26CC Homelite dual suspension whipper

This is my first post in regard to my DIY mating of a homelite wacker and a fully suspended xr-200 mongoose. Ive been reading through all of the posts with chainsaw and wacker friction drives and thought that this would be otimal for me. The whole project has cost me next to nothing except certain upgrades to the bike that were needed just for riding it eg: wider suspended seat- speedo- water bottle holder. Also added a homemade rear rack that was made out of brackets for a plasma screen tv that I found in the garbage.

Got the bike for free and was barely used. Its a wally world mongoose but it was better then walking 3 mph as compared to the avg speeg on the bike of 8 mph peddling up and down the hills.

Started out with the bike stock as it was bought from wally world. If I didnt know the bike assembly guy there I would have sent the store a crappy letter telling them that they need to start putting these things together right. wouldnt shift right, brakes rubbing and loose screws. The girl I got it off never rode it but twice and it sat in the garage for two years.

Anyhows... while out riding one day to get coffee..( my only means of tranport these days) I came accross a Homelite 26vt in the dumpster behind the local thift shop. whipped it out of the dumpster and bungeed it to the bike. went and got my coffee then after that was finished I started my 6 mile trek home up hills that are near 40 degree inclines.

Started looking up the best way to attach it. Looked at the GEBE kits and the bmp kits. Dont have that kind of money right now to put on though Id really like to get my hands on the GEBE sheave or a whizzer sheave. I also dont have any of my tools, My lathe, my welder ( thanks to the exwife.. cheaper to keep the wife imho and less painful.)

So I had to come up with a way to do all of this on no money, only the basic of handtools and whatever fasteners that I could come up with. The nearest Home Depot is about 7 miles away and thats also the nearest shopping center. Thought about how I could do this using just what I have. Thought for bout a week and then ureka. I used the curved shaft as my drive train with the bump head remover and a roller from my Elevator tech days onto it... Perfect match.. 26" wheel and 1.5" roller. I have a second Roller to shave down to 1.25 but I only just ran it for the first time today.



I ran the shaft on the inside of the frame using things like a 1" conduit strap, an eye bolt and a piece of steel to compress it to the side wall tire. I used the rear fork frame as the leverage. Im going to have to do more to make sure that the piece of steel for the leverage never comes loose or Ill have about a bagillion broken spokes and Road Rash.

I then Ran the shaft up trhough the deck of the rear rack simply by just drilling a hole in it.attached the eye bolt near the top and the motor sits at a 40 degree angle out the top.



This will also allow for ease of repowers to a bigger motor once I find one, allowed me to keep the clutch for just peddle power, Keeps the motor near center though a higher center of gravity. I expect that it will wear the side of my tire a bit until I can get the pressure just right as I will be trying cannonball2's method of a cheap roller found here at this thread: http://motorbicycling.com/f36/cheap-easy-drive-roller-29961.html .

First test ride went ok.. Had to peddle to get her going and reached a top speed of 20 mph on a slight incline, 38 on a down hill and that was still with the clutch having tons of grease and spilled oil/gas mix on it from the previous owner.

I still have to get the throttle hooked up ( No have no Idea where Im going to find a thumb throttle) , Kill switch ( want one like the jet skis where it has to have a key or plug in to keep it going incase i ever have to bail on it.) though all in all even for the first ride, 185 lbs rider, 45lbs of bike, 7lbs for rear rack, 8 Lbs of baggage and it kept me going at a stead 20 with tons of clutch slippage.

If anyone has any Ideas or thoughts of how I can improve on this then Please feel free.. Im here to learn and share whatever I can..

http://motorbicycling.com/images/smilies/xx.gif

Deacon,
Ive followed a few of your threads and watched your vids on Youtube.. great work there. There is a bike shop thats about 6 miles from me. Il hit them and see what they have. Hopefully they will be stocked with some old stock that they want to get rid of and Ill buy two or three this way ill have them for my next projects. Thanks for the tip. keep up the good work.

Cannonball2,
I checked it before I mounted it, Its a bonified roller bearing in the end So I dont think thatll be a issue in the near future. I think Ill have to replace the tire before I have to do anything to the end of the shaft. I did think about adding a little more security to it by putting in a small pillow block and bearing near the drive roller. I cant do anything with the pedal crank and space is limited and Its my ONLY mode of transport. Car took a dump and not alot of jobs out there right now for Elevator repairmen.

All in all its a decent set up though the clutch is heating up and on some inclines I do have to assist but overall, Im just happy that I wont have to peddle on the light grade or even flat out blacktop and Ill have some help for the hills and its all hills where I live.

I have a spare roller on the bike attached to the rack that Im going to have sliced down a little so that I can use it depending on the route Im taking for the day.

Even in the rain the roller did well and slippage was minimal. 17 miles on it and no noticeable wear to the tire or the roller. Ill continue to play with the pressure setting till I get it all dialed in right and the motor, which needed carb work just like every other 26vt homelite out there, tuned proper.

Thanks for the info guys and Keep sharing as someone like me could learn a ton for you two.

Deacon, Id love to build a trailer like the one you made so I could go camping...lol

I basically live out in the sticks as most city folk would compare it to. Ive been riding the 20 something miles a day to just get basic needs. Im kinda all on my own and this has become a shear necessity. I wanted something that was dependable, yet simplistic.didnt have to tool anything to get it to work which was a big plus. Ive built a dc lathe before and Ive been wrenching since I was old enough to get my hands on dads tools.

This being said though. if I ever have a proplem with the motor, Easy repower by unbolting the motor, which is one screw and makes for public transportation services as most buses and trains in the philly metro area state ... NO gasoline powered bikes.. I just undo a screw to losen the shroud collet, unplug the kill switch and hopefully just unlink the throttle and it goes into my back pack. If anyone ever asks about the shaft.. Its for a generator for lights 9 which I plan on putting on if I can get my hands on one of them generator starters thats small enough. (itll give me the extra ummph and Ill use it sparingly to get rolling with a 12v 18ah battery or my jumpstarter with a usb port so i can charge my phone and gps.)

they have always been telling me , work smarter not harder and this is just a product of that.. or maybe it was one of those kids cartoons when i was growing up as a wee lad.. either way its opened up some more doors for me.

Cannonball2,
Exactly.... I though about doing the tread mount FD and it dawned on me that the sidewall , unless you got through some heavy rain or a puddle will stay at least a bit more dry. Although, having one of your rubber rollers with the tire tread patttern in it would add a little to things like a cog. I though about doing it on the side of the rim but dont want to wear down the rim. The roller Im using is smooth and is a rubber material but its a tad bit harder then the tire but still has good composition to get traction with the tire.

I imagine that after a hundred or so miles Ill have to clean the side wall of the tire to get rid of dirt and accumulations to keep the traction but Ill cross that bridge when I get there.

Id Like to do something Like Lowracers dual rim sheath but itll have to wait and that'll be a front mount drive system when I come across some more funds and a friend that has a welder he is willing to let me use.

I can see some issues with using the side wall but ultimately i think I just might be able to get about 600- 1000 miles out of this set up as long as I maintain and do periodic adjustments for the terrain that Ill be experiencing as I putt along..

just put 30 miles on the set up I have.. performed within expectations... on a hill i had to peddle... hard but on a flat out in town... I got about 20 mph and even more on true level ground... for spending no money and just pure necessity i think i have hit the sweet spot in drive ratio and with a tad of rain along my way.. out performed my expectations in exevery way... no slippage except from the clutch.. but with a bigger motor.. itll be right on point with a 1.5 inch FD roller..
gets me to 20 mph ... enough for a wally world bike... my next is a trek bike.... Cannonball2's roller and front wheel drive... Lowracer and Connonball2 are to blame for wanting a 2.5 lifan motor..

Silverbear:
thanks for the welcome... actually today at a 4th of july gathering about a dozen people thought it was a kit.. then i told them it was just all the parts of a weed wacker... I got 7 orders to do the same to their bikes. Im A firm beliver in making do whith what your dealt and what you have on hand. Many thought this was a kit and wanted to know where I got it from... When i told them that I spent 0$ usd and it was my own design... they offered you their weed wackers by the dozen... No lie. yes on hills.. not a good candidate.... but on flat roads at 3/4 to full throttle... 24 mph verified by two cars with a head wind. Totally exeeded my expectations.. and haveing 47 miles on it now.. No tire wear and minimal roller wear.. I cant wait to get a bigger motor... I hate peddling 30 miles a day.... laughs

Deacon:
I use to have one of the yellow shaft 31 cc ryobi's and it was a powerful little wacker. Only used it to cut brush on the edge of my property with the steel blade on it but its got some power to it. plus it has a bigger tank right off the start. My nieghbor has one, maybe i can con him out of it for a small fee..

Biknut: thatll cost you a six pack and a gallon of gas. laughs.

Just got back in from my 8th trip with this thing and putting aside the fact that I have to hold the throttle for the motor behind me (Still havent gotten that thumb throttle yet) and this thing really is outperforming my expectations. I would like some more hill climbing power but I also like the 20mph top end that I get from this. As everything wears more together and the motor is pretty well tuned now, Im reaching 24 mph on the flats and 30 on the slight down slopes.

Havent done fuel economy estimates yet but the tank is about a 6 or 8 oz tank and Ive refilled it 4 times and have put about 90 miles on it. The tire is just starting to glaze and I can still peddle it pretty well without the motor running...

A tuned pipe or at least a different muffler to put the exhaust pointing down would quiet it a little.

Even just passed by three cops today and they only looked but had nothing to say at all about it. I think this ones a keeper.

Ive been rc boating for a good while now.. and thank you Cannonball2 for the tech info as I could use a bit here and then. My nieghbor has a yellow shaft 31cc royobi that im trying to snatch up for pennies. Went and did a review of the current models and your right on the mark.. Homelite and the roybi... dead ringers except the roybi has this automatic choke thing... Even the shrouds are the same.

Was looking at some four strokers but looked online about the reliability and its not looking good. Ill stick with the two strokes... got my eye on my boses SRM-265t echos.. real torquer and everytime I pull on the string for that thing when its warm... second pull always gets it started... Unlike my 26cc homelight.

Added a few things and did some mods lately. Added a thumb throttle from a shift from a pristine Colligate 3 and that killed me. I Hate taking from Pristine bikes but the thift store was going to scrap it because it had bad tires. Scored it for only 5 bucks. The manager asked for a slight donation. Normally its 15 dollars for a adult bike but because they were scrapping it ( was in 20 times better shape the the other schwinn they had out front). Ill post some pics of the coligate schwinn in almost mint condition. Gonna be my next ride. Sturmey Archer three speed hub though needs cleaning and lube, though I think itll make a fabulous town hybrid of peddle and two cycle.

Also just hammered out a new fender from aluminum facia scraps. Ground down a block of wood, had a dead blow plastic tipped hammer= home made fender to keep the grime out of my chain and off of me. Got almost 200 miles on my set up now and though I wish there was more hill pulling power, It does great in town keeping me between 17 mph on slight inclines and 24 on flat outs with headwind against me.

Ill be posting some new pics of the build and the new ride which I hope to score a bigger motor on though its technically a girls bike.... Just makes it easier to mount and get my groove on... grins.

Oh and forgot to mention that I tow the new score home on my bike for 5 miles. My rack ( thank god I made it heavy duty) held that sucker like it was part of it. ( thank god for nylon rope). I towed it most of the way with minimal peddle power even up the hills but when I got to the two biggest, well lets just say I broke out in a sweat and they are about 40 degree inclines.

and that was with the added weight of groceries ( about 35 Lbs). going to add a 12v 7ah battery to power the lights which Im converting to Led and I have a tight in for a shimano Dynomo hub.. Not sure If Ill get it just from straightening someones rims. Im all about doing this for free and not scared to work for it. This is my everyday driver as I cant afford a car.

Got a collapsible handcart too which I can mount on the bike and unstrap it in case I run into another find and Ill tow it behind. A few More cc's and ****, I wont even consider a car anymore.

Oh and this is the best part.. Still on my first gallon of gas though I need to mix some more two cycle echo blend. Over 200 miles on a single gallon of gas, Unheard of.

Here are pics of my newly aquired '79 Schwinn:





And here it is in tow..



I love being different and creative... just gets the juices flowing. the last is a pic when i stopped for McDonalds dollar burgers... yeah yeah I know they are mostly soy but that isnt such a bad thing.... Laughs... )