Re: Cadillac Crusiers - More Info
I have some input you guys may find useful.
I just built this Fleetwood Cadillac for a customer.
I got the bike on-line delivered for $300.
Can someone please post or send me the link for one for less as he wants 2 more ;-}
For those of you thinking big motors on them, save your money.
I don't know how those hubs will perform with a big motor yet, but I do know how they perform with a legal 48cc and just a good air cleaner, HP plug wire and Iridium plug, and little one piece Xchamber.
See, and
listen for yourself.
http://www.youtube.com/v/segGdmhOXCw
You will NOT be able to smoothly up shift under constant high torque.
I found that the so called 'Semi Solid' state of the tranny fluid for the drive tends to not want to up shift under full load so what I do is lay on the throttle, then back off just a touch while I up shift a small turn, then back on the throttle.
If you watch the Caddy riding video I made yesterday you can hear how I do it, it sounds like a 20 speed tranny until I hit 30 MPH, and that is with a 48cc motor.
Down shifting is different, no problem under load at all, but once you ride for a bit you can get an idea of how much you want to turn the shift knob between each power burst up shift.
Regardless it beats the crap out of a derailer, and still much better than even an 8 speed hub shifter, you just have to get the 'touch' for the bike.
My point is simple.
With this kind of gearing and a responsive 48cc you can be LEGAL and still haul ass ;-}
Also note that if you get the rear 'roller disc' adjusted right, a simple side pull front brake and the SBP 'teeter-totter' dual pull brake lever stops you just fine.
One last note, if you mount the gas tank in the rear like I did on this $30 Schwinn back rack you will want to raise it up the best you can or you will have fuel flow problems.
I did it like this.
This bike is for a petite young woman so the seat had to be as low as possible so I used the racks seat post mount to hold the post as well.
I painted a 3/8th" piece of wood black and put it between the tank and the rack, removed the tanks filter and used an SBP filter in-line, and zip-tied the gas line up right after the tank outlet.
That helps gravity with just a short close uphill run, and then a nice long downhill run to the carb.
Just for an 'end of post' reminder, can someone post or send me the link to order a couple more of these bikes for less than $300 I paid for this one?
I'm building some more of these babies, they go together nice ;-}
