Hi Guys. Finally figured how/where to post. I am 72, unemployed, and building a Lotus 7 replica (Locost) to keep my mind from fermenting. I have had about 145 motorcycles and still have about 7 plus 4 motorbikes. I have built about 15 since the 7th grade. I started out with a Briggs & Stratton WI from a Maytag washer. I didn't have brakes or a clutch, but I invented stoppies with my soles on the front tire, and about 3 legs along got it running again, so it took me-to school all year 10 blocks for a small square tank My latest one is a Monarch frame powered with a Jiang Dong OHV and a 3-speed Sturmy-Archer rear hub transmission as a jackshaft. Since it freewheels the wrong direction, I had to use another one behind it. I kept the governor on this one for cruise control. It turns 3100 on governor and runs 41 uphill, 42 level, and 43 downhill. I did an essay on the construction details of it and others as well as a lighthearted look at growing up with motorbikes in the
40's-60's
I would like to share if someone would point me at the appropriate place in this jungle to copy/paste 2 pages.
I also bought one of those terrible Chinese 80cc moped kits. I WORKED MY BUTT OFF to make it fit a vintage Schwinn cruiser frame. I had to use a 12" metal lathe to cut the sprocket hole out to fit my Komet coaster brake, milled a piece of ally to space the air cleaner away from the seat post, and replaced the peddle sprocket with a little girl's sprocket to get the motor down in the crotch of the frame. The Chinese at one time made a bike that would take the kit w/o mods, but that was old news. No one would contact me, nor would the guy in my own state, Oklahoma who was an importer.
The straight cut primary gears are almost louder than the exhaust note.:rideAnyhow it works well except the gas tap is too restrictive. I plan to trash the screen and insert an inline filter A lean run could fry the engine. If anyone wants to talk or ask anything, Email me at
williamsk1936@yahoo.com. I live in Bartlesville Oklahoma, 50 mi. N of Tulsa
Keith (trackfodder)Williams
