OCC StingRay Build

[comfortableshoes]

Yesterday my engine arrived. What a great brithday present.

I was really underwhelmed by the size of the small box. However I brought the box in and ripped it open. Pretty typical straight from the factory shipping. The outside of the box was labeled 70, the engine itself is labeled 88 and the eBay listing was for 55cc... So honestly I don't know the true size of this engine. Anyone know what all the markings mean?

Contents of the box:
Gas Tank- A few small scratches and 1 tiny dent
Chain, tensioner, cables, throttle and kill switch, petcock, CDI and plug boot
Sprocket. It's a 5 hole pattern and it won't easily fit on the rear tire of the OCC Chopper, I'll be drilling it to a new 5 or 6 hole pattern and drililng the hub. The nuts and bolts for this are missing entirely. The sprocket itself worries me a little bit too, it looks as though there are pour lines in the metal, I'll get a pic of it at some point.
Carb, about 4 inches of cheap gas line
Clutch Lever- Can we say cheap, LIke Scary cheap. That thing looks like it's going to fall apart if I sneeze on it. That will be my first upgrade.
Muffler- Also very cheap and will be upgraded soon. (Though now that I see it I'm pretty sure it will fit onto my weed whacker)
Parts bag- assorted nuts and bolts and pieces, all accounted for except the 5 nuts and bolts needed to attach the sprocket
Engine- Needs a thorough cleaning- wipe down of a yellowish coating over everything I"ve decided that I'm going to covered everything in flat black engine paint to match the bike.(Tank will also get a coat of flat black paint.)

Overall impression of the kit is good so far. We've emailed the eBay seller about the missing nuts and bolts, but I'll be picking up better ones at AutoZone anyway.

I"ve got more and better pics on my blog and soon flickr

 

[comfortableshoes]

some more pics

I forgot to add that the engine is going on an occ stingray chopper. I picked up a black one this summer and so far this looks good for it. I ordered Barry's mount on the recommendation of just about anyone who has used one. I ordered it last night and he's shipped it already, I should have it during the begining of next week. How sweet is that?

 

[flipkick7]

what is barry's mount recomendation and how are you installing it because i just found one on craigs list for 70 bucks
i needed an new bike cause the one i first tride to instal it on had coaster brakes andd when i tightened the sprocket on it the wheel would not turn

 

[comfortableshoes]

what is barry's mount recomendation and how are you installing it because i just found one on craigs list for 70 bucks
i needed an new bike cause the one i first tride to instal it on had coaster brakes andd when i tightened the sprocket on it the wheel would not turn

Barry is a seller on ebay that makes what many have called a bullet proof mount for these bikes you can find him here on ebay.

I saw another mounting technique that used the seat post for the back mount and the guy had used what looked like a piece of large steel u channel and a pipe welded to it to make a front mount. It looked like half ot the mount barry makes and sells.

The mount plus shipping is $55, but I figure I got a good deal on my engine and I want an easy install. I've already got an install going that is taking me longer than expected. Plus everything that I've read about this mount says that it is the best of all the mounts out there.

$70 is a pretty good deal. I paid $65 for one of mine and $75 for the other. Recently all that I've seen on Craigslist have been in the $100 range.

 

[comfortableshoes]

Talk about great customer service. My significant other bought me the engine kit of my birthday. When I was unpacking it I noticed that it was missing the nuts and bolts to attach the sprocket to the bike. I had C email LiveFastMotors through eBay about it. It turns out that the kit we bought didn't come with nuts and bolts for the sprocket. OKay, so I went and bought the nuts and bolts at home cheapo. He offered to send them for free we just had to pay for shipping.

Then we got another email from him on eBay offering a new 9 hole sprocket, mounting hardware and nuts and bolts at a deeply discounted price.

All this though we bought his bargain basement kit on eBay for dirt cheap money. I can say this, if the engine runs half as well as his excellent customer service I'll be back for all the parts I need for future builds. I'm very impressed with the service.

 

[comfortableshoes]

I got barry's mount in the mail today!!!! Talk about fast shipping! I ordered it on Friday and received it today! The thing looks tough as nails. Solid steel, painted flat black, really good welds and all the hardware included. Pricey at $55 with shipping but well worth it if my build goes easier.

Exciting. I'm changing out of my work clothes and headed out to the garage, I'll snap a few pics of it and get it mounted up tonight. WOW! I didnt' think I'd have it until Wednesday at the earliest!

 

[deacon]

Gonna be a long night kiddo.

 

[comfortableshoes]

I spent a couple hours in the garage tonight. I mounted the sprocket.
Mounted Barry's mount and the engine.
The carb is hooked up and ready.

Tomorrow I need to attach the muffler and figure out what I'm doing with the tank.

 

[comfortableshoes]

Gonna be a long night kiddo.

yeah. I was in the garage from around 5 until 9... I'm beat.

It will be worth it though when I can ride it.

 

[comfortableshoes]

Alright so the build is essentially finished. I got the motor and sprocket on the bike, now I just need to get the engine and sprocket properly. As is the way that I have it the chain keeps jumping off the sprocket. Tension is good so it must be the alignment.

Looks good too. I'm going to move the tank forward .5 inches so that I can put the seat the whole way down.

Here's another thing I can tell you about this build- it's not light. The chopper itself is heavy and then to add the 20lbs of the engine to it is something else.

I did get the engine and bike to go once for a few minutes and boy did it put a stupid grin on my face. I can't wait for it to put it on there for longer.

It was awfully frustrating to get teh engine going only to have the chain repeatedly pop off...

I get out of work early tomorrow and I think I'll be able to finish everything up early tomorrow afternoon. Maybe I'll throw caution into the wind and take it for a buzz with the madwagon tag.....

 

[deacon]

You should turn some heads on that, Cool chick on a cool chopper.,

 

[comfortableshoes]

lol maybe. The is a tattoo parlor not too far from me and apparently someone in the shop rides an OCC StingRay, it's parked outside all the time. I'm thinking of cruising over and showing off mine. lol.

 

[deacon]

Sure maybe get a tat while you are there..... LOL we will not discuss where...

 

[comfortableshoes]

Sure maybe get a tat while you are there..... LOL we will not discuss where...

LOLOLLOLL
Got one, won't say where let's just say that in my much younger and thinner days on a hot summer day at the beach was the only time it could be seen, oh to be 18 again!

I got the engine and bike running, On these bikes you have to keep the crappy tensioner otherwise the chain rubs the frame, unless you slide the engine ALL the way to the back and tilt it in a way that looks like butt. SO I'm using the tensioner to adjust the run of the chain. It works. I will carry an extra wheel though in my tool kit. I've heard too many stories of failure with scary results.

Getting her started was ****. Took me multiple passes at the industrial park. My fat a$$ had to take several breather breaks because this bike is heavy.It's like pedaling a god d@mn tank. HOwever once started the get up and go is quite something! I'm running a 48 tooth sprocket. Speed is there the minute I twist the throttle and it climbed the hard to pedal long hill no issue, like it was a flat.

Holy crap though, the vibrations. sweet j35us, I'd heard they were bad but this is beyond belief. I'll have to do something about that.

The noise is less than the weed whackers too. I'm thinking that when I upgrade the muffler on this that I'll use the old muffler on the ryobi.

Needs for this build:
registration
Speedo (sigma 800 or better Rated to 50mph tested up to {125 i read some motorcycle forums})
tune brakes
tune carb- err there is no idle
lights- going to go with led flashlights for now, getting 2) 12 led at home cheapo

 

[comfortableshoes]

I picked up a blackburn quad light $20 and the Sigma 1200 speedo ($30) they didn't have the Sigma 800 in stock. It's the best $20 speedo out there rated to 50 and used by a lot of vintage motorcycle peeps- it's been feild tested to 125mph, but only rated to 50 by sigma. IT's a great speedo.

We'll see how well the 1200 does. Did fine today with the OCC StingRay. Just fine. She started up well and goes well. Speed is good, response is awesome. Its a far different beast from my friction drive. I'd go for a longer ride tonight but it's dark out and Dick's SG didn't have a blinking rear light and I can't find my old one...

Also no registration. I will get it Friday after work. If I race out of there I can make it back before 4 and wait in line.... Hopefully I'll be able to gett he registration. I want to go for a long cruise this weekend.

I need to get the muffler worked out too, the little pressed tin POS that came with the engine started to vibrate apart after only 2 miles, that doesn't bode well for it. lol.

Man oh man though what fun.

 

[comfortableshoes]

I rigged up a red rear light with an old reflector and a led flashlight, looks like **** but works for now.

Got the bike going and she sputtered and died.... What's the problem forgot to turn the fuel on, did that and she started right up and away I went. rode around, got an error message on the speedo, didn't bode well, looked down at tire and the magnet was out of line, got it right and all was good. So far good things to say about the speedo, I like that it figures out average speed for me, was doing that manually before.

When I forgot to turn on the gas, a guy was walking near where I pulled off the road, asked me about he bike. Getting lots more attention on this one than the madwagon. I won't be able to take this on main roads until I get it offically registered it's way too eye catching and attention getting.

D if you switched your chengine over to one of these bikes you'd fall in love with it all over again. I can see how I might not like it on another bike but on this bike, it's crazy fun and comfortable.

 

[comfortableshoes]

OKay this little carptastic muffler is killing me, after 3 miles, like clockwork it loosens itself to the point where the noise level of the engine doubles. When the muffler is on right the things is much quieter than the ryobi WW, without it, it's about double the noise level.

Also the engine burned up and spit out the muffler gasket. I swear it was made of leather or fiber board... None the less not heat resistant. I had to pull over on the side of the road and wait for the muffler to cool enough that I could handle it with gloves on and get that re-situated. THat was when I saw the gasket had burned off and blown off the engine. Pulled out my knife and scraped that clean...

I"ve got a gasket here that I think will fit on it. But man what a pain in the keister.

Anyone have any ideas on how to get that muffler to not vibrate loose in 3 miles- I've got it double nutted and it still gets loose. I assumed a nyloc nut would melt but would that stop it?

To add to the shine-ola I dropped my little cannon sd110 camera. Son-of-a you know what. I retraced all my routes and it was no where to be found. I imagine some one found it and took it home, along with my 512 mb card. Add to that I JUST bought a set of brand new batteries for it. Yup. My evening has been pretty carppy.

Off to home cheapo for some more nuts for double nutting, and some other assorted needed items. sigh.

Also The kill switch doesn't work well. I've got it grounded and hooked up to the white wire per instructions but I've read a couple of posts that suggested it be hooked up to the blue wire....

 

[comfortableshoes]

the muffler fix was easier than I expected...

Inside is that bafle, it was rattling around in there, the bolts to hold it in place were twising around and letting the baffle rattle and vibrate the other bolts loose.

SO. I double nutted the baffle in place and then at the end of the bolt that goes through the whole way double nutted a stop bolt for the ends to butt up against then I double nutted the outside end pieces on with lock washers.

Last night I went for another ride, about 5 miles, and not one sign of loosening. (it was cold as h311 too. temp had dropped to 40 degrees by 10 pm.) But the muffler stayed wher it should be. now I need to get a better gasket on it.

 

[deacon]

Those really are gorgeous bikes no doubt.

 

[comfortableshoes]

So the inner tube is NOT all in one, it looks like the tube was wash of all it's talc before installation so the rubbers had sort of glued themselves together. Iw as able to pull apart some of the tube and tire but I'm afraid of destroying it. Until I get an adequate replacement tube I won't be tearing them apart. So a word of caution- cover that tube with plenty of talc!

here's something else for all you stingray owners/fans/builders..
some of those sweet fat rear tires have an integrated inner tube, the tube and tire are one piece and getting them on and off is different than other tires, easier in fact. the bead seems to just be stiff rubber with no steel reinforcement.

this means that if you get an unpatchable cut or tear you are.....

screwed.

However if you get a hole on the tire itself you could patch it with a tubeless tire patch but what to do about a hole in the "tube" part? I was going to put a quick fix on it and tried a scab... it did nothing. So I'm going to try a higher quality patch kit. Funny thing is I don't have any here. I haven't had a flat tire on any of my bikes in years.

So it seems that some of the stingrays don't have this integrated tube. Which is good. It's annoying. I've ordered 2 tubes and will replace as needed. For not I'm headed off to get a patch kit. I'm thinking that when the tubes get here I can cut the integral tube out and slip the new tube in...