BaMenace

Hi, I have a 26" beach cruiser and really wanted to turn it into a lowrider that an adult could ride.

At the moment im in the process of assessing it for a bent springer fork and was wondering if anyone knew how much of a drop the bent twisted springer fork impacts on the bike(if any) as at the moment i have 4 inches of clearance with my pedals and wanted to make sure.



Hoping to turn this into a lowrider with 15" - 19" ape bars, 34"- 42" sissy bar, 144 spoke wheels, bent springer twisted forks , banana seat, mirrors, twisted accessories ect


Has anyone converted a 26" beach cruiser into an adult size lowrider and what hurdles did you come across in your conversion?

bobotech

I really have no advice for you on your project but I just wanted to let you know that the fact that the front fender on your beach cruiser being mounted backwards is making my OCD twitch like mad. I wouldn't be able to ride the bike knowing that the fender is on backwards. LOL

The chrome fender stays are supposed to be behind the bike's fork and the curled lip of the fender is supposed to be at the rear bottom of the wheel, not at the top front.

Philphine

yeah, unless that's some new style trend your front fender is backward.

do you know anyone with a bent springer on their bike? i'd borrow it for a quick ride to see if you really want one. i prefer a regular springer myself.

BaMenace

Yeah the fender is backwards , just bought it off eBay off a noob builder and gunna rebuild, so gotta move it

So now in all seriousness, say I purchased these "bent twisted front springer forks" and installed them correctly(lol) does anyone know the angles of these forks and if they drop the bike lower and by how much.

BaMenace

There your OCD has been controlled. Still have to retube the rear tyre as you can barely see the valve, and sounds like there's a washer or something somewhere inside the frame .. But that can be resolved when I'm rebuilding it

tim24k

I'm doing this very same thing. I went with 24" wheels but haven't found a good set of bent springer forks as of yet. I'm thinking I'll also need to go with a smaller crank to minimize petal strikes.

ilikebikes

Its not worth it. No matter what you do the bike will be so uncomfortable to ride you will start to hate it right away, if you're lucky it will become nothing more than a show bike. Oh, and you will never...EVER! get back what you put into it. So my advice is don't do it.

bobotech

You sound like you have seen it first hand. What happens when you try riding a bike that has a fork like that? What does it do to the ride? I'm curious. I personally would never do such a thing (low rider show bikes) but always wondered about the ride after the massively altered geometry.

ilikebikes

I've built a few and regretted building them, its like trying to ride your 7 year old sisters bike.

Philphine

pretty much how i feel about them. that's why i said try to find someone with one on their bike you can try. i know they're popular with people who want to try for some kind of custom look, but i really do think for a practical bike you'll want a regular springer.

tim24k

Thanks for the info guys. I have a springer front end on the bike right now, but was looking for a way to lower it for my grandson to ride. I did put 24" wheels on but it sounds like I should just leave it alone and just let him grow into it.

BaMenace

Update, I put the bent twisted springer forks on the front and it HAS dropped the height of the bike, as going around corners my pedals now scrape. my current cranks are 7" so im looking to go smaller on those by an inch or two.

To iLikeBikes this build is a childhood recreation, so i dont see myself regretting bringing back my early childhood of riding the neighbourhood on bicycles with ape hanger handlebars, banana seats and sissy bars, with basketball cards stuck to the rear frame with clothes pegs to give the feeling it had an engine.

in conclusion its actually a cool ride besides the strong head winds i incur, so a change in the gearing ratios is also in order. cranks require changing to prevent pedals scraping on road when turning corners.

BaMenace

Update on my beach cruiser turned lowrider.
The original kick stand won't work the 26" bent springer forks, and even if you apply an aftermarket 7" twisted kick stand which is about an inch and a bit shorter, the bike won't stand by itself unless you have the wheel turned hard left or right. Handling is completely different to normal forks, as it's like your steering a boat, due to the front wheel is no longer directly underneath you. As to hating it straight away id have to disagree to that statement, its fun to ride and learning to ride a bike all over again is neat. It's a skill that the average man doesn't have. After grazing the crap out of the plastic pedals while traveling around corners in "my boat" i resorted to 4" cranks (which I'm yet to put on, just got them today) and twisted metal pedals. The forks thread needed to be cut 3 inches as it was way too long for my headset. Front fenders needed to manipulated to incorporate the forks, as the original bolt holes are no longer there. So I used a bolt and put a spring in it to give it a ratrod feel. I did have a 26" banana seat and 36" sissy bar on it but with my boney arse , it killed the ride. So refund! Put the original seat back on and the added springs compliments the feel. I put 19" ape hangers on it and subsequently needed to upgrade the neck to a two screw neck to assist with easily removing the handlebars in transport. I'm still yet to put on a number of bling items, hubcaps, light sets, chrome chain guard, cool sprockets, and the twisted fender structs. Overall this had been a wicked project and one that has brought back some cool memories of riding up and down the streets of our neighbourhoods.

Rollfast

The geometry of such a setup is not pretty, an Abrams tank is easier to steer and I've been in one on a parade route!

If you really want to give the grandson a springer ride he can handle then I would suggest finding a 22-24" and even if that means a Western Flyer (or Rollfast, or Murray)

The Schwinn middleweight is one of those wonderful designs that simply looks right, works right and is built right. If it weren't it wouldn't have a 76 year track record (the first ones showed up around 1938 or '39 to my knowledge) They are light, the curves lend strength and grace to it and it's geared to be fast.

And it takes a fat guy (240 lbs+) like me without complaints! My Rollfast had to be CROSSBRACED at the crank tube (Okay, I'm still not scientific but it's almost 1 am) for that kind of strength.

Jax Rhapsody

The skiptooth bikes were fast, mine looks like it has a 56-60t crank.

The op; that bike probably has a 12t sproket, replace it with a 24t, and when you swap cranks, make sure to swap it's crank sproket on to the smaller crank, and don't get the crank from a kids bike, won't fit unless it uses the adult standard ashtabula that bmx, mtb, and cruisers use.

CBURKE23

I like it!
About to order one myself!
Hope it gets me a little lower though.

BaMenace

Bike so far, best thing to ride, best fun to make, a breeze to ride with the correct ratios. Still a few mods to add , never going to regret this bike!