High School Bike Build

[X1Glider]

I thought this would have been a no-brainer, but I am finding this generation is not very motivated.  This student body is far different from my class of 1987.

Kids today need an iPhone app to do things.

Sucks that their attitude is like that.  The project is to cool for anyone to pass up IMO.  Maybe the 1 kid really can do it all.  A little faith and guidance is all that's needed.

[Giaka]

Come on fellow STn'ers, like that page, share it, lets help him get more publicity.

Liked and shared........

[spd2918]

Good News!

I booted an immature applicant and got a really nice kid to commit to the project.  The other applicants were not applying due to the goof off kid.  I dreaded turning the him away, but the shop owners do not have time to babysit kids that can't manage themselves.  Lesson learned:  Don't let the school help pick the kids.  They don't have a passion for the project.

Next I will be doing a media blast looking for other students.

[spd2918]

Things are still moving along.  We now have a graphic for the t-shirt design:

[spd2918]

I picked up a donor bike today.  It needs attention but should be running smoothly soon:






I could not resist a deal on a low mileage 2008.  It followed me home:



You may notice that the handle bars disagree with the wheel, and the fork may be a wee bit bent.  I picked up a few items to correct that:

[Jeff]

Very cool project.  
If you don't have the t-shirts printed yet, let me know.

[spd2918]

Dirt bike riders Sean and Kevin are the Class of 2013 Bike Builders:



We going to let them design the paint scheme and bike theme.  They are excited to start work on the bike.  The shop will be installing a webcam to capture the build.  I expect and sped up time lapse video out of it.



T-shirts will be out in a few weeks.  We are finalizing the sponsor list for the back.  My friend will be doing them for cost and we will only have to charge $10 each for them.

[Cheddarhead]

T-shirts will be out in a few weeks.  We are finalizing the sponsor list for the back.  My friend will be doing them for cost and we will only have to charge $10 each for them.

It's a fundraiser, right?  Kick it up a notch...

[spd2918]

$10 means many, many more will be sold.

[spd2918]

It didn't take Kevin and Sean long to tear the bike down.  The tank is on it's way to California to be modified.  The kids decided they didn't want to send the rear hub in- they want to lace it themselves.  They have decided to go with a black powder coat finish on the rims (not the spokes), engine uppers, and misc. other parts.

[falconati]

 

[veefer800canuck]

Why couldn't I have done this in high school.  

Would have been Uber cool.  

Coach asked me once why I wasn't on the volleyball or basketball teams. I told him as soon as he came up with a Downhill Ski Team, and a Motocross Team, I would be the Captain of both!

he never bugged me again.........

[fsr402]

^^ what he said..
I built a house my senor year, a motorcycle would have been much cooler.    

[spd2918]

This wasn't that much hassle to start.  Raise $3,500, find a cheap donor bike, some mentors, and you are off and running.  The businesses are happy to do it and the school is ecstatic.  I will probably have enough money after the bike is sold to seed other area schools.  I want to grow this into a build off in which the school teams unveil their bikes at an event.

[spd2918]

I have some update photos and news:


We did a bake sale a few days before Thanksgiving.  We sold everything and raised over $600:



With permission from RYCA we celaned up their image and made some old school t-shirts.  They sell for $12 locally:


The back:



The students wanted red powder coated hubs and black rims.  I didn't think it was a good idea, but I have to admit they turned out nice.  Sean is proud of the laced front:



The front going back together:



Kevin doing assembly work:

[spd2918]

This project has more information and photos on Facebook under "Spartan Bike Build."

Everything for this year is paid for and we have $900 in our account.  The sale of the bike will add to that and we should have enough to pay for next year's build AND have some seed money to start this program in another area school.  My goal has always been to expand the mentoring and make it into a league of sorts.  I envision a student bike build off at a motorcycle show in which different teams unveil their projects and compete for a trophy.

This year the bike will be sold to the highest bidder (after reserve) on 5/18 at the Twin Ports Motorcycle Expo in Cloquet MN: http://www.twinportsmotorcyclexpo.com/   Come out a see me.  I will have my police bike there, too.

If anyone is interested in starting a program like this, PM me.  It is not difficult and only requires a little public speaking and first year fundraising.  Now that we are established, it should fund itself with a little help from annual t-shirt, mug, and bake sales.

I have to stress that the bike looks awesome.  The kids have great mentors and their fit / finish standards are very high.  They looked at the front end and told me they are not happy with the stock headlight look.  Off it came in preparation for black powder coating.

[bomber]

Not sure how I missed this, but kudos for a great idea!

[james_g]

That's really cool and those rims look sharp. This is going to turn out really, really well.

james

[Flyover Country Joe]

Very, very cool! I had been following the thread and was a little worried when I stopped seeing posts. Glad to see that the project is still going strong.


     Joe