How original, a Cranbrook build!

[maurtis]

When diagnosing the issue this morning, I had the bucking bar out thinking that it might be from wear on the bar, ball bearing, or clutch actuator arm. All looked great. So I wondered what would cause the bucking bar to be set inwards, but still be tight?

On a whim I used the stock spark plug tool to check if the nut holding the bucking bar and sprocket was tight, it was not! So tightening that nut caused the bucking bar to move back into position and all is well!

I put some (supposedly) oil/gas resistant RTV on the intake manifold where the carb attaches, so once that cures I will go for a hopefully trouble free ride That is the problem with making multiple big changes at once, something is going to need some love, lol.

 

[maurtis]

I really need to stop messing with my bike... lol. It was running great, but the clutch side crank seal has been weeping gas/oil, so I am sure there is an air leak there too.

I ordered some seals, hopefully they will be here by the weekend. A couple beers into the evening last night, I finally decided to follow Culver's advice and go with a single head gasket instead of two. HUUUUGE bump in compression. So much so, that my already soft and slip-prone clutch did not have a chance of turning the motor over. I did not hear anything out of the ordinary while turning the motor over by hand, just too much compression for my clutch.

Also, after furiously pedaling up and down the alley trying to get the motor to catch, I noticed my V8 gas tank was leaking!!! The JB Weld holding the SBP petcock on had cracked So back to the stocker for now, the next tank will be properly soldered or welded.

On a happy note, I picked up a Tsubaki #41 chain from Grainger along with some master and half links, so I should be able to use my new, fancy schmancy chain tensioner!

So, plans for this weekend:

- Tighten clutch spring
- Replace clutch side crank seal
- Re-install stock gas tank
- Install new chain, remove stock chain tensioner and throw far, far away
- Stop messing with the bike and just RIDE

The last of my birthday presents to myself came in last week too, my Sturmey-Archer XL-FD 90mm front drum brake. It looks very beefy! Hopefully my LBS will not charge too much to lace it up.

 

[placidscene]

Maurtis,
I have been reading this thread for a while now, and have even written in it a couple of times, but I just now realized your in Kyle, TX. I am in North Austin. Are you on the Texas riding blog?
http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=26328&goto=newpost

 

[maurtis]

Maurtis,
I have been reading this thread for a while now, and have even written in it a couple of times, but I just now realized your in Kyle, TX. I am in North Austin. Are you on the Texas riding blog?
http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=26328&goto=newpost

Nice, I have not been reading it, looks like I have some catching up to do, thanks!

 

[placidscene]

No problem. Glad I could help. There's some good guys there.

 

[maurtis]

Big weekend for the Scruffy Huffy, hopefully I can remember everything that went on!

Since the JB Weld holding on the petcock of the V8 juice can tank broke, took the stock tank out of the parts bin and put it back on without issue (or so I thought!).

Tightened up the clutch spring by taking out the clutch cable holder bolt, used an allen wrench in the hole to catch one of the clutch spring notches, and since the bike was on the centerstand just rolled the rear wheel backwards by hand. I found that 1/2 wheel rotation did not make much of a difference, and one full revolution was too much (could not even budge the clutch actuator arm by hand), so 3/4 of a revolution looked about right.

Put the clutch back together and the pull is MUCH tighter. Previously I could pull the clutch lever with one finger, but it was a tough pull. Now, it takes a lot of effort to pull the clutch lever in all the way using all of my fingers. Definitely want to go with a full sized motorcycle-style clutch lever.

BUT... with the tightened clutch spring and a little tightening of the flower nut, the bike starts with the Puch head and one head gasket! Now with even more torque. Love it!

Took a ride up to Target on Saturday to shake things out, she ran splendidly for about 10 minutes, then... started... losing... power... Ugh. Figured it was a compression leak at the head, so did my shopping at Target to give the bike a little time to cool down. Did not see any visual signs of a leak at the head, intake, or exhaust. One head nut took about 1/8 of a rotation before causing the torque wrench to click, but not much.

On the ride home, same deal! Lost power after a few minutes... Cruised the forums and found the issue almost right away, the gas tank vent! I taped the holes on the side of the cap, only leaving the bottom holes and the top vent hole under the gasket open, and blew through the bottom holes, nothing! So I went with the easy route and just drilled a hole in the center of the cap, done!

Went for another test ride and she ran great, whew.

Picture of the cap with a 1/16" hole drilled in the center:

Used a magnet with a washer with a slot cut in it to cover the hole to keep debris out:

Then replaced my stock chain with a #41 Tsubaki chain, using a master link and half link to take up enough slack to use my Skipu chain tenstioner. After ditching the stock tensioner, the new one is so much quieter!

Even after tightening up the clutch, I still get a little slipping starting the motor when she is hot. I hope fx-2's new clutch pads work out, since I would really love an upgraded set!

For the moment, the bike is running great! Worked with the timing curves a bit with the Jaguar CDI, and hit 39.4 yesterday and cruises easily 32 - 34.

The next upgrade will definitely be getting the drum brake laced in to the front wheel. It is way past time to get it done.

 

[maurtis]

I was inspired by Bigbutterbean's thread about using a Home Depot LED flashlight for a headlight, and decided to do the same. Since I only ride during the day, my goal was to just have something on the bike to help signal drivers that this was not at ordinary bicycle, a daytime running light. Since the beam from the flashlight is not focused, I thought it would work fine for this purpose. Also, it is good to have just in case I do find myself out and about after dark...

So I started with the Defiant 50 LED 150 Lumen flashlight from Home Depot ($10) and a stainless steel tumbler from Target ($10):

I cut down the handle of the flashlight, and soldered wire extensions to the positive battery lead and connected an extension to the handle for the negative lead. The flashlight is a bit smaller in diameter than the tumbler, so I made up the difference with some garage door weatherstripping which made for a very tight fit, and secured it with a little hot glue.

The bracket is simply a piece of aluminum bar stock, bent in my vise. I am considering recessing the light inside the housing about another 1/2", but am pleased for now. I epoxied a toggle switch for the light on my throttle assembly next to the kill switch, and have the stock 6V battery pack under my seat for now. I am going to use an old school metal construction worker lunchbox for a tool box on my rear rack, when I get that the battery will live in there...

After taking those pictures I finally rerouted my throttle cable to place the extra length in front of the bike instead of under, it was killing me! LOL. I will actually shorten it some day...

 

[maurtis]

And today I got bitten by the Crancurse... found hairline cracks where the top tube meets the headtube. The crack is only on the top half of the tube right now and barely visible so I wanted to fool myself into thinking it was just the paint, but that is just silly. It takes a flashlight to see it, but it is there and I am sure will only get worse.

I have been checking CL daily for a suitable frame for a 99cc Preddy build, so I guess that gets put on hold for me to find a frame for the HT instead. I missed a $50 vintage Schwinn cantilever frame the other day that was in good shape by 5 minutes, ugh. Around here the $20 vintage frames seem to be just myths. Most are looking for $100+, it seems.

My other option is to use my KHS Chromoly mountain bike. While I like the cantilever frame look, I am thinking the KHS with some balloon tires, pullback bars, and maybe an under bar cylinder tank would look nice. If I go that route, though, I will want a shift kit.

So time to think if over. I am leaning towards using the KHS since I already have it, the frame is MUCH lighter, and I think overall a shift kitted HT would be nice... That would mean selling off my hub adapter and sprocket, spring chain tensioner, and unmounted front drum brake to help raise the $ for the shift kit.

I cannot complain though, I knew the Cranbrook frame would be a gamble.

While thinking about it, I guess another option would be to get a welder to grind an reweld all of the welds and maybe put in some gussets? I wonder how much something like that would run?

*** Update ***
After checking all of the welds very closely with a flashlight, I see another crack forming on one of the welds where the left cantilever support meets the seat tube. Both that crack and the one at the head tube look like someone traced the outline of the weld with a razor blade, very faint, but there.

 

[maurtis]

I was so tempted to go out for a ride this morning, so very tempted... But I refrained since with my luck today would be the day the frame gave out. So I took to cruising CL instead and found what will probably be the Cranny's replacement!

The guy did not know much about the bike other that it rides great (he says he rides it a couple miles a week), is in good shape, and is German with a Komet coaster brake hub. From the pics looks like it could use a good cleaning and I think the rear rack is tweaked, but overall looks good to me.

Here are the pics from the CL ad:

I am going to take a look at it tomorrow, so hopefully it really does ride well and is structurally sound. I love the look, the lugged frame, and the adjustable rear dropouts.

He wanted $100, but went down to $80. I was reeeeally hoping for closer to $50, but I have been eyeballing similar frames for a while now, and since the Cranny is out of commission it seems like it is meant to be. I swore off beer and fast food for a month to fund the new bike, so it should work out in the end. Unless my China Girl eats this frame for lunch too, lol.

 

[maurtis]

Wow, in person, that bike was in much rougher shape than I had hoped. He also had a really nice Schwinn Panther in his garage, but that one is going to eBay he said. I jokingly offered him the $80 I had in my pocket for it, but we both knew he was not going to happen, lol.

So the search is on! Unless an excellent deal drops in my lap, though, I think I am just going to slowly save up my $ and get an SBP shift kit for my KHS mountain bike.

While I wait, I can go ahead and pull the cylinder off and replace the wrist pin bearing with a better one, trim the piston skirt, all that jazz...

 

[maurtis]

Picked up the Cranbrook replacement today, a 1988 Schwinn Heavy Duti with grease fittings on the bottom bracket and head tube. It is a rust bucket, but other than a spot on the top tube, most looks pretty minor. It was painted green at some point, when I hit it with the wire brush I got down to the original yellow paint pretty quickly.

I would certainly have preferred a Chicago Schwinn, but I have had no luck finding any locally that were not crazy expensive, so looks like I am rolling with this guy. Still looks sturdier than the Cranny was, so that is something!

Now, after sanding/brushing down to the metal and primering, I am not sure if I am going to try to paint myself. I do not have a compressor or gun, so it would be rattle canned, wet sanded, then cleared. I just fear how well the results would look...

I am thinking everything should pretty much transfer straight over from the Cranny, wheels and all. I might try to uncover and do something with the stock Masengill seat though...

 

[maurtis]

Since the Cranny is being reborn, I will start a build thread on the "new" bike once I make some more progress, but saw something today that seemed like it belonged in this thread.

I compared one of the welds that I found a hairline crack in, the one between the seat post and left cantilever, on my 2002 Cranbrook with the 1988 Schwinn HD.

The weld on the Cranny was hard to see since it is painted black, so I used a flashlight from underneath to help mark the leading edge of the weld. So in the picture you can see what looks like two dots of yellow light from the flashlight, then a really crappy 1/4" or so weld:

And this is the same weld on the Schwinn: