tour de hood

Soooooo.... Decided to scrap the cranbrook and build the tour de hood. After a myriad of problems I decided to just give up on that frame and strip it down for parts on the new bike.

Started with just frame with cranks and build from there. Should go pretty easy with the exception of mounting the tank. Spent a few hours when I got home from work stripping the cranbrook down to just the frame and rear fender and putting springer, pedal chain, and wheels on new frame. Should have her buttoned up sometime tomorrow and be back on the street. Super stoked \m/

Heres few pictures of where I'm at with it so far...

Sooooo..... Tour de hood is officially alive \m/ got her finished just in time to ride the rest of this beautiful afternoon. Let me say though this wasn't with out its share of challenges.
First off had to ditch the wider white walls I had planned to sport. Rear tire was just a hair too wide to fit w/o rubbing. Not a huge deal as I have a few "spare" tires sitting around and was able to find a street tire that is wayyyyyy skinnier. Not a road bike tire that's a half inch wide or anything but I belive its a 1.75 that I have inflated to 55lbs vs the fatter 2.125 white wall. Now I'm going to have to buy a new front tire to match when I get paid \m/

Next is the tank. Mounting my old whizzer top tube mount tank is a challenge b/c the top tube on this frame is even more extreme as far as the bend goes. I have the rear mounted securely which is great and the deep tunnel hides the bend pretty well. The front mount I still have yet to work out and for the moment is zip tied just in case. Ill probably slot the gusset in the front to use the strap that came with the tank and just use longer bolts.
And those were the main tortures of today but I worked it out and - ITS ALIVE \m/

Last was broken stud in front motor mount. I got lucky on this one and thank god I didn't use any kind of lock tite. Tapped it with a punch first so bit wouldn't walk and drilled a fairly shallow hole. Next used the easy out to spin the bolt out in my drill. Was like butter it popped out so easy. When I mounted the motor in the new frame I used allen head bolts instead of the stud/nut setup that came factory. Got my fingers crossed that bolts hold up better. Forced to use the factory stud/nut set up for the rear mount as I couldn't find ant bolts long enough laying around here. I did how ever use new studs b/c the old ones look slightly bent and I didn't wanna take any chances. I don't wanna have to fix something in a few days when I could do it now and not sweat it.

Fired up first time tried to crank it and ran beautifully. Rode it into town on a test run and didn't have a problem.

Oh and imma have to get some second form of a brake set up aswell. Right now I'm stuck with just the coaster. Was going to use the brake from the cranbrook but its too short and the pads can only make it to the tire and not the rim. Will probably ride up to the local bike shop and see what he has laying around that he's willing to sell me for stoopid cheap.

I'd like to drop the seat and add a layback post as I feel like the seat is way high even when all the way down. Laying it back would also increase the comfort for me as I'm I taller guy at 6'1". It would be nice to not have to hunch over so much as just leaning forward.

All in all I'm super stoked to be riding again. This bike even feels faster. Heck it might be faster. Ill be checking it with gps in the next few days. Top speed on the cranbrook was 34.2mph with 40t sprocket in a head wind of bout 3-5mph. Had just gotten motor broken in on cranbrook too and power was getting better with every ride.

A couple more pictures of what's been accomplished today \m/

Bikeguy Joe said:

Just be careful with those wicked springer forks!
Danger Danger Will Robinson!

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danger is my middle name bwahahahahahahahahah. Seriously for anyone out there who is considering useing these bent springer forks for the first time - be super carefull. The rake on these things is a little ridiculous and make steering a whole new experience. And check them for loose parts before EVERY ride.

I say those thing because I've had a few mishaps with them before and am super lucky not to have eaten concrete in the process. Had crown come apart, snapped crown bolt completely off (I was doing wheelies at the park and came down hard and SNAP), and I've had crown bolt vibrate loose almost to the point of falling out had I not noticed it and stopped to make repairs. I have used red locktite on all nuts and bolts on these forks and I still check them pre ride just in case. Haven't had any issues with them since I locktited them and am becomming more confident with them every ride.

I will also say this - they have a killer look and this thing rides like butter with them on as far as ride goes. I dig them \m/

bigbutterbean said:

Looks good bro! Is that the rear wheel I traded you?

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Thanks man. Glad to have it finished up. And yes sir, that's the rear wheel I swapped ya for. Works great and looks sweet I'm diggin it \m/

Adapter - and never looking back. Smoothed out ride considerably and it so much easier to swap out sprockets - 3 bolts vs 9bolts with 9 nuts. Have plans for 36t sprocket in near future. Means ill have to shorten the chain a bit but it will be a breeze since I swapped the 415 chain for 40 roller chain from tractor suppy and purchased master links, half links and a chain break that works for the size chain I'm using \m/

Worked out perfect as far as adapter went. the 3 prongs on the adapter where the sprocket bolts to, are tapered on the ends so clearance wasn't an issue. Also adapter hasn't splipped at all after a few hundred miles so far. I'm keeping my eye on the slippage b/c I've read here on the forum that they can slip over time and bend spokes, ruining wheels. On another note ill be taking wheel to bike shop sooner rather than later to get it trued up as I've noticed a slight wobble. Probably hit a pothole or something while on one of my longer rides outside my neighborhood while I had it on my cranbrook.

bigbutterbean said:

I had that wheel for 3 years with a rag joint and it was nearly bombproof. With an adapter it will be even more so. Once you get it trued, you should not have any more problems with it for a long time, provided you perform proper maintenance when needed. That was all I ever had to do to it. I had to take the cranny wheel to have it trued, hopefully will be able to pick it up tomorrow. Then I'll get my adapter on it and be good to go.

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I feel like its deff bomb proof even with the wobble lol. Guy at the bike shop said **** true it up for me for free if I ride it up there. He just wants to check it out \m/ think he wants a closer look at what I got going on. Last time I was there he saw it but was busy so he couldn't really "look"

I'm glad my old cranny wheel is gonna work out for you. One of these days ill build a four stroke project. Got me a 2hp briggs motor on an old school edger. I really hate the looks of the engine but I deff like the idea of reliability a 4 stroke provides.

I've had tons of people tell me I should build these things to sell. I'm fairly confident that I could clone my cranbrook easily. I didn't have to do a whole lot of mods to get it going. And I know mountain bikes with no rear suspension are a breeze with the strait top tube. I might build me just a couple and see if I can get my money back plus a little extra just to see how they do. Would be nice to have a little spare change off of something I dig doing \m/

Here's a short walk around of my new build - \m/ >.< \m/
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=MLsORQeDIy8

Was on another thread that asked what it cost to build your bike and it got me thinking about what my tour de hood build would cost to replicate and I thought I might share on my build thread the break down cost of my bike. Now I spent no money to build this bike. I did buy all the parts but not for this bike. I built this one from parts off my cranbrook and things I had laying around. Here's the break down -

Tour de hood frame - estimated @ $50
Sunlite mountain bike bars - $25
Bent springer fork - $65
Springer seat - $26
Kenda urban 26 1.75 white walls - $27/pair
Slime inner tubes - $24/pair
HD steel coaster brake wheelset w/12g spokes - $79
Dax 80cc kit - $224.99 + $19.99shipping
Whizzer gas tank - $74
RT carb - $29.99
RT carb cable - $7.49
Puch head - $30
Hub adapter and 40t sprocket - $79
#40 roller chain + master link - $25
Ngk plug - $2.75
Plug wire - $1.75

Grand total - $791.95
I'd estimate with labor around a grand and if someone offered me that I'd be all over it and thinking about my next super beast bwahahahahahahahahahaha.
Wow. I had no idea I had so much in this bike. I will say that the setup I have on this bike is in my opinion "reliable". Nothing major on this bike should fail with pre ride check and normal maintenence. I also know I can build this bike for a tad cheaper if I had kept the factory kits throttle and rag joint setup and used the smaller stock tank. Not to mention the stock carb (though 30 bucks for a delorto clone imho is stoooopid cheap) and cable. I could really have built this bike with stock bgf kit $134 I think is cheapest I've seen them and kept the acual bike stock (forks, bars ect) about $50 pawn shop cruiser for around 200 bucks. But then again engine might throw a clutch bearing ( first bgf kit I bout did this in less than a mile) and I wouldn't be near as fast and my butt would hurt when I rode it

I like the fact that my bike is pretty much reliable, rides like butter, is fast enough to ride in traffic and imo is super cool looking. I dig it \m/

This is my one off that ill ride till the wheels fall off. Then again.... (The wheels I'm my head are spinning out of control bwahahahahahahahah). Ill be attempting to build the wife a bike so she can enjoy riding with me. Gonna have to figure out how to make a bike smaller for her height - she's 4'11" and my bike is too tall for her to ride comfortably even though I have lowered it quite a bit and seat is as far down as I can get. I'm thinking of doing a seat post tube chop above the top tube to go even lower for apearance. I personally think the seat above the tank takes away from the "look" of my beast. Hmmmmmmmmmmm.......

Aight so its been a few more days and a lot has gone down.
First off I found out about a car show around the corner from my house when I got home from work the other day. Had I known about it before hand I deff would have taken a sick day to go represent. I did go even though it was kinda late when I got home. Was about 3pm and most of the show was over and a few people had already left. Turns out was the perfect time to show up. I didn't have to pay to get in and I got to go park behind the gate with all the other hot rods and display my creation for anyone who cared to take a peek \m/ got a ton of compliments from people who build show cars. Made me feel really good about my bike. Was also in time to catch a spontainious burn out show. It was ridiculous amount of fun.
Also been quite a few miles put on my bike since last post and I have to say... My bike is running grrrrrrrrrrrrrrreat! Like tony the tiger \m/ >.< \m/ can feel the bike gaining more power and winding out better and better with every ride. Once I get it warmed up it has zero four stroking all the way down rpm range and even in the wind (been 15-20mph) speed and power have been a zero issue. I also recently purchaced a product called red kote from auto parts store to fix my gas tank pin hole problem. I have been riding it with the leak, but it barely leaks just enough to have to wipe a little gas off the top tube every other day or so. I think tank sealer will kill the leak completely and then I will not have any issues till I manage to break something else \m/

Omg I'm super stoked \m/

So was running some errands with a friend who I'm helping to build a bike and we stop in at the local bike shop to pick up a few parts for his build. He picks out some new red wheels and a giant (but I bet is ridiculous comfortable) red seat and goes to check out. While he's checking out I'm talking to the owner about front brake options while looking through "the used brake bucket" for a suitable rear brake replacement since I demolished the last squeeze style calipers I was running on the cranny. Things are starting to look bleak as I can't find a caliper that's the right size and the guy doesn't seem to have any suggestions I'm willing to take and then I ask him if he has maybee some kind of drum brake hub in stock that I could lace into my front wheel. He disapeared into the back of his shop and returned with the ugliest, dirty but super hd looking wheel with a drum brake already put together. I was less than hopefull at first b/c I thought he was gonna want some ridiculous money for it - said was about $150 new. I soon regained hope as he said make me an offer. Offered him $50 and he threw in a new brake cable and all the missing hardware I could possibly need to mount it up. Woooooooooo hoooooooooooo got me a worksman super HD rim with stoopid fat spokes and a drum brake that works like a champ totally solving my front brake issue. Rim was stoopid ugly covered in dust and surface rust. When I got it home I broke out the steel wool and went to town on it. Its gonna turn out beautifuly when I'm finished. I couldn't wait so I mounted it up and took it for a ride and OMG I can pretty much stop on a dime. I need to find a way to mount the brake a little differently as the clamp that's supposed to mount to the fork is a little shady. It is too big and I'm wondering if it would be safe enough to mount it to the strut instead of the fork tube via drilling a hole so the bracket would mount directly to the strut instead of clamping it with a bracket around the fork tube. If that makes any sense to anyone out there. Especially curious as to what biknut thinks as he's useing almots if not exactly the same set up.

Next is I ordered my new whitewall to go on the rear. Stoked about that aswell as I feel like the whitewalls make my bike "pop" color scheme wise. Ill be stripping the thumb throttle off and swapping it back out for the twist grip and am hopeing I can get the factory grip that comes on the throttle assembly off so I can use my black/white grips that I have now. Ill also be swapping the crannys pedals over to this bike to go with the color scheme.

Last is I'm trying to find what's listed as the voodoo pipe somewhere besides ebay as only on I can find who has it on there is boygofast. Ill never buy from them again. Dude just sucks - but enough of that. I like the way it mounts up and looks. I have no idea about how it preforms or loudness but it deff is a cool looking expansion chamber. I'd like the sbp one but I just can't afford it and I'm not a huge fan of the bananna. Who knows though if I can't find the voodoo from someone else I might go with the bananna for now and save my skrilla for the sbp pipe

Ill post a few pictures of the new wheel shortly

Ok found the pipe from LEB. Never ordered from them before so I got my fingers crossed. And here's the pictures of new front wheel \m/

So... Got my pipe and whitewall in today. Rushed home from work to open my boxes of goodies lol. Pipe was nicely wrapped and tire came in a massive box that was probably 10x too big. Haven't had a chance to mount up new tire but it looks stooooopid skinny and is really dirty for being a new tire. Oh well nothing a little cleaning can't handle. Looking forward to mounting it up when I get some time off work in a few days.

The pipe - I got it mounted up and clear of pedals with a little heat. I have to say, I'm impressed with how it looks. I'm glad I got the chrome and not the black. Works well with color scheme. Also - its stoopid quiet didn't loose a bunch of performance so far but imma run it the way it is for a few and check the plug and break out my jetting kit and see what I can do with it to get a little more power. Another thing is I definitely will need to be careful when wearing shorts as to not get burned by expansion chamber part. I should be fine with jeans though.

With my engine quiet when its running I'm noticing how noisy my engine is. Gear noise is driving me nuts chain noise seems super loud and really I'd like to figure out a way to make exhaust noise louder rather than try and quiet all the various noises. Not sure how to do this though as the sausage muffler on the end of the pipe has nothing in it from the factory. No baffles, no tubes....

Will post some more pictures with the new pipe and whitewall when I get a chance. Supposed to rain next day or so and I'm not off till tuesday. Not to mention I'm building a mountain bike for a buddy and most of his parts came in today too.
Till then