ChopWork Orange - Section 2

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Before adding any more to the bike, I decided to work on the front forks. The front forks will be a typical set of round tube BMX forks (Photo 11), cut and extended to some length using 1-inch thin walled electrical conduit. The first thing to do was cut the dropouts from the fork legs, sparing as much of the metal as you can since they will be put back on the new forks.

Photo 11 - Dropouts cut from the front forks.

 

The fork legs were then cut so that only the vertical portion is removed (Photo 12). Imagine drawing a line from the inside of each leg and continuing it up past the head tube. This is the line that will be cut. This is done so that new fork legs can be installed later.

Photo 12 - Cut the legs from the forks.

 

The forks are extended by welding two lengths of  1-inch conduit where the original legs were cut (Photo 13). You will have to grind a little away from the original fork material in order to make a proper joint with the conduit for welding. When I welded the fork extensions to the original fork stem, the front dropouts were already welded to the other ends of the fork legs, and a wheel was installed to hold it all in place. The two extension legs are also laid on a flat board to help alignment.

Photo 13 - Joining an extension to the front forks.

 

This leftover chaining fit nicely in the frame as shown in Photo 14. It was at this stage that the bike was given the name ChopWork Orange, because of all the gears, and yes, it would indeed be painted orange.

Photo 14 - Making use of the leftovers.

 

The chopper was assembled in order to make sure everything was going together correctly (Photo 15). A banana seat, and some wide handlebars were installed to give the bike an old school cruiser look. A fork length was chosen that put the two bottom brackets in approximately the same position they were on the original bike, this would ensure that the pedals had adequate ground clearance.

Photo 15 - Getting the chopper together.

 

Rather than just leaving the rear bottom bracket empty and unused, I decided to salvage the original crank set to create a ghost ring. This secondary chain ring does nothing but spin with the front one, but it will add to the ChopWork theme of this bike. In Photo 16, the arms are cut from the crank set, leaving only the center axel. It is ground smooth as well.

Photo 16 - Crank arms cut from a one-piece crank set.

 

Once completed, the chopper was hand painted with a brush using some spare orange paint that was hanging around the garage. The chain rings were painted black to accent the bike, and the chrome was polished up with some steel wool. The completed chopper turned out quite well considering it only took a few hours and started life without any plan (Photo 17).

Photo 17 - The painted ChopWork Orange.

 

The bike looks cool with the dual chain rings (Photo 18). I tell people that this doubles your top speed, allowing the chopper to keep up to city traffic. It of course, does nothing more than look cool!

Photo 18 - Side view of ChopWork Orange.

Christina takes a pose on ChopWork, complete with matching hat (Photo 19). Once the hard work is done, it's all about looking cool, you know!

Photo 19 - Christina posing with ChopWork.

 

The chopper was very comfortable, and easy to ride, even for the chopper newbie. Banana seats also let a variety of riders of different heights ride the same bike, just move to a comfortable spot on the seat. Christina (Photo 20) takes the bike out for a cruise and it rides like a dream!

Photo 20 - Out for a cruise on ChopWork Orange.

 

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