Author Topic: Four Bike Co Battletech (Read 11831 times)

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #25 on:** June 23, 2023, 12:36 PM »

Hub and seat clamp etc came in earlier. Had a rough night (banging headache) so was only up for 10 mins. They wouldn't have put them through the letter box, so I am glad I rushed down.

Wheels are in later apparently, "wheel see" *groan*

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #26 on:** June 23, 2023, 09:02 PM »

OK. Recap.

I found out why the crank bearing cups were smashed

They jam with about 3mm left and you need to smash them home with a hammer

This damaged the paint, and was hard work. God I hate things like that. Have ordered a touch up pen because mine got lost.

The headset was a twat too. Just not as much of a twat. I got the bars and fork on last night, seat bits arrived today so I did that earlier. As you can see, I been working hard on the frame. The marks and scratches are all gone, and it looks fantastic even without the final polish on.

The bearing conversion to female failed for the first time. The Fly hub is wider, and I could not get the bearings into the hub more than about 3mm per side. Which even I know is dangerous at best. So, I took the axle into the loft and got out the belt file. Not only did I get slapped by my first flying belt (god when they snap it is terrifying tbh) but I also burnt the absolute crap out of my leg with the sparks. Cleaned the injuries with isoprop (ouch is all I will say) and then covered them in cream.

So here is where I am at.

I am usually stoked by like, one part choice. This time? I am stoked at all of them. The white 3M shipped out earlier, and I have ordered some Oven Pride to strip the gyro and top plate. Gold would look awful. Back wheel and chain will likely go on tomorrow, or Sunday. Don't matter too much now as I am stuck here due to timing. I switched mum's internet after the bastuds doubled it in price and it is arriving after I was due to leave. I don't like the idea of her having no internet or phone, so yeah I will hang on and sort that. Which also gives me enough time to complete it, winner winner etc.

I think the most annoying part was the scratches got worse. I then clocked that they were filled with muck, grease and black polish remnants (well, Tcut, not polish) and so I went around them all with a cotton bud soaked in alcohol. When they then vanished, leaving the frame looking how it should.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #27 on:** June 24, 2023, 04:25 PM »

OK. So there is now a back wheel and chain, where there was not a back wheel and chain before

Was a breeze. Very well designed frame tbh. Even has a London mod built in.

So I had a look over the two gyros. The SNAFU is just a plastic sliding collet thing. The Stolen? has bearings. As such I did not want to dip it in caustic, as I can't get it apart to grease them and caustic soda and bearings don't go well. So I decided to use the SNAFU. But of course, it is red. I also have a Proper top plate, but it is dark gold. No good. And so, once again it is...

Time. Or, as I quipped last year (but none of you lot got the joke, I am ashamed of you being 80s kids !)

"That's, what my heart yearns for now"

I bet you a tenner you have that stuck in your head all day now lmao.

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GET YOUR BOOTS ON !

The KHE sticker fell off over night. It is tacky paper shite, and the adhesive has gone being 30 years old. So I made a new one. Will get some photos later. I can tune the rear brake pads now later too when it cools down a bit.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #28 on:** June 24, 2023, 09:04 PM »

Again I am stuck. Which is highly irritating, given that it all goes together very well. Unlike a lot of other experimental mid school frames I have fought in the past, this one seems to have been designed really, really well.

OK, so what has been done...

Back wheel, tyre and Gsport gland fitted last night. I was hoping to put one on the front wheel, and I could, but the peg bosses extend out a little too far toward the hub and foul the gland. Booo. I also tried it on the freewheel side of the back wheel, but again it stopped the freewheel going on. If I had a smaller thread freewheel it may clear the body, but sod that noise. Shame, as it adds a lot of beef to the look. I might look into whether I could use my CNC machine to take out the centre hole to clear the freewheel, but that would be a lot of planning, drawing in 3D and then executing.

The chain went on earlier. Easiest chain I have ever fitted.

I have run the dual lower cables. Obviously can't set them up as there is still no gyro on there (oven pride delayed, boo) and so on. The bars and stem need to come back off so I am limited in what I can do.

Found a SNAFU linear dual upper cable, forgot what it was actually for.. It was BNIP, and I bought it to fit to the Morales. The lever was also modified (cut out at the back) to allow it to work. Unfortunately for the levers and the cable I then got 6 piece Standard Strips, which need a 1" over sized lever. Hence why it was all left over. I will probably change the outers to black, IDK. We will see when I can actually start to get it to the correct size and etc.

So aye, quite a lot done in quite a small chunk of time. Like I say, this bike just seems to flow really well and hasn't fought back at all. This one? will be 100% ride ready, unlike the Pork (which still needs the wheels trued and the gyro sorting) and the Morales, which still needs buttoning down and so on. All small things on the Morales, but I wouldn't ride any of them any way given they will be stored in my bedroom.

It's heavy. And when I say heavy? I reckon this is my heaviest bike. I read that one guy who built one weighed it, and it came in at a whopping FORTY EIGHT pounds. And his build did not even use terribly heavy parts. What you may not see is that the top and down tubes, like the Morales, are 2". It has many braces the Morales does not, and a ton of extra tubing to join it together, also unlike the Morales. The rear stays, like the Morales, are 1". Why it doesn't look like it? IDK. Maybe it is the colour throwing light. But when Mike told me it was a tank? he was absolutely correct.

Another oddity is that the chain stays are not one bent tube. They intersect in the middle, and make a V rather than a swooped curve. Very, very nice tbh.

I would imagine though that like the Morales and many other bikes of this era things changed quite fast and pretty radically which resigned them to the annals of time.

Chilli Rinse · « **Reply #29 on:** June 24, 2023, 09:51 PM »

Looking good there man. 48 pounds, are you serious

on yours

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #30 on:** June 24, 2023, 09:55 PM »

I will get some scales soon. I have some fish scales, but they only go to 20lb. Yeah lol.

https://bmxmuseum.com/bikes/four_bike_co/84451

48.1lbs

What I don't know is the gauge of tubing used, but fook me it must be as thick as shit

My fork is very similar, but I reckon it is heavier. It is easily the heaviest fork I have.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #31 on:** June 25, 2023, 10:13 PM »

Gottem. The intrigue was killing me to be honest. I also am dying to find out the difference between the Ti smothered ally Pork and the others too.

Technically the bike is now finished. Anno stripped the gyro and plate earlier, built the bike. The rear cables need a tiny bit more tension and knarps are not terribly happy with that SNAFU gyro (one keeps coming out) but I think it is because there is not enough tension on them. One side is fine, so I have a feeling I just need to bend the cable a bit.

Hopefully in a couple of days the vinyl will be here and I can 100% finish it and shoot a video on it. Will weigh it too.

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #32 on:** June 26, 2023, 07:26 PM »

OK, done.

Well, apart from the stickers. Mechanical work is all complete, bike is dialled. So I weighed it. 38.1lbs. I reckon the guy on BMX museum was lying about his to be honest. I then weighed the 29" PK on the left. 17.9lb

So it weighs more than two of those.

Chilli Rinse · « **Reply #33 on:** June 26, 2023, 09:26 PM »

Awesome man, what a cool tank

Just wait until the other decals are on. You've gotta love everything about this build, especially the paint. Top work as usual

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #34 on:** June 27, 2023, 04:12 PM »

I tell you what is freaky AF.

Someone posted up those DF decals on FB for free. I figured awesome, I will bag those, as they will cover more scratches. So I did, and the guy very kindly sent them to me.

Then last night I was looking at the FBCs on the museum and spotted Brad's 2000 prototype. Look at the down tube !

That's effing MENTAL. What are the odds? seriously?

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #35 on:** June 28, 2023, 02:30 PM »

I think tomorrow is a good day for a video !

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #36 on:** June 28, 2023, 06:30 PM »

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Vidya !

Chilli Rinse · « **Reply #37 on:** June 28, 2023, 10:13 PM »

Those final decals pull it all together beautifully. What a bike, great little vid too. The work on those cranks really paid off too, stunning

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #38 on:** June 28, 2023, 11:10 PM »

If it had one good side and the tcut didn't go under them I would have left it tbh. Was a lot of work. Thing is? the non drive side was ten times worse. Big gouges in the powder, with lots of them missing. I realised that if I rebuilt the decals in photoshop and then made new ones? It would cover almost all of the damage. The only damage left is on the TT above the Battletech decals, but I don't mind that. Needs a couple of scars.

I also knew that real 3M vinyl (not the crap cheap stuff) would stick far better than the original decals, especially to the badly orange peeled powder coat. And I was correct about that, so there is that

Will finish the Eastern over the next few and shoot a video on that.

Chilli Rinse · « **Reply #39 on:** June 29, 2023, 10:10 PM »

BTW, after a good few looks at the Pivit seat I really liked it. So I too sold my soul to the devil and bought one

It's not for the Jane but it will be set aside for the nos Soul frame I forgot I had. For that money it was a solid choice, looks great too

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #40 on:** June 30, 2023, 12:00 PM »

Yeah I never usually buy from there

I made that up on the fly

but aye, nice seat tbh.

Not often he has anything like that at a sensible price.

Mikku · « **Reply #41 on:** July 01, 2023, 10:52 PM »

Quote from: Midschoolfool on June 28, 2023, 06:30 PM

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Vidya !

Watched this last night!

I think I've said this before (and let me first stress that this is in no way meant to be a criticism) but the videos are so British, in terms of your accent, delivery and vocabulary that they make me smile and feel a tad homesick!

You also mentioned the pronunciation of Tange, which made me laugh. When I first came out here and started meeting Japanese BMX guys, they just looked at me blankly when I started talking about Tange, Sugino, Takagi and all the other Japanese brand names that I had been happily mis-pronouncing all these years. Ignorance is bliss, right.

Keep up the good work, both on and off screen!!

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #42 on:** July 02, 2023, 02:03 PM »

Hahaha.

Yeah some things are just British. And I'm 100% unapologetically British.

I met a few ex pats in the US when I lived out there and their accents were shaky at best.

Screw that ! Rule Britannia!

Midschoolfool · « **Reply #43 on:** July 02, 2023, 07:27 PM »

BTW Mick, if you are ever feeling homesick try this

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Not safe for work or children.

Alright my son?

Mikku · « **Reply #44 on:** July 03, 2023, 01:09 PM »

That's bloody funny! Why I have never seen or heard that before I don't know, but better late than never!