introduction/questions for the experts

squirrel · Mar 20, 2011

My name is Squirrel, I live in Muncie Indiana this is my first build. The terrain in the country is mostly flat but i live in town which has a few hills and alot of stop signs (college town).
I've been reading different threads since i put a china girl on my Trek Aluminum Classic Beach Cruiser. I'm going to post what i've done to her and ask some questions. i can take pic's and add them to the thread if need be.

removed the rear wheel and replaced with a 26" freewheel from a MB due to a faulty coaster brake.
i plan on changing out the current hubs and rims with quick release ones from a Spechalized mountain bike
added front and back v-brakes using mounting kit
dual brake lever from SBP
expansion chamber pipe from SBP (im working on porting and polishing the aluminum gasket and exhaust manifold before the install)
added a digital/magnetic sensored schwinn bicycle speedometer/odometer.

Ive been able to take her on mabye 20 rides, none longer than 30 min's. I took it real easy on her in the beginning.The last time i took her out i let it rip for mabye 30 sec's and she pulled up to 23mph. yesterday i pulled out the spark plug for the first time and it's definately running rich so im goin to move the c-clip in the carb and install the expansion chamber pipe on monday. She's on her 4th tank of gas at 16:1. The carb seems to leak fuel constantly, it's not alot and i'm not sure from where but i think its the crappy fuel lines that came with the kit or the small crew on the side of the float housing
my main concern is with the chain noise. it slaps around from side to side and hits the downtube of the frame and my rear fender. the clearance is fine top to bottom though. I haven't installed the chain guard and i'm not sure i'm going to for asthetic reasons.
Should i just buy the upgraded chain from SBC and get rid of the tensioner or am I just not goin to be able to get rid of the problem on this frame?
any other suggestions would be greatly appreciated!
thanks in advance
Squirrel brnot

Goat Herder · Mar 20, 2011

Welcome to the forum!

Here are some links about teinsioners. If your bike has the sort of clearance that has the chain rubbing where the bottom frame trailing arm goes to the point the wheel bolts up too. Saying that is where the rubbing is? The teinsioner serves a duel purpose here it will keep the chain frame eating away and ruining your frame. These links have numerous ideas. Tensioner Links Look Here 1st for your Motorized Bicycle. - Motorized Bicycle: Engine Kit Forum

Now for the kit carburetor is leaking fuel there could be a float issue inside. Thrash at the needle valve seat just a tiny crumb of dirt not permitting the needle valve to seal. You need to have a in line fuel filter before the carb as well. Maybe just a simple float tang adjustment. Here shows the carb in better detail. Your float maybe too low? http://motorbicycling.com/f4/motorized-bicycle-carburetor-pictures-how-install-195-2.html

squirrel · Mar 20, 2011

I just read through the tensioner threads and now have a better understanding of why its there. i also read the anatomy of your bicycle and now i know the chain is hitting the seatstay. i upgraded all my hardward to #8steel when i did the install. as well as adding an fuel inline filter, there was alot of rust in that first tankfull!
i've always checked the chain tension before i ride. im pretty sure that its always tight on the bottom but loose on top, thats where it hits the seatstay, mabye my drive sprocket is mis-alighned?

momentummotorgroup · Mar 20, 2011

1. locktite is your friend.
2. have a tool kit with the necessary tools and extra tire tubes and brake/throttle cables in there. I always change my tires out for the slime tubes to stop major blowouts, but it's always good to have a spare or two..
3. Coaster brakes are worthless. It's great that you're swapping it out for the V- brakes as they work infinitely better than a coaster..
4. Also really good that you switched out the hardware to stronger metals as the stock kit ones are almost like butter.. I can't count how many of those buggers I stripped before just taking care of that of the get-go..
5. your drive sprocket might be misaligned, but it could also be just extra slack in the chain.. You can adjust the tensioner wheel and that should take care of that.. if you still have it bouncing then yah. it's probably the drive sprocket..

As far as oil goes, I am a huge no HUGE advocate of the Opti-2.. you can pick it up at any ace hardware and it runs less than 2 bucks for a packet. drop that packet into your gallon gas can and you don't have to monkey with mixtures anymore. I have over a dozen builds on the stuff running strong and wouldn't use another oil if I was paid.

It will take a few to get it running up to speed, but once I broke my last grubee 50cc I got it going 42mph off the stock engine..at least that's what the officer told me I was going..

SlowBalt · Mar 21, 2011

squirrel said:
I just read through the tensioner threads and now have a better understanding of why its there. i also read the anatomy of your bicycle and now i know the chain is hitting the seatstay. i upgraded all my hardward to #8steel when i did the install. as well as adding an fuel inline filter, there was alot of rust in that first tankfull!
i've always checked the chain tension before i ride. im pretty sure that its always tight on the bottom but loose on top, thats where it hits the seatstay, mabye my drive sprocket is mis-alighned?

Make sure the clutch is pulled in. So when you adjust the chain tensioner, It also takes the slack off the top. Once the chain is tight on the top and bottom. Role the bike with the clutch pulled in. If at any point the chain goes tight to slack. The rear sprocket isn't perfectly centered,and needs to be adjusted. If the sprocket isn't centered it will cause the rear bearings to fail.
Keep us posted.

squirrel · Mar 31, 2011

Thanks for all the advice guys!
after inspecting the bike i noticed that i still had a lilltle over 1/4inch of room in my dropouts. i decided to take the rear wheel off and check everying out on the bike after that. Here's what i foundout.
The rear fender mounting bolts were barely rubbing the tire, but if i moved the tire back into the dropouts it was touching so much the wheel wouldnt move!
The sprocket is aligned perfectly and the mounting bolts were tight.
there was a little rubbing goin on in the chainstay

So it became dremel time

I removed the rear fender and modified the mounts and ground down the protruding bolts. Everything was reassembled with locktite. I adjusted the tensioner and whala! no more chain noise no more fender noise!
I then put on my SBP expansion chamber and man do i like how she sounds/ performs. I'm not too happy with how clean the mounting looks and it hangs kinda low, im thinking mabye a upwards mounting style?.....pics coming soon
squirrel dance1

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