Author Topic: The mystery Kink. Mystery solved... (Read 16804 times)

Midschoolfool · « **on:** September 01, 2021, 12:54 AM »

OK so you are probably wondering why I am stupid enough to build yet another bike. Fear not, this will be the cheapest yet. Mostly as I am going to use up a ton of parts I have lying around. OK, so why am I building another bike? winter beater. Sorta. I ride a Metal Kizz. 2019 Go Fast one. It was hella expensive and every time I ride it I worry about scratching it denting it etc. Which, usually stops me riding all winter. Mostly as I don't want to get it soaking wet and go rusty etc. I initially built the Cam Wood with intentions of thrashing it, but well we all know how that went

MONEY PIT COUGH.

For ages now I have been on the lookout for a Kink. Always wanted one, right from the mid 90s Revision B and Empire. The last Empire that turned up on Ebay was listed at 500 Euro. It didn't sell. Always fancied building one though. I knew it would probably have to be a newer school Kink. This I didn't mind, as they have made a couple of really nice looking frames. One I had my eye on was the Kink Liberty, which has the Brooklyn Bridge as its brake bridge thing.

You can't see it very well but it's hella cool. Then, right before the CW came up I almost pushed the button on a Titan II (haha, push the button, Titan II etc). Problem is I wanted it in the mute lemon colour that literally makes it look like a fookin rocket.

Sadly every single colour was on sale for 220 quid APART FROM THAT ONE. Grr. That one was RRP 350 quid. Any way, I have sold a good chunk of parts recently. It's not so much the money from those parts that inspired this though, it was because I scored big time. So about two days ago I search for "Kink BMX" on Ebay as I often do, hoping some nutter doesn't know he has a very rare bike. Like that will ever happen right

what I do come across however, is this.

It was listed as a "Kink 457 frame". Googled it, nothing. Went through Kink's archives, nothing. Now I expected this to be about 10 years old due to the welded on lugs. That was where I went wrong. In the end after hours of searching I finally deciphered that what I was about to make an offer on was actually a 2020 Kink Whip XL. This is a complete bike, costing 525 quid. The reason it costs that much is because it's a full 4130 frame. So, with that learned I made an offer and it was accepted. It was reaaaaaally cheeky. And I scored.

So, being that it's a new school ride that means stickers are 1. Easy to get and 2. Fookin cheap. Both of those applied, these cost me a fiver.

So, the "part bin special" idea was made. I will buy as absolutely little as I can possibly get away with in order to build this into a rider. The funny thing is I have some really lovely high end parts for it. Starting with these bars.

Levers have sold and packed and I won't use those grips or the stem. I will be using this stem.

I have the headset from the Haro left over. Seat I will be using either the Witch Doctor or the Bone Deth Vibrator. I have a 200mm Cult pivotal post. Forgot to list it for sale, but it just saved me from removing it from sale

Wheels. Ah, the "pucker up butter cup" part. That usually makes the anus sting. Thankfully that part should be painless. I have two sets of these wheels.

One had the decals pulled off and were used on the Fatboy. The other set are on my Quadangle. However, whilst the rims themselves are brand new and they have stainless spokes and gold nipples the hubs are total shit. Steel, loose bearing etc. They really are awful. I only put them on the Quad because I used the wheels off it and it needed wheels. However, I can put my Alex Y22s on that as it's 14mm front and rear. So I got rims, spokes and nipples. I have the hub I pulled out of the Stolen Revolver wheel recently (to lace up freewheel for the 2hip)

9t 14mm sealed. So that is the rear hub sorted. Literally as I am typing this I just had an offer of 14 quid accepted for this.

So that's the wheels sorted

for the fork I will use my Primo Kamikaze V2.

Got those cheap recently. I then thought about colour. It was either original Empire red of sorts.

Or the dark magenta used on the Revision B. So, I popped downstairs, had a look in the paint bin and....

One is half full, the other new. So red it is

Got primer got all of the other stuff needed. For the brake I have a Mission Cease V2. This is a Kink part.

Mission is Kink. It's the brand they use for their cheaper stuff. That said it's a bloody good brake.

ETA? no idea. I do want it done before the weather turns shit though.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #1 on:** September 01, 2021, 03:08 PM »

Wow. Life never ceases to amaze me, nor does human kindness. So I posted a pic of Matt's Empire. It's stunning. I remembered he had decals made for it. My fave decals ever. Why? because if you look closely NYC is in the background, and specifically the Brooklyn Bridge.

But that's a Kink Empire and I do not have one of those. Ah. See, I did some more poking last night and it seems they made a new school Empire in 2012. The Revision C.

Which is pretty much identical to the Whip, only the whip has a gusset. Which got me thinking, then down the rabbit hole.. Until !

Remember when I said it's not about money and the cheapest bikes can be the most fun? see also this bike.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #2 on:** September 01, 2021, 05:36 PM »

OK. So finally the yucky part. Spending money

Something I really did not want to do. However. I did need a few parts. I robbed the hub of its 17mm nuts (will explain this in a bit) and put 19mm on there. I also only had either green, aqua, duck egg or brown grips (eww). So I did spend some money. However, I went straight to CR's bargain bin clearout bit. Grips, Proper. Cost me 4 quid.

I wasn't going to use the stainless bars. I have a set of Vocal Neptune in black. However, they are really cut down. I will cut the Tierras a bit, but not full mid school like the Vocal. I found a Tektro brake lever too, so no spending there. OK, so wheel nuts. Some 14mm axle nuts are 19mm. With large grip flanges to bite onto the frame. Sadly these do not fit in pegs. And, I needed a set for when I finish the Morales. I don't have any more 17mm. So, I got these. 4 quid.

Always a nice, cheap addition. I will be using Gsport Van pegs (steel) so these are important. Then it was pedals. I stripped out all of the cheap ones I had experimenting, and couldn't be bothered to put them back together so I binned them. That only left me two options. Brown, or white. Neither would look good. So I started looking for red plastic pedals, but the only ones that are truly red are ODY and they are ?25. For the same price I found these (there must have been a drop recently).

Which are perfect. And, I didn't pay the ridiculous money people want when Primo don't make any.

Total spend on all parts with shipping was 38 quid.

Mikku · « **Reply #3 on:** September 02, 2021, 08:17 AM »

What would this site do without your builds? God knows what we're going to do when you finally stop building!!

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #4 on:** September 02, 2021, 12:53 PM »

Hah you will all need to take the baton and run. Build moar bikes lol.

I should be OK. I reckon I will strip down at least one more.

As I mentioned before after that it'll just be frames. I do need this bike though. I really don't want to trash the Metal. There's only about 40 that exist.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #5 on:** September 02, 2021, 02:16 PM »

Forgot to mention the seat clamp. I do have one ! it's this.

Came with the T1 and I touched up the scratches on the black but never used it. Looks like the Kink has one, but it's low rent. Kinda wish I had bought my plotter home with me so I could be cutting decals, but ho hum.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #6 on:** September 02, 2021, 03:37 PM »

Ain't gonna like that sucked ass and took ages.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #7 on:** September 02, 2021, 10:55 PM »

I probably didn't explain that properly huh?

The fork is a Primo Kamikaze V2. This one.

I also spent ages tracking down one of these. I hope I get it, because the place I bought it from is shady to say the least.

I did pay with Paypal though, so there is that

Mikku · « **Reply #8 on:** September 03, 2021, 06:20 AM »

Am loving that kamikaze decal!! Could easily rock that on my race plate if you fancy knocking up another one for sale?? PM me if that tickles your fancy!

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #9 on:** September 03, 2021, 01:25 PM »

I always make spares dude. Wouldn't charge for it though, given the spares etc. If it's going to JP I will want the postage though.

It will be overlaid sadly. I can't pester my mate to print decals right now as he is coming out of Covid and very busy, so they will have to be cut and laid. Mind you, on something like a plate that would be fine any way. I tend to find the basic gloss vinyls hold together very well. It's the exotic ones that have alu backing and "bubble free" that don't. They have like, air channels in them, reducing the sticking area. Crap really unless you are doing larger surfaces.

Just for giggles here is how that is done. First I drew a guide box. Then I put the (what will be) black template in there (IE cut from black vinyl)

The guide box is the same in all, even if the cut out entire area is different. This is what allows me to line them up properly when I put them together. I then move what will be white in there, line it up and remove the black. Then take a stencil.

And then repeat for what will be cut in red.

Mikku · « **Reply #10 on:** September 04, 2021, 05:45 AM »

Very cool! I like it in black and white too, as per my avatar. In any case, PM incoming!

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #11 on:** September 04, 2021, 02:22 PM »

Nah those are just stencils for tracing with the plotter's software. Black traces best, but it's whatever you feed the plotter itself that denotes the colour.

I thought about the seat situ last night and wasn't too happy. I have two that would fit the scheme and the build. A Bone Deth Vibrator in stitched leather and a Savage. Problem is the BD is as hard as a rock (I took it off my metal after it hurt my ass on a ride) and the Savage is even smaller. I remembered I had seen one of these for 20 quid somewhere.

Which is half price. Sadly I couldn't remember where, and everywhere else it was 30 quid cheapest. Then I remembered, so I ordered it. It's tripod, which is good because I have a nice new United Tripod post I took off the Ruben.

The red parts order arrived today. Know that because it was too big to go through the letter box

and so did the paint. Something else did too, but not sure what that is. Nick shipped out the decals for me today so they'll be there also soon.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #12 on:** September 06, 2021, 01:25 AM »

Empire decals were sent Saturday. Should be here soon. Other than that the best news is that the head badge has indeed shipped. That is the fourth order I have placed with that company now, and they actually had it. Stoked.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #13 on:** September 06, 2021, 04:00 PM »

OK. The good news.

- The frame has been delivered !
- I got the fireman badge too !!! HELL YEAH. (I'm such a child, but this bike has meaning, read on).

The bad news.

- The frame has been delivered. Roll eyes.

I hope it is still straight

OK. So, the next part was "Don't fall in love with it...... Don't fall in love with it". And what do I do? fookin fall in love with it

First thing I wanted was a better looking brake. Note looking. The Mission brake is quite crudely cast etc.

As such it looks cheap. So, I did what any one else would do. Bought a ?90 CNC Fly brake for 40 quid. Just one catch.

I will paint it black. Just a nice satin black to look like anno. I also bought tyres. FFS !

They were on sale for 20 quid each. Again there were sound reasons behind it. Firstly I been riding my Fit TA (Traction advantage, haha right, but man it's fun getting the back wheel drifting) and I love them. Great in the dry, sketchy as fook in the wet. Secondly I don't want skin wall tyres on this build. I'm just not a big fan. And thirdly, those Fly Campillera are the most grippy noisy damn tyres I've ever ridden. They literally shake your teeth out, and have tons of rolling resistance. I suppose when you were Ruben and you were 40ft above a flyover doing a wall ride this is important. Me? I like my fat ass to be able to roll better when my legs give out

OK, so why I wanted the fire badge so bad. IDK if many of you know this about me. I don't usually talk about it much. My first wife was American. I met her in a Yahoo chat room in 1998

Any way, I lived in the USA for 10 years in New Jersey. Not the arm pit up in NY, but down south near Phila and Wilmington DE. As such I went to NY quite a bit. Here is a pic of my last trip there in 2008.

I was due to fly on the 13th Sept 2001. So two days after 9/11. Instead we were put in a tent at Heathrow for about 30 hours because of a bomb threat on the plane we were supposed to be on, and thus we ended up sailing over. It's all a very long story, maybe for another day, but I got to meet a couple of the fire fighters from NY. And it holds very happy, strong emotions for me. So does the place. And thus, that is why I have fallen in love with this. Always wanted a Kink, for those reasons. If you look at the EMPIRE writing there is a green silhouette of the Brooklyn Bridge in the background, and NYC skyline before 9/11 in the Kink ones. Hence why I wanted the fire badge, and etc.

Mikku · « **Reply #14 on:** September 06, 2021, 11:39 PM »

Great backstory!

Fwiw I'm also a big NYC fan. Have been there 3 times, all pre-9/11, the first time being a three-week work placement at a NY law firm down near that black bull statue. I stayed in Tribeca, walked to work past the Twin Towers, then back to the apartment via Wall St. Thought I was the bee's knees!!

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #15 on:** September 07, 2021, 12:18 AM »

Strange story about the towers... My fiancee then wife Jen had a aunt called Jennifer. Jennifer was HOT. Early 30s, high flyer. She lived one block from Wall St where she worked. She would go away to arab countries etc, and she let us have the apartment for 3 days each fall. Mostly for Macy's Day Parade. This apartment in 2000 was $7000 a month. And it was smaller than my flat now. I dread to think what that is costing her now. $20k a month? still, when you earn what she does I guess you don't care. Her friend died in the attack. It was her we were shitting it about, but thankfully she was in the UAE at the time...

Going back to the towers? they made me feel ill. Like, IDK if you ever stood at the bottom at ground level and looked up? yeah, I was like "fook that". My mother in law quipped "Oh, so you don't want to take the express and then go to the top?" I said "Hell no !, that place gives me the heeby jeebies !". A year later they were gone. Now what I did not know was the bomb attack which happened some years prior. I just got this inexplicable feeling standing there, and wanted to get away as soon as possible. I didn't get that feeling anywhere else in NY. Even the Empire State etc. Just those towers man.

One day I will drag out all of the pics. I've kinda hidden them away because breaking up with my first wife almost destroyed me.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #16 on:** September 07, 2021, 03:33 PM »

Really wanted a 25t on this. What do I have? three 28t. Bloody typical. I don't even have a 25t I can pinch, as it's not being pinched from the Metal. So I started looking. Then I found this.

Which I liked. It was also pretty reasonably priced compared to most. Some of them are like 60 quid ffs. It brings back happy memories of that moment in time.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #17 on:** September 08, 2021, 11:35 PM »

Right, the good and the bad.

Good - the frame is OK.
Good - the parts I got are awesome. The hub is in really nice condition (the front one)
Good - got the Empire decals, they are fantastic.

Bad - Alan's sent me the wrong decal set, and apparently the ones I ordered are no longer available.
Bad - I ordered this.

And got this. It's tiny.

Bad - The rear spokes I have are not long enough. Five hours of trying wondering whether I had got it wrong and nope. You get half way around the last spokes and they just don't reach. So I need to order some. No biggy, apart from my back being destroyed

Bad - It is impossible to make the Kamikaze decals by overlaying. Another two hours down the drain for one pissed decal

Best - the frame is here and the parts are nice as I said.

The front wheel is done. Not tightened in this pic, but is now and needs minimal truing.

So yeah, some ups and some downs. Had I not got those Empire decals I would be pretty annoyed right now.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #18 on:** September 09, 2021, 12:39 AM »

Attempted to build the back wheel. Note attempted. Four hours. Turns out the Alienation have a larger ERD and the nipples I had left were too short. It didn't become apparent until the last 8 or so spokes, but yeah no way Jose. Measured up the hub, needed longer ones (I had pretty much worked that out any way

). Wanted something cheap. Spokes are not bloody cheap. I found these for ?8 odd. They were a fiver on sale, plus the shipping.

Given the rear hub is black I reckon they will look wicked. Black nips too !

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #19 on:** September 09, 2021, 12:36 PM »

Day two. A better day. How to make a very plain hub look better.

A finished wheel.

A very expensive brake.

New shoes.

And my favourite decals ever.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #20 on:** September 09, 2021, 04:42 PM »

Fork has been stripped and primed. Long story short, two layers of paint, decal (yes they left it on) and then powder. It sucked, five layers of stripper.

The drops were a particular pain in the bollocks.

They did come out nice though, so there's that. OK. So now I know they only have a decal on the right side leg. This helped. It meant I only had to get one decal sort of right. This was yesterday's attempt, as well as 5 in the bin. I even stuck one layer on upside down

This was today's attempt.

The black is slightly twisted. However, I like that. It looks like a shadow instead of an outline. The red however? yeah that's good, that's very good. I won't be making any more of these. Mick, what I can do is send you the artwork. It will be way easier and cheaper for you to find a company over there and get them properly printed.

We march on.....

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #21 on:** September 09, 2021, 06:57 PM »

It's satin. Will get clear soon. Will paint the steerer tube black.

Played with parts.

Found the seat clamp.

And a headset.

Seat came today too.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #22 on:** September 09, 2021, 08:07 PM »

Realised the decal would not work as it was. Not on red. There would have been red on red, making it vanish in spots. Good thing I used to hand cut all of my decals before I got a plotter really.

Clear coat next.

Mikku · « **Reply #23 on:** September 10, 2021, 10:34 AM »

Too many posts to respond to!!!

In no particular order, yes, I had a similar-ish feeling when looking up at the Twin Towers but I think that was just vertigo/acrophobia!! I did go up to the top though and scared myself stupid!

That rear hub and wheel look sweet! Good job there mate!

No worries about the sticker - I've got way more than I need, so was just being greedy. Fwiw, I don't think they look too bad on the red fork but yeah, red on black would be better.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #24 on:** September 10, 2021, 12:38 PM »

OK no worries man. Yeah I needed to add that black outline for sure...

I swore up and down I was going to use the Salt cranks. It's almost a paradigm now. I sold the SNAFU cranks for ?80 plus shipping. I regretted it a bit as obviously I could have put them on here. Last night I decided to have a look on Ebay. Already been through the sites, nothing on sale nothing I wanted any way. Then I found these.

I knew what they were. They are KHE's most expensive cranks.

They're NOS, couple of small chips (pretty much like the SNAFU when I bought those). They were 45 quid. So, I got a better set of cranks* and am 35 quid richer.

* As I say, these are KHE's elite cranks. The arms weigh under 600g.

As for an axle? I have one. A Profile Cro Mo one my friend repaired for me (remember those bum cranks I had to restore?). So, not only am I up 35 quid I have better cranks *and* I get to use up that axle. Which is what this build was about from the beginning.