Doane

This is all pretty amazing... it reminds me of when I was in High School back in the 60's (ya... I'm that old) Back then, cars were custom-izable. With a bit of mechanical intuition you could work on a car, change it, soop it up, etc. Today, you need an engineering degree, just to get into a dash panel is a puzzle. Maybe bicycle modification is the modern answer for what we used to do with cars? Back then I had a 55 Chevy, a 56, a 57 Bellair.. I did all sorts of mods to them. Installed a Hurst shifter on the floor instead of the column mount, put lifters and different shocks on them, changed the wheels to chromed wide ones with slicks in the rear, replaced the carburetor on the V8 with a 4-barrel, added dual exhaust headers with glass pack mufflers, etc., etc. And, it was all done on not that much expense, unlike car modifications today. The only limitation I can see today is taking a new girlfriend out on a date? But, then again, there are no drive in movies to go to and "neck" or "pet" anyway, so maybe that isn't so important...

Any comments?

AlmostTrick

That's why you gotta build two bikes!

Doane

Hehe.. good point, but can she slide over on the seat and I can put my arm around her while I drive? Hay... has anyone ever built a side by side tandem bike? ..that might be interesting...

Artkansas 

They've been around for over a century.

Flying Merkel

The OP brought back memories. I loved the old air-cooled VWs. They were so bad that anything you did to them was an improvement. Made me think that I knew how to modify cars.

Living in the belly-button of the custom car epicenter of the world, (Costa Mesa, CA) it's funny to see more & more custom bicycles on the roads. Talked to some older guys in Huntington Beach who were showing off their bikes. We agreed, a bike is something the average person can finish in a reasonable time and on a reasonable budget. Too often, a custom car or motorcycle spends years unfinished covered by a tarp buried under stuff in the garage, frozen in time due to lack of interest. A bicycle also can be ridden on the street without fear that a mechanical breakdown will push you into bankruptcy. Bicycles are cool. Exotic cars, Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Maseratis, can get you laughed at for trying to hard.

Doane

Artkansas: I knew some one would bring that up.. we have those on the board walks here and they can frequently be dangerous to the rest of the single bicycle riders. What I was wondering was if anyone has done a side by side bike of a more sporty nature.. It wouldn't have to have a single seat. Is there such a thing as a side by side tandem bike? OK, I did a search on Google images and this is what I found:

and.. and... and...

FlatTop

I think it's a geek thing. Seriously.

When I was in high school, there were motorheads. They were nothing more than car geeks. I've known a lot of geeks in my time, car geeks, bicycle geeks, amateur radio geeks, computer geeks...and the one common trait was that whatever they were into, they could not leave that device alone, and even under threat of violence they would proceed to hotrod, customize, mod, tune, tweak, frob, kludge, amplify, overclock, screw around with and otherwise mutate said device, until it met their approval or blew or burned up.

The first thing such people do on getting a new device is to willfully dispose of owner's/operator's manuals and warranty cards. After a brief internal struggle, cover plates and safety devices will be removed. Soon the manufacturer itself won't recognize their own product.

I like geeks. Hope that was apparent.

countersTrike

Had two '55 Chevys- the convertible and the 2-door delivery (ragtop in the '60s, 210 sedan delivery in the '80s) and many other older and newer rods, but no '56 or 7- '53 and '54 but those 6 packs were no fun. The only thing "stovebolt" days that I can still use today are '57 silver side trim and fin on a velomobile. Not even the 'bow tie' looks right to me anymore! Lost my love for cars about the time I saw American Grafitti (and yes- I had a '58 Impala w/tri-power on a 409c.i..d. V-8). Lucky I am still alive!

countersTrike

The PPV was here in the '60s. Photos just will not work with 3 transfers- I gave up-(library>desktop>file>reply) Look up PPV and DuoQuest. I had 6 photos that wouldn't work, but no big deal!

dynodonn

Sheesh, nowadays "necking" and "petting" on the first date seems outdated. I was on a cruise ship a couple of months ago, there was a game show with couples of various age groups involved. One question was about first dates, how about some "no holds barred" moves in bowling alley bathrooms, Wendy's parking lot, and on car hoods in family campgrounds.

countersTrike

Yes, very. Thought more about where to look; try recumbent trike list :
https://home.mindspring.com/~kb7mxu/index.htm (tandem or defunct)
or Sociables.

FlatTop

I sense a subtle shift in this thread.

genec

While I won't disagree with your sentiment... and customizing bikes can be cool. (I've seen some great mods out there.) Franky, I think customizing computers has more of a hot rod feel to it...

"OK what's under the hood."

"Well I have a quad processor with an over clocked buss and full RAM, and I have hot swappable SATA drives, man... what you got..."

"Well I have the Xeon Core and the wide buss..."

"Oh wow, what video card?"

"I'm running two, both with HDMI out... and check out this audio... "

sillygolem

It isn't harder, just different. I helped a friend drop a hot rod motor* into an old Corolla and the only major problem we had was figuring out a fuel problem. (Fuel lines were too small.) Even with numerous mods I think he only has $6-7k in it and most of that was because he just -had- to get a motor shipped from Japan.

On the other hand, I can get an old bicycle and fix it up for around $100, less than buying a decent car tire. I don't have to insure it and I can store it alongside several other bikes in my den or my bedroom closet. I don't have to worry about batteries or antifreeze when I store it. If it breaks someone can pick up me and the bike and take us home to where I can fix things myself.

*JDM engine with 5-valve Yamaha heads in an AE86, just like Tak's in "Initial D." Eventually it will even have the tofu delivery service paint on it.

Doane

Very "cool" comments, gentlemen (and ladies?)

Yes, computers are the new breed of hot rod too, I hadn't thought of that. Some of the game cases have see thru windows with lights inside so one can see all the fancy add ons like liquid cooling, etc., etc., that can get pretty expensive too though. I wonder if they are impressive to the young girls.. you can't take them anywhere in them to show them off though (the hot rod and the girl).

I just made a "big" purchase for my new KHS bike.. a Brooks honey colored Flyer seat (b17 with springs) and tried it out last weekend. Rode up the coastal bike trail stopping several times to try different adjustments of tilt, position. At one stop two riders stopped, a woman and a man. The woman said, Hi.. nice seat! I felt like I was in high school again.. she then pointed at her seat and I saw the familiar Brooks metal badge on the back of it. She gave me a wink and a big smile and off they rode! "Hot Rods!"