what did you do to your motorized bicycle today?

GoldenMotor.com

Allen_Wrench

Resident Mad Scientist
Feb 6, 2010
2,784
26
36
Indianapolis
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

You can get a new heating element for the drier if that's the case for about 30 dollars.
I've put enough ducats into this lousy nickel-and-dimer. I'm getting rid of it before it burns down the house. Would you believe that the source of the sparks was where the plug, through either a massive short or surge, had tried to arc-weld itself into the outlet. I discovered this after just barely winning the fight to unplug it. Now I'll have to make sure I haven't damaged the outlet. I don't think so; it still seems okay. I've only seen this sort of thing once before, and it didn't bode well the last time either. I currently don't feel good about recommending GE clothes dryers.
Well, I did get to look over my bike and do a bit of cleaning. Nothing very exciting to report that way I'm afraid.
 

happycheapskate

New Member
Nov 26, 2009
1,989
3
0
Rockwall TX
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

What kind of trailer is/was that? It looks pretty complicated. Was it made as a cargo trailer? Was it custom built?

Today was assembly day for the trailer we picked up a while ago. Turned out alright, still needs a few things (rear reflectors or lights). More pics when we have it set up (next weekend probably).


As for muffler hanging, I replaced mine some time ago with a spring and a pair of bands made from steel strapping (used to hold heavy objects to shipping pallets) which isn't hard to find in most light industrial areas, and a short spring from the asst. hardware section of the local hardware/department store. I've been running like this for a long time and have no problems with the exhaust that aren't preventable with routine maintenance (Checking and tightening all the nuts and bolts weekly).
 

Goat Herder

Gutter Rider
Apr 28, 2008
6,237
20
38
N.M.
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

I've put enough ducats into this lousy nickel-and-dimer. I'm getting rid of it before it burns down the house. Would you believe that the source of the sparks was where the plug, through either a massive short or surge, had tried to arc-weld itself into the outlet. I discovered this after just barely winning the fight to unplug it. Now I'll have to make sure I haven't damaged the outlet. I don't think so; it still seems okay. I've only seen this sort of thing once before, and it didn't bode well the last time either. I currently don't feel good about recommending GE clothes dryers.
Well, I did get to look over my bike and do a bit of cleaning. Nothing very exciting to report that way I'm afraid.
Prolly just as well to replace that wall socket!? If it is a bad connection it will sit and heat up again.
 

Dan

Staff
May 25, 2008
12,765
115
48
58
Moosylvania
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

I'm with Goat. For a few bucks, well worth it. If for nothing more then sleeping well.

Cool trailer CT!
 

Ibedayank

New Member
Oct 29, 2011
1,171
0
0
Columbia Tennessee
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

I think you will find CT'S to be similar to this one with all the fabric removed
look closely to how the tubes are located and the hinge points at the corners

 

CTripps

Active Member
Aug 22, 2011
1,310
1
38
Vancouver, B.C.
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

I can't recall the details, exactly. We got it second-hand for less than $30. I think the kid-compartment was by Axiom, the frame might have been by Norco. There wasn't a lot of info online about it when we googled it after we got it. It was a 2-seat nylon sling contraption that had seen better days and was about to fall apart (the nylon that is... left in the sunlight too often, I think).
We used a piece of 3/4" plywood for the deck, it's had several coats of varnish to seal it. It's secured to the frame with conduit holders and 3/4" #8 screws, with a bit of high-density rubber between the brackets and the frame itself. The sides are folded down in the pic, they flip up and lock in to bring the height to around three feet. There are a couple of removable crossbars that give it rigidity when unfolded.
I'm not happy with the connection it uses to the bike (a clamp for the chainstay, not a lot of clearance to the drive sprocket) so I'm probably going to redesign that to use a bracket on the bike and a hitch-pin at some point. Beyond that, all it really needs is some kind of reflectors or rear lighting. We're going to put a kid's bike flag on the left rear corner for sure to make the drivers more aware of where the back end is.
 

dodge dude94

New Member
Jun 8, 2012
1,017
1
0
East Texas
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

Bought an NGK B7HS.

DAMN! Didn't add much to the top speed, but it runs smoother and pulls much more smoothly past 18mph...it will actually run at WOT at 25 mph....

ME GUSTA.
:D
 

fatdaddy

New Member
May 4, 2011
1,516
4
0
San Jose, Ca.
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

new paint on motor and extra gas tank
Hey briggs, Does New York still call yer bike a Motorized Bicycle without the pedals? Nice job of engineering a bike together, but I couldn't get it past the cops in the state of Californication.
So whats the top speed on the Briggs? Not really important, just wondering.
fatdaddy.
 

fatdaddy

New Member
May 4, 2011
1,516
4
0
San Jose, Ca.
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

Bought an NGK B7HS.

DAMN! Didn't add much to the top speed, but it runs smoother and pulls much more smoothly past 18mph...it will actually run at WOT at 25 mph....

ME GUSTA.
:D
NGK B5, B6, B7HS. All recommended plugs depending on where you live. Theres a rather extensive discussion on this subject on the other site. I don't know how the site managers feel about directing members to the "other" site, but it's allready there, no sense in doing a great big discussion on the subject here.
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?35542-Ngk-B6hs
fatdaddy, AKA Big Red.
 

Skarrd

Member
Oct 13, 2010
501
2
18
34
Chandler, AZ
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

re arragned how the chains are routed on the bike (will get a picture later).

kept busting the bolts on the front freewheel, so i routed the engine to be primary, and the pedals to be secondary.
 

happycheapskate

New Member
Nov 26, 2009
1,989
3
0
Rockwall TX
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

http://www.yellowjersey.org/BLUCHAIR.JPG


Cool. That must be one of the fancier ones.

I have an Instep Turbo from 5 to 10 years ago, and it's really light, but not the most impressive.

I made a lawnmower from a Toys R Us explorer trailer. ;-)
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCmwnrfPC7A&feature=plcp


I like to collect used kid trailers. They are useful. You can easily make cargo trailers from them, like you said, by stripping the fabric off them and adding some kind of deck. I saw one that used wire mesh/fence (the green kind with 1in. squares, like you get in the Garden Center at Walmart) wire-tied to the frame, as a sort of truck-bed. It was folded under the trailer for a 2 layer wire mesh, that also kept tension as the ends were pig-nosed together, and tied to the frame rails all around.


I think you will find CT'S to be similar to this one with all the fabric removed
look closely to how the tubes are located and the hinge points at the corners

 
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happycheapskate

New Member
Nov 26, 2009
1,989
3
0
Rockwall TX
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

Ziptying a neon-colored foam swimming noodle is good for visibility and declaring your space (make sure it is wider than your elbow extends! I was clipped by an SUV years ago, as the mirror busted on my elbow. I wasn't using a pool noodle then, just t-shirt and lights)
http://bicyclesafe.com/images/noodle.jpg

If you don't like the clamp, can I have it if you get something else?

Here is the kind that works with motor bikes. (beside the kind that clamps on the seatpost)

http://forum.ctc.org.uk/userpix/986_burley_1.jpg
(about $20, fits in any square or round pipe about 7/8" or 1" for trailer tongue)

Here is more info and parts numbers. You can find these at your LBS or on AMazon and Ebay. http://forum.ctc.org.uk/viewtopic.php?t=8841

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HERid5sb4HE&playnext=1&list=PLBD0435539D3BC32C&feature=results_video (small aluminum bracket that fits on QR or bolt-on axle, hard rubber/silicone ball joint, hitch pin)



I can't recall the details, exactly. We got it second-hand for less than $30. I think the kid-compartment was by Axiom, the frame might have been by Norco. There wasn't a lot of info online about it when we googled it after we got it. It was a 2-seat nylon sling contraption that had seen better days and was about to fall apart (the nylon that is... left in the sunlight too often, I think).
We used a piece of 3/4" plywood for the deck, it's had several coats of varnish to seal it. It's secured to the frame with conduit holders and 3/4" #8 screws, with a bit of high-density rubber between the brackets and the frame itself. The sides are folded down in the pic, they flip up and lock in to bring the height to around three feet. There are a couple of removable crossbars that give it rigidity when unfolded.
I'm not happy with the connection it uses to the bike (a clamp for the chainstay, not a lot of clearance to the drive sprocket) so I'm probably going to redesign that to use a bracket on the bike and a hitch-pin at some point. Beyond that, all it really needs is some kind of reflectors or rear lighting. We're going to put a kid's bike flag on the left rear corner for sure to make the drivers more aware of where the back end is.
 
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briggsandstratton

New Member
Jul 11, 2012
32
0
0
new york
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

Hey briggs, Does New York still call yer bike a Motorized Bicycle without the pedals? Nice job of engineering a bike together, but I couldn't get it past the cops in the state of Californication.
So whats the top speed on the Briggs? Not really important, just wondering.
fatdaddy.
no it should be registered as a motorcycle or moped but im getting by ..dance1 and the beast tops out at 40mph
 

bigbutterbean

Active Member
Jan 31, 2011
2,417
3
38
Lebanon, PA
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

I took a dremel and cleaned up my intake manifold today. Unfortunately, I did not get a pic because my phone was dead, but I think I did a pretty good job for someone who never used a dremel before lol. I kept going at it carefully until there was no cast blocking the hole where it bolts to the cylinder. I did a much better job than I thought I would. I also did some modification to my luggage rack for my lights and got my drum brake working real good. I dont have the proper barrel ends for the brake cable, so I was using what I call a squish nut, where you tighten the nut and it tightens onto a cable, but that wasnt working as good as I would like, so I decided to take the cable stopper off my clutch cable and use it on my drum brake. the drum brake works phenomenal now. I put the squish nut on my clutch cable. I cant really explain exactly how I have my brake cable set up on my drum brake, but the clutch cable stopper works real good on it.
 

dodge dude94

New Member
Jun 8, 2012
1,017
1
0
East Texas
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

NGK B5, B6, B7HS. All recommended plugs depending on where you live. Theres a rather extensive discussion on this subject on the other site. I don't know how the site managers feel about directing members to the "other" site, but it's allready there, no sense in doing a great big discussion on the subject here.
http://www.motoredbikes.com/showthread.php?35542-Ngk-B6hs
fatdaddy, AKA Big Red.
I'll look at it.
I went ahead and got the B7 because I will be riding mostly in the summer, so I need a cooler plug. I don't just cruise like some of you guys do. ;)
 

fatdaddy

New Member
May 4, 2011
1,516
4
0
San Jose, Ca.
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

I know what you mean dodge, I don't just cruise either. I learned a while back to leave my engines just ever so slightly de-tuned or I'd run it WOT all the time and blow it up. So instead of 40mph I'm only hitting closer to 35mph. It's fast enough for around town and it saves my engine. Guess I'm not smart enough to just back off the throttle.
fatdaddy.
 

dodge dude94

New Member
Jun 8, 2012
1,017
1
0
East Texas
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

I know what you mean dodge, I don't just cruise either. I learned a while back to leave my engines just ever so slightly de-tuned or I'd run it WOT all the time and blow it up. So instead of 40mph I'm only hitting closer to 35mph. It's fast enough for around town and it saves my engine. Guess I'm not smart enough to just back off the throttle.
fatdaddy.
Mine is de-tuned from the factory! I have the stock CNS carb..so it only runs about 30 mph. I haven't had any issues with the engine here lately, mostly just running out of gas (I don't put a lot in it). Granted, I DO have only a 100 something miles on it...