I'm fixing up a tandem, looking for suggestions
 

OK, heres the deal. My mom had this tandem that my Dad bought when I was a kid lying around in her garage collecting dust. My Dad bought the thing in 1995 for like $700 bucks in a bike shop in southern california. This thing isn't built for speed (heavy aluminum frame and 26"x1.60" tires) but its fun as hell to ride. I now live in downtown Atlanta and I'm fixing it up to a be a commuter/urban/fun bike. The general idea is this. Alot of my family/friends like riding bikes, so I bought a spare bike so that others could share in the fun. Problem is, nobody can keep up. So I'm gonna use the tandem for that ;). I'm COMPLETLEY rebuilding this whole thing (i'll have pics up later this week).

I've literaly got EVERY PART for the whole bike in various gallon sized ziplock bags ontop of my tv. A friend and I are have been stripping the paint off of the thing for the past couple of days (its taking alot longer that either of us had originally planned on). We're gonna paint the whole thing black to orange fade from front to rear. I'm really going for a fun/bizarre bike. We're gonna add a true 18wheeler air horn on it (which is loud as hell). We also want to put a radio on it, fenders, a rack, and a whole bunch of others stuff. I'm wondering if anyone has any suggestions on cool attachments for the bike (or even the riders). I'm open to just about anything. Thanks!

radio, air horn? What, no lap top? Good news is it's an aluminum frame so isn't as heavy as cheap steel would be. Advice: ride safe.

To me, the only fundamental difference between that and some of the tandems you see with GPS, HRMs for captain and stoker, trunk/frame/bar packs, fenders, and cell phones in the pockets is that yours will have a great tool for scaring various excrements out of rude motorists. :)

DrPete

ok, great comments. any suggestions for addons? I'm thinking maybe turn signals on the handle bars.

I think you should rig up some exhaust pipes that start at the back end of both saddles. Definitely exhaust pipes.

DrPete

Streamers from the handlebars? Sissybar/banana seat for stoker? Blinking lights in the spokes? Playing cards attached with clothespins to rear stays/fork?

On the Radio side. I have used a small transistor radio in the shed, but with old style computer speakers. These were powered by batteries in one of the speakers and did knock out some volume. Good enough to keep the neighbours entertained with my style of Blues music. Did a sposored ride a few years ago and one of the entrants had a small beer keg on the Bars, powered by a CO2 bottle to keep the lager up to fizz content. Worked by a hose and tap on the end, and he sold topups to your water bottle, while travelling along for his charity. A tandem would be more suited for this. The air horn sounds great though.