weed whacker that runs more or less

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deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
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north carolina
Okay I finally got a weed whacker bike that runs more or less. There are some interesting things about it. first of all here it is.





Sorry about the focus had it set wrong. Oh well.

The black rod looking thing on the side is the suicide clutch and it really is.

What I like is that it was easy to assemble but I need to have it welded together I think. It is bolted now. But I won't do that because it needs a better drive wheel. It works but it is a smooth one and it needs at least a knurled one.

No matter what anyone tells you a weed whacker has only two speeds. Idle which roars and wot which roars more. If the bike is moving you can use the idle to run the bike at a reasonable speed probably 10mph on the flat. Go to wot and it might get up to 16 or so which is fine with me. The problem is it will NOT climb a hill. I have to pedal hard to keep it from dying. I think a better drive wheel would do it most likely. It really wants to go up the hills with just a little help but I think it just doesn't have the bite. Of course if it had the bite it might just die from lack of power. It is only 25cc.

I have no idea what my next move will be. I really wanted to see if it could be done without too much bs. I do love friction drive IMO its the best way to go.

Bike needs about everything if I go forward this is a test bike at present.
 
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deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
He is much more talented than me but for those who are curious no welder was defiled in the production of that bike.
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
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up north now
I second that emotion. I always end up spending my "productivity" under one of my daughters cars, or fixing this or that ect. ect. Haven't had a motorized bicycle for almost a week now...
 
Ilikeabikea

Ilikeabikea

Active Member
Jan 27, 2008
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Ptown, Texas
Deacon, I swear you are going to be the guy who figures out cold fusion. Just by your shear determination.

I haven't been able to work on my new bike for the last couple of weekends. I've been doing lots of cutting and welding for the BOSS. The beautiful blonde in the swing is the BOSS.

Our old patio cover came to an early demise in a spring rainstorm So I've been working like crazy to get this finished. Now I have permission to work on the bike.........................:D

 

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deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
Thanks guys it isn't finished yet. I pulled the drive wheel last night and I'm trying to decide if I want to drill out a sprocket to pull the 25 chain and the rear wheel assembly from the scooter, or shim up a spindal and go with direct motor to tire friction drive.

Decisions decisions decisions.
 
deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
I test rode the beast today and it's a blast... slow but a different experience. Since there is no clutch and no throttle to speak of it is machine against man all the way. It wants to kill you.rotfl

It will pick up speed on the slightest downhill stretch and I mean slight. It will maintain speed without any pedaling on the flats.... it will climb hills pretty good for a while then get really slow as the length of the hill increases.

speed going up hill drops off slowly since the motor is still churning. Most of the time I can't get past the freewheel. Its speed is just a little erattic.

RAising the motor and drive wheel is my clutch and I find it useful only to start the bike with a rope for warm up, and to pedal it from a dead stop. It is best to just let the engine stop and start as I pedal and brake.

So here is where I am now.

The throttle is going to be a simple idle run type thing just as soon as I find a shifter laying around. I'm going to mount it by the seat since I dont need it on the handle bars. even in wide open throttle I think it will stop with full braking.

the clutch is non existent just a contact lever that can be operated from the front of the bike. This motor would work just fine on the front wheel like the bike bug Joe had.

It really is a different kind of motor and a real challenge.

Oh yeah my drive wheel sucks. I'm going to take a look at some different things. If nothing else I need to shim this one up.
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
deacon- sounds like you need a slightly smaller wheel so you have lower overall gearing....it will let the engine rev up a bit more and you will then have some throttle. On my TAS Spitz there was a gear reduction and that drove the 1 7/8" roller. So I'm guessing without the reduction, you should be running no more than a 1 1/2" roller.
 
deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
My God a couple of tweeks and it's perfect for me

I did a heavy duty marriage of the two throttle cables and that works perfectly... I shimmed up the drive wheel and it works perfectly... I turned the idle way down and now the motor can be lifted without it sounding like a run away model airplane.

In other words the bike is as perfect as it can be. It climbs almost all the hills around me with little or no pedaling. It roars out to a nice 15 to 20 mph on the flats. It is responsive to the throttle. When I had to stop on a hill, I lifted the engine locked it in the up position easily pedaled through the uphill intersection, then dropped the engine and it fired right up.

I think I finally have a bike I can be satisfied with. It is fact an ebike with a gas motor. No it doesn't run on batteries but it does handle like the best ebike I built.

I rode it two miles today and it was perfect. Going to take it downtown a little later I think.
 
deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
They say about an inch and a half best I can tell. Im getting ready to go to the rear wheel of a scooter with sprocket to drive it. I still haven't decided on the best drive set up but I know it's gonna be friction for sure. I also know the 25cc engine runs good enough for me.

I might wind up with a ryobi 31 cause it has threads to put all this crap on with. I have three of htem around in parts. While I wait for my gear to arrive I might see if I can make one of them run.

I know now why it wouldn't start on the bike. These things flood very very easy when they are not warm.
 
Bikeguy Joe

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
11,837
252
63
up north now
deacon said:
My God a couple of tweeks and it's perfect for me

I did a heavy duty marriage of the two throttle cables and that works perfectly... I shimmed up the drive wheel and it works perfectly... I turned the idle way down and now the motor can be lifted without it sounding like a run away model airplane.

In other words the bike is as perfect as it can be. It climbs almost all the hills around me with little or no pedaling. It roars out to a nice 15 to 20 mph on the flats. It is responsive to the throttle. When I had to stop on a hill, I lifted the engine locked it in the up position easily pedaled through the uphill intersection, then dropped the engine and it fired right up.

I think I finally have a bike I can be satisfied with. It is fact an ebike with a gas motor. No it doesn't run on batteries but it does handle like the best ebike I built.

I rode it two miles today and it was perfect. Going to take it downtown a little later I think.
Click to expand...
Alrighty then! Now read my new signature!;)
 
deacon

deacon

minor bike philosopher
Jan 15, 2008
8,114
9
0
north carolina
Oh I know you were kidding. Of course it is true. I had to suspend riding until i get the scooter wheel friction drive going. The direct drive worked quite well be i really want the wheel drive I think it will prove to be superior to the direct drive.

I ordered a sprocket for the week whacker today. Of course it is the wrong size. I plan to shim it and run a #6 finishing nail through it as a pin. Now I trying to decide how I can mount the engine to the wheel 'box'. I can mount it above the box or maybe below. Below would give me a better center of gravity.

Oh well have to wait for the sprocket before I do any more on it. I just hate that. Not to mention the price of the sprocket. The only good thing is that I should be able to replace the engines easily and very inexpensively should they break down. Disposable engines appeal to me. The engines are available at any flea market.Everything else in he build can be reused.
 
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