Now I Have Two Half Frames!!!

GoldenMotor.com

BoDean_LP

New Member
Apr 25, 2012
84
0
0
Jeffersonville, Indiana
I was riding my China Girl powered beach cruiser the other day. As it grew darker outside, I stopped and connected the headlight to the HT's white wire. Not more than ten blocks down the road, the motor died. I checked a few things and found that there was no spark. Checked all the wiring inside and out, disconnected the lights, kill switch, etc. All seemed well, so the diagnosis was a blown CDI.

I flipped the bike over for some reason or other and heard a cracking sound. Having no idea what that sound was, I decided to pedal home. I immediately noticed that the bike was almost uncontrollably wobbly. I checked the wheels tires, etc. I found a small crack where the bottom tube connects to the steering head. So, I started pushing her home. Before I made it to the end of the street, the entire steering tube and top bar broke loose from the bottom half of the bike.

I carried it like this for a few blocks until I could find a good hiding spot for it. I stashed it behind some bushes at some public building, then walked home to get the car. Looks like I'll be mounting the kit on my old FD frame.
 

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Venice Motor Bikes

Custom Builder / Dealer/Los Angeles
Mar 20, 2008
7,264
1,795
113
Los Angeles, CA.
I'm glad you weren't hurt. (You're really lucky that didn't happen while riding at full speed)!
This is exactly why so many builders discourage the use of 'cheap' bikes to motorize, & also hooking up anything to the magneto; (even using the kill button). :(
 

BoDean_LP

New Member
Apr 25, 2012
84
0
0
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Here are some pics of what used to be a weed whacker / leaf blower FD. I ran into some problems when trying to mount the HT. Namely, the motor wouldn't clear the crank sprocket. I remedied this by using part of the chain tensioner as a motor mount spacer. It's mounted up tight and sturdy. I'll just have to see how it reacts to vibration. There may be some loctite in my near future.

Using part of the chain tensioner left me with a loose pedal chain, but at least I no longer have to worry about a dive-bombing, spoke-eating, bike-stopping chain tensioner. All I need now is a half-link for the pedal chain, a new CDI, and some new gaskets for the gearbox and magneto cover. I'll just use the press and trace method on some gasket material.

Well, here are some pics of how it's coming along. I like the handlebar from the red frame much better, for both looks and ergonomics, so the chrome one may not be on there much longer.
 

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BoDean_LP

New Member
Apr 25, 2012
84
0
0
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Yeah, you're both right. If I'd been zoomin' down the street, it could have been ME that had to be hauled home along with the broken bike. I noticed that the red frame was not of the best build quality, yet I chose to motorize it because I didn't want to un-friction-drive the black Schwinn frame. The Schwinn is heavier, and more sturdily built. The down-side to that is the fact that I DRILLED through the frame. :(

How can I reinforce those holes? Maybe I could weld some flat bar to each bar?
 

BoDean_LP

New Member
Apr 25, 2012
84
0
0
Jeffersonville, Indiana
So you're sayin' that I probably shouldn't even have a kill switch? How do I kill it then, choke it out? No lights either? I guess I'll just cut the white wire and get a mini-gen. I've been thinking of building one with an old stepper motor or something.

Heck, maybe I'll just reattach the weed whacker, and use it to power a small generator. Lol, no, just kidding about that. I'd rather convert a kid-hauler into a mobile solar power station. Then I could power all kinds of stuff, maybe even add an electric motor to it and use it as a power assist. Ugh, why can't I just stick to the simplest solution?
 

lksdG2

New Member
Sep 30, 2012
91
0
0
san diego
the schwinn looks exactly like my frame when i started, i even had to do the same thing with the motor mount. its a sturdy frame and can take some abuse. i stretched mine out and welded it with a harbor frieght bird **** welder and its still holding up.

the kill switch is ok wired up to the blue and black wires, just dont hook anything to the white wire.
 

azbill

Active Member
May 18, 2008
3,358
5
38
63
Fountain Hills, Arizona
instead of shorting the mag (what the stock kill switch does),,,
I have used a switch on either wire to just break the connection
(on, it runs, off it doesn't) ;)
 

rustycase

Gutter Rider
May 26, 2011
2,746
5
0
Left coast
Well, glad to see you're OK !

I guess this is a good opportunity to stretch that frame!
...try abt 6 inches...
Use some well shaped gussets at all the joints and you'll end up with a better handling, stronger motorized bicycle.

Best
rc
 

BoDean_LP

New Member
Apr 25, 2012
84
0
0
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Thanks for all the advice. I'll just chop the white wire off. I had ran it with the kill switch wired from black to white for about a week. That probably didn't help. I realized the error about two days before the CDI died. Now I've got a mini-gen on the parts shopping list. I'll be looking for little- to no-cost alternatives in the meantime.

I'm definitely keeping the red frame for a future project. I've just got to dig a lot of my tools out of storage first. This won't be my first custom bike build, but it will be my first frame stretch job. I'll be looking through these forums for help and advice.

I've already got a good on/off switch mounted on the chrome bar. It used to be the kill switch for the Ryobi FD. I'll probably use it as a ground disconnect. When I get the mini-gen, I'll probably add a horn and use the stock kill switch button for that. Otherwise, it would make a good brake light button.

I'm still waiting to gather the necessary funds for the CDI. In the meantime I'll be remaking the minor gaskets such as the gear box cover and mag cover gaskets.
 

BoDean_LP

New Member
Apr 25, 2012
84
0
0
Jeffersonville, Indiana
Wow, good news. I found out, it wasn't the CDI!!! The blue wire was disconnected under the mag coil wraps. The tiny copper wire had somehow broken connection with the blue wire. I can't get my soldering iron to heat up, so I just stripped the coating off for about an inch, then wrapped it tight around the little metal tab, then rewrapped the coil with the wax string and finally added some masking tape to hold it all together.

Now I can ride and enjoy this beautiful weather.
 

locell

Member
Jan 16, 2010
215
0
16
mesa
I was riding my China Girl powered beach cruiser the other day. As it grew darker outside, I stopped and connected the headlight to the HT's white wire. Not more than ten blocks down the road, the motor died. I checked a few things and found that there was no spark. Checked all the wiring inside and out, disconnected the lights, kill switch, etc. All seemed well, so the diagnosis was a blown CDI.

I flipped the bike over for some reason or other and heard a cracking sound. Having no idea what that sound was, I decided to pedal home. I immediately noticed that the bike was almost uncontrollably wobbly. I checked the wheels tires, etc. I found a small crack where the bottom tube connects to the steering head. So, I started pushing her home. Before I made it to the end of the street, the entire steering tube and top bar broke loose from the bottom half of the bike.

I carried it like this for a few blocks until I could find a good hiding spot for it. I stashed it behind some bushes at some public building, then walked home to get the car. Looks like I'll be mounting the kit on my old FD frame.
looks like a good opportunity to make a ssttrreecch cruiser frame :)