'The Friction Beast' - Thats Dax 1.5" kit

Not willing to leave well enough alone, I had a friction drive revelation recently while just messing around & installing one of my high powered Cag stage 2 pocketbike engines onto an old BMP 1.25" roller kit. I was blown away with its simplicity & driveability and got to doing the math of what a 1.5" roller would do. Then onto the gear ratio calculator & a few emails to Duane @ Dax. I ordered 2 kits, both with their brand new 1.5" one-way drive rollers & some extra rollers for spares (1.25" & 1.5" & he threw in a few 1" in case I want to experiment one day).
The kits came Saturday afternoon & I quickly unpacked them to check them out. They look as nice as the BMP & came well packed & complete. Since I have a custom mount for my front drive project, I didnt need some of the mounting harware included with the kit.
I hooked it up & did a bit of adjusting before taking it out on its maiden voyage.
The 1.5" gearing is perfect for the hi-performance 11,000 rpm Cag engine & it hooks up well. I'll probably flip the housing around to bring the engine closer to the fork, but for now this works well & isnt too far forward.
I had to remount my exhaust pipe to the opposite side & like the way its further back & blows exhaust under the bike now. Once I get a few more test rides in & some longer commuting miles I'll have more to report but so far I am a happy camper.
Thanks ThatsDax!
-Lowracer-

cmanns,
Front drive has advantages & disadvantages.
The trick to front drive is to get the engine as close as you can to the fork which minimizes torque steer. In the pics above I have it out forward of the fork & I notice more torque steer than my previous setup (but still not bad). Last night, I reversed the channel & drilled 4 holes in it to remount it 3.5" closer to the fork. I havent taken it out for the new test drive yet, maybe later today after re-installing the exhaust.
The extra weight on the front end aids high speed handling & its nice to see, hear & know whats going on with your engine at all times.
Disadvantages: noisier out front, if engine spits oil you wear it, handlebar vibration (but not much on suspension fork using foam grips)...
Try it.
-Lowracer-

Ok,
I got the friction drive channel reversal finalized today & took it for a few short test drives around my community. It definitely has less torque steer having the engine mounted closer to the fork & has a lighter steering feel. I'll probably begin work on one of my other MB's tomorrow converting it with the Dax friction drive 1.5" channel. I just hope the Tanaka 32cc w/powerpipe can pull the 1.5" roller. The Tanaka is definitely stronger & higher revving now that its fully broken in than my Subaru Robin EH035. I'll leave this 'Friction Beast' like this for awhile & make observations on front tire wear.
see pics
-Lowracer-

A few more observations concerning the Dax 1.5" friction drive.
I hooked up my 2nd Dax channel to the rear drive hardtail bike w/Tanaka 32cc engine.
The 1.5" roller is just a bit too big for the Tanaka to get into its powerband sweet spot.
I switched to a 1.25" one-way roller & its perfect. The 1.5" roller mated to the Cag stage2 engine is about perfect. I have noticed a bit of tire wear but have been beating on it trying to tune the Walbro carb. Once I get everything dialed back in, I'll try to pedal along with the engine up to cruising speed to extend tire life. Will post more about tire wear & this wonderful Dax friction kit & post more pics soon.
-Lowracer-

I decided to purchase another Tanaka engine today. I got the PF4000 40cc version coming in the mail. I already have the PF3300 32cc & am real happy with it. I'm going to finally give up on the super-powerful, super-unreliable Cag pocketbike engines & stick with Tanaka's. I took the Tanaka 32cc w/stand-up scooter type wrap-around pipe out for work today for about 60 miles. Engine performed perfectly but the muffler piece in the mid bleed fell off & I had to ride it home for about 25 miles at decibel levels equal to a rock concert (left ear is still ringing)...
Hopefully the 40cc Tanaka will pull the 1.5" roller?
Anybody got any experience with a Tanaka 40cc w/expansion chamber mod?
-Lowracer-

I've adding more info & observations about this kit & Tanaka engine to my other thread located here.
http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=31377
-Lowracer-

Thats Dax friction drive kit 1.5 month update:

The two friction kits I got from Dax perform flawlessly (as good as my long term BMP kit, BMP now out of business). I have ordered a 1.5" v-belt pulley with a 5/8" bore to be able to switch out the friction roller & run the kit as a v-belt drive. I still have the 'Lowracer Rim 2 Rim' pulley attached to the side of the front wheel. Just need to swap out tires for a 1.5" skinny slick to allow clearance for the belt. I've burned through one tire in 1.5 months using friction drive, but I did some experimenting with very light roller tension for max rpm's & I'm sure this caused more wear than normal especially when I had the Cag engine mounting prior to switching to the Tanaka...

The only input I have for Dax to make a great kit even better is to switch to better engine mounting bolts and spacers. I needed to go to the ACE Hardware store to buy longer engine spacers to fit both the Tanaka & Pocket bike engine. The ones supplied in the kit are too short & would allow the clutch to rub the drum. The bolts are also too short & dont allow enough bite into the engine making it easy to strip. Its also harder to get at the bolts once mounted using a socket wrench or open end wrench. Switch to longer, better metal quality 5mm hex bolts, the bolts can be driven straight thru the opposite holes in the channel with a std size allen key.
-Lowracer-

Ludwig II,
The pull start is fixed in place.
When I dont run friction drive, the engine mounts on the opposite side of the bike & then the pull start is in your desired position. Personally, with this high compression cag I prefer to get off the bike to start it since it kicks hard & I would probably wreck trying to steer & pull on the fly.
-Lowracer-

Dax kit follow-up,
The kit also came with mounting studs which are threaded on both sides & are supposed to be used to mount the engine to the channel. These would allow full thread depth into the engine & plenty of thread going into the channel to mount a nylock nut.
-Lowracer-

I ordered another DAX friction drive kit for a v-belt front wheel drive. I'll remove the drive roller & mount a 5/8" bore 1.5" OD V-Belt pulley. This will allow me to flip the engine to the right side & run the Tanaka 40cc with a v-belt around the rim to rim pulley system I kept on the same front wheel. I had done this previously with my old BMP kit (sold) but BMP had a thinner 1/2" shaft. I had trouble with (2) Staton double bearing drive units (drum shafts wore out under the bearings (they are not hardened steel shafts), & prefer the wider bearing stance of these DAX drive units.
-Lowracer-