moped wheel madness!! Chain clearance

Fang · Sep 15, 2013

So I've decided to use moped wheels on my project
drum brakes
beefier spokes, hub, bearings, tires, and rim
Seems like a good set up to me!
Plus it has a sprocket on both sides!!
I plan on extending my stays as well as dropping them for ground to frame clearance since I'm sure I will lose a few inches with the smaller tires etc

So the big question is.....
Whats the biggest rear tire possible to use that will clear the chain?
Besides being so minuscule everything seems to be a big plus using moped wheels......I think

bairdco · Sep 15, 2013

what size rims are they?

if you have 16's, you can run most 20x2.125 or wider bicycle tires.

better yet, you can get pirelli ML65 tires for cheap.

you'll probably have to stretch your framestays out abit to squeeze them in.

also, if you're going from a 26" bike wheel to a 16" moped wheel, there's a big drop in height. about 6". think putting a 20" bmx wheel onto a 26" beach cruiser.

scotto- · Sep 16, 2013

bairdco said:
what size rims are they?

if you have 16's, you can run most 20x2.125 or wider bicycle tires.

better yet, you can get pirelli ML65 tires for cheap.

you'll probably have to stretch your framestays out abit to squeeze them in.

also, if you're going from a 26" bike wheel to a 16" moped wheel, there's a big drop in height. about 6". think putting a 20" bmx wheel onto a 26" beach cruiser.

That would be more like 3" in height, not 6". Just sayin'

chainmaker · Sep 16, 2013

The post says you want to use a complete wheel including the rim, a 19 " will get you around 25 inches height depending on the tires. As far as how wide a tire that depends on how wide your rim is, you need to think about chain rub .

bairdco · Sep 16, 2013

my 16" moped rims with pirelli tires measure 21" overall diameter.

a 26" bike rim with a hookworm measures 27".

(just measured both...

)

so yeah, 3" drop in ride height, but a lot smaller in diameter.

scotto- · Sep 16, 2013

bairdco said:
my 16" moped rims with pirelli tires measure 21" overall diameter.

a 26" bike rim with a hookworm measures 27".

(just measured both... )

so yeah, 3" drop in ride height, but a lot smaller in diameter.

That be correct....was what I was sayin'.

dnut

bairdco · Sep 16, 2013

also, with a smaller diameter wheel, vbrakes and caliper brakes won't work unless you fab up new mounts, same with fenders, and your cranks will be too long, etc.

what i'm saying is you'll have to redesign the whole bike around the wheels.

Fang · Sep 17, 2013

bairdco said:
also, with a smaller diameter wheel, vbrakes and caliper brakes won't work unless you fab up new mounts, same with fenders, and your cranks will be too long, etc.

what i'm saying is you'll have to redesign the whole bike around the wheels.

Yeah I realized after smoking a few bearings that I should get some with a little bit better speed rating
As far as the brakes I want to use everything moped equipped on a standard wheel including the drum brakes
I've seen some pretty nice looking jackshaft disc brake set ups but thats later down the road
the plan is to extend the seat and chain stays 4-5 inches as well as lowering the front and rear dropouts a few inches to give me the frame and pedal clearance necessary
Since I plan on keeping it I don't mind doing frame mods
Today I'm making some gussets for frame reinforcement

I think I'm going with a 17" rim since the components for are easy to find

Fang · Sep 20, 2013

Well I've been thinking and if i'm correct the standard 17" moped wheel engine sprocket has 3 sets of 3 bolts mounting it to the hub, even if I got wide tires couldn't some sort of spacers be made to sandwich between the hub and the sprocket to dish it out a bit?
Maybe some sort of ring with 6 holes in it so all that pressure from the engine wont be bearing down on 3 tiny spacers??

bairdco · Sep 20, 2013

all the moped hubs i've seen are a lot wider than bicycle hubs. most of them have 6 holes with 6mm bolts. and a lot of them have an offset sprocket that extends it out an inch.

i had to stretch my frame to make the hub fit, and drill out a flat sprocket to get the chain alignment straight.

dunno which hub you're thinking of, but remember they're designed for a 150lb moped going 25-45 mph.

MotorbikeMike · Oct 30, 2013

Hi guys, well I too am looking into Moped, or Motorcycle wheels and tires. Currently I have CT 90 Honda wheels front and rear (17's), and an old 18 inch motorcycle front, and 2 sets of Harley Davidson moped 16's from 2 old dead Mopeds. The AMF HD wheels have no drive sprockets, as they were Mccullough friction drive models.
I wonder about re-lacing (not in my skillset) the Moped hub into 18 or 19 inch rim, using Whizzer Sheave, with a special Pacesetter drive, on 3.5 Briggs in my oldest Racer Drop-Loop frame. I held the dropouts to 4.5 inches, so I should not have any hub width problems. The front rockers can be bolted together and re-drilled to carry the larger axle, so I will not need to re-lace moped, if I find the right Motorcycle wheel, for the front.
Small sized motorcycle or moped tires are not very expensive, and so much more quality than even very expensive bicycle tires, and who could say anything bad about Motorcycle brakes?
Help appreciated,

Mike

Wickedest1 · Oct 30, 2013

17" moped rear wheel fit good in my mountain bike frame...sprocket, no...might have to use kit sprocket redrilled...but you may be able to stretch ur frame enough...but then youll have to offset ur engine a bit...

MotorbikeMike · Oct 30, 2013

Hi gang, well, I found pic of the bike, and then had to dl a program to reduce it's size. Anyway, this pic was taken 7-29-07 just after it came back from the shop being chopped, and re-raked. It went away for 6 months, being a pattern for new frames, I later put a hs kit in it, primed it flat black BUT now it is going to get a new life.
Now I want to re-wheel it, Motorcycle wheels tires and brakes, tho I think a re-laced Moped hub will provide the freewheel to be Motor Bicycle, AND keep with Board Track style.
I have a build thread in Board Track, but am anxious to get wheels and tires resolved.

Mike

Fang · Oct 31, 2013

So I just got my 17" rims today
both have a bit of rust but nothing a little elbow grease can't fix
$65.98 for the rear
$55.00 for the front
My Michelin gazelle 17x3.0 tire along with the tube is in the mail also
I guess the puch moped rim I'm using can fit up to a 2.75 tire
hopefully I can manage to squeeze this bad boy on there with no problems

glennbo · Oct 31, 2013

the 3 inch gazelle tire is a beast depending on your hub you may have chain clearance issues the tire inflated is actually 3.25 wide ..

glennbo · Nov 3, 2013

heres my schwinn with a 3 inch gazelle on the front and a 2.75 on the rear

Fang · Nov 4, 2013

glennbo said:
heres my schwinn with a 3 inch gazelle on the front and a 2.75 on the rear

That beast looks clean!
did you choose 2.75 on the rear to clear the pedal and engine chains?
I really like how durable the whole moped wheel seems, much bigger spokes, hub, tire etc

glennbo · Nov 4, 2013

well i mounted the front tire it was a 3 inch and measured it at 3.25 i checked dropouts and chain line on the bike at around 3.5 prolly could have made it work bur instead opted to play it safe didnt want the chain slappin the new tire or the stays i like it the forks lifted the front end a little to off set the smaller wheel diameter the 2.75 tire measures at 2 15/16 so these tires are wider then they say.....

Fang · Nov 5, 2013

Monday the 11th will be the frame modifying session, fingers crossed ill have it all finished that day
progress pics should be up shortly after

Fang · Nov 15, 2013

So I this week i ended up putting a car jack between the stays and gave it a half turn a day
it worked much better then i had anticipated and clan easily clear the tire and chains now
The md2 gazelle tire fits on the rim nicely .trk

today I'll hopefully get some gusset work done
I also got a cvt which is now somewhat installed
Heres a pic of the cvt and possible wheel placement once im done with the frame

http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w514/fang61922/cvt2_zpsdf91328d.png

http://i1079.photobucket.com/albums/w514/fang61922/chopped_zpsb504b59c.png

moped wheel madness!! Chain clearance

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