New here, first build.

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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
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Wichita, KS
Well, I got the new Abraham Linkage springer front forks in the mail today , and installed them. These things are HEAVY. They were modded by sportscardpat, and well worth the money. The fender mounting will take some work, but I'm not going to mess with it until the spokes show up and the wheels are built, so I can be sure of what I'm working around.

I also started the front engine mount, it's going to be a royal pain, and I have a feeling I'll go through a few versions before I'm happy.

 
birdmannn101

birdmannn101

New Member
Oct 23, 2011
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Indianapolis, IN
Crawler,

How hard is it for a new person who has never rebuilt an engine before to tear down one of these 2 stroke or 4 stroke engines and do what you did to this Grubee engine?

Dan

crawler said:
This was brand new from piston bikes. All pieces look brand new, it was just full of junk on the inside. With as much junk as was in there, and bearings like that, if it was ran at all, the jug, rod and crank would show obvious signs of it.

I have nothing bad to say about piston bikes, they have great service and shipped this engine promptly. This is on the manufacturer. I had already read some of the stories on here, which is why I tore it down to start with. You're not going to win arguing with a Chinese company, and there's no point returning it, who knows what the next one is line? When this is put together, I'll have the satisfaction of knowing it's done right.
Click to expand...
 
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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
63
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Wichita, KS
birdmannn101 said:
Crawler,

How hard is it for a new person who has never rebuilt an engine before to tear down one of these 2 stroke or 4 stroke engines and do what you did to this Grubee engine?

Dan
Click to expand...
If you have a little mechanical aptitude, they're pretty simple. Somebody on here has a great write up with tons of pictures of the tear down, I think it's a sticky in the engine section.
 
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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
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Wichita, KS
It took a few versions, but I got the front mount done finally. It's adjustable, so the engine can be moved up and down to set chain tension.





 
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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
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Wichita, KS
Well, after three months of waiting, I finally got the spokes last Friday (goofy custom length order on oddball gauge spokes), and the bike shop got them laced up today. I also bent the exhaust and welded it up. I still have to make the exhaust mounts, but I need some rubber washers first. The hose between the two pipes will account for vibration, and allow me to adjust the engine up and down to set chain tension. I think I'll wrap the pipes with header wrap when I'm done for a more old school look.



 
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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
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Wichita, KS
The patina look will be going away, too many things getting changed to keep it.

Well, I got some more done this week.

I extended the engine wire harness to run it inside the tank, and also switched the fuel lines over to the left side.



That made room for the rear hub shift cable on the right side.



I cut off the rear dropouts and tack welded in some new ones from Paragon machine works, which are awesome. The old ones were weak and cracked. These have a nice adjustment on them, plus the disc brake caliper mount, so it made things easy. I finish weld it all once the frame is stripped back down for powdercoat. I'll cut a piece to fit in the triangle gap at the back of the seat stays also. They weren't long enough by the time I cut the old dropout out of them.



I found an old chrome chainguard on ebay that matched the one I had, so I got it and cut it up to cover up the top sprocket. I still need to weld a strip in to cover the back of the chain.



I got tired of dragging the rear tire around the garage, so I made the clutch setup out of the stock throttle cable, and sleeved it with the inside of a brake noodle, works great.

 
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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
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Wichita, KS
Here's the new throttle from sick bike parts.



I bought new fenders and mounted them. I've had a few questions about front fenders with these forks, so here's some more detailed pics on that. I wanted the fender to stay on the fork side that didn't move.


I cut up the front fender supports, screwed the curved part of it under the fender for added strength, then drilled a hole between the two springs for the fork, and used one leg of a fender support to mount the front of the fender.



I drilled and tapped the fixed fork to attach the fender tab with a 1/4" screw.



I then drilled and tapped the fixed fork at the bottom to install the fender braces with 10-32 screws.



Here's how the bike currently is with the seat and tank mocked up (rear rack is too beat up to keep, not sure on what I'm using yet).

 
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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
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Wichita, KS
I got the front disc brake caliper mount welded on, along with the cable mounts.



I welded on some threaded tabs from paragon machine to mount the exhaust using stainless steel clamps.



I welded on another threaded tab and cut the mount tab off the expansion chamber and welded it where I needed it.

 
chainmaker

chainmaker

Well-Known Member
Jan 19, 2010
2,634
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Ma USA
Thats a pretty sick looking bike! I cant wait to see it all painted. One thing..that front fender mount and those braces will probabally fail,it is pretty common for the ones that come with the fenders, There are lots of threads about upgrading them.
 
LS614

LS614

Active Member
Dec 22, 2009
1,236
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No more patina, oh what a shame :( still looks amazing If I had tried twice as hard as you I still couldn't get it lookin that good (^)
 
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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
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Wichita, KS
I didn't like the looks of the exhaust (too shiny), so I wrapped it for a more old school look.



Now I'm basically waiting on parts.
 
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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
63
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Wichita, KS
Well, nothing too exciting, but I got some more done.

I installed an ignition switch, just to make it harder for somebody to steal it, or kids to mess with it. It's not theft proof, but I'm going to install a security torx on the tank halves to make it tough for your average idiot to get to the connectors.



I finished installing the brake levers and cables, also.



 
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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
63
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0
Wichita, KS
Well, I got a headlight and a monark rear reflector for it. I'm going to put led light assemblies in both of them.

The headlight is just zip-tied on at the moment, the rear reflector is mounted.



 
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crawler

New Member
Aug 5, 2011
63
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0
Wichita, KS
The speedometer came while I was at work, and I put it on tonight. It was missing a few things (I think, not exactly a bicycle speedo guru), but all the important things were there, and it's not everyday you find a vintage bike speedo that goes to 50mph and is brand new in the box. The rest was fixed with some drilling, tapping, and fudging. I still have to question why an old one goes to 50 (off a cliff?), and I wonder about the accuracy (non-adjustable). Oh well, it looks good, anyway.





 
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