Wobble Bike

Build your own wobble bike! This double-jointed rolling wonder lets you steer from both ends. Also known as a "swing bike", there was even a commercially produced version in the 1970's. The wobble bike is one of many types of "freak" or "chopper" bikes you can make. Its one of the easiest to start with if you have never made something like this before. It's also great fun to ride! It only takes a couple minutes to get the hang of it, and then you can ride it nearly anywhere.

You can make the wobble bike in just 3 or 4 hours. You don't need to be very good at welding, but at least have a friend show you how to do it if you've never done it before.

This article is brought to you by MonkeyLectric and the Monkey Light bike light.

WHAT YOU NEED
- 2 steel beater bikes
- a small Arc or MIG welder.
- an Angle grinder with cutoff wheel and paint-stripping wheel

 It takes 2 beater bikes to make one wobble bike. Chop the tubes of the first bike using the cutoff wheel at the three locations shown. You will end up with a separate front half and rear half of the bike. A good cutoff wheel will cut the tubes in just a few seconds. Use the better of the two bikes here since most of this one will end up in the completed wobble bike.

From the second bike we mainly need the steering assembly and top tube. There are 4-5 cuts to make depending on the bike. Cut the frame and fork as shown. Cut one side of the fork flush, the other side leave an inch of tube and cut at the angle shown.

On most bikes the stem (the thing connecting the steering tube with the handlebar) is aluminum, so you can't easily weld it. The stem can't be completely removed because it usually is needed to hold the steering assembly together. So we need to find an exposed area of steel that we can weld to. If the end of the steering tube is accessible that is a good spot, in that case just cut off the handlebar and excess stem. If you can't weld to the steering tube then you can weld to a steel handlebar. Cut the handlebar very short (maybe 3" long) to provide just enough space to weld to.

 I've highlighted in green the part that came from bike #2. In purple are 2 steel bolts I welded on to set the tube angle. Check the positioning before you weld it to make sure the pedals are a reasonable height off the ground when pedaling. You can't weld to a painted bike tube, so near the weld area use the paint-stripping wheel to clean the tubes down to bare metal.  

after welding, paint it!

Riding tip: push the handlebar away from your body when you ride. This keeps the frame straight out in front of you like a normal bike. With this tip you'll be riding it in under 5 minutes. Once you get the hang of it you can learn to casually swing the front wheel way around to the sides for some real style points. Have fun!