Atlantis Redo

[Ken Yokanovich]

Sometimes projects drag on a bit longer than desired. This one started in July and the whole assembly and final parts selection is still in process.  Impatient, I threw on some parts so that I could get it out during the Thanksgiving weekend for a bit of a ride.  Glad I did because the weather has now turned to full winter, 0 degrees right now and a good amount of snow on the ground.

I had Eric Noren at Peacock Groove add a kickstand plate and mid-fork braze-ons in early July. I also had him face the dropouts and all of the braze-ons with stainless washers. Realizing that I had precious little time to get a paint job on it in time for a late July tour, I gave it a REALLY ugly rattle can paint job at the time so that I could go on RAGBRAI.

Over the period of August and up until Thanksgiving I took my time and attempted to do a better job with the paint. I have a much greater appreciation for just how difficult it is to paint a bicycle!  I had high aspirations for fancy paint work and contrasting headtube. Reality sunk in quickly and I justified the single-color decision.  I figured that by the time I get racks, fenders, and all the parts mounted there will be enough going on that one color might be best anyhow. :)

2 coats of primer, 3 base coat, and several clear. Enough clear over the decals to make them almost smooth with the surface of the paint.   I ran out of paint and then out of clear... My outdoor paint booth was subject to occasional moisture issues and had very limited hours of operation as the days grew shorter this fall.  Then cooler temperatures complicated the difficulty of getting the clear to flow out smoothly. I ordered my paint through AutomotiveTouchup based on the color of an automobile. The color didn't turn out 100% the way I had envisioned.  I was hoping for more of a black-cherry color, but the red-color only shows up in the sunlight.  Other times and lighting it almost looks like a green or blue.

Lots of sanding, wet sanding, then polish to get me to the point where I am quite pleased with the results. Pics or it doesn't exist, right...? 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31359238@N06/sets/72157638215050844/ 

-- 
Ken Yokanovich 
Roseville, MN

[cyclotourist]

Absolutely stunning, Ken. Congratulations on a labor of love!

> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.
> To post to this group, send email to rbw-owne...@googlegroups.com.
> Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
>


--
Cheers,
David

"it isn't a contest. Just enjoy the ride." - Seth Vidal

[hsmitham]

Ken,

Very impressed with your paint skills...I decided to have someone more competent than I to do the paint & braze on work...supposed to get it back in a week or two. Since I purchased the Atlantis used and am paying for the braze on work plus the paint and all new parts I'll have to wait on a Phi Wood wheel set gotta save for that. Which on your bike with the stainless fenders looks absolutely awesome. Well done. I'll enjoy the pics when they come with all the racks and bags.

~Hugh

[Eric Platt]

Ken,

Nice job!  Going to keep my eyes open for that one around town next spring.  Love the color.  

BTW, some of the folks are more dedicated than others.  Saw someone commuting home yesterday on the snow and ice packed roads on a custom Rivendell.  Didn't look like he had studded tires on, either.

Eric Platt

St. Paul, MN

--

[Tony DeFilippo]

Great looking bike! Hi class all the way round... I've never heard of the stainless washer facing, it looks great. Is it to lengthen the life if the braze on's or more for appearance?

What size frame is it? I'm curious how well it packs up with those S&S couplers for travel.

Tony

[Ken Yokanovich]

Thank you for the compliments Hugh

I had started down the path of having someone else do the paint.  Naively inspired by a reflection on a middle school experience of painting a shop class project I figured that I would give it a shot.  I put about $150 into materials and countless hours labor.

I had Arkel make some khaki colored panniers several years ago. I am hopeful that the final finished project will look rather smart with my Nitto front and rear racks from Rivendell. 

[Ken Yokanovich]

Eric, I know I have run into you on Como Ave, and if that was where you saw your dedicated Rivendell rider, it may have been none other than Curt Goodrich.  I know I used to catch him quite often and chat on our way home along Como.  

I have taken a different job consulting and miss my riding!

[Ken Yokanovich]

The mounts for fenders and racks seem to always take abuse and be the start of corrosion. I had the idea and Eric took it and ran. :)

The Atlantis is a 61 and packs well into the S&S hard case. It can be a bit of a pain, but it is niceto be able to bring a bike. More importantly, it does facilitate getting a bike with fenders and racks into a small hatchback if needed.

[Shoji Takahashi]

Beautiful. When you wrote "rattle can paint job", I was expecting something else entirely. (Based on my skills, it would look like... rattle can paint job.)

Enjoy the ride, and don't let the cold keep you inside.

[Tony DeFilippo]

Very cool, I've been told my 64 would be a tight fit if possibly a no go all together...

Great looking bike and having put so much time in yourself I'm sure it is all the more special.  Happy riding!

On Dec 6, 2013 9:46 AM, "Ken Yokanovich" <reflector...@gmail.com> wrote:

The mounts for fenders and racks seem to always take abuse and be the start of corrosion. I had the idea and Eric took it and ran. :)

The Atlantis is a 61 and packs well into the S&S hard case. It can be a bit of a pain, but it is niceto be able to bring a bike. More importantly, it does facilitate getting a bike with fenders and racks into a small hatchback if needed.

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to a topic in the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group.
To unsubscribe from this topic, visit https://groups.google.com/d/topic/rbw-owners-bunch/3MJD646c9EI/unsubscribe.
To unsubscribe from this group and all its topics, send an email to rbw-owners-bun...@googlegroups.com.

[Pondero]

Oh, the patience! I have great admiration and respect for work like that. Beautiful.

[MoVelo]

Ken

Thank you for sharing you labor of love. Having gone thru a similar process I can fully understand the hard work, frustration and dedication it took you to get to the beautiful result. 

Enjoy the fruits of your labor .

James Poulson

Kansas City, MO

[Ryan]

Wow..that is stunning. That Atlantis used to be yellow, correct?

 

That looks like a very professional job to me. Beautiful bike. I have to say I like that colour more than the stock colour

 

I know a few years ago, you had a bad bike/car accident that had some serious long term effects. I hope your resurrected Atlantis  signals that a healing is on the way.

 

Be well....Ryan in Winnipeg

On Friday, December 6, 2013 8:45:54 AM UTC-6, Ken Yokanovich wrote:

[Tom Virgil]

Ken,

Your Atlantis is exquisite.  Unbelievable that you did this with rattle cans.  It is great to see a Rivster with a passion for doing something. with such thoroughness.  Facing dropouts and the braze-ons with stainless steel washers is an excellent thing to do and I will adopt the idea on a coming build (with due credit, of course).

I think the rattle cans need about a minimum 70 degrees to work correctly.   In my teenage days of building model cars, when it was cold, I would set the cans in a warm water bath to get them up to temperature.  Of course surface temperature probably also is a factor.  I have also done a few forks.  In my single days, heat treating enamel in the kitchen oven was an option.  Since marriage, not so much.

Thank you for this.

Tom

On Thursday, December 5, 2013 11:12:53 PM UTC-8, Ken Yokanovich wrote: