Calling all engineres and people who own Worksman bikes

Lurker said:
I am in the planing stages of my next build and I have my heart set on using a Worksman frame as a starting point. However I have some questions about the frames that can only be answered by people who have hacked them up and mechanical engineers.

So for my next build I plan to go all out. The goal its to have a bike that is as close the real deal as I can get with, in my fabrication abilities. Which also means serious power.

I have two major question
1. Are Worksman bikes as beefy as they look? What is the tubing size?
2. How much power can one of these frames take before it tears apart?

I know some of you might think that this is totally ridiculous but "we all build for different reasons" to quote Hoodoo. This is just a dream I have that I need to fulfill.

Thanks for you help guys
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I cut up my worksman pretty much, which means I cut away the front frame ahead of the seat post and welded on 3/4" black steel pipe, I did save the throat of course. This allowed me to lenghten the bike 5" and I am 230 pounds and have ridden the bike on fairly rough dirt roads including some bouncing and the rear wheel has held up so far. No indications of cracking or weakness. Have a monarch fork on the front. To me the rear of the frame is the key and the worksman is very strong (at least I think so). Fatty here (me) even bent the layback seatpost I bought after market (bouncing on the seat tends to put more than 230 pounds of pressure on the post)...had to make one out of steel. The worksman was designed for fat supervisors pedaling around the factory floor so it is plenty rugged.
 
So I was brainstorming today about how to reinforce the frame. Which led me to thinking about cars and sometimes in unibody race cars they add expanding urethane foam to the voids in the body to stiffen it up.
On a side note, this is not the stuff you buy at the hardware store.

Do you guys think this would make any difference in bike frame?
 
Can i recommend a Cleveland Welding Co. frame. I have a 40's roadmaster and it has the beefiest frame i have ever seen. Their is also alot more room for a larger engine.
P1010002.jpg
 
sportscarpat said:
Vibration is the biggest problem the frame has to deal with. As for old Schwinns I wouldn't consider using it as a basis for any higher hp builds. I have yet to break a Schwinn, but were talking 60 year old fillet brazed frames. The Worksman frames are lugged then brazed which was good enough for the old motorcycles so that works for us now. My area of concern on a Worksman frame, not counting your engine mounts, is where the rear frame stays braze to the seat post tube. It is not lugged at this junction, just a fillet braze.
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That's good to know, Pat. I'm not a welder, so don't appreciate the differences in fillet brazed frames and lugged frames. For my engines and lower speeds I'm sure the old American made frames are plenty good enough, but when you are pushing the limit then everything has to be the best. Keep it safe.
SB
 
what you think about this new cruiser frames?

juergen_hollister_3.jpg


the frame is called sm parts porucho

looks very solid and have the new standarts (1 1/8 headtube, dicsbrake)
 
baslok said:
what you think about this new cruiser frames?

juergen_hollister_3.jpg


the frame is called sm parts porucho

looks very solid and have the new standarts (1 1/8 headtube, dicsbrake)
Click to expand...

WHOA!!!!!!!!!!! That thing begs for a Morini, a custom tank, and a layback seatpost. And, well shoot, that'd be about all you need. (That, and maybe some strong brakes.)
 
That's a very nice looking frame. I like the crank-forward style.
With the CF, those handlebars are just not gonna work though.
rc
 
Allen_Wrench said:
WHOA!!!!!!!!!!! That thing begs for a Morini, a custom tank, and a layback seatpost. And, well shoot, that'd be about all you need. (That, and maybe some strong brakes.)
Click to expand...

Very nice....how heavy are the spokes? This would be ideal for removing the pedals and 9 Hp engine.
 
Lurker said:
I am in the planing stages of my next build and I have my heart set on using a Worksman frame as a starting point. ...

I have two major question
1. Are Worksman bikes as beefy as they look? What is the tubing size?
2. How much power can one of these frames take before it tears apart?

I know some of you might think that this is totally ridiculous but "we all build for different reasons" to quote Hoodoo. This is just a dream I have that I need to fulfill.

Thanks for you help guys
Click to expand...
First of all, you're not going to fit any 2-stroke engine much more than 2-3 HP into a Worksman frame anyway, without cutting the frame up and re-welding it--at least, if you want it inside the front triangle. You might as well just buy a head tube and bottom-bracket tube and scratch-build the whole frame around whatever engine you want.
...
-Or did you want to do this without any welding? Because that drastically limits your engine options, unless you pay somebody else for a custom frame.

Second of all, a typical adult puts out 1/4 to 1/3 HP on a bicycle, during normal use. A top athlete can put out maybe 3/4-HP sustained. If you want to know how much power & speed that bicycle frames are built for, that's about it.

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Most people who put bigger engines on motorized bikes use rear non-bicycle hubs, since the torque from a 4-5 HP engine is way beyond what bicycle hubs are built to withstand in normal use.

Also in my opinion,,,, when you get to speeds beyond 40 MPH, you should really have functioning full suspension--and that means oil-dampened suspension. There's some bikes people have built that look like they'd work just fine at 75 MPH--and other ones that would be scary at half that speed.
 
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