The Orange-peeler

pocdragon · Aug 3, 2011

its about that time again everyone!

i was visiting my local thrift store when my eyes fell upon a beautifull tiny road bike in day-glo orange

24'' boys road bike
made by JcPenny in 1975
its name is the "10 speed racer"

ive always liked this kind of road bike with skinny wheels they seem super efficient and are a blast to ride

this is my second weed wacker build
EDIT: i believe this is a WASP bike, thanks to deacons new classification

check out that gnarly seat! it looks the part, but my butt became sore after a mile or so of pedal riding so i swapped on a springer gel seat

the compact power-plant

pocdragon · Aug 3, 2011

now for some specs:

25cc huskvarna motor with pullstart intact

1.5'' gnurled bmx peg for friction roller
(which, in theory, with a max rpm of 11K should equal 49mph-ish but i only expect around 8-9k out of this tiny thing so if i can hit 35 i would be thrilled)

24-1 3/8 wheels

i have the motor mounted, next thing to be done is a scissor clutch, and throttle, but first new tires!
.cs.

ddesens · Aug 3, 2011

Nice! Love the color.

Dan · Aug 5, 2011

Really like it. Nice job

deacon · Aug 6, 2011

it is indeed and i am super impressed. That bike is going to have a really nice balanced look.

pocdragon · Aug 6, 2011

new tires are on!

ok so i got a little antsy and kinda half assed my throttle and clutch and had to have a go on this little machine

very easy to ride, engine is quiet(only achieved about half throttle on my shotty throttle linkage)

some nuts and bolts weren double nutted so as i came to about a half mile away my bike started to make lots of funny noises......i broke it..... but nothing that cant be fixed!

but for what its worth, this thing screamed along with no problem
i was thinking about getting an expansion pipe but i dont know if i need the extra sound and power

my favorite bike to date, happy time china girls take as much effort to set up as a home built weed eater bike, and a weed wacker would cost much much less, andget much much better milage

new tires,

look how level it sits!
<3 xct2

FRICTION!!!!!!!

deacon · Aug 6, 2011

not just cheaper, light, more exercise, but what a feeling of accomplishment.

kevinkrg6 · Aug 6, 2011

That's definitely a cooler feeling knowing that you really built it from scratch yourself. How fast does it go?

I'm obsessed with mph right now, because my 66cc Grubee kit only goes 25mph

deacon · Aug 6, 2011

that's about top end for most friction drive. I think cb2 has some that go faster I have never had any that would.

cannonball2 · Aug 7, 2011

My Schwinn with a 2.4" roller tops 35mph+, really wound tight though. More comfortable around 28-30.

pocdragon · Aug 7, 2011

welcome to page 2

WOW cannon! a 2.4"" roller is no joke! lol

its raining in my neck of the woods so another day spent tinkering

i plan to get a speedo and dual waterbottle holder for this beast
i have a good sized stainless steel "eco" bottle im going to use for extra fuel, im not relocating and increasing the size of the gas tank if it already works well! lol

from the short ride i had i feel it was more responsive than my 66CC chain drive kit accelleration was snappy, i cant wait to rip this beast all bolted together fro the final setup

whats better for applying pressur on the roller, bungee cord or a metal spring?
at the moment i have bungee

thanks for all the good comments
i am now a firm and dedicated home built motorbicycle kit enthusiast,

i mean sure an inframe kit is nice, but not as rewarding as a home built setup, and i didnt even use my welder!

(i can prolly unbolt this setup and apply it to any of the bikes in my shed, its easy to make a universal clamp setup)

dig the handelbar setup

throttle is an old clutch lever on right hand side
clutch is an old long brake lever on lefthand side

i love the flip flopped mount .cs.

cannonball2 · Aug 7, 2011

Yeah the 2.4 is the biggest I run. With a relatively low rpm engine(5000+) it takes a big roller. Youve done a nice job on this bike, simlpe and clean, knida the heart and soul of direct FD.

deacon · Aug 7, 2011

I like the look as well. What i do now and plan to do in the future is to use the throttle cable from the engine chop off the end then use a cable from a brake or shifter and splice them together with a throttle stop gizmo that is a threaded tube with a hole drilled in it. They work fine and are super simple.

The clean simplicity of the wasp type build will make a believer of anyone.

Best of all tension is a steel spring attached to a small turnbuckle. infinite adjustment

pocdragon · Aug 8, 2011

cannonball2 said:
Youve done a nice job on this bike, simlpe and clean, knida the heart and soul of direct FD.

thanks cann im really proud of this setup, i strive to K.I.S.S. and the les bits you use, the less bits can go wrong. over engineer it so it wont brake, but the mech itself needs to be dead silly simple

does anyone think i can make a beneficial exaust out of pipe fittings?
i under stand the principals of how the expansion chamber works

i have a pocket bike exaust for a 50cc that has a special shape to it, im going to try to adjust for the different CC size and make one about half the size

if you think of the grey as the exaust gasses, i can make somthing very similar to that shape with either copper or iron pipe

other wise i found a water cooled expansion pipe for a radio controlled boat that uses a 25cc wacker motor, but i wouldent be running water through it, would that ruin the pipe running a water cooled one dry?
just some things to think about

gonna try to button my bike up tomorrow, more udates to come .cs.

cannonball2 · Aug 8, 2011

You can run the pipe without water, that cools it a bit but its more away to get rid of the engines cooling water, blow it out the pipe. I know very little about boats but a fellow R/C club member has some with modded Zenoah engines the turn 17K+ so its probably going be only a high end pipe. I saw a pic of a Ryobi 31cc running a pocket bike pipe, not text to say how it worked. You just have to give something a try I guess. Id hate to spend time making something that didnt work as well. Why do you throw it out in the exhaust forum.

pocdragon · Aug 8, 2011

thanks for the advice cannon, i put up a post in intake/exhaust forum

the build has concluded

clutch and gas are sorted, i bought and installed a cheap speedometer

the mount is strong, and simple

things are double nutted and locked down

so it figures that its been raining all day.

but just now it looked to be dry enough to take it for a spin before i lost all the daylight

the motor idles well and will keep the bike going on a wet road at about 13 mph

if i give it the beans it just slipps on the tire(hence the "orange peeler"), so i had to go easy,
i got it up to 20 mph on a good dry straight before the motor wanted to spin of its own accord

im sticking with a bungee for the down pressure, if it can withstand the rpm's on a good dry day then ill look into springs and turnbuckles

sofar so good! my only problem is that my throttle wont return to idle , it will stick on a tad, so i need to assist the trottle return with another spring

pics for clicks

deacon · Aug 9, 2011

all my throttles have assist springs as well. It is the friction of the cable in the sheath I think.. Once you get some dry pavement I predict you are gonna have so much fun, I like my bikes to have that slip factor on hills. I can usually kick i some pedal and catch up with the engine,

pocdragon · Aug 18, 2011

i have tested, and played with a few new components and the 10 speed racer is running very well!

i ended up using dual springs on the same turnbuckle to adjust tension on the roller

a clutch malfuntion led to a tire having a hole rubbed through it because the old bungee didnt have enough oomph to stall the motor on a stationary wheel,

luckaly i can get the tires cheap

im still baffeled why i havent seen more MB with 1-3/8 wheels, they roll very well compared to my larger 26" wheels on my crusier

(so far) the top speed is 28mph
i need to crack 30 chaps
i reccon my preliminary tests were skewed due to the ruined tire, so a new one at full psi should get me up to speed i think

if my tire says inflate to 40-60psi should i make them 50?
would 60psi help my top speed?
would a lower psi be better for roller grip?

also i ended up using a double spring to return my throttle to idle, one on the carb and the handel bar lever also has a spring in it

sofar my least expensive build
10$ bike
15$ motor
14$ tires

so about 40 bucks for this sweet ride!
maybe ill splurge and get a tuned pipe
.cs.

keep it DIY

deacon · Aug 18, 2011

Isnt it amazing that you can spend fifty bucks and be up and running in a day or so on one of these little wasp type bikes

LS614 · Aug 18, 2011

lemme tell ya somethin pocdragon I got one word for you (^)

cool

that's what this is. Great job and a smooth setup

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