Surly dropped a comment on my post showing my new acquisition. He says, in no uncertain terms, chop it! He said they sell hardtail kits for these little things so I did a quick search and came up with this:
I saw these at a couple of different sites - one of the businesses is actually fairly close to me. A weld it yourself kit is about $200.00, fully welded is $320.00. The kit lowers the rear a couple of inches and stretches it 3-1/2" or so. I don't know that I would need to go rigid. When I look at the bike from the side I can visualize making a few minor changes and having it look pretty nice.
First off, get rid of the big tailight on top of the fender and replace it with something like this one under the fender. They come with a clear lens on the bottom so you can use it for the license plate light.
I've got one of these around here so I'll dig it out and see how it would fit. By getting rid of both the stock taillight and license plate light you'd probably shed a couple of pounds.
You could clean up the front end by shaving the fork legs and using a pair of these handlebars or something similar.
I could make these easily enough. Send them out and get them powder coated or make them out of stainless and polish them.
Something like this one would be be do-able.
Looks nice and clean. Surly told me a buddy of his just ordered one of the hardtail kits. I'll check it out after it's safe to go out and decide if I want to go all out on this thing. Regardless of what I decide, it's going on the back burner for now, though. Lots of other things in line ahead of it.
1 comment:
Honestly, you should donate it to OCB and forget you ever had it. Another project is probably not what you need. But...what do I know, I just bought parts for a bike I'll never finish.
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