cranbrooks suck

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Mobbin'Deep

New Member
Apr 16, 2010
118
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Far away from home
i bought a cranbrook and in frame 4 stroke kit. and finally got it runin good, so went for a little ride. about a mile away from home the axel exploded leaving me stranded. if you have one of these invest in a wheel and hub imediatly. also the tires are garbage, after draging the bike for about 10ft the tire blew. i looked at it and it looks like its made out of saw dust haha.

The frame is really flimsy, i can bend the chainstays by hand. Sure looks good though haha.

i wouldnt recomend it to anyone. beware of the cheapo deluxo



The motor on the other hand, is amazing! runs smooth as silk, i have a hoot gearbox wich i repacked with lithium grease, and the sound isnt unbearable nor the heat, and the clutch doesnt slip hardly at all. I love the power, and torque! these things rip, i have a 66cc angle fire that im rebuilding and this motor would easily dust that. i think im converted...until i can afford a morini =D
 
Dave31

Dave31

Active Member
Mar 1, 2008
11,199
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38
Aztlán, Arizona
I don't know? I know many with thousands of miles on the cranny including me with no problems? I always pull the rear hub apart and grease them with good quality grease. I do the same with the front and everything else.

Sorry to hear about your troubles :(
 
M

Mobbin'Deep

New Member
Apr 16, 2010
118
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Far away from home
its not the worst bike. im just havin a little trouble. for $75 how can i complain. with the hd wheel, its still half the price of a gt1. my kit came with a non adjustable plate, it fits the cran perfectly. although, the exhaust hits the front wheel making it impossible to steer, so i put the 2 stroke one on there, works like a charm
 
S

shortwide

New Member
Jul 9, 2010
12
0
0
Fayetteville, AR
I also had the rear hub assy TRY to come apart on my cranbrook. I cought it in time tore it apart and repacked everything and tightened it up a hair tighter then normal and it's been a champ so far with no more issues.. Yea it's a $75 bike what are ya gunna do.. I love my POS! haha
 
K

klb6154

New Member
Jun 20, 2010
76
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pittsburgh pa
i decided to ride mine arround the block be4 tearing it down for the build and my hub came apart to it was a pain in the butt to repack it si i swapped it for a ten speed rim from an old road bike that i found on the side of the road i spread the back of the frame by hand about a quarter of an inch and it fit so far ive only test fired the motor w no pedal chain im going to try to mount the shifter from the road bike and the chain next the thing looks badass with the skinny tires on it can you help me i dont know how to post pics on here this is my second build and it came out way better and i would like to share it with everyone
 
W

WayneC

New Member
Aug 2, 2009
173
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Clearwater, FL
Ya took the time to pull the gearbox apart and grease it but not the axles? Shame on you. You're lucky you weren't killed.
#1, I wouldn't trust anyone in a dept. store to build MY bike and just trust it was good to go.
#2, Always inspect hubs, neck/steering, and wheel bolts. Every ride. Then check all engine mountings and chain etc.
 
Z

Zebo

New Member
Oct 10, 2009
5
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0
AZ
Trying to build with a Cranbrook, wish I read this before I bought the bike. I hope I dont have the same problems.

How are you guys mounting the tank, my valve hits the frame
 
W

worksmanFL

New Member
May 25, 2010
579
0
0
Palm Coast, FL
Zebo... lol...:)

Ive had a new cranbrook since june 4th, and its still not road ready.

(my fault, btw, i take way too much time off between my build frustrations to get back to working on it.)

Yes, dont forget to grease hub, and re-tighten properly.

And dont forget to use blue locktite. (forum - your thoughts on lock tite?)

(I have a rack mount grubee 4g t 4 stroke, so I dont have tank issues)

Have fun and good luck! :)
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
Cranboobs are the shizziola! If you get the right one. The welds are anywhere from worse than I can do to pretty darned good. I take the wheels apart, grease everything and tighten ALL the spokes. (most are machine built wheels with every 3rd spoke actually tensioned). I have about 1000 miles on mine maintenance free.
 
Kevlarr

Kevlarr

New Member
Jul 22, 2009
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Mi
Cranbrooks are a gateway bike. You think "Hey, this bike is cheap enough. I can handle it." so you get one then it leads to more hardcore building and the next thing you know you're addicted to cutting and welding and changing things. rotfl
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
Oh yeah, to answer you question Zebo- I put some hard foam under the tank, and turned the petcock a little sideways, no problem. Also, try sliding it forward to get the best clearance.
 

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Goat Herder

Goat Herder

Gutter Rider
Apr 28, 2008
6,237
20
38
N.M.
Ive seen bike's out of these department stores where the hubs were over tightened. So much to the point where on a flat surface rolling a bearing around it was not perfectly round any more. Always go over these bikes before putting them to any kind of service.
 
W

worksmanFL

New Member
May 25, 2010
579
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0
Palm Coast, FL
Hi Joe,

Thats comforting to know, as I too am a "proud" :) Wally World - Huffy Cranbrook owner.
I'm going to take the time and do it right. (Isn't that a song?) :)

done - regreased hubs
to do:
- properly retighten hubs - any suggestions to properly do this?
- tighten all spokes
- tie strap spokes (old school idea) - what do you think?
- adjust for concentricity of rag joint - sprocket

Any other helpful hints?

Thank you :)
 
BarelyAWake

BarelyAWake

New Member
Jul 21, 2009
7,194
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Maine
worksmanFL said:
...- tie strap spokes (old school idea) - what do you think?...
Click to expand...
I'm not a Cranny owner, proud or otherwise lol - but it's interesting you've brought this up... when I had my wheelset built the tech suggested I tie and solder the spokes wherever they cross. As he'd built himself an MB I considered the idea and asked around ta see about it's validity. Turns out everyone I asked pretty much said the same thing, that there's no added benefit beyond what simply having heaver gauge spokes would provide, that it was a "fad" for a time later dropped.

Yet...

I've noticed that at an excessive speed (downhill, far faster than what you'd normally ride... prolly) while takin' a prolonged, gradual turn I suffer from some wheel flex & I can't but wonder if indeed that ol' trick might be worth a shot... tho the downside is it would make it awkward to retrue the wheels.

BUT, simply upgrading my vintage single wall (tho heavy) steel rims to double walls as well as the heavier spokes would prolly fix that right up... not really an option fer me as I wish to keep the originals.

Food fer thought anyway ;)
 
G

Gator Wrestler

New Member
Jan 22, 2009
124
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0
Springfield LA
I have one of those as well and even after I repacked the rear hub with good greese and had everything spinning smoothly it failed on my first long ride. The bearings on one side just ate themselves up. Had to be defective from the start. With most of the China made stuff it's a crap shoot. Some of it is pretty good, but some of it falls apart on you, usually 15 miles from home. I was lucky that day, I called a friend and she picked me and the bike up, it would have been a long walk on a hot muggy day.
 
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