Cannondale/Honda GX31 GoCart Transmission: Show me some Love

Opps, photos didn't show up.


I'll try and attach them in this post.

Check attachements.

I also eliminated the grease all together in the tranny. I went down to an auto parts store, and got some cork/rubber gasket, and cut my own gasket and filled the old Stanton box up with 80/90 wt. gear oil.

Thanks again,

Bucka****a

The Staton box held, my motor mounts held, but the engine case ripped in half. I think the chain came off the SBP chainrings and got stuck in between the outside drive ring and the crank arm, and ripped the case right off of the Honda engine. Check picts. This is an old Honda gx31 engine. Any ideas for a fix? Would J.B. Weld do or should I try and find a used one and replace the case?

Thanks I do not know that much about engines,

Thanks guys,

I lost patience because I was trying to knock this build out so I could get the **** out of here and head to the N.C. mountains for some cooler weather. I'm In Florida right now and it is 9:00 in the morning and it is a sweat bath. It is so HOTTTTT, and now I'm pedaling again it sucks.

Anyhow it was my own fault why the engine casing broke. I only attached the engine with two bolts to the mounting bracket I made and offered the gearbox no additional support other than the 4 bolts to mount to the engine. The old Staton box is very heavy as well, but it did offer me some additional thru bolts that I did not use to add additional support to brace the gearbox. I'm still pondering on how I can use them to make the gearbox attach to the frame to add additional support so it doesn't happen again.

To those that are making/using ideas like the scooterguy/or midengine rightside drives like this one, don't get discouraged because of what happened to me. I'm not very experienced, I tried to find the best possible way of making a motorbike that would best fit my needs. I believe this still is the way to go for me, I've just got a setback. I have seen/heard several people use a/the 5:1 rightside gearbox in the place where I used a Staton gearbox. Where did you get/where do you get them from? Who makes them? They look light, not sure of the quality of them, but i don't think what happened to me would have happened to someone utilizing this light gear reduction box.

I might just get an extra used gx31 engine, and that way i have one for parts since i don't think they make these engines anymore. Get the casing off of it, and try and find an additional way to support the old Staton box.

Anyhow here is a picture of my motorbike in Florida before I broke the engine casing. The next picture I would upload would be the bike in the North Carolina Mountains. I'm hoping the picture will have an engine on it. Right now the bike has no motor on it. I took it off this morning after I had the mishap last night in the dark.

Thanks for your ideas and inspiration, obstacles occur, hopefully I will overcome them and get this build nailed down so it will provide me with economical transportation.

On a lighter note. It hit 31 mph yesterday on a flat before the mishap, some roadie tried to race me, there was a pack of about 5 or 6 roadies, riding in the bike lane, when they saw me coming up behind, one roadie got out in the road to block my pass. I proceeded to pass them because there were no cars coming up from behind. As I started to pass the lead dog in front, launched into a sprint to keep up with me, he then passed me. My thoughts, what an idiot. You can not keep up at that pace, you are going to wear yourself out. I try and think like a fish. I usually try not to expend any extra energy unless I gain extra energy in doing so. He wore him self out, and I passed him again. It is better to wear out than to break though. We then came to a stop light and he saw my ride, and complimented me on it, and said nice ride as I think he was boggled at how the engine was turning the crank chainrings.

I said Thanks, and we left the stop light together, but I never saw him again, because I was not looking behind me,

Made it to the N.C. Mountains. It was nice and cool this morning. Glad I'm out of the Florida humidity. I however do not have an engine on my bike. I left it in Florida. My perspective is changing as I'm looking at lawn service people and checking out there gear and sizing them up. I have found that lots of them are using Shindaiwa motors/engines on there leaf blowers/weedeaters/trimmers. They look like professional/commercial grade HD engines. Was wondering if anyone has used one of these engines, and do any of them bolt up to the 76/78mm clutch drum? I know the Honda gx35, gx31, and the Subaru eho35 would bolt up. Does anyone else know of any other Japanese 4 strokes that will bolt up to the 4 bolt 76/78mm clutch drum?

Anyhow here is a picture of my bike in the N.C. mountains. I wish it had an engine on it. Right now I throw my bike on the front of a bus to carry me up the mountains. I'm going to tool around up here for several months till it gets cold, and then make it back down to Fl. for the winter.


Hope all is well,

This is where I'm at now with the build:

I got a new engine, and fabricated a engine plate that incorporates a gearbox support brace within its confines.

Check picts. in attachements.

I'm having difficulties though with keeping the chain on the engine chain drive ring though. I made a chain tensioner wheel. The 2nd. pict. shows how it was positioned with a strong spring and it still comes off, the 3rd. picture is the next way I think, I might try and make it work, but I could not use a spring because there is no way to attach it. It would have to be fixed or stationary.

Does anyone else have any better ideas on how I can keep the engine drive chain on the SBP freewheel crank chainring?

Thanks,

Thanks for the help,

I ended up countersinking one of the rear engine support mounting bolts to so the chain would clear the bolt. Then moved the tensioner wheel to the front, and made it fixed. It works for right now. Do you believe that if I put it(tensioner) on a lever and attach a spring to it and make it run on the right/front side of the chain(like oscullys example) will be better than the way I have it now(left/back side of the chain). Check picts. in attachments.

The chain stays on the SBP chain ring right now and has not fallen off, but I now have my bicycles multi-speed chain that runs on the cassette that flys upward and gets stuck between the chainring and the bicycles rear stay. Any solution for this, or by moving the wheel tensioner and adding the spring help?

Thanks, the bike is starting to come together, and I love having the multiple gear ratio up here in the mountains. I climbed the steepest mountain/hill in town and the bike ate it like a champ. It climbed it and started to accelerate up it without even having to pedal. I do not know what the grade is but it seems like a 45 degree incline.

Last summer I climbed Mt. Mitchell(highest point east of the Mississippi) on a China 68.5/80cc engine kit but I had to pedal it almost the whole way. I might try and climb it again this summer without pedaling at all.

Many thanks to those who have contributed to get my ride where it is at now.

Thanks again.

This is to warn people before they waste their time. The gearbox that was identified as a Staton gearbox is junk. Everything inside of it either stripped or broke except for the ball bearings that came with it which were labeled China. I wasted alot of my time making this gearbox fit. If you are considering buying a Staton gearbox. This is curtail some of the hype associated with these gearboxes. They are not all that and a bag of chips. Here are some picts. of my gearbox after less than 4 months use.