Huffy Santa Fe Motorized Bicycle

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FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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I just picked up a Huffy Santa Fe in decent shape and am contemplating the next step. I'm new to all this after not even riding a bike for decades but you really dont forget how to ride. I tested it and it was smooth as silk, new tires and a new Schwinn seat. One pedal was kinda chewed up, but it pedaled smoothly. There is some surface rust on stuff like fenders and rims which is my first question.

I used to clean my bikes up with SOS pad and then car wax, what's the best way to clean em up?

I'll be searching motors soon, but first things first.
 

FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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Well, I went and did it and ordered a motor from THATS DAX after reading his expose on china motor myths.

This will be my first build and this site has provided alot of good info if I've digested it properly. The Santa Fe Huffy is listed as Plug and Play with these motors in one thread on here. I'll be chomping at the bit to git er done.
 

FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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Thanks fairracing31! I found one minor problem with the kickstand. I dont know if it is stock, but it takes an alllen wrench of unknown size and is all looose.
 

Dave31

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Mar 1, 2008
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Aztlán, Arizona
Thanks fairracing31! I found one minor problem with the kickstand. I dont know if it is stock, but it takes an alllen wrench of unknown size and is all looose.
I do know its a 5/16 will work, but I believe it is metric....8mm?

A little loctite helps to keep it from coming loose
 

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FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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Thanks fairracing31, you forced me to dig through the old pile of tools. I found one of those star shaped wrench heads - not exactly allen but it worked. I also found a box of old suspension parts and found something that might work as a front motor mount if needed. It fits the frame perfectly.

While I'm waiting for the motor, I might trim the dust cover too.
 

momentummotorgroup

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Apr 10, 2009
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grand rapids, michigan
I'd get rid of the cheapo kickstand if it keeps vibrating loose and go for the double legged variety. Also, Locktite is your best friend on these builds, particularly if you're running with straight forks with no suspension. I rattled my first build's nuts off (literally) on a 10 mile trip and wound up almost dropping the motor.

It's fairly easy to fabricate a front motor mount out of muffler clamps that can be found at the hardware store. I fabricated mine out of one of them and a couple inch piece of flat steel which I drilled holes in to fit the muffler clamp posts and the motor mounts. The finished product cost about 7 bucks and was identical to the one supplied on another one of my build's kits.
 

FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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Thank You, momentummotorgroup! That's 2 votes for locktite just in this one thread and it has popped up all over the place in all the reading I've been doing. The motor mount suggestion is simple too. It's some speculation until the kit arrives. Gonna be a long wait.:-||
 

FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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Another thing you can do for the kick stand is add a nut to the bolt after tightening the kick stand. This will help keep it from backing off and becoming loose again.
fairracing31, I bet you've mounted a motor on a Santa Fe before:) The kickstand is no problem now, but engine vibration and extra weight could change that quick. If it does, then I'll follow each suggeston.

I looked at my potential mount and it will depend on the spacing of the bolts. I see it used along with the mount parts that might come with the kit. I took a section of heater hose and cut it down the length and smushed it under the suspension bracket and then put it on the bike frame. If the bolt holes line up nice, then this might work. I'm not ignoring any suggestions, just need parts in my hand to really see what makes sense and what doesnt.


The wait on shipping is tough.
 

FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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The wait on the engine kit....arghh While I wait for that I have a nice riding bike. I took my EM406 GPS which I hooked into my $10.00 HP Jornada and I went for a ride tonight. The PDA is going to be my instrumentation for this bike, so might as well test it. I was surprised that under my power I got up to 17MPH max, 13MPH average, .87 miles logged. I weigh 240 and I only ordered a 50cc. So many questions that only will be answered by bolting the kit in.
 

FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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I'm still cycling under human power and that bike really is smooth. I can coast a half mile on what I always thought was flat. GPS says the elevation changes 8 feet in that 1/2 mile.

The only build news is THATSDAX shipped the motor true to his word. Waiting gives me plenty of time to read and search for solid methods, but doesnt make for such good reading in this thread.
 

FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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In case anybody wants to build their own GPS, I got some links to sparkfun. For a display, I found a PDA on ebay, $600+ new $10.00 ebay. With all the smartphones out there, lots of these non phone type devices can be had real cheap. There are programs which run on these devices before they called them apps and a cheap navigation program is what I'm using. You just have to make sure whatever program you get is compatible with whatever device you find. The hardest part of it all was soldering some wires without hooking stuff up backwards.

Here are some links:
GPS: SparkFun Electronics - 20 Channel EM-406A SiRF III Receiver with Antenna

Serial Converter: SparkFun Electronics - RS232 Shifter SMD

Voltage Regulator: Adjustable step down switching voltage regulator


I also needed a null modem cable, a small 2 cell lipo battery, charger, balancer, connectors. It wasnt much, but it would have been cheaper to just buy a car navigation device in the end, but not as much fun. I also have to load my own maps and georeference them, but just like bikes electrons can be fun and I dont have to worry about some manufacturer charging me for maps.


I promise my next post will be bike motor kit build related.
 

FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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Kit arrived. I couldnt believe how flimsy the mounts look after studying all the mounting methods on here. I took my rear wheel off and somethin aint right with the hub, so my first job is to figure out how to disassemble a coaster, repack and reassemble- theres all kinds of slack laterally and the grease is shot. I figure I can grind the dustcover, just need to get that nut off.

Pictures will come eventually.
 

FreeWheeler

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Jun 22, 2010
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I got that nut off that held the coaster brake arm, must have taken 150 ft/lbs. All the parts of the hub started spilling out all over and I was trying to catch the order of things. I got it right because it went back together, but there is still all kinds of slop so more work is needed on that.

After I got the arm off, I went to work on assembling the sprocket. That was going ok, but I put every single bolt on backwards and had to redo it. That was probably a good thing because I found the "star pattern" that someone posted(asianflava) and I used it and it helped alot. The backplates almost fit right, which is where I found my first criticism of the kit. Those rag things came bent in half with a big old kink which really added to the work.

Next step after I corrected my bolt mistake was to put the wheel on and see how it rolled. That was where I noticed the excessive play in the hub, but the spocket seems to be true relative to the wheel.

Two other things I did were to grind the dust cap and bend the coaster arm in a vise.


Now some questions for those with experience:

Is it possible all the slop in the hub is because I got a bearing backwards?

Is it ok to pack the hub full with bearing grease?
 

Kevlarr

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Jul 22, 2009
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I do know its a 5/16 will work, but I believe it is metric....8mm?

A little loctite helps to keep it from coming loose
A little late but I use my torx bit all the time to tighten kickstand bolts and I just happened to look tonight, it's a T-50 (the bit used to remove the calipers on a lot of GM cars) if anyone's interested.
 

FreeWheeler

New Member
Jun 22, 2010
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Maryland
Yup kevlarr, there was alot of brake work done around here years ago. I havent wrenched on anything in a long time, so this bike will do me good.

As for interest in this build, well, I am interested in gettin er done. I finally got the rear wheel right, no slop. I could just see letting that go as good enough and having the sprocket bolts slam into the brake arm, or the chain coming off constantly, or bearings frying in the first mile or something.

Tomorrow I'm going to the hardware store or the welder to get that front mount right. As it sits right now, the carb is good and level and the muffler will clear everything and the chain will clear the bottom of the housing.
 

FreeWheeler

New Member
Jun 22, 2010
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Maryland
Well, got everything together, lined up, routed, zip tied, and then tragedy struck. I was grinding down the nubs on the 415 chain and I cut it too short by one link. Instructions say, "dont cut too short" and I did. I dont want to use a wider chain, like the 41 at tractor supply because the clearance with the tire and the lower arm thing.

Will another master link fix it?
 

FreeWheeler

New Member
Jun 22, 2010
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Maryland
Ordered 1/2 link and another master link from SBP. Lets see how fast their order/process/shipping really is. I know I dont want to wait 5 days before they acknowledge the order, then another 5 days enroute.