Below: "RCAF (Royal Canadian Air Force) bike"
Nanaimo is located right between Canada's pacific naval fleet base and Comox airbase (home of the snowbirds) so getting true military inspiration came easy. I have always loved the legend of the ''Avro Arrow'' fighter plane so I decided to build my bike using air force colours & the markings of the 1st arrow to be test flown. I chopped the back end off an old italian folding bike and welded it to the front half of a de-raked & shortened cruiser frame. The back end screamed military to me, so I threw on some bags etc to carry gear around the base , gave my headlight a low beam profile as to not alert over passing planes of my location and made sure an old SA 3 speed I put in the back wheel was ready for flight.Did a little leather work on the grips and forks & now...The RCAF bike has passed all testflights and is ready for inspection.
This bike is made from an old unknown bike purchased at a garage sale. I spray painted the frame, bars, rims and white star sprocket. Stenciled the lettering. The peaked fenders are off another old bike. The rear rack I initially had on the bike held the ammo cans which can be slipped on and off.
This is the letter I sent to the Military to let them know about my son's dedication to them. In turn they sent a Unit Patch of the brigade of the unit serving in Afghanistan right know. We in turn made it a shield and placed it on the front of the bike. Later both local newspapers did an article about the build and the bike.
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Hello my name is Murray Greissel and I'm a resident of Maple Ridge BC. While on a trip to Vancouver Island to our Grandparents, my son Mason, who is eight, was given an old BMX bike that was in much need of repair. So with a challenge in mind Mason asked if we could rebuild it? So I said "Sure we can! So what colour would you like to be?" his reply was "Army green Dad!" so with that we began the tear down. As the build progressed I asked my son for no reason at all one night "So son, why green, and not one with cool colours with flames?" his quick reply was "I would like to dedicate it to the soldiers who fight for us!" Initially taken back by this reply, I felt very proud that my son's thoughts rested with others first at such a young age! Attached are a few pictures of the build as it stands. With the help from Mom and a little research on military vehicles, we made stickers to give the bike a real army look. There are still many things left for him to build on the bike. However I felt compelled to share this with the people who this would mean the most to. The ones who have served, and the ones who continue to serve.
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It was asked by Mason that "Would it not be cool if we could place an army sticker on the bike!" So may I ask you if you could please help me in finding a Canadian Infantry sticker for Mason to complete the build? I hope to make a shield for the sticker to rest upon in the front were the front reflector would be. When the bike is completed I will send on more pictures. Please feel free to forward this story onto those who you feel would like to hear about this.
As for the bike, it was an early 90's BMX Hurricane supercycle..20" we just rebuilt everything and replaced all brakes and bearings. As for the seat, I do Upholstery so I sewed up a seat with olive drab and gun metal steel to match the bike. All stickers were made by the local high school graphic arts students.
Murray and Mason Greissel Maple Ridge, British Columbia, Canada.
