Instead of regular Tuff wheel looks i wanted to create something unique and while i have become somewhat obsessed with wheel covers, i was lucky to find some UNI -Crossfire- Trans Am's (Thanks again Kerry!).
They came stock with red die-cut decals so i had to make some custom green ones using the frame of the red decals as a template. Took me some three ours to draw and hand cut them but the result was very good. Well, it's not "perfect" matching green but close enough, besides sometimes i think slight tone variations of single color makes the result more "alive" and interesting in my opinion.

Some fresh mints calming my nerves:


Concentration and steady hand required:


Getting there...


Almost there...


Artistic "Safety first":


Assembly:


After the job was done i rewarded myself with a generous bowl of corn flakes:


..and as usual went out to take some new photos just for you guys. lol:


Thanks for watching!

-Timo

[ September 22, 2006, 07:23 AM: Message edited by: 2FRESH ]

That's an awesome post, cool bike, and even cooler story. I love the pic of the Corn Flakes!

Mike

Very Nice, cool story also. I wouldnt mind having some of those wheel covers. What did they cost and does anyone have some they want to sell?
Peace
Tone

Cool post - cool bike.

Those wheel covers are awesome. Love your posts Timo!

So well done - I completely admire your patience and attention to detail. Awesome job Timo!

Cool Post!

I have several sets of those Covers in their boxes too. I thought those only fit Peregrine Master mags? I could be wrong, but maybe I never tried the Skyways, I forget. I remember them having a hard time fitting beteen the mag's spokes.

Stephen

Those wheel covers rock!! I literally have not layed eyes on a set of those in 20 years! Cool bike story.

Wonderful, thanks for sharing,

Jesse D

That's a great story! And the pics are awesome! I was never much of a Skyway fan BITD, but I've come to appreciate them lately, especially with all of the cool builds I've seen on here. This is definately my favorite!!! The wheel covers make the bike IMO. Great job!

Oh, That pic against the fence with the water, and blue sky in the back drop is perfect! Like something out of a magazine bitd.

Timo, you built another beaut

like Paulie says "love your post Timo"
there always a good read, and imo you are one of the premier builders around here, I always dig your bikes...

those UNIs are so cool...they make the build complete !

BIG props on your picture taking skills too, your pics always look like they were yanked from a 20 yr old issue of Freestylin mag...

If you were to describe it to me, I would cringe when you got to the point about the wheel covers. But looking at it in a photo, I've gotta say, that bike ROCKS! It just looks like everything just....BELONGS there. It would not be the same without the covers. That bike just looks GOOD!
Great photography too!

Highly entertaining post! The fact that you've been hanging onto the frameset for 14 years is cool in it's own right.
Major commitment on the green decals. Perfection!

Nice work as always Timo! I bet working on those covers takes a lot of patience.

If you don't mind repros, I'll send you a set of forks decals for that mean green machine.
Also I'm pretty sure Rinni's has the regular EZ bars in green.
Let me know on the decals, i have some left overs around.


Nice work, I love any Streetbeat, but that thing rocks with those wheel covers.

great post...like the pics w/ differant backgrounds..

I'm diggin that ride man. I like the detail work on the covers

That bike rocks. When I see a post by 2Fresh I know it is going to be good.

Mike, thanks! Can not live without cornflakes.lol.
As for the wheel covers, Tone i got mine from Kerry here on VBMX (thanks again!) they pop up at ebay too every now and then.
bwl007, Ryan thanks! Patience is the key. I am so fond of this bike because of "our" history so i wanted to create something special.
Paul, well.. the "rad-rag" became handy once again when applying some protective silicone coat over plastic parts, so thank YOU.

Stephen, thank you. The assembly instructions say these wheel covers are primarily meant for Tuffs, but they can ALSO be fitted over Peregrines. The problem with Peregrines however is the position of their air valve hole, which on peregrines is off set compared to Tuffs, and would require drilling an extra valve hole on the wheels! Here's direct quote from the UNI Trans Am instruction sheet about the problem fitting them over Peregrines:
"Note: The snapping air cap permits access to the air valve for Tuff Wheels. But, the valve is in the wrong location on the Peregrines. You can either remove the cover or drill a new hole in the rim so that the valve is positioned under the air cap".
Sound pretty hazardous to me and i definitely would not feel very comfortable drilling an extra hole only to assemble a set of wheel covers and or to to get the valve access hole aligned with the actual valve hole. No way. Interesting feature though. lol. Assembly over Tuffs was easy as 1-2-3. There was no problems whatsoever, they fit dead on perfect.

85TrickStar, Jesboogie thank you guys!

OldFreestyler, i agree, the wheel covers bring some character to the bike for sure and make it look more "solid". Thay also have a cool sound effect when pedaling, "wo-woom" just like the car K.I.T.T. in Knight Rider. Usually scares the pedestrians when passing them at close range and pedaling fast.. haha.
Now i'm not yet entirely sure about the "30% less wind drag" feature like they promise on the box. What i have noticed is that they collect a lot of fine dust from the streets because of the recesses. Far more than those flat Olympic style covers or mags without covers. However that isn't a problem cause i wipe them clean them anyway after each ride.
Spicoli, thank you so much for the comments/compliments. I don't consider myself better than any average dude behind a pocket camera taking photos and i don't have professional equipment either, just a Canon A-85 digital pocket camera. But i think i have learned something about taking photos, like the importance of cropping the image, positioning of the object and presenting it from multiple, sometimes unusual angles as well as using the macro zoom for interesting close up shots.
Choosing the right type of background without too many distracting features and good lighting is essential. If there's too much "going on" on the background it usually takes the attention away from the actual object you're shooting at and so forth. For possible color etc. correction and fine tuning like brightness/contrast & whatever, the Photoshop then becomes handy. You can usually rescue pretty badly exposed photos with it but if the photo is already bad it doesn't do any magic tricks, and a bad photo is always just a bad photo. However, the good thing with these digital cameras is that you can always take as much photos as you want, without limitations until you get a good shot and then choose the best ones and delete the rest. Which is why i don't understand those badly exposed photos while people basicly have an endless amount of "film" in their use without limitations.
Agentheinz, thanks!
BedlamBikes, yes that is a special frame for me because i've had it for long time. The stock green has suffered a slight inflation lately with all those green Street Beats floating around ebay etc. But back then when i got it it was unique cause no many had one in use anymore and everybody was ridigng he current equipment. I guess i was the freak riding already seven year old frame & forks set (at the time) but it worked for me. I learned my Crackpackers and no-handed backpackers on it, so i didn't mind riding a "dated" bike. I always remember how my riding buddies couldn't believe how those thin drop out could handle any riding.
Faded87Master, indeed. It took some steady hand and patience first drawing and then cutting the decals. Im sure it would've been easier to get them die-cut from a decal shop/printer but i wanted to make them myself and i thought it wasn't that much of work. The right tone green decal sheet was found pretty easily and it sticks real well.
rcrScott, sure!! I'd be glad to accept those fork decals, yeah! Thank dude, i'll PM ya. Yes i see Ginny has those EZ bars, but i have to save some money first though.
OS BOB-O, PEP, Stussy, thank you guys!

Another "then"..


And "now" (however here with the previous one piece CD style sprocket)..


[ September 23, 2006, 06:41 AM: Message edited by: 2FRESH ]

That warning on the wheel cover is so funny!! Great bike and pix too!!!

2FRESH, I laughed when I read the part where u mentioned the "wo-woom" sound the covers made, lol. Anyone remember the Huffy Sigma?? I bought one when they first came out because they looked different. I would ride it at the local shopping center early in the morning before anything opened just so I could hear the sound effects! lol.

that was some great work glad you stuck with it and took your time making it

loks great

Awesome stroy and pix!

Fresh is the word
Love the Story