what did you do to your motorized bicycle today?

Also i found that adjusting the bearings just right then getting it all together and tighten the outer nuts puts a lot more pressure on and then the bearings are to tight.

Takes a little playing to get them just right. When done right they should spin really free and have no side play ..................Curt

"e sure you're not over tightening the bearings, they need to be snug with little to no play in them but over tightened bearings of those type will fail quickly.

What kind of grease are you using?...........

......................just a slight amoun5 of play in the bearing is better than a bearing of that type that is to tight." --Mapbike.

It all sounds like good advice, Map. And I'll bet that my trouble does lie somewhere in the bearing adjustment/grease issue.

When adjusting my bearings I tighten the cone until I can feel no play in the bearing. Then I run the lock nut up against the cone. I, mostly, loosen the cone against the lock nut rather than tightening nut against cone. And I think I adjust things fairly well. But maybe I'm getting them a bit too loose. Maybe. I'll have to keep on working it until I find something that I'm certain is right.

The grease I've been using is basic, cheap red stuff from the auto dept at the Beast of Bentonville. Maybe I'd better try something of higher quality.

And I will inspect those races. If another hub, or wheel, is in order then so be it. I'll get this stuff right sooner or later. I just hope it isn't way, way later.

Blue, I've got a red 26" Huffy rear wheel with 12 ga spokes if you need it. The bearing races look good --- though I wouldn't reuse the 'guts'. I also use red grease, Lucas Red-n-Tacky. Great stuff!

The price with shipping would be ----- "gratis". Just let me know if you need it.

"Also i found that adjusting the bearings just right then getting it all together and tighten the outer nuts puts a lot more pressure on and then the bearings are to tight.

Takes a little playing to get them just right. When done right they should spin really free and have no side play ..................Curt "

Thanks, Curt. Perhaps I am getting those bearings too tight when I tighten the axle. I'll have to experiment with it.

"Blue, I've got a red 26" Huffy rear wheel with 12 ga spokes if you need it. The bearing races look good --- though I wouldn't reuse the 'guts'.

The price with shipping would be ----- "gratis". Just let me know if you need it." --xseler

A nice, nice offer, xseler. Thanks a bunch. The community spirit in this forum is inspiring.

I don't expect that I'll need to take you up on that offer since wheels are just not that expensive. If I lose my job, or something like that, then maybe I'll be knocking on your door.

There's been a time or two when I've noticed some poor soul who needs a part that I happen to have, and have no use for. I've tended to not step forward because I've never felt that the stuff I need is so expensive that I can't just buy it. And I tend to think that the same thing applies to most of those who I see here.

But that may not be strictly true. A few posts have made it clear that the writer is unemployed or under-employed. For them a wheel, say, could well be out of reach. I'll have to try to keep an eye out for such folks and then pay offers like this forward.

Thanks again.

Xseler and blue ....... Good form.....

Good deal bgw,

Just make sure the running surfaces for the bearings is in good shape, use a high tack grease like the Lucas Red n Tacky and get the bearings snug but not tight once wheel is mou ted and axle nuts are tight against frame dropouts and you should be good to go.

Best wishes

I usually have the cone wrench on the cone when I tighten the wheel to the dropout. This way I know that the cone hasn't turned.

You know what would be nice?

A good, heavy duty wheel with bearing races shaped to accept a high quality, sealed bearing.

Those cage bearings are kinda delicate.

Also, maybe when I get some tacky grease I'll try just lining that race with balls and leave the cage out of it. Of course, I'll probably just get into trouble. But I'm fairly adventurous. Maybe I'll give it a try.

you do have the dust cap over that bearing don't you (sprocket hole nees to be enlarged for it to fit

I have many coaster brake wheels here that overheated when using a brake designed for 11mph at 35mph - several have small cracks in the bearing race nearest the pads - one had the hub so heated that it expanded, then broke loose the spoke ring when it cooled

when a customer comes in with a coaster & no dust cap, I make a plastic one , grease the bearing, adjust the bearing with a bit of play to leave room for heating, and pack the plastic cover on to hold the grease - this needs to be changed every so often when the plastic wears

all these are for turning a two wheel bike into a trike i have a real tricycle that he wants motorized

uh oh i did it now!!!!! just dropped $400 into a triple chrome plated frame, rims twisted springer fork and twisted handlebars neck and crank set MY BIKE and yes i said MY BIKE im getting it in a few days now ill remove all the burs in transfer ports ramp and notch the piston i took the case apart last night and put the Timken 202's in there added 2 needle bearings in the crank looks like i could add one more but i think it will be fine set the crank between two perfect square steel bars for checking for truing heads on cars and checked to see if the two sides were true and that it was pretty balanced

......................just a slight amoun5 of play in the bearing is better than a bearing of that type that is to tight." --Mapbike.

Everybody was saying NO PLAY at all. And I think a little, (VERY VERY, LITTLE) play is best. And I mean so little play that you could almost say, NO PLAY. Even a little bit too tight on those bearings will destroy them quickly.
fatdaddy.
Now I'll go back and read the rest of the thread.

fatdaddy said:

......................just a slight amoun5 of play in the bearing is better than a bearing of that type that is to tight." --Mapbike.

Everybody was saying NO PLAY at all. And I think a little, (VERY VERY, LITTLE) play is best. And I mean so little play that you could almost say, NO PLAY. Even a little bit too tight on those bearings will destroy them quickly.
fatdaddy.
Now I'll go back and read the rest of the thread.

Click to expand...

Yep that's what i was getting at. I don't know how many times i got them just right and stick the wheel on the bike tighten the outer nuts and it seems to push on the cones and to tight,re adjust............Curt

ok guys on coaster brakes is it better to cut the arm off and grind it round and add cantilever brakes or should you just remove the arm completely? im getting a set of rims and am afraid to use them because of the horror stories about them burning up or plain don't work at all

In my experience... and this was a Long time ago since I've run anything with a coaster brake, is to leave the arm connected to something or it'll move if the brake is applied causing it to throw out the bearing adjustment as well as burn up the brake pawls etc... I'd say either use the coaster brake as it's meant to be there or swap out the rear rim in favor of a freewheel type... but like I said, it's been over 30 years since I've had anything with a coaster brake on it...

My progress today was on the Stingray frame stripping off all the paint close to the end of the day at the shop since today was a little slow, but paced just enough that I couldn't mess with either bike without a customer showing up for something.

To strip the frame I still rely on the old tried and true Aircraft Paint remover spray.. just spray it on, wait about 5 minutes and hose off the paint as it blisters off. I got about 95% of the paint off the frame today just using the paint stripper and hosing it off... But while at the shop after my wife got there she was asking me if I needed anything from Harbor freight after seeing this month's coupons... I needed an engine stand but got one before the new coupons got here so I saw they have their big blasting cabinet on sale this month for $179 instead of $299 so I picked one up on the way home tonight as well as a 40lb box of garnet blast media. I'l be able to assemble it in the morning before I have to open up shop and get it up and running so hopefully I'll have time to blast off the chrome from the crank set, the front sprocket, and the fork legs to get them prepped and ready for powder coating.
I'm not going to powder coat the frame or fork legs, but ALL the small p[arts will get powder coated either black or lime green, then after everything is clean, chrome free, rust free, and painted I'l do some airbrushing to the frame and tank. I don't want to go graphics crazy or overload it with airbrushing, but a few little touches here and there can really change the way the bike will look. My plan for the airbrushing is to do some green true fire in key areas and keep the rest of the bike solid... well... maybe a litle pinstriping, but I'll decide more on that when the time comes, it's real easy to overload something like a bike frame or tank with too many grapics so I'll decide how I want it to look when I get closer to ready to paint everything.

For the mountainbike... No progress today... just not enough time, and I still need to make time to go to the welding supply shop and get my argon refilled... it really drives me nuts everytime I get ready to do something on that bike and realize I need to weld things back up first...

ive noticed that a lot of bikes are coming out with coaster brakes i just hate the idea of using them i plan on putting disc brakes on it as soon as they get here i bought the adapter for the rear axle im just curious as to the arm itself

Here is what I did today, repair my phoooom. I can get new ones for my 48, but not my 35, and Ive ordered a lot of parts lately and enough ordering for now, so I gota repair. Big corosion hole, had to cut out and take apart , and make patch, and braze up earlier drilled holes. (too many ) braze up inside, and tomorrow i will fit patch and braze.
Here are pics:

DRBS said:

ok guys on coaster brakes is it better to cut the arm off and grind it round and add cantilever brakes or should you just remove the arm completely? im getting a set of rims and am afraid to use them because of the horror stories about them burning up or plain don't work at all

Click to expand...

Keep it hooked up and in working order, Then, Don't use it. If a brake cable snaps or ya lose yer brakes for some reason you'll have SOMETHING for emergency back up. Coaster brakes beat dragging yer feet trying to stop before ya hit the intersection.
fatdaddy.