Rear belt drive?

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silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
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northeastern Minnesota
In the interest of seeing if this 16" steel pulley will work, Curt is going to pick it up for me at his local Fleet outlet. He is also picking up a 3" weld on pulley and will be making the modifications on my old Tecumseh clutch, turning it from a sprocket clutch into a pulley clutch. (In return favor, Ill be upholstering another old seat for him.) We talked about the frame clearance issues and I'll be doing some measuring today.

It is a little early to speculate, but I think he will be cutting down part of the pulley from the center out since the pulley is going to be bolted to the old driven sprocket. The pulley will be bolted to the inside edge of the sprocket to draw it a bit closer to the spokes and away from the seat stay and chain stay. Adding spacers is another possibility. Giving the belt clearance from the frame is an ideal. Big sigh if major modifications are needed. A plus is that the sprocket the pulley will be mounted to is a full 10" in diameter and is substantial. It, in turn, is mounted to a Manic Mechanic clam shell hub adapter which can be adjusted laterally on the hub. This, too, gives opportunity to draw the pulley in closer to the wheel.

If after all is said and done, tried and if found wanting, I can always resort to using a sheave attached to the spokes. Just in case, I'll be on the lookout for a 20"wheel with a narrow tire, 20" X 1 3/8" (with an actual rim size of 16", the same as the pulley from fleet and the approximate size of a Whizzer sheave). I have a set of Whizzer spacers and clips which should work attaching it to the spokes. So there is a backup plan and I could have saved some money ($26.00) by just going this route. But in the interest of finding out how this big pulley bolted to sprocket will work I had to give it a try. If it works out it should open up some belt drive options for others on a budget.

Curt will be converting the clutch this winter and I'll ask that he take some pictures along the way. Material costs for the conversion should be around $7.00 for the cost of the weld on pulley. And he may be cutting away part of the center from the 16" steel pulley before sending things back to me. Once I have the big pulley in hand I can mount it to the worn toothed 10" Manic Mechanic sprocket with bolts. Hopefully by then winter will be losing it's iron grip in northern Minnesota (20 below zero the last few nights) and I can do some work directly on the bike. It would be nice if when the last of the snow melts I can fire up my American Flyer and give my "new" belt drive a test run. Woohoo!
SB
 
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silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
Measure Twice,
You are the first I know of to try using a big washing machine pulley as sheave. If the metal in it had been pressed steel I'm guessing it might have worked out. The 10" diameter was also a limitation and until yesterday's find by Curt the best I could come up with was also 10". But you were thinking along the right lines and get the pioneer award of giving it a go. What I'm about to do is "giving it a go, part two". By the time some one else does part three we may have figured it out and worked out the bugs. Interesting thread, sir. I appreciate your work.
SB
 

silverbear

The Boy Who Never Grew Up
Jul 9, 2009
8,325
670
113
northeastern Minnesota
Harry's Villiars beach cruiser remains one of my favorite classic builds. Harry became a dad and family man and as a result also became a responsible adult-like person.

Harry, if you're reading this, hello mate! We miss you around here, but understand how family comes first. Hope you're still taking the Villiars out for a cruise now and then. Build a sidecar and take your daughter with...
SB
 

Ra1977

New Member
Sep 9, 2015
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Columbus,ohio
What about the e 200 razor scooters with belt and cog drive . maybe one a Lil stronger and bingo where Rollin lighter and safer. "That chain scares me". Also is a very big pain to have to keep readjusting. PLEASE SOMEONE make a belt drive system. And it would be nice to see it on ebay.
 

curtisfox

Well-Known Member
Dec 29, 2008
6,041
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minesota
Another that works good is superteen belt with bike rim pulley,do not stretch like regular belts..............Curt
 

Tinkerbot

New Member
Sep 6, 2015
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Sarasota
its easy to get a pulley on a 4 stroke ........ but try doing it to a china now that would be something indeed...... but back to the rear pulley, it has to have teeth just like a motorcycle pulley for better grip. we dont want the belt slipping and we want the best performance possible ............maybe a pulley between the size of a 44 tooth or 52 sprocket diameter would do just fine given that theres a small enough drive pulley on the motor
you probably could drill corresponding holes in a 44 tooth chain sprocket, and bolt this right to it.

http://bullseyeindustrialsales.com/...ley-11-7-16-od-3360-id-6-mounting-holes-56151