Deacon's Bike

deacon · #11 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 01:06 PM

Just so you guys don't think things go smooth for everyone but you. I bought two coaster brake 20" wheels on ebay last friday. I paid with paypal so it would go quickly. Okay in all honesty the engine setup went a lot quicker than I thought, and it will go even faster next time but the wheels now here is the story.

I bought and paid for them on friday last week. So yesterday early I emailed the seller to ask how he shipped them so I could keep up with it. He didn't answer so today he called me just now its noon on wednesday.

Oh I'm sorry charlie, I over sold them we don't have those wheels now. I can send you chrome rim ones with white tires. I can ship them today by us priority mail you should have them by next week.

I wonder why the **** he didn't tell me that last friday. I was ready for those wheels like yesterday. I have the engine on the bike, the cable run and the kill switch on there as well. So now I get to twiddle my thumbs for three more days. What a crock. I might just ride up to the thrift store to see if they have a 20" kids bike for sale.

Of course this bike I'm building isn't a priority my china girl bike still runs well. Knock on wood.

**Bikeguy Joe** · #12 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 05:10 PM

That's what negative feedback is for.

deacon · #13 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 05:17 PM

yes it is, I swear i hate to do that for a simple mistake since i dont care about the color of the rims, what I do care about is the loss of time.

**Bikeguy Joe** · #14 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 07:12 PM

Well, a lot of times, people "accidentally oversell" on ebay....I had a go 'round with a guy about a bicycle motor chain over that very thing. It cost me time and money because of his greed.

I gave him bad feedback.

deacon · #15 (**permalink**) 04-09-2008, 07:52 PM

This is a case where I am building for me but what if I had decided to build one for money? Then I would be hopping up and down. I am very, very customer service oriented. If he had made me late by five days on a delivery I would be down his throat big time.

But I learned a valuable lesson. Have the materials on hand should I decide to build for someone. For now I'm just going to build and see if I can sell them in my yard and on craig's list.

I think there is a market for a cheap motor bike. Something the guy who works for a low wage can afford to buy and ride to work. This may or may not be the answer, but it's the closest thing I've seen. I have to find a source for the engines but bikes are pretty easy to find and recondition.

I think I'm going to change the mounting technique but basically it will be the same thing. There is a guy some twenty miles from me who sells on ebay. I may ride down to his place and check out some of his engines.... I wonder how many different brands of weed wacker have the threaded shaft. That sure makes things easier...

deacon · #16 (**permalink**) 04-11-2008, 06:32 PM

Update the wheels came. I hooked everything up and tried it out. It worked fine for about five minutes. After that I could start it with the pull cord but the drag start wouldn't work. There were some other problems as well. The pegs for the drive wheel are too small. I had to work like the devil to get the bike up the first hill I came to.

It looks like the rpms are no better than my electric motors. So I'm going to need a bigger drive wheel, Probably 1 1/2 or 1 3/4 to do it right.

Also my mount isn't very sturdy need to shore that up tomorrow. After the first time I wouldn't drag start but would start with the pull cord. I messed with it a while then just put it away. One thing the china bike taught me was patience.

Once I had the bike put away, I figure it out. The darn thing was running out of gas. I had the fuel tank mounted wrong. Oh well.

Tomorrow I work on shoring up the mount.... making a bigger drive wheel and then testing it. I really would like a way to raise and lower the engine rather then drag start it every time I stop.

deacon · #17 (**permalink**) 04-11-2008, 08:35 PM

So I went down and stiffened up the mount. Looks like if I use the pull start I'm going to have to turn the wheel as well as the engine with the cord. I have about decided to just bolt the drive wheel down I will most likely forget the spring all together. I might go with cable and turn buckles to hold the engine to the tire though. that is tomorrows decision..

I'll shoot a picture of the clown bike tomorrow.

**Bikeguy Joe** · #18 (**permalink**) 04-12-2008, 07:18 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by deacon

There were some other problems as well. The pegs for the drive wheel are too small. I had to work like the devil to get the bike up the first hill I came to.

You saying the footpeg/drive wheel is too small.... You had to help it up a hill? If you make the peg bigger, or replace it with a bigger one, that will give you higher gearing and that will make the hills need more pedal assist.

Or did I misunderstand something here?

deacon · #19 (**permalink**) 04-12-2008, 07:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bikeguy Joe

You saying the footpeg/drive wheel is too small.... You had to help it up a hill? If you make the peg bigger, or replace it with a bigger one, that will give you higher gearing and that will make the hills need more pedal assist.

Or did I misunderstand something here?

With the electric I found that the larger the wheel the faster the bike. With more speed going into the hill, the less pedaling. Also I'm not sure the gearing thing works the same with friction.It seems to just slips when the bike slows down and the demand for toruge gets higher. I think the torque at the ground is pretty much always the same.

I know that in europe the size of the wheel is regulated to keep the speed down. I'm just not sure about that wheel thing till I get this bike rocking.
But trust me I will let you know.

So far all my muscles ache and thats a good thing.

deacon · #20 (**permalink**) 04-12-2008, 01:34 PM

I win the dumb butt of the year award. I wanted to increase the size of the drive wheel so it needed a little tap to seat the cover. Yeah I tapped it still attached ot drive shaft. I bent the shaft so that one is toast. I'm not sure I want to continue with this project after all. I was hoping this would be an easy build but it isn't turning out that way.