Personal Bike Project
Personal Bike Project from James Hertzel
Personal Bike Project

I needed a cheap and simple form of transportation campus. My design specifications were for the bike to be lightweight, fast, and cheap. I wanted to display my artistic and innovative side, so I wanted to make something never done before. My decision implemented a vintage military motorcycle theme. The crank arm that originally came with the bike became worn and I was not happy with much of the bikes current state. That issue jump started this project and shortly I had purchased a inexpensive donor bike. The cranks, wheels, tires, front fork, and stem were swapped.

Future additions include a front headlight and a tail light. The lights are purchased and I am working on creating a circuit.

Please look through the pictures provided for detailed information about the build process.

I purchased this bicycle early March of 2013. The paint was chipping and there were dents, scratches and dings on the frame.
Due to the desire for simplicity and speed, I chose to create a low geared single speed bike, To make the frame more streamlined and visually appealing, I ground off the cable holders.
The bicycle uses a square tapered bottom bracket. The left side crank arm shown became worn and the hole was rounded. A dent on the left side chain stay can also be seen.
I wanted to be through and repair any imperfections in the frame. In order to do that I needed to remove the paint and apply body filler. To work on my bike I lashed three large branches together to create 2 tripods.
Body filler was applied to the top tube, down tube, and chainstays.
The drive side crank arm that came off the donor bicycle had stripped threads. I machined new threads so that the crank could be removed with a crank puller when needed.
The newly threaded section is shown above.
The fork taken off of the donor bike did not match the original one. A spacer was needed to tighten the headset to the bearing caps. I used the lathe to remove the threaded section of this part and increase the ID. Unfortunately the part broke in the lathe. While searching the local craigslist I found a fork that fit for $5. I purchased that part and and currently using it.
To complete the military look, I made a stencil for a militaristic star. I found an image online and adjusted its size. I then printed it out on paper and applied two strips of 4" painters tape over the star. I then fed the paper through the printer again so that the shape was printed onto the tape. The shape was cut out and the remaining section of tape became the stencil.
The frame was painted in the paint booth on campus. A primer coat was applied along with 4 coats of Olive Green Krylon spray paint, and 6 coats of Krylon Matte Clear spray paint.
The fork, seat post, and crank arms were painted black and received the same paint treatment.
After the part were painted, the bike was assembled. At this point in the build I was waiting on a honey leather seat and a gold colored chain. The gold chain was chosen to compliment to theme since the links look similar to brass bullet casings.
The seat and chain were installed along with hockey tape handle bar grips. This project had remained in this state until mid summer of 2013. I had found a saddle bag at a garage sale so I was excited to complete the military motorcycle theme.
This is the current state of the bike. The back rack, saddle bags, cargo straps, and wooden base plate were installed. Please see the project: Bicycle Saddle Bag, for more details.
I plan to do a camping trip with friends along the erie canal. There is a bike path that stretched across western New York. I am excited to load my bike up and make the Trek.
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Personal Bike Project

I needed a cheap and simple form of transportation campus. My design specifications were for the bike to be lightweight, fast, and cheap. I wanted to display my artistic and innovative side, so I wanted to make something never done before. My decision implemented a vintage military motorcycle theme. The crank arm that originally came with the bike became worn and I was not happy with much of the bikes current state. That issue jump started this project and shortly I had purchased a inexpensive donor bike. The cranks, wheels, tires, front fork, and stem were swapped.

Future additions include a front headlight and a tail light. The lights are purchased and I am working on creating a circuit.

Please look through the pictures provided for detailed information about the build process.

James Hertzel
Product Design Engineer Rochester, NY