This is the underside of Duane's Pink Taco after DB fabbed the slab and Jason Balls at S&M welded it up. This piece forms the bottom of the gas tank, so Balls' welds needed to be water tight. He builds BMX frames by day, so his beads are pretty sweet.
Interior view of rear fender and bottom of integrated gas tank. DB has grinded the welds for sexy smoothness.
This intersection ("cluster" in old road-bike terms) was way more challenging than it looks. The parallel members running north/south from head tube to fender are 1/2" OD 0.049" wall tubing. The vertical uprights that form the skeleton of the gas tank are 1/2" OD solid bar stock. The fender is 14-gauge steel. All these disparate wall thicknesses and materials converge beneath the space where Duane's 250 pounds of man meat will sit when this lawn dart goes down the highway. Yes, there will be approximately 2 gallons of gas an inch below Duane's junk.
This is a super-secret pop-up gas cap. It's located in the front third of the Pink Taco's back bone/fuel cell. Trick.
The finished one-piece sheet metal, pre TIG welding at S&M. When chopper legend Sugar Bear saw Duane's build in progress, it brought a tear to the man's eye. It's been a long time since this much funk has been built into one stretched-out chopper. When it comes to building '70s super bikes, Duane Ballard ain't no jive turkey.
1 comment :
There was once a lowrider built in the late 70's in NorCal by Billy Bud called "the cinderella" bike. Had Disney characters all over it doing nasty things. It was a Honda and had a frame/tank like that. I wonder if he got any influence from that bike.
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