Fiiiinally got my Cranny together and running today! My first build was a weed eater friction drive on a Mongoose XR-75, which I sold to help fund this project. I picked up my black 2004 Cranbrook from CL for $25. After deciding to NOT use it for my China Girl build, the powers that be decided that instead of defiling a good bike, that I should use the "perfectly good" bike in the garage, lol. So there ya go...
So the build begins. I ordered an RB80 BGF kit from eBay, the thread for that is here: BGF RB80, larger intake port? The kit was in surprisingly good shape, but there was still work to be done. The intake manifold did not need to be port matched and the ports themselves looked pretty good, but I did ream out the exhaust gasket and pipe a bit. I also lapped the head which had a sizeable gouge in the squish band. I went through the carb, and fortunately the float height was spot on, since it is NOT adjustable! No metal tang on the float, all plastic.
For the bike, someone must have attended to it previously since I noticed a decent amount of grease in the bottom bracket and head, but I cleaned and re-lubed them anyway. I replaced the front fork with the black springer from bikebuyers.com, the one with the shorter center tube and it fit great, no extra threads sticking out or spacers needed. http://www.bikebuyers.com/PART-SUSPENSION-CRUISER-BLACK-80.htm
I think the new Crannys come with 12g spokes, but mine did not. So went to my LBS and asked what they could get with 12g spokes in black for a cruiser with a Shimano E110 coaster. They had a decent price on Weinmann AS7X wheels, so I placed the order. I am happy with them, but think I will go with the Weinmann DH-39 for my next build, I like their beefy look.
Kip Harley hooked me up with one of his layback seat posts, which is absurdly sturdy. I love it, Kip!
I also replaced the sidestand with a Crow Cycles center stand, which proved invaluable during the build. Excellent center stand, I have sat on the bike many times on the stand and it does not flex a bit.
Here is a pic with the layback seat post and new rear wheel, they ordered the wrong front so it did not arrive until a few days later. At this point I had the bars flipped, but could not get comfortable like that, so flipped them back.
Other than the motor, wheels, fork, and seatpost, I also ordered the following from SBP:
- Bolt upgrade kit
- 6x1.0 stud kit
- High Performance air filter
- Petcock (I heard nothing but bad things about the stock petcock, so figured I would start off right)
- Oversized front mount
- NGK B6HS plug
As soon as my stuff arrived, I began the install, woohoo! This will be done in no time, right??? LOL
Mounting the motor went fine, it took me a while to find just the right height and position to make room for the high performance air filter, but eventually everything lined up great. I put a piece of flashing (steel, tin?) between the front mount on the motor side and the frame, just to spread the load on the frame.
During the install, the stock spark plug boot self destructed in my hand. After digging the remains of the plug wire that was glued to the CDI, I contacted Al.Fisherman for one of his solid core spark plug leads since all I could find nearby was resistor wire. I am glad I did, I REALLY like his wire and the rajah plug end. Very cool. I went with a 28" lead so I could mount the CDI under the motor.
I originally had a moped gas tank that I was going to modify to fit, but decided it was not *quite* right, so sold it on eBay and am sticking with the stock peanut... for now.
Then, tragedy! Ok, not tragedy, but wasted an entire day just trying to get the doggone rag joint centered. AAAAAAAARGH! Unfortunately I was sober all day, so cannot blame it on the beer. Of course, this was right before Pirate Cycles did inventory, so I had to wait for them to finish.
When I got the adapter in the mail today with 36 tooth sprocket, I nearly wept...
After getting the adapter, the rest of the build went reasonably smoothly. I had to run to the LBS to borrow their chain breaker since I was having no success removing the link pin on my own, lol.
Buttoned everything up, shortened the clutch cable (still need an adjustable knarp to shorten the throttle, I do not trust my soldering skills), ran out of black zip ties, so please excuse the write zip ties, lol.
Put some gas in the tank, no leaks! I did find later that the stock clear fuel line does leak at the carb after riding and zip ties do not seem to help, so tomorrow picking up some real fuel line and small host clamps.
So, before the initial test ride:
And WOW, surprisingly, the motor fired! It did not idle and four-stroked like crazy, but it ran!!! After tooling around the block, I brought her home to adjust the needle and look for stuff that shook loose. Which was good, since I was about to lose the bolt for the spring on the front end! lol. I locktited everything EXCEPT that one...
After moving the needle to the second to top slot, still four-stroked pretty badly, so then moved to the topmost slot and she ran a lot better. I am sure my main jet it too rich as well, but I figured I would deal with it as is until after my first gallon of 24:1. Hoping to find some Opti-2, but so far no luck nearby. I am not going to worry about getting the jetting spot on while still running my break-in mix.
I have to say, riding the Cranbrick was a ton of fun. I cannot wait until after break-in and I get her dialed in.
The plans for the future:
- Sturmey-Archer 90mm front drum
- Gyes GS-16 seat
- SBP expansion chamber
- Nitto B617 Promenade Handlebar
Whew, long post...
TLDR version: Put a China Girl in a Cranbrook, it is fun!
So the build begins. I ordered an RB80 BGF kit from eBay, the thread for that is here: BGF RB80, larger intake port? The kit was in surprisingly good shape, but there was still work to be done. The intake manifold did not need to be port matched and the ports themselves looked pretty good, but I did ream out the exhaust gasket and pipe a bit. I also lapped the head which had a sizeable gouge in the squish band. I went through the carb, and fortunately the float height was spot on, since it is NOT adjustable! No metal tang on the float, all plastic.
For the bike, someone must have attended to it previously since I noticed a decent amount of grease in the bottom bracket and head, but I cleaned and re-lubed them anyway. I replaced the front fork with the black springer from bikebuyers.com, the one with the shorter center tube and it fit great, no extra threads sticking out or spacers needed. http://www.bikebuyers.com/PART-SUSPENSION-CRUISER-BLACK-80.htm
I think the new Crannys come with 12g spokes, but mine did not. So went to my LBS and asked what they could get with 12g spokes in black for a cruiser with a Shimano E110 coaster. They had a decent price on Weinmann AS7X wheels, so I placed the order. I am happy with them, but think I will go with the Weinmann DH-39 for my next build, I like their beefy look.
Kip Harley hooked me up with one of his layback seat posts, which is absurdly sturdy. I love it, Kip!
I also replaced the sidestand with a Crow Cycles center stand, which proved invaluable during the build. Excellent center stand, I have sat on the bike many times on the stand and it does not flex a bit.
Here is a pic with the layback seat post and new rear wheel, they ordered the wrong front so it did not arrive until a few days later. At this point I had the bars flipped, but could not get comfortable like that, so flipped them back.
Other than the motor, wheels, fork, and seatpost, I also ordered the following from SBP:
- Bolt upgrade kit
- 6x1.0 stud kit
- High Performance air filter
- Petcock (I heard nothing but bad things about the stock petcock, so figured I would start off right)
- Oversized front mount
- NGK B6HS plug
As soon as my stuff arrived, I began the install, woohoo! This will be done in no time, right??? LOL
Mounting the motor went fine, it took me a while to find just the right height and position to make room for the high performance air filter, but eventually everything lined up great. I put a piece of flashing (steel, tin?) between the front mount on the motor side and the frame, just to spread the load on the frame.
During the install, the stock spark plug boot self destructed in my hand. After digging the remains of the plug wire that was glued to the CDI, I contacted Al.Fisherman for one of his solid core spark plug leads since all I could find nearby was resistor wire. I am glad I did, I REALLY like his wire and the rajah plug end. Very cool. I went with a 28" lead so I could mount the CDI under the motor.
I originally had a moped gas tank that I was going to modify to fit, but decided it was not *quite* right, so sold it on eBay and am sticking with the stock peanut... for now.
Then, tragedy! Ok, not tragedy, but wasted an entire day just trying to get the doggone rag joint centered. AAAAAAAARGH! Unfortunately I was sober all day, so cannot blame it on the beer. Of course, this was right before Pirate Cycles did inventory, so I had to wait for them to finish.
When I got the adapter in the mail today with 36 tooth sprocket, I nearly wept...
After getting the adapter, the rest of the build went reasonably smoothly. I had to run to the LBS to borrow their chain breaker since I was having no success removing the link pin on my own, lol.
Buttoned everything up, shortened the clutch cable (still need an adjustable knarp to shorten the throttle, I do not trust my soldering skills), ran out of black zip ties, so please excuse the write zip ties, lol.
Put some gas in the tank, no leaks! I did find later that the stock clear fuel line does leak at the carb after riding and zip ties do not seem to help, so tomorrow picking up some real fuel line and small host clamps.
So, before the initial test ride:
And WOW, surprisingly, the motor fired! It did not idle and four-stroked like crazy, but it ran!!! After tooling around the block, I brought her home to adjust the needle and look for stuff that shook loose. Which was good, since I was about to lose the bolt for the spring on the front end! lol. I locktited everything EXCEPT that one...
After moving the needle to the second to top slot, still four-stroked pretty badly, so then moved to the topmost slot and she ran a lot better. I am sure my main jet it too rich as well, but I figured I would deal with it as is until after my first gallon of 24:1. Hoping to find some Opti-2, but so far no luck nearby. I am not going to worry about getting the jetting spot on while still running my break-in mix.
I have to say, riding the Cranbrick was a ton of fun. I cannot wait until after break-in and I get her dialed in.
The plans for the future:
- Sturmey-Archer 90mm front drum
- Gyes GS-16 seat
- SBP expansion chamber
- Nitto B617 Promenade Handlebar
Whew, long post...
TLDR version: Put a China Girl in a Cranbrook, it is fun!
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