Yakimono Klunker: Where Vintage MTB Meets Atmospheric-Fired Pottery

A guest post by Shane Sellers: artist, educator, Philly Bike Expo ambassador, and Velo Orange collaborator. To see this bike in the flesh, come out to this year's Philly Bike Expo!

I do see the connection: Cycling is a celebration and Ceramics are a celebration. Klunker mountain bike culture and atmospheric fired pottery embody a shared ethos of reverence for raw materials, a hands-on approach to creation, and an appreciation for the imperfections and character born from natural processes. Does this reflect a rejection of mass-produced uniformity in favor of DIY and handcrafted experiences? As Iggy Pop might say “Raw Power, it can’t be beat. Poppin eyes and a-flashin’ feet.”   

Every couple of weeks I am reminded of how much I enjoy the blending of my worlds of bike culture and pottery culture. The love of the natural environment and experiences born of sweat, dirty hands, scrapes and maybe a few blisters. Going into spring I felt the yearning for a new project having started a previous project (the original “Yakimono Bike”) about a year prior. Knowing that I would be attending the Canaan Valley Mountain Bike Festival gave me the impetus to build on my idea with the inspiration coming from a klunker build. After spending a few months looking for an early 80’s mountain bike I was coming up dry until, by good fortune, I was able to locate a 1984 Schwinn High Sierra just 12 minutes from my house.

Unfortunately, the bike had been left below a tree, for God knows how long, and the last time it was used the seat post had been slammed all the way down inside the seat tube and it was cold welded in place. Along the way somebody had tried to remove it with brute force, but all that did was break a weld on the non-drive side where the seat stay was attached to the seat collar.  Bikes in this condition seem to find their way to bulk trash piles and scrap yards, but there are those of us who see opportunities instead of junk.  

After a few days of soaking frame/post connection in PB-blaster and making a few choice exclamations I was able to get the seat post free. Well, also after clamping the post in a bench mounted heavy duty vise with the bike upside down. In that position you can have one person on either side of the frame slowly and carefully twisting until the seat post finally loosens up enough to fully remove. Having already removed all the other parts, some are salvageable – like the sweet crankset. Others too crunchy for me to want to keep.

Thankfully, I was able to clean up the wheelset as the Japanese made hubs and bearings were surprisingly smooth, just sticky with dried up grease.  The Araya rims were also straight and polished up well.

They are now held on by Runwell lug nuts, which are quite a beautiful piece of necessity.  Thankful for this success, the fun truly began. Now I get to head down to Velo Orange HQ for a visit and parts search, which is always a good day.

 

Now what you came for…the parts run down: The VO Quill Stem with Faceplate is a god send for frames of this day and age because it opens a world of possibilities for handlebar choice and height adjustment.

For my set up I used the VO Klunker Bars and VO Basket Weave Grips (I personally love the color). The original Dia-compe cantilever calipers and levers were serviceable, but needed a deep scrub and some elbow grease to polish.

They have good spring tension, grab well and the four finger Dia-compe brake levers feel so secure when running old brakes compared to the tiny levers of today.  For my drivetrain I kept the original 170 mm arm Sugino crankset but mounted a VO Drillium Chainring all held on to a VO Square Taper Bottom Bracket.

The rest of the “single-speed” drive train is a funny bit of functional business. While there are reasonably nice single speed freewheel options available today, I did not want to break the bank and wanted to be able to have options. SOOOOO, I went with a Shimano Dura-Ace 7 spd freewheel that was in NOS condition. Sometimes you gotta be patient, ask around, dig in a few bike shop basements, and maybe even find a suitable six-pack to convince interested parties in the validity of your project.  Shimano Dura-Ace like XTR , esp. when vintage, is always a good idea. While I would have gone with the VO eccentric bottom bracket had I needed traditional chain tension, for multi-speed flexibility I built a chain tensioner out a beautiful vintage Shimano Altus rear mechanism. Cutting the lower half off, using the limit screws, and a small piece of cable connected to the original barrel adjuster allows one to move the chain to the correct cog location on the rear.

This also keeps chain tension needed without having to add or remove links. Maybe a silly idea for some, but my projects are a combination of aesthetics along with functionality so there ya’ go. The pedaling is smooth and beautiful running the new Blue Lug x MKS bear trap pedals also available through the folks here at VO. The final touch of style blending involves the use of a Wolftooth B-Rad mounting plate holding the 15mm lug wrench and my favorite Japanese trimming tool I picked up near Seto Japan.   

With all the bike bits in place my focus moved to the ceramic display components and the pottery itself. With the vibe of the project inspired by vintage MTB Klunker aesthetics along with a little 80’s BMX inspo I went with my original Yakimono Bike display box and a new “Yakimono Klunker” panel cut from an old hand saw blade.

The other display stand is built from a wooden plate and held by a metal bracket made from the same saw blade. That part features a small nod to the VO crew while holding up the small platform showing some Japanese style inspired teacups. Having built some teacups for the folks at Blue Lug this past winter. I wanted to create something similar but with the spirit of the Canaan MTB Festival and vintage bikes in mind. The jockey wheel cups are usually created in a series, but each with their own individual messages.  Typically made on a potter’s wheel they are fired in an electric kiln, sodium vapor kiln or a wood fired kiln. There are also a few cups with a 90’s cable hanger design as 90’s era riding is part of my mountain bike origin story.

Not fussy and not slick but fun, functional and rustic is the place where these pots land in the world of aesthetics.  Finishing most of the pottery just in time for the Canaan Valley MTB Fest I was kindly permitted to set up this creation at the entrance of Blackwater Bikes in downtown Davis, WV during the festival weekend in June. I am thankful Sue Haywood and the entire team of passionate volunteers that run the festival and create such a good time. Besides the beautiful Velo Orange components, the kind folks from Philly Bike Expo, Wolftooth and Industry Nine donated goods to the event fundraising raffle and made the event that much more meaningful to the spirit of the mountain bike!  The fact that we can resurrect these old rigs and make them more usable is a testament to their longevity and the good fortune of folks like Velo Orange who are still in the business of supporting that possibility. So go ride and build your bike the way you want.  After all, it is yours, not theirs and the possibilities are endless.