First Steps, tell me what you guys think

so this is my bike, i started with i guess you would say concept drawing back in February while i was sitting through my anthropology class, i had been meaning to start for awhile now and finally decided i needed to do it so i researched this motorbicycling and found out some general knowledge. i decided to buy the 68cc jet china kit off of ebay (i got it for $125) and decided to buy a replica schwinn phantom tank. as soon as they came in the mail i decided to finally start with my frame. i stayed up until about three in the morning laying everything and double checking measurements to make sure everything was going to fit and be rideable. the very next day i bought a huge piece of plywood and layed out the grid so i could transfer over the scale drawing. and to my honest amazement everything fell into place and seems like its going to fit. my next step is to cutout the template and make a jig that i can bend the 1" tubing around to make the frame. i plan on documenting this as i go so throw in any suggestions you guys have or any possible devastating observations you have that i can fix as i go, thanx everyone im really excited about this

MelMartinez said:

The design is very very good as a cruiser.

I´d like to know the scale of your drawing. It´s 27 "squares" from front to rear wheel axes. How much is that in inches?

Personally I like long frames, at least 46" from axes.

Good luck.

See You in the Road !!!

Click to expand...

thanks, each square is 2 inches so i guess its about 54 inches between the axles with 26" rims and tires

MelMartinez said:

54" long frame is a great cruiser, really an "eye catcher".

Just a suggestion: try to lower the seat 2". It shows 30" height and it´d do great at 28".

Also pedals may be lower 2" - 3".

The gas tank is awesome. I can´t wait to see it rolling !!!

See You in the Road !!!

Click to expand...

ya i calculated that, my inseam is 32" so i calculated that from the farthest the pedals will be away from the seat, does that make a difference or not? but also, this im not sure about, what should the ground clearance be with the frame, and in this case, the pedals. i guessed 7 inches, i dont want to be digging in a pedal going around the corner

here is step 2, the frame jig, i am going to use it to heat and bend the metal to form the curves and trim to fit

MotorbikeMike said:

Hi Ari, I see a couple of things that may be a problem for you.
#1 are those truss rods I see drawn in on the backsides of your fork? If so, how you gonna steer that bike?
#2, in order to set your engine in the bottom of the loop, I see an idler roller on the TOP of the upper run of the chain, this is not the best place for the Idler, as all the torque of pulling the bike forward will be translated into upward pressure on that roller and bracket, and spring loading it will NOT help you there.

It will work much better if you intend to use an Idler roller to modify the chain run, that it is on the bottom of the chain.

I used to use an upper roller BUT it was places slightly above the upper run, and was there to reduce chain slap on the upper run, so common with these engines because of the out of round mis-shaped front sprockets, and out of round placement of rear sprockets.

I hope this helps, I have built a few bikes myself, I'm here in Sacramento, you'll see some of my bikes on this site and on my site in my sig.

Bend those tubes, fit well, and weld carefully! What are you planning to use DOM, surely not chromoloy?

Mike

Click to expand...

ya i see both your points exactly, i am going to have to brainstorm a way around the idler issue, and for the forks im going to probably skinny in the truss rods to avoid hitting the tank when i turn, thanks for the heads up, this is exactly what i was hoping for, you jus saved me some headaches down the road thanks