RAT bike get in line and post YOUR rat

[RUBONE]

I'm with Cotten! To me those so called "rat" bikes littered with junk are in the same class as a late model twinkie covered with chrome and billet! Boring! Just an attempt to make a spectacle of themselves. A true rat is a well worn, hard used but mechanically sound machine that screams "I've done it before, I do it now, and I will do it as long as I can, the world be damned!" The pic of the Flatty at Davenport is perfect!
Robbie

[Bosheff]

Now we're gettin there....bosheff

[doug_heisel]

yep now we're talking. To me if it's owner was on the road and needed a petcock and couldn't find one but could find a shut off valve or could make a fawsett work he'd use it. and use it as long as it worked. If his headlight fell off on I-80 and he could find a lawn mower headlight that would work he'd use that. If the tank mount tabs broke then you take off your belt and wrap it around the tank. That would make it a rat bike. Its all about function. Of course this is just my honest opinion. and I know we all have one.

[Kuda]

A true rat is a well worn, hard used but mechanically sound machine that screams "I've done it before, I do it now, and I will do it as long as I can, the world be damned!"

Here here!! And I very much like that quote. In fact, that's pretty much the way I live my life... A rat bike, to me anyway, is born of necessity and practicality, not some odd desire to glue things to it.

-Kuda

ps. Hey Doug H, didja notice the bungie cord holding my tanks on in the picture I posted? But I cheated: I did weld the tabs once I got home. Well, a few months after I got home...

[Cotten]

Hey Robbie!

Are you sure you want to include "mechanically sound" as criteria for a Rat?

No doubt they are often a testament to their riders as 'sound mechanics',
but lots of true Rat's are hanging by a thread in one way or another and another.

That's where the romance and adventure comes from.

If you fix everything, suddenly its half-restored.
(Shudder at the thought!)

....Cotten

[RUBONE]

Cotten,
I use the term "mechanically sound" lightly! I don't truly consider any vintage machine sound, and much less so based on the skills of many of their riders to keep them on the road! It takes a special breed to live with some of these beasts. A vanishing breed as I see it.
I saw a great Rat a couple years ago. An old greybeard and lady on a trashed early '70s Moto-Guzzi with rally stickers and a lifetime of road scars on it. Pulling a trailer in the Big Bend country of Texas. You just knew it had been their ride for the last 30+ years. And it wasn't covered with road kill and doll parts, just years of long roads and hard use. Best thing I've seen in a long time.
Robbie

[radarv]

looks like a front end from a Farmall cub

you are corect. it is a farm-all cub hood. radar.

[radarv]

the motor is a International throttle governed LB I am working getting more pictures

hibuc, its a 1 1/2- 2 1/2hp Lb gasoline engine. very cool! I have often thought it would be kind of cool to take an old farm engine & build a bike to putt around at the old engine shows I freqent. one of my other hobbies is an old engine collector/exhibitor.I am very familiar with those engines. super cool bike! regards, radar

[NightShift]

Top Reasons Why Rats Rule:

5: Parts are everywhere.

4: Paint jobs last forever.

3: Citizens dont park too close.

2: They look just as fine as everybody elses under the streetlights in front of the bar.

And the number one reason why Rats Rule:

1: Cleaning breaks things.

Respectfully,

[indianut]

Here is my very good friend's Pan. He does NOT consider it a Rat, but is is a Road Warrior. He bought it in '71 as a Stock '64 Duo-Glide. Now it is still the '64 but with Factory Electric start added, a 2" stretched '57 frame and a GM alternator. He has NOT MISSED Sturgis in 31 years....From Florida, visits his Folks in Oregon Every Year....From Florida, and had ridden it to Alaska TWICE....From Florida. He has tour guided me from Mass to Wyoming and believe me, he knows the Best Camp Spots in the Country. i am Proud to call him my Brother!

rossnsandy.jpg (55.9 KiB) Viewed 939 times

[JR JOHNSON]

indianut,ross and kid are a good friends of mine,here in Oregon,didn't get to see him last year,talk to him on the phone,he had a burt exhaust valve,but he fix it,than head south.when you see him,tell him,JR from Oregon said hi...WITH RESPECT....JR

[JR JOHNSON]

also indianut,did kid get his Indian from you?..also i know kid is going by his real name,but I'm been calling him that for 25 years,and always will.........with respect.JR

[indianut]

JR, When I think of Kid's Indian, I think of the '48 Chopper that he bought when i was 10! If you mean the shiny Candy Apple Red Stocker, no, he didn't get it from me, but I built the Engine! Danny And yeah, I guess he will always be Kid to me too!

[JR JOHNSON]

beauty of the Indians,kids pride and joy.indianut you did a good job! anyway, have a good one, and may there be sunshine and blue skys be in front of us,as the paint job says...............with respect......JR

[Panshovevo]

I finally got a couple of pictures of the UL mentioned in an earlier post, the one a friend put together from the reject parts accumulated while building his ULH.
I apologize for the picture quality. They were taken with a cheap cell phone, on our way to a pre-Daytona party in Ft Pierce last week.
Maybe I'll have a decent camera with me sometime in the future when the bike is out again, and will be able to show the finer details, such as the baling wire holding the front fender away from the exhaust.
Incidentally, it hadn't been run for two months prior to this picture being taken, but with two prime kicks, it started immediately.
Regards,
John

Edited to add that I saw one of the strangest and ugliest things I have ever seen at the above-mentioned party. It was a Knuckle motor, in an aftermarket swingarm frame, with a cast primary and electric start. To top it all off, it had a narrow Glide front end, and a set of custom stretched fatbob tanks that just looked ridiculous.
The crowning feature was the questionable number job on the left case...