what did you do to your motorized bicycle today?

GoldenMotor.com

racie35

Active Member
Nov 17, 2012
1,702
5
38
usa
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

Took my sidecar rig for its first test run today. Stopped at a country store to get some gas. The lady asked how much gas I wanted, when I told her 2 dollars, She looked out the window to see what I was driving. Then she asked if I was driving the old bicycle with the sidecar and everone in there had to go look at it. What a rush.
lets see that sidecar!
 

Skarrd

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

vacuum leaks... vacuum leaks everywhere...

finally got the motor on the 24" bike put together and started, ran into some problems...

won't idle.
4 strokes alot.
lagging throttle response.

had the engine completely stripped down at one time, guess i should strip it back down and replace it with some better quality seals and work from the ground up to rule out internals and work all the way to the carb.

but it was nice to finally have it running, even if it wasn't in a drive-able condition.
 

Nashville Kat

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2009
1,501
55
48
Jacksonville, Florida
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

Still having some kind of float/carb problem on the 50- with billet and NT 66 speed carb-

keeps flooding and spilling gas- I've been riding on a float bowl at a time- using the cut off valve on the carb to periodically fill it- not good- motor dies flooded otherwise

again took the bowl and float off- and bent the arms slightly so that the float willl more quickly close the bowl valve- tested the float in the sink- it doesn't appear to leak-

I was hoping that maybe some graphite based oil i'd come across and mixed for several tanks may have been clogging it- and put the old blue oil mix in today- but several miles later it's still doing it

I'm wondering if i'd be better off with the old smaller NT carb back on- not a lot of performance differrence-

I'm ALWAYS shutting it off- almost every transition or intersection, and rolling down to "bicycle speed' to stop- the 700c x 32 tires roll forever!

too much float bowl for my meager usage? Stlill should cut the gas off tho...
 
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Wickedest1

Member
Oct 31, 2012
688
7
18
41
connecticut
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

Rode her to the pharmacy to get a prescription...1.1 miles and I got pushed into a snow bank by the wind...no damage...rode the yellow line home with no traffic...and no snow bank...oh, and I finally got cold cold on a winter trip...finally...
 

racie35

Active Member
Nov 17, 2012
1,702
5
38
usa
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

started reassembly after my engine installation.....gotta fab up a few parts
 

dodge dude94

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

Found I have some sort of gasket leak...again. :mad:

Can't figure out if it's leaking from the head gasket or the exhaust but I have black crap on the front of my engine again.
 

GearNut

Active Member
Aug 19, 2009
5,104
11
38
San Diego, Kaliforgnia
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

That sounds like an exhaust gasket leak. The exhaust can spew out black oily gunk if the gasket is leaking. If the head gasket is leaking it will spit out a fine oily mess on the outside of the engine that can turn black after road crap sticks to it. The only black you'll see is the first 1/2" or so directly around the leak itself after you remove the cylinder head. Also a head gasket leak will cause a lean condition and the engine will run wrong.
 

dodge dude94

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

That sounds like an exhaust gasket leak. The exhaust can spew out black oily gunk if the gasket is leaking. If the head gasket is leaking it will spit out a fine oily mess on the outside of the engine that can turn black after road crap sticks to it. The only black you'll see is the first 1/2" or so directly around the leak itself after you remove the cylinder head. Also a head gasket leak will cause a lean condition and the engine will run wrong.
Well, in that case it's the exhaust then. Weird thing is, the gasket isn't blown out and there doesn't appear to be any of that junk on the front of the engine itself, or at least alot. I can't believe I've blown another gasket though. grrrr
 

UVsaturated

New Member
May 15, 2008
140
4
0
Dayton, Ohio
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

My master link broke. One of the pins came out of the link and it was barely hanging on. I rode it cautiously 22 miles this way to a facility I use that has a welder. I removed the master link and welded the backside of the pins in permanently so that it never happens again and could have caused me to be stranded again. I saved a few bucks, but in the long run, I know I won't be buying another crappy master link that might fail.

On my return trip, my rear inner tube goes flat and I am stuck about 10 miles out from home and need a ride anyway. At least I get something fixed and then something else breaks. Bicycle tubes seem to be a big problem for me as I ride my motorized bicycle often and there is a lot of debri along the roadside that can cause punctures. I am inevitably thinking about filling a set of tires with expanding foam and see how that works out because I am tired of wasting my money on worthless tubes that leave me crying by the roadside.
 

GearNut

Active Member
Aug 19, 2009
5,104
11
38
San Diego, Kaliforgnia
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

The expanding foam sold at home improvement stores cures to a brittle state. It will crush inside the tube when weight is applied to it.
Your best bet is to use the $15 a piece "for down hill racing" mountain bike inner tubes which are very thick walled and install quality tire liners as well. The cost is high, but the dependability is high too. Ya get what ya pay for.

Some folks like the Slime brand self healing inner tubes instead of the down hill tubes, but I am not a fan of the sticky goo slime product.
 
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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?

You can get super-tubes for $5 each at Niagaracycle. www.niagaracycle.com I don't use the slime or any sealant either. Just get some tires with some tread thickness or puncture belts, and the thick tubes ("thorn resistant" tubes). They help cushion the ride more too.

The expanding foam sold at home improvement stores cures to a brittle state. It will crush inside the tube when weight is applied to it.
Your best bet is to use the $15 a piece "for down hill racing" mountain bike inner tubes which are very thick walled and install quality tire liners as well. The cost is high, but the dependability is high too. Ya get what ya pay for.

Some folks like the Slime brand self healing inner tubes instead of the down hill tubes, but I am not a fan of the sticky goo slime product.
 

MEASURE TWICE

Well-Known Member
Jul 13, 2010
2,741
1,211
113
CA
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

Worked on the last of my belt tensioning designs.

The first of three belts in the transmission has the idler. I shimmed the inside of the 1/2 inch bolt shoulder to get it to fit snug in the 1/2 inch bushing reducer for the flat idler pulley. The bracket welding finished and made cuts in the protective safety cover and will be finishing the cover later.

By a long shot the regular vee-belts have better grabbing power than either the link type belts. The back of the link type belts on a flat idler pulley I think is not a good idea, so the Gates Brand Powerated green color belt is perfect.

Harbor Freight selling the Acculink green color link type belt is not as good for the stretch I found it has as compared to the Grainger selling the more expensive brand Powertwist Plus red color belt. Powertwist Plus has next to no stretch at all.

Both link belts are out shined by the Powerated regular vee-belt though, so I'm going with all three belts in my 40:1 ratio 3hp 4stoke Briggs dual purpose, parade / dirt bike.

Gates Powerated belt I got from Oreilly Auto.

MT

http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?p=463046#post463046
 
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Skarrd

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

changed out all the gaskets, made sure everything was nice and tight.

engine barely starts now :C

it has spark, and a good compression, good fuel flow, intake is getting fuel air in there as well.

i just can't figure out why it's running so rough still.

i changed out all the gaskets with the ones from SBP (i had made my own previously but they didn't come out so well).

i'm almost wondering if there's some type of vacuum leak at the intake somewhere as i'm running the z offset intake with a hose to extend it out a few more inches to clear the frame.

but even when i sprayed carb cleaner all over it, there still was no change in health. i had to pulse the throttle to keep it running. if i hit the throttle hard it'd die, if i let it idle, it would stay there for a bit then slowly droop down until it dies.
 

Nashville Kat

Well-Known Member
Apr 20, 2009
1,501
55
48
Jacksonville, Florida
Re: what did you do to your motor bike today?

Went for coffee and picked up a couple of brews at the convenience store on the way back- the usual 6 miles or so roundtrip- Florida is great for this!
Rained all last night, but 70's by afternoon.

The little 50 just keeps running- how far can this thing go?
the gas overflowing problem seems to have been solved with the bending of the Speed carb levers in the float bowl- one screw for the carb, and two to remove the float bowl- easy.

haven't been on the 66 for three months at least