New project officially underway
- Thread starter bigbutterbean
- Start date
12g spokes. It's really weird that this happened. The spoke pulled out of the hub flange, not the rim. I'm chalking it up to a combination of previous owner abuse and the bike shop tightening the spokes really tight.
My fuel shutoff lever on my carb also broke off when I took a spill last week. I'm having a heck of a time finding a replacement. I don't want to buy a whole carb just to replace the shutoff lever.
Well, I was right about my mirror. It got here a day early again. Gonna walk my dogs, then install it. Keeping fingers crossed that it doesn't get busted again, lol.
Thank you. I built the brake light out of an old turn signal probably over a year ago. It started out quick and dirty, a flashlight led bulb connected to a battery pack with 4 rechargeable AA's, and instead of a switch, the ground wire from the battery packed rigged to make contact with the frame when I squeezed my front brake. It has since moved from my previous bike, and evolved into an automotive led bulb powered by two 7.2v nicads wired in series to produce 14.4v. The bulb can handle up to 30v. The headlight was chosen with the help of another member. I wanted a light that would fit on my forks since they have mounting ears for headlights. A member here found the headlight for me and a link to a bulb that would fit it. It is also an automotive led light powered exactly the same as the brake light. My tail light is just a cheapo Schwinn job from kmart that runs on AAA's, but it works. I appreciate the compliment. I spent several months gathering parts for this build, and worked very hard to put it all together. So compliments are always appreciated.
Man I swear, if it aint one thing its another. Was just out checking for a s/n on the frame with a flashlight, and found a slight oil leak. Dipstick says I'm still full, but what a pain! Upon checking, my crankcase bolts seem loose and I'm betting this is the cause of the leak. Now I have to take my gearbox cover off to re-torque the ones that can't be reached because the gearbox is blocking them. Darn it! Well, whatever day I'm able to swap out my rear wheel, I'll have to add that to the list as well.
It's funny. I have a tracking number for my replacement wheel, and I know exactly what day its supposed to be here. But I miss riding my bike so much that it feels like it is taking forever, lol. Each day feels like two right now. Just cant wait to be able to cruise safely again. But at least I don't have to drive the bike unsafely anymore, so that's a good thing.
Dang Matt why you buying that huffy chit when amazon has a much better wheel for your bike. You need to purchase a quality wheel since this is your transportation for work. I hope this wheel holds up.
Umm, because I already bought a wheel on Amazon and my adapter didnt fit it. The adapter was too wide to fit between the spokes. The Howard adapter was designed specifically for the Cranbrook wheel, and after purchasing a different wheel and it not fitting, I'm not going to throw more money away on other wheels not knowing whether the adapter will fit or not. I truly do believe that the failure of my current wheel was due to abuse by the previous owner. And the other wheel I purchased came with a Shimano coaster brake, and that's what's going in the new Huffy wheel. I'm also not going to waste more money buying a different sprocket adapter. At some point I will end up spending more money on the bike than its actually worth, and that's when I start losing money. I'm really trying to avoid that. Realistically I'd say the most this bike is worth is $1800, and without lowballing, a fair offer would be about 1500. Not that I plan on selling it (seriously I don't, just making a point), but I've already spent about a grand on it. When I've spent $1300 or so, I'd say this bike becomes less of an investment and more of a money pit. It happened with my last bike, and I won't let it happen with this bike. I'm keeping the wheel that's on the bike, so if any spokes break on the new wheel, I will have spares. I'll be keeping a close eye on the new wheel, checking it over before and after each ride. But at this point, I don't have much of a choice because the hub on the cranbrook is the only hub I know of that's wide enough to take the Howard adapter.
Was that Howard adapter a good choice? I would of purchased the common adapter to use myself. But then again you were on a budget so I understand. I tend to pick and chose my parts for quality vs price and don't have any issues.
I think the Howard adapter was a great choice for me, and I didnt cchoose it based on price. I paid the same for the Howard adapter as I would have paid for a pirate adapter. The howard adapter accepts the kit sprocket, which I happen to like because I was able to achieve the gear ratio I wanted without having to buy a new sprocket for the rear wheel. I chose the Howard adapter because I felt it was the right choice for me. Either way, its what I've got now, and I'm not buying another adapter. Spending money to replace working parts is just stupid imo. The adapter does its job just fine.
The issue here is with a wheel that I got used and abused. I didn't know the wheel was abused until it got here. I traded another member for it, and he assured me it was in good condition when we agreed to the trade. When the wheel got here, it was a completely different story. The dust cap was mangled, and the bearing rings were so deformed I can't even believe the wheel worked before he gave it to me. It was also badly warped, and when I took it to the bike shop they told me it would never be 100% true again. They did the best job they could, and I think the reason the spoke broke is because some of the spokes were too tight. Don't take this the wrong way, Jeff. I may not be at the skill level of someone such as yourself (and I'm not being sarcastic, you truly are a skilled craftsman), but I do know the difference between an issue with one part and another part. The issue here is with the wheel which was in very bad condition when I got it, and not the adapter. I still got 300 miles out of a junk wheel that I traded a few spare parts for that I had no more use for, so I'm not too mad about it. And a new Huffy wheel is bound to be sturdier than a badly abused wheel.
What a bummer getting a bad wheel.If you are carefull you can streighten them in a press.I have done many haveing raised four sons. My press a couple blocks of wood a bumper jack againest the garage door header,you have nothing to lose but a bent wheel.Losen all the spokes first.................Curt
It is kind of a bummer, but unfortunately these things do happen. I spent money to ship out the parts that I traded for the wheel, so I was determined to get some use out of it. I rebuilt the hub myself, and the guy was cool enough to send me $20 back to pay for the replacement bearings and the wheel trueing, and I think 300 miles is a lot to be able to get out of a junk wheel. The replacement wheel cost me $37 with shipping included, and once I resell the other wheel that I wasn't able to use, the Shimano coaster brake will only end up having cost me $20, so its not that bad. I'll just keep the trashed wheel for spare spokes. Once a wheel is trashed and rebuilt, then starts breaking spokes, even I wouldn't trust attempting to use it again after that.
Well, at least I got one thing fixed on the bike today. I replaced the fuel shutoff lever on my carb petcock, which had gotten broken when I crashed a few weeks ago. Unfortunately, the rest has to wait till Monday.
I gotta say this though. For me, this bike was a fairly ambitious undertaking, being my first custom bike and quite a bit more expensive to build than my two previous bikes. I absolutely love this bike and don't ever want to change a thing about it. That being said, I've decided what my next bike will be if I ever decide to build one (if this engine fails, I'll simply install another, perhaps a hf 2.5hp). It will be a straight bar frame with an in-frame tank, more than likely a springer fork, haven't decided what wheels yet but definitely the best heavy duty wheels I can find, and a whizzer clone motor from the ebay dealer. I've heard from a reliable source that the clone engines need some work to make them run right and reliably, so I'll be shipping the motor off for that. Most likely no off the wall performance enhancements, just whats needed to make it reliable. I would expect the total build cost to be somewhere around $2500, maybe 3000, so I can't say if it will ever happen and if it does, it will definitely be a long way off. It definitely won't be till I move into a house with a better work space than my basement or my front sidewalk. But that will be my next custom bike. I'll still keep this one though.
