What do you think?

That bike will work ok, the one thing that has been a problem for some is the twist shifter along with the throttle. A friend did one and he says his has too much going on around the handle bars, you'll have to have a dual lever system of some kind for the clutch handle also.

Some people convert the grip shifter to a stick shifter and mount it on the frame. I did that with my unmotorized beach cruiser.

I've built a few with variations on that bike. My favorite was the point beach. For the shifter thing, I just put it on the left side and worked fine.

The fenders will try to kill you in short order and need to be shored up or removed until you can get to it. Please, please trust me on that.

Dan said:

Love the PBs!

HF, whisper drive video by dan3xd - Photobucket

Same bike in all pics and vid.

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But a great foundation for a motorized bicycle. I had 3 different engines on that PB. (was aluminum)

Post lots of pics

That should be a great bike to use.
I have a twist grip shifter on my Point Beach and have no issues with it.
The cables are cut looong from the factory, but it is easy enough to shorten them.

Been so long I forgot about that GN. That was my only complaint about em. Crazy long.


LOL, one of those things. I lost count of how many miles I had on that one, (over 10K easily) and never got around to the cables.

Thumb shifters work well- I always build with freewheel wheels-

but after having derailleurs on two builds- and thinking that I'd pedal assist in a large gear after it was rolling along- I finally just nded up putting single freewheel cogs on the back- with a light gear that's easy to pedal shut off- like 42 x 22- and matching up the chains sometimes with half links on the pedal side- it's easier to cut that one.

Derailleurs ARE nice for eliminating the motor tensioner, because they do that on the pedal side then
But matching chains is not that difficult either


The Schwinn looks good- but probably has a tapered hub on the motor side- so you'll be hanging the sprocket on the spokes alone- some other brands have a hub that actually fits the sprocket hole and a stop ridge- if you want to look that much- My Micargi 7 speed did -

Since I went to narrow 700 and 27 wheels- I don't try to pedal assist when deaccelerating- the tires just roll so well otherwise- I kill the motor sometimes a quarter mile before I have to stop.

good luck

camrahtz said:

Well shoot, what would you rec. instead? i wanted to stay away from coaster brakes but seems like it has to have gears if it comes with pull.


would a Firmstrong be easy to install pull brakes onto?

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Do not get a Firmstrong. I built two of them and both frames cracked in multiple places. I am not a wreckless rider (or at least I wasn't at the time), nor did the bikes vibrate much. It was just the force of the engine on the frame. I can get into more detail if you would like, but for now i will leave it at this:

Get a good, reliable frame that you can use as a 'canvas' for future builds. Engines can fail and they wont hurt you (most of the time xD) but when a bike fails, it could end up being really gnarly. I always recommend Felt bikes, more precisely the Felt Slant. You can add rim brakes with a dual pull lever and you will be all set to go!

Safe Riding!
-Chris

Get the Schwinn...

It has good brakes and good frame geometry for engine fitment.
Remove the fenders.

Remove the front derrailer and front grip shifter. You'll need to fabricate a new front engine mount from what I've seen here. That will be your most challenging build problem.

2 door did some nice work on his old Scwhinn Jaguar from what I remember.
It's the same bike, older model, different color etc.

Put the rear twist grip on the left handle bar. It will be "backwards" but you'll get used to it quickly.

Personally I'd get the SBP shift kit with that bike and be on my way.

Just my 2 cents..

TiM

"but probably has a tapered hub on the motor side- so you'll be hanging the sprocket on the spokes alone- some other brands have a hub that actually fits the sprocket hole and a stop ridge- if you want to look that much- My Micargi 7 speed did -"

That really does make getting the rag joint on a big time PITB (pain in the butt) Your absolutely right Kat.

With cruiser handlebars it might not be as bad with both a twist shift and the throttle, there's a bit more space to work with. I have twist shifters on my mountain bike, I just had to make some adjustments and trimmed the end of the throttle grip down with a hacksaw. I switched to a dual brake lever as seen here, because my original levers were short ones that didn't sit well with the clutch lever.

It's a pretty crowded space though, my wife shudders any time she thinks about it: