Here are some examples of what NOT to do.

Had a customer bring me a bike today for repair. He told me "his buddy said it was a good bike" and he couldn't get it started.

I looked it over and found a couple problems right off.

The front mount was a joke, with weak threaded rod and a hole drilled through the downtube.

When I removed it, I found this huge wallowed hole under the spacer

I now have to weld up the damage to the frame tube and install a decent U-bolt mount. I will also be fitting the rear mount correctly to the new position on the frame since it was just bolted right over the bottle rack screws and could not be tightened. I will have to grind off the bottom mounting screw boss to allow the mount to sit square and flush.


I also noticed the tensioner bracket was installed wrong so the chain would not track correctly on the idler.

This will need to be fixed after I get the mounts sorted.

Next, after completely rebuilding the rear wheel bearings and coaster brake (which had been assembled all wrong and was totally locked up), I finally got the rear wheel turning freely with a functional brake and no slop.
Look carefully at these wheels. They are very nice HD steel rims with 10g spokes and good hubs and the "builder" had nearly destroyed them simply putting the bearings and cone nuts in the wrong order!
He is actually very lucky the motor could not be started! If he had ridden it even a few feet, the rear hub and axle bearings would have been ground to junk.


It it very unusual to find such beautiful HD wheels on a bottom line Cranbrook cruiser around here. It's like finding a blown hemi in a rusty beater dart!


More pics when the rain stops.

Here are some more pics of the bike.

See how the tensioner is angled in? There is no way this thing will work like it is.

Here's another shot of the sweet HD wheel assmbly AFTER I re-assembled it correctly.

Here is where the bottle rack screw boss needs to be ground flush

And here is the better front mount (stll need to weld up the holes in the frame)

crassius said:

quick & easy fix for that bottle mount situation (save customer about 45min of labor cost) is to put a hole in your PVC spacer that will cover the boss that the screw goes into - take out screw and put in PVC and no engine removal needed

Click to expand...

I prefer my mounts to have full metal to metal contact whenever possible so I grind the boss flush rather than use any spacers. Just my way of doing things.
PVC wears too easily for my taste and will slowly collapse and allow slop. Full metal contact is more solid.
Not dissing your suggestion, but spacers of any kind are just not for me.

I still cannot get a straight answer from the owner about what he paid or where he got this bike, so I'm guessing he paid FAR too much for it. The only redeeming feature is the HD wheelset!
Both fenders were flapping and the rear was catching the chain, both axles were badly misadjusted and overall it was a horrible mess when I got it.

This is going to be one happy customer when I give him back a running bike! I really enjoy fixing terrible builds like this since the owners always get so thrilled when they finally get to ride their new bikes! I almost don't want to charge him. (almost)


Look closely at this picture. Notice how the throttle cable is zip tied in a severe S-bend? This explains why the twist throttle binds and sticks. The cable is bent so sharply it will not move freely. Simple mistake for a first time builder. The clutch was the same way.

Worked on the mess today. Almost ready to test it!
Started with this huge wallowed out hole in the frame...

Found a bolt and washers to fill it and give some strength to the area.

After welding around the washers, the hole will be much stronger and this way spreads the load out so hopefully it won't crack. I'm leaving the bolt it to have a hard spot for the mount plate to tighten against.

After fixing the hole, I ground off the bottle mount where the engine contacts the frame and fit the rear block so it sits flush and square to the seatpost. Then after bolting everything up tight, I lucked out with pedal clearance.

Then all that was left was to set the tensioner for proper tracking and tack welding it to the frame. Looking ready to start!




Might try after dinner and see if she fires up. This bike has never ever been started so I'm hoping the motor is okay after the poor start she got in life...
Still have to remove the front fender before I call the owner.
Should be fun seeing him get his first ride!

The rims on this bike are sweet! If this is stock, I got robbed on my last few purchases...
These things are BEEFY! They really look like worksman or something similar.
The frame welding is very poor so I think the rims are HD aftermarket items added sometime later.
I've never seen ANY Huffy equipped with 10g spokes from the factory.

It is what it is, but at least he will have a safe chance to experience it now...
If it starts.
We shall see....

Update! The engine started first try and happily burbled around the block a few minutes. I see a happy customer when he see his bike up and running for the first time.
I really get a kick out of helping poor clueless noobs like this guy. He needs a good experience for a change!

Get a small buzzbox or fluxcore mig. (I prefer stick for more versatility) and get welding!
Experience is the best way to learn. I can teach you how in 5 minutes, but you will only get good by actually welding stuff.
Shoot for strong welds at first, pretty will come with time.

Yeah, I plan to get a pic (if I remember...)
This poor guy has really had lousy luck so far and I'm looking forward to giving him a runner instead of more bills.
I am not making anything on this one because I'm a big mushy softie.
Here it is ready to go back home.