some things about my tandem project

here is a short video of my home-made tandem highlighting a few of the problems and solutions.

How 1 day I set out to clean my shed and wound up with a Tandem.

So one day I was shuffling things around in and out of the shed and when I saw this:

One thing led to another and pretty soon I had a project: Why not build a tandem bike?  This is pretty much a step-by-step pictorial essay of that process



Just getting a feel for things, and getting the frames and parts
cleaned up



First cut.

Checking alignment.

Need a way to be sure the sprockets are going to line up. 

The boards were bolted though the crank holes on either side to keep them
aligned while I welded the top of the frames together.

At this point I was somewhat concerned about how
high the front crank was

Finally starting to get it together.

Two sections of steel tubing welded between crank hubs
for strength.

I finally decided not to cut off those cool curved pieces and
heated them and bent them down and in.  Probably not any
added strength, I just liked the way they looked.

At this point I put some wheels on and bounced around a
little just to make sure the welds weren't going to
break as soon as the bike got a little weight on it.

Add a little color...

At this point I still wasn't sure about how to get rear handlebars
on the thing but we had a little test run just to see if there were
any unforeseen problems.  That front crank is 14" off the  ground
and if it were any higher it would be a problem because that front
seat is about as low as it can go and at 6' I just can get a foot
down when stopped.

After a lot of thought I came up with this.  It's made from 2 of those rear carriers
that clamp on the seat post.  I cut about 4" off each and welded them together.
Worked great but, you need a heavier than normal goose neck or it won't fit.  The
good news is that because of the way the clamping mechanism on those carriers works
you basically have a "quick-disconnect" for the rear bars which means you can take them
off to make the mount and dismount easier for the front rider.

This is where it stands today, functional and enjoyable.

I think it turned out pretty well for my first attempt, and really my first welding project where the strength of the weld actually matters.  It's not finished though...I want fenders (there are some nice chrome ones on my wife's Schwinn but she won't give them up.) I also would like a chain guard, and probably need an idler sprocket to keep tension on the front chain, but I'm looking to change sprockets if I can find two that are compatible, and better brakes.

This is a conglomeration of parts from 5 different bikes.  All were scavenged at no cost except that aqua-colored one that makes up the rear end and the front fork, and that one has been mostly un-ridden for 15 years. (It was a present to my daughter on her 11th birthday, so that cost has been pretty well written off.)

So the total cost of the project:  

 $8.00 - new chain

$12.00- long cables for gears and rear brakes

 $9.00- 2 cans of spray paint

 $3.00- master links

$32.00

As I said...this is a composite of 5 bikes...that means there are a ton of bike parts that didn't make the cut for this project, so.............