Build No. 5

GoldenMotor.com
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
I guess I'll "blag" this one....

The bike is a Western Auto Stores Western Flyer, but it is a "Galaxy Flyer" variant. It has a 72 as the last two serial numbers, and the hub says Bendix 76, so I am guessing it id from the 70's...sure look it. Dark burgundy with orange stripes/"graphics".
It has the abreviated fenders and old school "regular bars", burgundy grips/seat.
I have built two other Western Flyers, and this one is different in that it has a larger elongated frame compared to the other two.
Lots of space for the 47cc bicycle motor kit.

The engine is a 55cc Livefast economotor kit (around a hundred twenty bucks shipped) that checked out to be 47cc's. The funky 5 hole 48T sprocket was replaced with a rough stamped 44T/10mm hardware 9 hole from a thatsdax kit.

Other than new studs, a good clean up, and a greasing of the gears, the engine was left stock right down to the plug and wire.....using this bike as a "mule". I did "true up" the sprocket with a rubber mallet.:ride:

Photo 1 shows the custom bike stand I use.
 

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jasonh

jasonh

New Member
Jun 23, 2008
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Longmont, CO
that's a nice lookin' bike. Wish it wasn't so darned hard to find a classic cruiser for a decent price around here.
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
Yep, dropped right in....almost. The "V" is actually pretty flat or "open" if you will. The engine touched the chain guard until I put the lead sheets in, which raised it just enough.

Tubing size is 1" both tubes.

I got the bike for 35 dollars this past summer @ the flea market. It has a different kind of rim, not sure what they are, but they are a deep v type, not like most I've seen.
 
jasonh

jasonh

New Member
Jun 23, 2008
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Longmont, CO
$35?!!?! Bah, I need to go bike shopping in ohio. The most I've been able to find at the flea markets are crappy girls mountain bikes. Craigslist is utterly useless unless I want an overpriced girls cruiser.

In the words of Napoleon Dynamite, "Lucky."
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
I got two bikes for 3 each (huffy 10 speed and a roadmaster ten speed with shorty fenders) and another for 25...it's a weirdo bike called a trialmaster comfybike or somesuch...I have to look at it to remember it exactly. Square looking pull backs, long chrome fenders and a biiiig seat, funny frame- low angle diamond type.
Bought a Puch 18 speed hybrid myb/roadbike for a dollar at a Meadville city auction.

All of those were rideable with just air and oiling.

I bought my Panasonic Olympia for 35, it has a freewheeling crank but I won't motorize that one, that's my "road bike".
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
I have a dax "65cc" roller bearing bicycle engine kit , and three more "55cc" Livefast econo's, so between all those, and my 59 shwing, I should have something to do this winter.

Not to mention the "wood bike".

Oooo, I just did.
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
Todays progress included mounting up the rear wheel, chain (shortened two links with my park bicycle chain tool) stock bearing-less tensioner (more on that later....I have a theory, remind me if I forget to expound on it), front wheel truing, rim liner, tube and tire.

I checked the mag for sparks and it has a real-live blue spark!!! Yeah, I know, crazy.

I deleted the front and rear fenders and high strength loctited the chain guard "screws".

We got a rolla baby!

Still, lots of tweaking to do, but I'm not going crazy with this one, it's a "test mule" bike, so what you see is what you get.

More in store.

No new photos today, I actually worked on the bike.
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
O.K. a quicky for the kids.....

I mounted up one of the super cheapy non-bearing tensioners last summer, and ran it for quite awhile....I only changed it out because I wanted to try a skate wheel.

I think the wheel is not hard plastic, but nylon. The "bearing" is the nylon itself (a pretty good bearing). I purposely ran it dry for the first 15 minutes. I noticed a tiny bit of the nylon, or plastic on the center, so I cleaned it and then added heavy oil. It ran fine for at least a couple hundred miles, and showed no wear to the "bearing" area, or the part where the chain runs.

I ran the chain my usual 3/4+" of free play....I SWEAR BY IT.
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
Blag update-

I installed a front caliper (sidepull) and the rest of the stuff today. Raining so no test ride.

Mounted the cdi and tank on foam weatherstrip.
Used 3/16" gas line (black).

The carb was good right out of the box, the slide even worked. No crud in the carb or tank!

I used a crappy russian clutch lever that I worked over a bit and the throttle twist grip was a mess, but it works.
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
O.K.

About half the choreboy steel mesh has to come out of the muffler. It muffles well, but right now acts as a muffler throttle, like some of the older R/C engines. Quiet though, and there are no tiny tack welds on 1/64" sheet metal from sardine cans to break apart.

Smooooth right out of the box, lead mounts anyone?

Did I mention this bicycle engine kit came with a really nice, vented gas cap not like anything I've seen before?
 

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sojudave

New Member
Oct 18, 2008
189
3
0
austin tx
Bikeguy Joe said:
I guess I'll "blag" this one....

The bike is a Western Auto Stores Western Flyer, but it is a "Galaxy Flyer" variant. It has a 72 as the last two serial numbers, and the hub says Bendix 76, so I am guessing it id from the 70's...sure look it. Dark burgundy with orange stripes/"graphics".
It has the abreviated fenders and old school "regular bars", burgundy grips/seat.
I have built two other Western Flyers, and this one is different in that it has a larger elongated frame compared to the other two.
Lots of space for the 47cc bicycle motor kit.

The engine is a 55cc Livefast economotor kit (around a hundred twenty bucks shipped) that checked out to be 47cc's. The funky 5 hole 48T sprocket was replaced with a rough stamped 44T/10mm hardware 9 hole from a thatsdax kit.

Other than new studs, a good clean up, and a greasing of the gears, the engine was left stock right down to the plug and wire.....using this bike as a "mule". I did "true up" the sprocket with a rubber mallet.:ride:

Photo 1 shows the custom bike stand I use.
Click to expand...
I got a "70cc" livefast kit on my bike. I had a 5 hole sprocket on it too, but once I upgraded my rear wheel to steel with 12g spokes, that sprocket became useless. I changed it back to a 9 hole.
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
Latest installment...I pulled the packing out of the muffler and added a loooog extension, possibly too long. It snowing ice chunks so I still haven't test run it.:(

Don't look too closely at the picture....the bike is a test mule, not a show bike.;)
 

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Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
Final installment of the Build No. 5.

I ran the bike today with the extension pipe. A nice wicked snap to the exhaust note, but not loud.

It's going into cold storage until spring.......next is the MoonDog/65cc Dax bearing engine with 40t and other goodies.
 
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