new to the board, have a few noob questions i'm sure have been answered.

[icyuod2]

hi guys, gals. new to the forum. my name is leigh and i'm up here in london ontario (canada) been building bikes for sometime, but this is my first moped.
i've been building an indian inspired boardtrack racersince last year. i still have alot of work to do (including a custom stainless tank,) but i'm itching to ride this beast,

heres the bike last halloween. thats the tank i still have to finish.

well i've had a change of heart since then and the build has taken on a new dirrection.
heres what it looks like now and brings me to my first question. mounted the kit tank just to get it running

i've dropped down to a 24" wheel with a vintage set of uniroyal chain tread tires. dirrections(or should i say "indications"lol indicate this motor should work on most 26"/28" bikes. is there any reason i shouldn't use it on a bike with 24" tires?

now, no self respecting indian boardtrack racer would sport plastic parts, so i ditched the cheap throttle and used an old set of plated brake levers for the throttle and clutch.

they have enough travel to do there job's. i do however need to replace the kill switch (with something metal i hope) thought about a small toggle switch. was hoping to see some pic's of your custom/replacement kill switches. post away (please and thx)

next question, coaster brakes. i've read ad's that say "new improved sprocket more room for coaster brake arm" and i've also read warnings against using them. mine is currently fitted with a coaster brake. am i askin for trouble? as long as i use the clutch before the brake, are there any dangers i should know about?

last question (fo now) i have an assorted pack of gaskett materials. now my head looks alittle warped and seems it might leak. gonna change out all the gasketts, but i was wondering

which material should i use for the head gaskett? there cork,cork-neopreme,neopreme,rubber,compressed paper???? in the pack.

thx for all your help, i'd love to be tooting around this weekend.

 

[Denver Dave]

Someone else will come along soon to answer your first two questions but I can help you with the last.

Do not use cork.

It sounds like you bought the same sampler pack I did. The only one that has held up worth a darn is the rubberized high heat fibre (or something along those lines) and even that got brittle after a hundred miles or so. I don't know if it was about to fail but it was hard as a rock when I took the parts off to track down another problem. I haven't found an appropriate replacement available at the auto parts store but a very generous someone is sending me some "super gaskets". Hopefully someone else will chime in but I just wanted to warn you...

...do not use the cork.

 

[Dave31]

You can use 24" wheels, you may need to go with a smaller sprocket to obtain the same speed with a 26" wheel.

I used only a coaster brake for years and thousands of miles with no problems. But I will admit it is not the best stopping power. I have since added a front brake as well for better stopping.

I use a atv kill switch on mine, but you can also use a toggle switch.

 

[Cabinfever1977]

my coaster brake works better than any regular brake i ever had.
i like the idea of a brake lever for a throttle because the stock throttles dont like to return,does anyone know if the throttle cable end will fit a brake lever? and do i need a spring on the lever so it snaps back?

 

[Finfan]

When it comes to brakes more is better. I added a set of side pull brakes to my ride as a back up to the coaster brake. Just in case.

 

[icyuod2]

thx guys. old indian boardtrack racers didn't have much in the way of brakes (if any at all)
who needs em! (kidding of course)

as for the throttle/brake, i had to use a standard brake cable and crimped a stop on the carb end.
the original just wouldn't work (big metal bolt on one end/too much exposed cable for the brake lever to work.)

you can use the original cable but you will have to cut off the stop on one end, get rid of the bolt,cut of the excess and re-crimp a stop. or at least that was my experiance.

 

[icyuod2]

hey look at that, pictures yeah!

 

[icyuod2]

btw whats the best way to wire the kill switch.

should i attach the black wire to the others, or ground it out on the frame? does it matter?

thx

 

[Cabinfever1977]

i grounded it to the frame/front engine mount. any where theres a small bolt and not a lot of heat.

 

[icyuod2]

since my last visit i have done alittle more work on the indi-ain't.
mounted my killswitch

finally got around to finishing the custom ss tank.

even fashioned an alum number plate. (sorta doubles as a chain/sprocket guard.)

picked up a couple cool stickers

its just about ready for paint.
just wanted to share, enjoy.

 

[Maxvision]

That is one beautiful, beautiful bike. I did like it better with the original pedal sprocketing from the first picture. Im assuming you did it because it was probably too hard to pedal start. If I had not seen the first picture, I would be scratching my head wondering why theres such a big hole there.

 

[Venice Motor Bikes]

That bike kicks ass!!! Nice job!
You can buy a proper head gasket from one of the vendors on this site... & I would add a vintage drum brake to the front. There's a pic of one on my website.

 

[icyuod2]

That is one beautiful, beautiful bike. I did like it better with the original pedal sprocketing from the first picture. Im assuming you did it because it was probably too hard to pedal start. If I had not seen the first picture, I would be scratching my head wondering why theres such a big hole there.

ah ha i fooled ya, if you look very close at the small sprocket on the first pic, you'll see its on the wrong side of the bike.
if you look even closer, you'll see that the chain infact goes around a pulley with no teeth.

its all fake.

the big hole in the picture will actually be filled in just like the first pic with the small sprocket.
its my fake crank case. its a tsc store pulley (farming stuff) theres a big pin and a smaller pully mounted to the assembly. the small sprocket is fastened to the crank, and the small loop of chain makes it look important. sometimes the pulley spins (friction from the chain, but most of the time it doesn't) i just wanted the motor to look alittle more bad ass! the other side of the bike (in the most recent pictures) has been this way from the get go.

i'll be welding the fake crank case (big pulley) to the frame, and then the rest of the assembly will be added.

as for the drum brakes, thats a fantastic idea.
thats why i just salvaged these.

a set of 21" puch moped rims with drum brakes. (gonna relace the drums i hope)
ya know what they say, "great minds think alike, and fools seldon differ."

 

[2door]

Welcome to the best Motorized Bicycle forum available. Thank you for joining and sharing photos of your build.That is a classic piece of work my friend. Congratulations on a job well done.
Let us know how it rides. If it rides half as good as it looks you've got a killer bike.
Tom
PS. I was going to attach a wiring diagram for you but I'm at work and the file is on my home computer. I'll search for a link and post it later.

 

[icyuod2]

this was my first ride. i didnt expect it to start up so easily and kinda got carried away with the excitement.

don't want ya to think i won't where a helmet when riding.
got my eye on this one.

 

[2door]

Looks and sounds great. Congratulations again. I love that bike!
Tom

 

[Creative Engineering]

icyuod2,

Very nice...

The attention to details really shows.

An eye for design is a gift...That bike looks fast while sitting still. Your placement of each component complements the whole assembly...well done!

Jim

 

[Rockenstein]

icyuod2 I'm diggin the old school head gear...lol

Wherever did you find that? Forest City Surplus maybe?

 

[icyuod2]

i haven't got it yet. its actually on kijiji (london)

 

[fm2200]

That's a beautiful bike the white tire one looks so vintage, you really are making some real lookers over there. Keep up the nice work they are very impressive, a real throw back in time.