I thought i would start a thread for my XL which i'm going to custom. I think this will take me a while, through the winter months. I will post plenty of pictures as i know we all like them
This is what it looked like when i bought it.



The strip down begins....

Looks mean and moody. Is this because it's just black and chrome or because i took its clothes off in the cold cellar?
I gave the front wheel a bit of a clean to see how it came up.
I don't think i will be using the wheels on this one as i have some nice white mags i bought from ebay usa, there in the post to me now.

It's clothes!

The plan is to go white and blue as the wheels are white.
Swap the bars for mrk1 or 2's to give it more of a stanard base.
(Standard seems to be the wrong word when doing a custom but i'm sure you all know what i'm saying.)

The frame, forks and bars are going to be powdercoated white and all other bits are going to be blue or chrome.

It looks brillant in my head!!!

It's looking better already!!  

Got my first chance of the week to spend half an hour in my cellar on the bike, it didnt go well!
Had a big paddy and mashed a cotter pin in crank arm,very bent, other one came out fine. i will now have to wait till i can get to the shop for a drill bit to get it out. What size bit do you suggest?
(i told you i was new to this, i use to give it to my brother when i broke my Grifter all them years ago).
I got one of the pedals of easy and the other is having a nice soak in DW40.
Cant take the crank out as i planned today so thought i would put an update on my thread.

why does that happen, one cotterpin will fall out and the other so stubbon you would swear its welded in there. to be honest its only happened on rusty crank arms for me, so i have sacrficed them and hacksawed them in line with the pin and managed to cut the pin through the middle. the only time i tried drilling i managed to drill beside the pin coz the pins harder than the arm. best of luck , look forward to seeing your progress.

hey sigh remember the pedal on the non chain side needs to go clockwise to come off.

Is that Darth Vader hiding in the background?

The force is obviously strong in this one HRZ!!!!  

I bet the force is not as strong as the BLEEPING cotter pins. I have managed to snap a drill bit inside the stuck one! Just like when i was a child i'm taking to my brothers to get it out, he has loads of gadets and gizmos.

The cotter pin is DEAD! It took a lot of drilling, what did they use to make them. ha ha. I will finsh the strip down later this week when i have more time then it's of to my mates for powder coating.
I have found a good local bike shop who is going to get me some parts i need. Already got me some blue gum wall tyres. My white tuff 2 mag wheels have cleared customs from America and i'm hoping they will get delivered soon.
I will post some pictures when it gets more interesting.

Nice one, those damn cotter pins, i think they must be made of the same stuff as the black boxs on planes, i swear!!. keep us all posted with the pics, and i hope your wheels get to you soon  

Dont be afraid children, Sigh has not been eaten by thoses nasty cotter pins. I am alive and well, just changed my name so it's not the same as other sites i'm on.

Update-
Not had any spare time to work on my bike  But have just finished strip down.

Cleaned some bits up.

Nice blue mushroom grips and tyres.

I'm changing my mind on a few things at moment.
Going to do the frame, forks and crank cover in blue not white. Too much time to think about it and not enough time to work on it.  

--Last edited by Mid Life on 2008-01-27 20:22:11 --

Well that was a fun filled few hours, NOT!!!!

That's looking mighty sweet as it is!!! 8)

ooooh a nikid grifter  

porn

Not a happy chappy!
The white skyway tuff 2's that i bought on ebay USA have been stolen!
They made it all the way from America to Leeds with no problem then some nice person has pinched the Parcelforce van with my package in it.
They were a big part of what i wanted to do so now i'm going to sulk in my cellar and see how the original wheels clean up.
             

That sucks!!! Who did you buy them off, any chance of getting compensation from Parcelfarce?

Bought them from a nice bloke in America who had them on his bmx.
Very nice white skyway tuff 2's with suntour freewheel.
Spoke/shouted and parcleforce today and just sent them a e mail saying that you can't just go buy these things of the shelf. I told them the last pair i saw sell on ebay went for over £200 and what are they going to do.
I was surprized when none of the buner lads saw them and got them for a bargin. Might have been because it was near christmas.
i now have to wait whlie the sender in america claims the money back so he can send back to me.
Just to top my day off the chrome on the original back wheel is not good, very pitted.
I'm going to stamp my feet and sulk like a child, is this ok at 37 years old?

stamping of feet works best when your that age

same age as me

I do it all the time