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Old 12-11-07, 11:18 AM
  #140  
hotbike
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Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Long Island, New York
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Bikes: a lowrider BMX, a mountain bike, a faired recumbent, and a loaded touring bike

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Originally Posted by vey
My ugly bike. Based on a design by Alex Wilson of Chicago. http://bikecargo.hafd.org/node

I started with a "Forest Ranger" brand MTB type bike that I found in the trash a couple of years ago. Built by Bicycle Corporation of America in ~1994 from 4130 Chro-Moly

n addition to the EMT and numerous U-Bolts, I added the following things to the bike:
1. Wald 12" stem
2. Flat bar replaced with slight riser bar
3. Pyramid 2 legged kick stand
4. Brooks B-66 from ebay for $20 (incl. shipping)
5. 23"x14" basket from Lowe's for $20
6. Wire milk crate

I used "U" bolts throughout with wing nuts to attach the baskets.
I have several different baskets and I can change a basket to a smaller or bigger one in
less than 30 seconds by loosening the "U" bolt wing nut and sliding the basket off. The new one slides right on.



Nice. I tried a similar method of mounting boxes to my bike, back in the late 1980's.
Let me share some pics and give an advisory:

This is a black and white photo, the bike is actually in woodlands camoflage. I used two pipes for the main supports, held with five hose clamps each. There is vertical support from the rear rack eyelets up to the pipes [tubes].

Now the safety advisory, which is important because I put 18,000+ miles on this set-up:
The front supports cracked every six thousand miles, and the fairing fell off. I had to cut the electrical wires, hide the fairing in a bush, and retrieve it with my van later.

I used aluminum tubes, one and a quarter in diameter, with a 1/8th wall thickness. What gauge of pipe are you using for tubes?

I also produced a diagram, originally in four color dot matrix, 80 dpi (dots per inch), scanned and uploaded here:



So stable, a child could ride it. My Daughter Mellisa and her friend Patricia took the Type 5 bike for a spin in front of a camera to prove how easy this bike is to ride.


The Type 6 is the same as the Type 5 , but it has a roof. The Type 5 looks strange because it has the same front as the enclosed velomobile. In this photo you can see the need for those extra supports under the rear fairing, which has a cargo box concealed inside.

You have done a good job, Vey, and you figured out how to mount the tubes to a frame which doesn't have a perfectly horizontal top tube.
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