Author Topic: DK General Lee (Read 3205 times)

renegaderacer · « **on:** March 07, 2018, 09:14 PM »

After building a Gary Fisher for a friend of mine recently, I've got the bug for mid-school bikes and went on the hunt for something cheap and interesting. I'd always fancied a General Lee and when I saw this I just had to have it. It's hard to say what year it is as conflicting information online means it's somewhere between 1999-2002 and either built in the US or Taiwan. Either way, at least it's one of the 4130 ones. I know it's not a grail model but is a damn sight cheaper and that fits my criteria perfectly.

To say it needs a lot of work is an understatement! They were prone to snapping and this one is no different which is one of the reasons I wanted it as I love saving bikes fit for the bin. I think I may need the expert help of Phil on this one though!

The thing which makes this a really cool build for me was when the seller, David Paling, messaged me completely out of the blue with a little history on the bike. Here's it straight from my eBay messages.....

" Hi sorry for the delay...
Went though a lot of memories packaging this bike and thought you may like to know some of its history...

In 2004 I rode this at bike 2004 nec with dave Mirra, I had skyway graphites on that Hoffman gave me and I crashed head in with fuzzy hall haha...

Also I took it to America it rode chances skatepark in Atlanta, Chicago and Greenville north Carolina

It was also ridden for quite abit at derby storm

2004 was a crazy year

I was still riding it when I rode for Simon tabrons spinlikehell till 2006 and used it on a eastern bikes tour with Leigh ramsdell, Alan Cooke, Adam Banton and several others...

Anyways sorry for memory lane but thought you maybe interested..

All the best

David paling"

After what I know now, I definitely have to restore it to see it fight on for many years to come.

Underneath the rattle-canned green paint it is an orange General which is the colour I'm going to restore it to. I always build freestyle bikes but after I built my first race bike over Christmas I now want to cross another style off the list and do a dirt/jump bike! I've started to build up a collection of parts but as you can see the most work is definitely going to go into the frame!

renegaderacer · « **Reply #1 on:** March 07, 2018, 09:16 PM »

......and some more pics........

renegaderacer · « **Reply #2 on:** March 07, 2018, 09:20 PM »

.....and just a couple more....

renegaderacer · « **Reply #3 on:** March 07, 2018, 09:42 PM »

I'm trying to keep everything black and orange so I picked up a pair of Primo Moustache bars that I'm going to strip and get repowdered. The ad said they had full grip length, plus more but they're clearly cut down and barely fit the ODI grips on but as it's the style of dirt bikes of the era, I'm going to keep them and use shorter grips. The only other thing I need to do is get a new decal made up for them.

I also picked up a really nice pair of Odyssey Pro Dirt Forks that I'll also get repowdered black.

A black 44t Profile chainring was sourced but was a bit damaged so I've filed down all the gouges and chips and will strip it and get it re-annodised along with a Haro Fusion style seat clamp that was thrown in with the bars.

I also managed to pick up a nice Primo seat while I was at it along with a Dirty Harry brake lever which will work well if I have to mount it on the bend of the bar due to the cut down length. The final thing so far is a minty Odyssey GI stem I got for a good price and now I'm out of money until next month!

One of the things I'm most looking forward to though is stripping the paint off everything with the 5 litres of Starchem Synstrip I've just bought. I've read good things about it and can't wait to try a stripper that might actually work since the demise of Nitromors that was actually any good!

renegaderacer · « **Reply #4 on:** March 07, 2018, 09:46 PM »

The seat clamp had plenty of hammer marks on it but I filed and rubbed it all down smooth, so now it's ready for Oven Pride then annodising.

renegaderacer · « **Reply #5 on:** March 07, 2018, 09:51 PM »

The Profile chainring and Primo seat.....

renegaderacer · « **Reply #6 on:** March 07, 2018, 09:58 PM »

The Odyssey Dirt Pro Forks and Odyssey GI stem...

renegaderacer · « **Reply #7 on:** March 07, 2018, 10:01 PM »

....and finally, the stripper I hope is going to do the business!

In2bmx · « **Reply #8 on:** March 07, 2018, 10:46 PM »

Great work

chrisv39 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 08, 2018, 07:02 PM »

Looks like some project this! I’ve always fancied doing something mid school after seeing some stunning builds on here but wouldn’t know where to start. Keep it coming

renegaderacer · « **Reply #10 on:** March 08, 2018, 10:12 PM »

Quote from: in2bmx on March 07, 2018, 10:46 PM

Great work

Cheers

Quote from: chrisv39 on March 08, 2018, 07:02 PM

Looks like some project this! I’ve always fancied doing something mid school after seeing some stunning builds on here but wouldn’t now where to start. Keep it coming

Thanks, I always like a tough project and a challenge, otherwise there's no fun it it! I'm certainly getting more into these mid school builds. I'm still not quite sure what I'm doing but it all comes together as you go along!

renegaderacer · « **Reply #11 on:** March 09, 2018, 08:08 PM »

Had some time on my hands today so I thought I'd have a go at stripping the frame to see what the damage was and also to test out the stripper to see if it was any good.

I hadn't even finished applying the stripper to the frame before the first bit started lifting. I left it for about 30 mins as I had other things to get on with and then I washed it off with a hose. All but the worst bits in the corners came off and I would've put a second coat on which would've finished it off but it started raining so I took it inside and cleaned the frame up with wet and dry.

There are quite a few dents of varying sizes but, nothing that looks that bad; I hope!

renegaderacer · « **Reply #12 on:** March 09, 2018, 08:11 PM »

Some after pics to show the damage....

renegaderacer · « **Reply #13 on:** March 09, 2018, 08:15 PM »

...and some more...

ED209 · « **Reply #14 on:** March 09, 2018, 08:18 PM »

jesus ... you need Jesus to fix that fooker!

renegaderacer · « **Reply #15 on:** March 09, 2018, 08:20 PM »

...and the last lot. If your General Lee doesn't look like this, you're not trying hard enough!

renegaderacer · « **Reply #16 on:** March 09, 2018, 08:29 PM »

Quote from: ED209 on March 09, 2018, 08:18 PM

jesus ... you need Jesus to fix that fooker!

That's what I like to hear, a bit of positive encouragement!

I don't think it's as bad as it looks. Aside from the two breaks that need welding up, the rest are just a few minor dimples that could be filled with a bit of braze or something. I'm sure someone with more skills than me could fix this up ok.

After finding out the history of this frame, I couldn't possibly scrap it and as I mentioned earlier, I do like a challenge!

I can see now why so many of them broke. It looks like a chunky mid-school bike that should weigh a ton but it's actually really light and hard street and park riding is going to absolutely destroy it.

richiebozza · « **Reply #17 on:** March 10, 2018, 07:50 PM »

I've not seen a frame snap close up before, was that from riding, is that what a riding based snap looks like? It's such a clean break...does it break clean like that because the area was heated up during welding causing a 'weak(er)' point?

renegaderacer · « **Reply #18 on:** March 11, 2018, 12:46 AM »

Quote from: richiebozza on March 10, 2018, 07:50 PM

I've not seen a frame snap close up before, was that from riding, is that what a riding based snap looks like? It's such a clean break...does it break clean like that because the area was heated up during welding causing a 'weak(er)' point?

Yep, that was from riding but by someone with a lot more skill than me who could ride very well and push a bike to its limits! I'm not an expert in welding or metallurgy so I can't say for certain why it snapped but I'd say maybe the design of the frame makes it a natural weak point if you land heavily on the back wheel on flat? These frames are a dirt design and not as suited to survive on the street or parks. The metal is also very thin compared to other mid school bikes which won't help.

renegaderacer · « **Reply #19 on:** March 22, 2018, 11:31 PM »

The build's taken a bit of a rest since the MoT centre robbed me of all my money to pas my old Yam but I did manage to bag these rather nice Primo Hollowbite cranks and keep up the black and orange colour scheme. This will be the first build I've done with not one bit in chrome!

Hopefully, I'll start to get the frame repaired when I get paid at the end of the month. One that's done, everything will be plain sailing from there on!

In2bmx · « **Reply #20 on:** March 23, 2018, 09:09 AM »

That's gonna take some work to repair . But will be worth it

renegaderacer · « **Reply #21 on:** March 23, 2018, 02:18 PM »

Quote from: in2bmx on March 23, 2018, 09:09 AM

That's gonna take some work to repair . But will be worth it

Cheers,

I much prefer rescuing a lost cause and giving it another chance at life!

renegaderacer · « **Reply #22 on:** April 20, 2018, 11:24 PM »

A few more black bits for the build...

I was pleased to get a set of un-cut Primo Moustache bars (extremely rare at that stage of mid school) which I'll get re-powdered and Del's made me a nice new decal for them.
Also got a Mosh seat post, ODI Longneck grips, Pro-Lite seat clamp, Sun Black Label rims with Pro-Lite hubs and Maxxis Maxx Daddy tyres.

Only hurdle now is the frame.......

Author Topic: DK General Lee (Read 3205 times)

In2bmx

In2bmx