New bike! 1948 H Whizzer in a B-6 frame
- Thread starter McBob
- Start date
its funny how well whizzers do at shows always.....here on the forum you'ld hardly know anyone had them at times.
whats even funnier is how much money and effort people put into a bike trying to do what a whizzer already does and is.
few succeed really.
whats even funnier is how much money and effort people put into a bike trying to do what a whizzer already does and is.
few succeed really.
Interesting. I think that for a lot of us older fellows who grew up staring at Whizzer ads in the back of Popular Mechanics magazines the old Whizzers have been an inspiration in what we do here on the forum. I don't have a Whizzer and never had the wherewithal to buy one. And now that I've been building bikes for some years it is the whole process of dreaming up, gathering together and putting together a build that gives so much pleasure. The best thing about the Whizzers is they are so cool and are already done, ready to go with a bit of restoration, tweaking... which is also the worst thing about them if you like to build. They're already done!
Many of the younger fellows know little or nothing about them. They aren't even on the radar screen, but they know somebody with a HT kit on a bike and got started building that way. The inspiration was different and the model of what can be is also different.
A third factor is that the actual price of a build is something we can keep a secret from wives and ourselves by buying a part at a time over the course of as much as a year or longer... and never really adding up what the build finally cost or having to come up with the total all at once to pay for it. So, we can remain in a comfortable state of fiscal denial. Ha!
This coming winter I'll be one of those Whizzer wannabees as I put together my 51 Schwinn "kindalikeawhizzer" build using a 147cc Jacobsen 2 stroke with belt drive, loosely modeled after and in the spirit of the old Whizzer. It won't be the same and may well be less than, but it will be mine and I'll have the fun in putting it together.
You guys are a lucky bunch. I've never even seen a whizzer "in person", just pictures.
SB
Fiscal denial, that's great SB. I'm looking forward to watching that 51 come together. I've got a wheel sheave if you need it when ready.
joined forums in 2009 and never seen one!! wow
come by sometime and take a ride or get to a gathering where you know they'll be
I understand hiding the funds but ive seen plenty of 98-2008 whizzers at really decent prices much cheaper than a build.....my ne5 was $550 with 47 miles on it...fella won it in a raffle and didnt want it and the clutch wasnt working(spaced wrong on arm). Ive seen plenty under 750 at times....btw brand new ones here(leftovers) still on crates..$1100
come by sometime and take a ride or get to a gathering where you know they'll be
I understand hiding the funds but ive seen plenty of 98-2008 whizzers at really decent prices much cheaper than a build.....my ne5 was $550 with 47 miles on it...fella won it in a raffle and didnt want it and the clutch wasnt working(spaced wrong on arm). Ive seen plenty under 750 at times....btw brand new ones here(leftovers) still on crates..$1100
SB, Sold my Whizzer to a good friend last month. Had it 4 yrs , only rode it 200 yds when buying it. Rode it at his place last month, you will love the belt drive, so smooth and quiet.
It is built on a 26" frame but use 24" wheels now. Felt funny as I am too large. Recently bought several Whizzer front and rear wheels and 3 rear sheaves. Also have 3 manual clutches. Will be installing them on stretch cruiser frames. The hd Whizzer wheels are 26" old school.
Bought a old Whizzer H Motor that needs work. The Whizzer Motors are narrow at the crankshaft, wide pedal cranks are not required. Can be pedal started with the manual clutch, on stand or on the road. They are 139cc so one gear ratio is fine.
Bought a 2 cylinder opposed Whizzer motor, found out that it is a 12 hp outboard Whizzer motor, will list it for cost. There was a lot of them around back in their day. No reverse, just rotate motor.
It is built on a 26" frame but use 24" wheels now. Felt funny as I am too large. Recently bought several Whizzer front and rear wheels and 3 rear sheaves. Also have 3 manual clutches. Will be installing them on stretch cruiser frames. The hd Whizzer wheels are 26" old school.
Bought a old Whizzer H Motor that needs work. The Whizzer Motors are narrow at the crankshaft, wide pedal cranks are not required. Can be pedal started with the manual clutch, on stand or on the road. They are 139cc so one gear ratio is fine.
Bought a 2 cylinder opposed Whizzer motor, found out that it is a 12 hp outboard Whizzer motor, will list it for cost. There was a lot of them around back in their day. No reverse, just rotate motor.
Well, it sounds like a Whizzer can be had for a reasonable price. Even $1100.00 is easy enough to spend on a build, especially if you are buying most everything. I've never spent near that much on one, but added together the builds... well, I don't know what the total would come to and don't want to think about it. I justify the expenditures by reminding myself that I don't drink, smoke, gamble, run with wild women or even tame ones anymore. So building bikes is my indulgence.
Didn't know about the Whizzer outboards. When I was a boy (said in a wheezy geezer voice) all the outboards had no reverse. You want to go backwards turn the motor around. And the gas tanks were built into the upper rear of the motor with gravity feed to the carb. Ten hsp was a big motor. My oldest brother had a ten horse Evinrude with a rope start and it was the biggest motor on the lake and the size of about a ninety horse now.
I've a question for you Whizzermen. When it comes time for my "kindalikeawhizzer" build is it OK if I post the thread here? The frame is a 1951 Schwinn cantilever Hornet and the engine is a 147cc 2 stroke Jacobsen which will power a belt to a sheave on the rear wheel. No attempt will be made to make it look like a Whizzer, but it is very much in the back of my mind... the original Whizzer I coveted in the old magazine advertisements.
Where I am at this point is that I have run the motor and a carb repair kit has arrived for rebuilding it. I'm in the middle of building the wheels, awaiting 10 5/8" Whizzer spokes which I will lace into vintage Schwinn rims and Atom drum brakes which came from an AMF Roadmaster moped. The rear hub has a sprocket on the right side for pedal chain and no sprocket on the left as the weird moped was friction drive... perfect for my needs. Tires are 26 X 2.4" Cyclops fatties for "the look" and what is reportedly a great ride. Front fork is from a Sachs Hercules light motorcycle/moped of the 1960's. I've made a honker headlight for it from a Harbor Freight dune buggy light so that it will fit between the ears. Gas tank will be in frame and was made a couple of years ago with lots of help from Tinsmith. It is copper and beautiful. I'll make a copper jewel light for the rear and may make a copper belt cover when the time comes. We'll see. The bike will be painted a mahogany brown with Van Sickles tractor paint which should go nicely with the copper. I want it to look like what it is; a 1950's motor bike.
At this point the only thing Whizzer on the bike will be the spokes, unless chainmaker's sheave finds a home here. I had thought to make do with a 20" bike rim and home made brackets, but maybe if I have both spokes and sheave that are the real deal you guys will let me post my "almostlikeawhizzer" thread here with the big boys. Let me know what you think. This is your turf. I'm counting on you guys to answer some questions and offer advise. This will be a winter build, but a few things will be done long before... have the engine running, weld in the engine mounts, figure out what I need to do with the chain stay to give clearance for belt and fatty tire if need be. Then put it together over the winter and paint it in the spring. And then... woohoo!
SB
Didn't know about the Whizzer outboards. When I was a boy (said in a wheezy geezer voice) all the outboards had no reverse. You want to go backwards turn the motor around. And the gas tanks were built into the upper rear of the motor with gravity feed to the carb. Ten hsp was a big motor. My oldest brother had a ten horse Evinrude with a rope start and it was the biggest motor on the lake and the size of about a ninety horse now.
I've a question for you Whizzermen. When it comes time for my "kindalikeawhizzer" build is it OK if I post the thread here? The frame is a 1951 Schwinn cantilever Hornet and the engine is a 147cc 2 stroke Jacobsen which will power a belt to a sheave on the rear wheel. No attempt will be made to make it look like a Whizzer, but it is very much in the back of my mind... the original Whizzer I coveted in the old magazine advertisements.
Where I am at this point is that I have run the motor and a carb repair kit has arrived for rebuilding it. I'm in the middle of building the wheels, awaiting 10 5/8" Whizzer spokes which I will lace into vintage Schwinn rims and Atom drum brakes which came from an AMF Roadmaster moped. The rear hub has a sprocket on the right side for pedal chain and no sprocket on the left as the weird moped was friction drive... perfect for my needs. Tires are 26 X 2.4" Cyclops fatties for "the look" and what is reportedly a great ride. Front fork is from a Sachs Hercules light motorcycle/moped of the 1960's. I've made a honker headlight for it from a Harbor Freight dune buggy light so that it will fit between the ears. Gas tank will be in frame and was made a couple of years ago with lots of help from Tinsmith. It is copper and beautiful. I'll make a copper jewel light for the rear and may make a copper belt cover when the time comes. We'll see. The bike will be painted a mahogany brown with Van Sickles tractor paint which should go nicely with the copper. I want it to look like what it is; a 1950's motor bike.
At this point the only thing Whizzer on the bike will be the spokes, unless chainmaker's sheave finds a home here. I had thought to make do with a 20" bike rim and home made brackets, but maybe if I have both spokes and sheave that are the real deal you guys will let me post my "almostlikeawhizzer" thread here with the big boys. Let me know what you think. This is your turf. I'm counting on you guys to answer some questions and offer advise. This will be a winter build, but a few things will be done long before... have the engine running, weld in the engine mounts, figure out what I need to do with the chain stay to give clearance for belt and fatty tire if need be. Then put it together over the winter and paint it in the spring. And then... woohoo!
SB
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Well then unless there are objections from other whizzermen I'll post the thread in your corner of the world. There are a couple of reasons the build has to wait. There are other projects lined up ahead of it. First is finishing up a woodshed for next winter and filling it with cut and split wood. The shed is nearly done and the wood is cut (about five cords of birch), but not yet split and stacked.
After that are a couple of bike projects which will get underway in a couple of weeks with the beginning of motorbicycle summer camp for boys who never grew up and don't plan to either which will officially be under way with the the arrival of fasteddy from Vancouver, B.C. He'll be bringing with him his done by then we hope Indian Tadpole, a tribute 1903 Indian Camelback tri-car. We'll work then on my version of the tri-car on my Indian Hiawatha which has been under way for three years now. We'll be working on the front end spindles, linkage and such. If there's time then we also can finish up the 1934 Elgin with a Villiars midget engine, SPB shift kit and 3 speed rear end. Pushing two years on that project.
It will already be August when he gets here and we have to have time for bar of soap swims in the lake, riding motorbikes, fishing and other irresponsibilities in the name of fun and latent truancy. We also have to work in a shortish trip to the east coast so that Steve can visit his son in New Hampshire and I can spend time with grandkids and daughter in Baltimore. Mr real purpose in hitching along is to sell a 1951 Spartan aircraft trailer I once used as winter quarters where I worked as a handyman/caretaker for a property near Camp David up in the Catoktin Mountains of Western Maryland. While there I'll meet up with my friend Tinsmith for old times, bike riding and to pick up my Schwinn Hornet frame which I had given him a couple of years ago and which he is not using so will become the foundation of the "kindalikeawhizzer". Boy, sounds like there will hardly be enough time left over to fart and scratch. So, you can see why the build will be relegated to winter. I would like to get the engine mounts welded in and make whatever alteration is needed to the chain stay for clearance. Steve is a good welder and I'm not. The riding season is short in the north country with first snow in early October. Winter is the time to dream up and work on builds. It'll be fun!
SB
After that are a couple of bike projects which will get underway in a couple of weeks with the beginning of motorbicycle summer camp for boys who never grew up and don't plan to either which will officially be under way with the the arrival of fasteddy from Vancouver, B.C. He'll be bringing with him his done by then we hope Indian Tadpole, a tribute 1903 Indian Camelback tri-car. We'll work then on my version of the tri-car on my Indian Hiawatha which has been under way for three years now. We'll be working on the front end spindles, linkage and such. If there's time then we also can finish up the 1934 Elgin with a Villiars midget engine, SPB shift kit and 3 speed rear end. Pushing two years on that project.
It will already be August when he gets here and we have to have time for bar of soap swims in the lake, riding motorbikes, fishing and other irresponsibilities in the name of fun and latent truancy. We also have to work in a shortish trip to the east coast so that Steve can visit his son in New Hampshire and I can spend time with grandkids and daughter in Baltimore. Mr real purpose in hitching along is to sell a 1951 Spartan aircraft trailer I once used as winter quarters where I worked as a handyman/caretaker for a property near Camp David up in the Catoktin Mountains of Western Maryland. While there I'll meet up with my friend Tinsmith for old times, bike riding and to pick up my Schwinn Hornet frame which I had given him a couple of years ago and which he is not using so will become the foundation of the "kindalikeawhizzer". Boy, sounds like there will hardly be enough time left over to fart and scratch. So, you can see why the build will be relegated to winter. I would like to get the engine mounts welded in and make whatever alteration is needed to the chain stay for clearance. Steve is a good welder and I'm not. The riding season is short in the north country with first snow in early October. Winter is the time to dream up and work on builds. It'll be fun!
SB
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