Spring loaded tensioner questions

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biknut

biknut

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Sep 28, 2010
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Dan said:
Just another thought, Corgi is right. Thats a lot of stress at a bad angle. Might want to beef it up.
Click to expand...
Alright learned masters. This grasshopper spent all day making a 4" long bracket that will brace my tensioner bracket that I spent all day making yesterday. It connects to yesterdays bracket and goes down to the frame and bolts to the mount for the kick stand. I'll post some pics as soon as the paint dries.

If everybody's not happy about this one, please just shoot me now.
 
Dan

Dan

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May 25, 2008
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we are all just students. Is cool to see where you take this. Your building some thing way cool, is way cool. Your original question was and is an often asked one. Your getting a good and clear cut answer, that would help folks forever! Shoot ya? Monuments will be built! Rock on! Build some thing cool and share your wisdom.

Is about the share and the fun IMHO.


Is great, and I mean great to see your thunks. I mean this, thank you for sharing. For every one who posts, there are 50 who read what you took the time to type. You helped around 47 hundred and a half folks (I flunked math 3rce and a half) Never wrong and always fun. TY BN!
 
biknut

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,631
409
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Dan said:
we are all just students. Is cool to see where you take this. Your building some thing way cool, is way cool. Your original question was and is an often asked one. Your getting a good and clear cut answer, that would help folks forever! Shoot ya? Monuments will be built! Rock on! Build some thing cool and share your wisdom.

Is about the share and the fun IMHO.


Is great, and I mean great to see your thunks. I mean this, thank you for sharing. For every one who posts, there are 50 who read what you took the time to type. You helped around 47 hundred and a half folks (I flunked math 3rce and a half) Never wrong and always fun. TY BN!
Click to expand...
Thanks a lot Dan, It's very nice of you to say that.
 
biknut

biknut

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Sep 28, 2010
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This stupid little bracket may have been the hardest one to make I've ever made. I'm starting to feel like a blacksmith with all the metal heating, bending and hammering I've been doing lately. Not to mention drilling. This seems like it's doing the trick though. I can not see any flexing at all now rolling the motor over with the clutch out. This cost me an extra day, but doing it over after a failure would take a lot longer.

Thank you everyone for all the helpful suggestions and cautions. After working all day yesterday making the upper bracket, I really didn't feel like adding another one, but you guys knew I need to.

My bike is complete now. I just need a couple longer bolts and poke a fork in it. it's done. When I say done, I mean done for now as you all well know lol.




 
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kipharley

kipharley

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Jul 9, 2009
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Hi,Biknut.Have you had a chance to try out your tensioner yet?I am just finishing up my latest version of my tensioner hope to get some pics today and I'll post them later.
I see you placed your CDI box where I do on my builds!
What I do is use 1" wide black Velcro strips on the CDI box and the seat tube to eliminate the need of the rubber.
I only use one zip tie like you have in the middle.
I just thread one thru the mounting hole on the inside and wrap the seat tube and thread the end thru the hole on the out side then I take another zip tie and cut the head off it and slide the head onto the tie on the CDI box and cinch it up looks a lot cleaner and will hold it just fine.Good luck.Kip.
[email protected]
 
biknut

biknut

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Sep 28, 2010
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kipharley said:
Hi,Biknut.Have you had a chance to try out your tensioner yet?I am just finishing up my latest version of my tensioner hope to get some pics today and I'll post them later.
I see you placed your CDI box where I do on my builds!
What I do is use 1" wide black Velcro strips on the CDI box and the seat tube to eliminate the need of the rubber.
I only use one zip tie like you have in the middle.
I just thread one thru the mounting hole on the inside and wrap the seat tube and thread the end thru the hole on the out side then I take another zip tie and cut the head off it and slide the head onto the tie on the CDI box and cinch it up looks a lot cleaner and will hold it just fine.Good luck.Kip.
[email protected]
Click to expand...
Hi kipharley, thanks for the tips. It's so nice being able to benefit from peoples experience on this forum. Every part on my bike was influenced by information I gleamed here. It's possible I got the idea for mounting the CDI under the engine from you and failed to give you credit. My apologies if that's the case, but I've read so much I lost track.

My chain tensioner is working quite well. After I added the bottom brace it's very solid now. The downside is it's probably overbuilt a little. By that I mean it weighs more than it needs to. I had to make it out of steel, because I don't know how to bend aluminum. The bottom bracket was a pia to fabricate, but worth it in the end. Overall I'm very happy with it, but still wish it was spring loaded, so there's still some room for improvement.
 
kipharley

kipharley

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Jul 9, 2009
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biknut said:
Hi kipharley, thanks for the tips. It's so nice being able to benefit from peoples experience on this forum. Every part on my bike was influenced by information I gleamed here. It's possible I got the idea for mounting the CDI under the engine from you and failed to give you credit. My apologies if that's the case, but I've read so much I lost track.

My chain tensioner is working quite well. After I added the bottom brace it's very solid now. The downside is it's probably overbuilt a little. By that I mean it weighs more than it needs to. I had to make it out of steel, because I don't know how to bend aluminum. The bottom bracket was a pia to fabricate, but worth it in the end. Overall I'm very happy with it, but still wish it was spring loaded, so there's still some room for improvement.
Click to expand...
I'm sure I'm not the first to put a CDI box under the motor!So don't worry about that.
I'll try to get some pics of what I did for a tensioner.Kip.
[email protected]
 
corgi1

corgi1

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Aug 13, 2009
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hurricane said:
if all else fails , try this link

Custom Motored Bicycles - SPRING LOADED CHAIN TENSIONER Motorized Bicycle Home Made from original tensioner HOW TO, DO IT YOURSELF.

simple and effective and cheap to make
Click to expand...
That is what I didn't think of,,the extention bar on the idler braket so the idler could be brought down from the seat stay in stead of up from the chain stay ,so it can't rotate into the spokes if it breaks loose,,the spring tentioner could use the braket also for the remaining chain play
xct2
 
Dan

Dan

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May 25, 2008
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Was thinking about this today Kip. Yours is a great idea and I think it will be a sought after product for sure. Side thought, I would try and find an already mass produced similar part. Saw a piece from an old washing machine a while back that was also a belt tensioner. I always try to find, finds like that. Just paid a machinist 80 bucks for what amounts to a concaved tube. I could have made it on a mini-lathe/mill. If I knew how to use and owned a mini-lathe/mill. A couple of years back got a price to make a bending mold for wide frame adapters. A block cut in half with half moon used to bend flat stock in a vise. They wanted 500! lol. I now use 3 bolts, a piece of cardboard and a vise. Works great. Just a thought and I will keep my eye out for you. Would ask an appliance repair guy.

Also thought your company logo would look cool etched on the side. Even more if it was polished shiny. OK, I stop now. (prolly not, snork)
 
Dan

Dan

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Yes! and purpose built is gonna look way better then some thing McGyver'ed.

Just found a tool box/lunch box manufacture a few towns away. Old New England factory. Gonna go soon just to see what they make and what I can use or adapt. Mostly I like supporting the old school guys but some times ya get lucky and they have a room full of no longer needed parts they will sell ya for scrap prices. Am thinking tanks and storage ya but never know. And is fun touring old factories. The Worksman building is really interesting. They have rooms and rooms of cool bike stuff.
 
M

maxkaplan

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Nov 4, 2010
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Hey all, I'm new to the forum. Just completed my first build.

Whats the bottom line with chain tensioners? I tried to use the cheap one that my grubee kit came with but no matter how tight I got the brackets they still ended up in my spokes and I destroyed my wheel.

Where can I buy a spring loaded tensioners? @kip the one you made looks perfect.

Thanks,
 
tommyboy1442

tommyboy1442

Member
Nov 25, 2009
244
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chicago
i was gonna run a tensioner on the motor side with a skateboard wheel and a wicked pointed tab that was to be welded on to the chain stay.i milled the tab 1" laterally for adjustment of the wheel. then i thought, why not just make the motor side tight without a tensioner since i didnt have chain'frame clearance problems and run the tensioner on the pedal side since this chain rarley moves compared to the motor side, thus less friction, smoother operation and longer tensioner wheel life. so i bought a kore spring loaded tensioner, worked perfectly for 30 bucks from choppersus....if i were to run a halflink on both chains this would solve the tensioner problem and both chains would be tight without a tensioner, but i didnt want a black link messin up my designer chain on the motor side, also i dont really trust them half links that much, i know they arent as strong as the quality pins and bushings that come with the kmc chains even tho the new half links are push in style pin compared to the old stylewhere the pin is tapered only on one side with a cotter pin on the other side(usually found on minibike chains.....
 

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biknut

biknut

Well-Known Member
Sep 28, 2010
6,631
409
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Dallas
tommyboy1442 said:
i was gonna run a tensioner on the motor side with a skateboard wheel and a wicked pointed tab that was to be welded on to the chain stay.i milled the tab 1" laterally for adjustment of the wheel. then i thought, why not just make the motor side tight without a tensioner since i didnt have chain'frame clearance problems and run the tensioner on the pedal side since this chain rarley moves compared to the motor side, thus less friction, smoother operation and longer tensioner wheel life. so i bought a kore spring loaded tensioner, worked perfectly for 30 bucks from choppersus....if i were to run a halflink on both chains this would solve the tensioner problem and both chains would be tight without a tensioner, but i didnt want a black link messin up my designer chain on the motor side, also i dont really trust them half links that much, i know they arent as strong as the quality pins and bushings that come with the kmc chains even tho the new half links are push in style pin compared to the old stylewhere the pin is tapered only on one side with a cotter pin on the other side(usually found on minibike chains.....
Click to expand...
I came to the same conclusion. The best place for a spring tensioner is on the peddle side.

I assume you made the very nice billet motor mounts?
 
virtuoso

virtuoso

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Dec 21, 2014
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dayton,oh
Jumpin' in on this thread.... I'm having a bit of an issue with my chain tensioner it is spring loaded... I was just wondering I'm getting a bit of a clicking sound and also it seems like it's holding me back is it cuz its too tight and how should I mount it I got it mounted on the bottom with it at putting tension on the top Part of the chain pushing it upward with the spring attached to the bottom chainstay... Any advice please respond thanks guys...
 
Chaz

Chaz

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Jun 3, 2012
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Vancouver, British Columbia
I'm a little confused by the description but I think you have your tensioner pushing the upper chain upwards? That would be the top side of the chain which runs toward the motor? If so, I think you pretty much have to mount the tensioner so it pushes or pulls the bottom of the chain, the section that runs toward the rear sprocket, upwards. Just to take up slack. I've never seen one mounted to put tension on the top/drive section of the chain. A photo would really help to make things clear. Lot's of folks on this forum willing to help. And take a look at the way other people have mounted the tensioner. good luck
 
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