New project officially underway
- Thread starter bigbutterbean
- Start date
wrong link, sorry. its www.hotrodminibike.com. Yes I used paypal and they already shipped. Tracking info says it will be here in the morning.
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A little knowledge on the clutch: the black spring will not help that clutch from chattering on take off, I could not deal with the way it was on my bike so I changed to a disk clutch. The disk clutch is not cheap tho and takes some modifications to make it work on a 5/8 shaft.
Sorry for the bad news Matt...
Sorry for the bad news Matt...
I put the black spring in today with Jay's (jbcruisin) help. It was kind of a pain in the butt, but the clutch is a lot smoother now. Engagement is 3100 rpm. I still pedal a bit, but the clutch does not chatter as badly as it did before. As soon as I give it enough gas, it starts to take off, then its just a matter of pedaling until the clutch fully locks. Before I had to pedal a lot more, and the clutch would chatter and slip and vibrate badly until it locked. The difference is like night and day.
So after doing a little reading up on clutch tuning, it seems that the best way to keep a centrifugal clutch from slipping is to put in a heavier spring (which I already have done) AND install heavier shoes. Agk has shoes that weigh 62g and are 35% heavier than the stock shoes which weigh 48g. The shoes are $2 apiece, and its a 6 shoe clutch, so for $12 plus shipping I will hopefully have a clutch that slips less.
I understand where you are coming from. However, running a single speed setup, I had to decide what "optimal" gearing should be. I shot for 32 mph redline, because anything less and its not even worth putting a 98cc engine on your bike. The engine and the drivetrain have the torque to achieve the speed I've geared for, and once the clutch locks up it accelerates just fine. The only weak point of my setup is the weak clutch engagement, and I don't think the gearing is to blame. My final drive is 12.44:1, and I really think its a reasonable ratio for this engine. And like I said, I did some research on clutch tuning. A light spring allows for earlier clutch engagement, which can be bad because the engine isnt making any power yet. A heavy spring allows for later engagement. However, light shoes allow for later engagement while heavy shoes allow for earlier engagement. So with a heavy spring and heavy shoes, you sort of get a balance. Also the heavier shoes push out with more force, allowing for better contact and grip. So after all the research I've done, heavier shoes seem to be the best solution for me.
Today I adjusted the tension on my primary drive chain and cleaned my clutch with brake cleaner, and it wasn't chattering anymore when I took it for a test drive. The chain was rather loose, so that may have had something to do with the bad chattering. A lot of dirt and grime came out of the clutch when I sprayed it with the brake cleaner, so that may have contributed as well. So I guess I will hold off on ordering heavier shoes.
Now I just need to fix/clean my lower fork seals and replace a broken mirror. I'll get to my forks Wednesday. I have to wait till I get paid Friday to order a new mirror. May also be ordering a new rear wheel on Friday.
I fixed my fork seals, no more leaking. Now on to replacing the back wheel. I got a used Huffy wheel in a trade. I was desparate to be able to use my Howard sprocket adapter, which was designed to fit the Huffy Cranbrook rear wheel, so I traded for a used one. The wheel was abused and not properly maintained. I rebuilt the hub when I got it, but its still been very problematic. No matter how I adjust it, it still wiggles. It was also severely out of true, and my local bike shop did the best they could, but its still not 100%. I recently found out that I can order a replacement wheel from Huffy for $37 with free shipping, so I'll be ordering that tomorrow. I already have a Shimano coaster brake that will be going in the new wheel. I purchased another wheel that my sprocket adapter didn't fit, which I'll be reselling. That's where the Shimano coaster brake came from.
Finally figured out why I've been having problems with my rear wheel. When I got the wheel, it was severely out of true. I took it to a bike shop to have it done. They must have had to tighten the spokes pretty tight. I was looking over my back wheel today, and found a popped spoke. It didn't even come out of the rim, it popped loose from the spoke flange on the hub. This is most definitely the cause of the rim wiggling. I'm ordering a new rim from Huffy today, so it will be corrected. When I get my new rim, I'll need to squeeze the spokes together to stress relieve them. This should prevent any more spokes from popping.
Find a shop with a spoke tension gauge and the knowledge to use it correctly.
It costs more, but a wheel built right is dead reliable from day one. Any tension issues from assembly means it was done wrong somehow.
I always spin a newly built wheel and tap the spokes to sound them as the wheel spins.
Any variation in tone means different tensions and a poor build. It should sound one note all the way around and not vary much at all from spoke to spoke.
Good tip to check the quality of your rim builder is to play with his rims.
Any good shop should know someone with the tools and know-how to build your rim right the first time.
(Disregard this if YOU popped the spoke)
It costs more, but a wheel built right is dead reliable from day one. Any tension issues from assembly means it was done wrong somehow.
I always spin a newly built wheel and tap the spokes to sound them as the wheel spins.
Any variation in tone means different tensions and a poor build. It should sound one note all the way around and not vary much at all from spoke to spoke.
Good tip to check the quality of your rim builder is to play with his rims.
Any good shop should know someone with the tools and know-how to build your rim right the first time.
(Disregard this if YOU popped the spoke)
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I wasn't messing around with the spokes, so I surely didn't pop it on purpose. A good rule after having a wheel freshly built or trued is to squeeze the spokes together to "stress relieve" them. When spokes are really tight, you'll hear a slight popping noise as the excess load on the spokes is relieved suddenly. However, I did not do that with this rim after it was trued. I believe that may be the reason this spoke came loose. For the record, in 4 years of motorbiking, this is the second spoke I've broken. The first one happened 3 years ago when my kit tensioner took a dive into my spokes. What I think I am going to do with the new rim is squeeze the spokes, then go around and tighten each one a quarter turn, then squeeze the spokes again. I think that will eliminate any spoke tension issues from the factory.
sound them out, you can get pretty darn close to perfect using your ears and a screwdriver to ting the spokes.
I'm a little (and by a little, I mean quite a bit) hard of hearing. I will give it a try, but no guarantees.
Well, I called Huffy customer service back today, and my wheel shipped out. Tracking info says the delivery date is Monday. Thank goodness. I only have to drive with this wheel a few more days. I'm being as careful as I can. This busted spoke is a real problem. Sometimes when I slow down and speed back up, I can literally feel the wheel pulling to one side. I wish I had any other choice, but I'm not walking 3 miles in this heat wave to get back and forth to work. I have to drive to work Thursday and Friday. Saturday my wife can take me. I have off Sunday, but not sure about Monday. Either way, its only a few more days till I have a safe wheel again. In the meantime, I only go as fast as I have to and coast or brake as often as possible. The looseness in the wheel is also causing clutch slippage I believe. I just can't wait to have my wheel replaced. I also ordered a replacement mirror for one I broke. Tracking on that says Thursday, but the last time I ordered this mirror, it got here a day early, so we'll see.