New from Philly, PA. Getting ready to build my first motored bike.

GoldenMotor.com

Xavier

New Member
Mar 15, 2010
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Philly, PA
I purchased a 48cc kit from BikeBerry and picked up a Schwinn Delmar cruiser to mount it in. I got the motor kit last week and the bike just arrived today according to the FedEx tracking page and I suppose assembly will start this evening after work. Happened upon this forum looking for mounting techniques since I've read it may not be a simple bolt-in project as I'd imagined. We shall see in a few hours.
 

Xavier

New Member
Mar 15, 2010
12
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Philly, PA
Thanks for the welcome. Still working on my install, haha. Ran into a few snags being as this is my first bicycle in about 15 years. I have a quick question I hope someone can answer quick as well.

How do you set up the rear wheel? While installing the rear sprocket I seem to have stopped the wheel from freely spinning. It feels as if it is dragging and I don't remember, and haven't found, how to remedy this.
 

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
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Maine
o_O Yer aptly named... lazieboy laff


Xavier - I'm wonderin' if yer Delmar's coaster brake is messin' w/ya, the arm usually needs be a lil bent for clearance during installation, if you've messed w/it - there's a chance the assembly is now too tight. Here's a handy "howto" for ya;

http://motorbicycling.com/f30/how-remove-your-coaster-brake-arm-15928.html


BTW welcome to the forum! I usta live on upper west philly... I barely escaped w/my life heh

|.o
 

Xavier

New Member
Mar 15, 2010
12
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Philly, PA
Thanks for the link BarelyAWake, took a look at that with those tips in mind while disassembling the rear sprocket. Noticed the sprocket itself was dragging on the dust cap so I enlarged the sprocket hole and it seems to be working fine. Finished the build, need to tweak the muffler a bit because the pedals drag on it a bit even after a lot of failed attempts and one successful attempt at bending it.
 

Xavier

New Member
Mar 15, 2010
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Philly, PA
I'll get some pics this afternoon. By the time I finished it was dark out. It is a bit sloppy and there are definitely a lot of scratches in the cheap paint, but I'm happy.

Quick question... Are these motors always pretty noisy? Seems like there is a lot of noise coming from the motor, though I'm guessing it is the clutch.
 

BarelyAWake

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Jul 21, 2009
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Yarp - good guess FTW

You can dab a small amount of grease on the gears under that cover, but no more than say 1/2 the size of a pencil eraser (don't want excess in the clutch itself ofc). People also line the clutch cover with rubber mat (mouse pad cut to fit), or buy covers for the outside - or even what I did, which is just sprayin' a coupla coats of rubberized undercoating on the inside of just the cover itself, which works quite well.

It IS kinda a disturbing noise heh - I assumed the thing was tearin' itself apart 'cause some guy in China had left something in there he shouldn't :p

4500 miles later - it sounds the same o_O *shrug*
 

Xavier

New Member
Mar 15, 2010
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Philly, PA
Here is one for now. My fiancee is an amateur photographer and won't release any pictures, even to me, until she thinks it is worthy of carrying her name, lol. I'll update with others as I get them.





One thing I've definitely noticed is I need more braking power. Searching didn't turn up much specific info, what kind of options are out there for universal brake setups? I'd really love to get a disc up front but those look expensive.
 
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BarelyAWake

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Jul 21, 2009
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Maine
I love that color man, nice job (^)

Brakes? Depends on yer price range - but yea, although the individual components of a front disk brake aren't pricey at all - it adds up quick as you'll need a fork (mounts) and wheel (hub) as well as the caliper and rotor. Upside is it's an opportunity to get front shocks while yer at it.

When I was lookin' around I found the least expensive way was to buy a cheapo bike w/disk and strip it, used or new - this was often a LOT cheaper than getting the components separately. Catch is - cheap disk brakes are... well... cheap lol, the inner brake pad drags on a lot of them and there's no way to adjust it.

Second was to go to yer local bike shop and see what they've got for take-offs. Used or new - a lot of people "upgrade" their front shock and/or disk brake, the stuff they leave behind is often of high quality - but quite inexpensive (depends on the shop ofc).

I ended up goin' with a Sturmey Archer drum brake, they're about $50 (mine cost more 'cause it's got a genny in it FTW), but you'll still need the rim relaced which adds about forty bucks or so to the price *shrug*

The least costly method is ofc just adding rim brakes. They work well provided the pads are high quality... and it's not raining lol ;)
 

Xavier

New Member
Mar 15, 2010
12
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Philly, PA
Ok, ended up scavenging a front brake from an old mountain bike which greatly improved my braking... just leaves a lot of brake dust on the rest of the bike, haha.

Went ahead and upgraded the fuel line, installed an in-line fuel filter, upgraded the spark plug and wire/boot. It is time to upgrade the chain today, though, as I broke the stocker. Not quite sure what happened, guess I'll have to look into the alignment. #41 chains fit these motors, right? I'll have to see if my local TSC has them in stock.
 

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
7,194
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Maine
Yeppers - #41 is just a hair wider tho FYI... shouldn't be a prob however, I'm runnin' one on my Schwinn ;)

...the stock chain is junk, that's prolly all that happened - still, best to check alignment and didja bend the tensioner so it's in line with the chain and not the chainstay? That's a pretty common problem.
 

Xavier

New Member
Mar 15, 2010
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Philly, PA
Well, after running all over creation (the two nearest TSC's are nearly an hour away from where I live... and each other) I got a chain and swapped it out with the stocker. Seemed to run great yesterday and this morning on the way to work. Looks a lot beefier, too!