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Bikes and music are both amazing ways to experience community. Combining them takes the whole thing to a new level.
I've been creating bicycle sound systems since 2002. My friends and I use them for impromptu Halloween parades, Critical Mass rides, and smaller Cruiser Rides that I organize on RocktheBike.com
After building four different "Soul Cycle" party bikes, as I call them, I decided to go off the deep end and build my ultimate bike, to my highest, most exacting standards for visual details, sound quality, ease of use, features, and overall cosmic qualities. The Soul Cycle Chopper is now almost complete after 2-3 years of hard work. I'll be taking you through the overall process of making this bike at a fairly high level, and diving deeper into a few techniques that I think are cool or useful.
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Signing UpStep 1Concept phase.
This is the inspiration stage, the brainstorm. Have fun. Pull out your notebook when you're on the subway and draw your ideas. Later on you'll have to deal with dimensions, components, and techniques, but at this point you're just drawing.
Fill up your notebook, identifying which are the key features, thinking of the overall visual look. One of the key features I was going for with the Choprical Fish was a laid-back cruiser / chopper look that was still capable of carrying a powerful sound system and climbing hills.
Fill up your notebook, identifying which are the key features, thinking of the overall visual look. One of the key features I was going for with the Choprical Fish was a laid-back cruiser / chopper look that was still capable of carrying a powerful sound system and climbing hills.
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without the stench or itching, i could picture tackling this kind of project at home now. i might be inclined to work with clay & molds though instead of messy styrofoam. i prefer working with materials that can be molded into shape than carving away at them like the foam i carved for casting aluminum in an art class. that squeaking noise foam makes is painful too.
if only i could get a custom fabricated bike frame now!
Even though you didn't know much about the welding process, I would have liked to have known the type of welding process he used, the rods, the amps, the gas etc. You could have asked your welding mate.
Nice project and thanks for the blog.
Benny
music.
Joe
Party Bike v2? :D
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkulQvz-efw
anyways, you can easily find all shapes & sizes of speakers if you google image search for cool looking, weird, & funky etc. speakers. i even saw some that were dragon shaped.
a really CHEAP way to get cool looking speakers if you're concerned about total sound quality is to go to a thrift store & buy some funky shaped "boombox shelf system" speakers & paint them.
there are a few really cool looking outdoor speakers too. i can't remember who made some really futuristic oval shaped ones i liked that were $400+
if you look into wakeboard & boat tower speakers, you'll also find a lot of really cool looking & wicked expensive chrome speakers too.
there's the info you need to re-research the info i lost & don't want to look up again.
we'd like to make it THE hub for ALL street party cyclists & fans to hang out if more people would join the forum. we'd REALLY love it the soul cycle/choprical fish crew stopped by to show their rigs off & talk shop.
the hobby is really starting to grow. i bet most people will have heard of bike stereos within the next 5 years.
if you want to, check it out here and you can see the current banner i'm using now, but choprical fish would look really great for the middle.
http://takatomon2000.googlepages.com/my_street_party_bike
http://www.bikeology.net/
he says it's not as loud as a car system, but to people on the street, i bet it embarrases the daylights out of most wannabe boomin' cars especially there as he said the car audio scene isn't that big and most systems are just off the shelf bazookas etc.
http://mywilson.homestead.com/gallery0.html
if you aren't registered there, it would be a good place to show your ride off as i don't see any street party bikes there yet.
your bike has inspired me to do a custom of my own that will be much more comfortable than my stretch lowrider AND much louder and tighter looking than my mountain bike with a better center of gravity.
i don't know when i'll get it built, but the mock ups i did looked promising. thanks for the inspiration. a simple trailer for my lowrider just isn't that exciting, but the bike i'm planning will have a few tricks no-one has thought of yet as far as i've seen. i'll definately be stealing your dual kickstand idea, but with some changes. until it's built though, i'm keeping it TOP SECRET so no-one can beat me to the punch.
this bike is really making me want to do some fiberglass fabrication for phase 2 of my mountain bike instead of using off the shelf outdoor speakers.
http://takatomon2000.googlepages.com/my_street_party_bike
custom fabrication & lighting are so much cooler.
BTW, if you're looking for more power for your system, blaupunkt has put out a 75wpc @ 4 ohms car stereo amp. that's what i'm looking to do next with my ride, or possibly build a full custom wagon for my lowrider