lines for a cargo rack with it's center of gravity behind the rear wheel to help un-weight the front end.