Torker Boardwalk

[turnofftheradio]

Now that I have introduced myself, I took a minute to snap a few pics of the bike. I rode it to work today, I live 1.5-2 miles from work depending on route.

I've seen a couple boardwalks here, but none like my factory flames. Its a cool bike, and was a great price when I bought it years ago.

the headlight is modified. The origional was a toy. My buddy used to work for nichia led, and I have a few led show of doo dads, one of which was a mini lantern. I removed the top housing of it, then cut the reflector housing to fit the larger diameter led cover. The lantern oddly enough is the same size as a D cell battery, which as luck has it, is what powered the origional lamp. So it fits perfect with the 2nd d cell behind to hold it forward. I did have to drill a hole in the housing to accomodate the pushbutton. I can improve on what I have from here. It works immensely better, but not best.

 

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and a few more

had to chop the fender for the chain, I still need to clean it up, but function over form untill I know what I need. I really did not want anything even close to the chain.

I'm fine with the idler/tensioner, but I can see the need to weld it on for safetys sake. I do have a buddy with a welder that can zap it up quick.

 

[turnofftheradio]

I did a little work this weekend.
I added:
front brake ( cheapie)

I added a brake and running light. Both I picked up at my local auto parts store. The switch for the brake light I used a trunk ajar switch from a cadillac and a center cap bolt from an f150.

Then, I tore apart a ballast to find this 6v nicad battery that may work for me. I have not yet experimented with it, but it shows potential. Currently without it my lights only work with the engine running (white wire)

I'm almost at 100 miles so far, and am now running 25:1. Ive hit 30 a couple of times, but still try to keep it under 25. the engine is producing much better power.

whats everyone think? i'm doing ok?

 

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heres a shot of what I think I should do with the battery.

and, if its not obvious from the sticker, I did get a moped reg. for it.

 

[moonerdizzle]

thats a nice looking scoot. whats your tail light off of? its really sharp

 

[turnofftheradio]

thats a nice looking scoot. whats your tail light off of? its really sharp

Its a cheapie led marker light I purchased at oreilie's auto parts. I'll have to find the box for a brand name. I think it was < $6.00. I did have to grind it a tad and use some black rtv to mate it to the fender nicely. It comes totally flat surface mount on the back, and my fender has enough curve that the left/right sides stuck up enough for me to want it more flush. It did however fit fine and securely without any modification, but it didnt have that "finished" look. the larger brake light was also from oriellies and <$6.00 as well. they had kind of a lot of styles to choose from, some led some regular bulb type.

 

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a little progress

no more flashing leds.

while Its certainly still a work in progress, it functions as it should. 6v 4000mah.

You can see for now I have a small toggle to be able to pull the battery out of the circuit, I may move this switch to handlebars later. at rest no engine with all lights on I'm at 6.2v charged. running with all lights Im at 6.7. after a half hr. my battery still reads 6.7, so I think I'm safe. all I used was a single diode on white wire.

here is a poor diagram of how its hooked up.

---white wire---Diode--light (+) wires---switch adds bat (+). The other side of bat and all lights frame grounded

my lights are steady, and if I stall out I still have my running lights/brake light functioning. This was important to me as I ride in the dark to work.

If I flip the switch, My lights work independantly from the battery just as if they were just hooked to the white wire, and flicker with engine rpm.

I'd like to paint or encase that blue battery in something black, maybe an old tube. and mount it more permantly.

 

[moonerdizzle]

heres a shot of what I think I should do with the battery.

and, if its not obvious from the sticker, I did get a moped reg. for it.

i dont think thats a battery, im pretty sure thats a large capacitor

 

[turnofftheradio]

i dont think thats a battery, im pretty sure thats a large capacitor

I can assure you, it is a battery. A nickel cadmium battery. The label even says so

whats funny, is that it is considered "non-replacable" by our electrictians here, although it is installed with spade connectors, not soldered to the ballast board. The board itself has some really large capacators on it, nearly half the size of this battery. FWIW, the ballasts fry before the batteries are junk nearly every time.

 

[JonnyR]

thats a awesome idea keep us posted on how it works over a period oftime i might want to do something like that and how much does one of them run?

 

[turnofftheradio]

thats a awesome idea keep us posted on how it works over a period oftime i might want to do something like that and how much does one of them run?

today my measurements were approx the same. As far as cost goes, I bet the whole emergency light ballast is expensive, but I'm not sure. The battery itself probably way cheaper, but for me was free (used) We have 30+ schools here and every 5th? light is an emergency ballast with this battery in it. thats a TON of batteries. They get replaced fairly often and end up "recycled". I'm sure I could stockpile a bunch of used ones, but I cant imagine anyone would want to pay for a used battery. I'll ask an electrican to find out the cost of the battery new.

oddly enough, I cant seem to find anything about the battery through search, which I'm not that great at I admit. what I can tell you is that it is made by
Tran-Bal
5KRDH 0413
6.0v 4000mAh
Nickel Cadmium
thats whats on the label at least.

 

[moonerdizzle]

wow, i learned something new, time to dig out a ballast from the garbage at work, i could use some batterys for my lights. they throw out atleast 2 or 3 ballasts a day at work

 

[JonnyR]

today my measurements were approx the same. As far as cost goes, I bet the whole emergency light ballast is expensive, but I'm not sure. The battery itself probably way cheaper, but for me was free (used) We have 30+ schools here and every 5th? light is an emergency ballast with this battery in it. thats a TON of batteries. They get replaced fairly often and end up "recycled". I'm sure I could stockpile a bunch of used ones, but I cant imagine anyone would want to pay for a used battery. I'll ask an electrican to find out the cost of the battery new.

oddly enough, I cant seem to find anything about the battery through search, which I'm not that great at I admit. what I can tell you is that it is made by
Tran-Bal
5KRDH 0413
6.0v 4000mAh
Nickel Cadmium
thats whats on the label at least.

depending on price i might be one of those people lol

 

[turnofftheradio]

wow, i learned something new, time to dig out a ballast from the garbage at work, i could use some batterys for my lights. they throw out atleast 2 or 3 ballasts a day at work

you will want to look for ballasts with emergency light control. they are visually larger/ longer than the average ballast, and are marked as such. Mine happen to be red in color. Usually they also have a reset button that will protrude into the fixture itself, and/or a very annoying beeper that goes off when there is a problem with the ballast. most, if not all fail in the charge circuit or the actual ballast itself, leaving a good battery inside a broken ballast.

Its raining today, so no testing this morning. It is friday, so if the weather breaks later I'll go for a happy fun time ride and do some more testing.

 

[maniac57]

I did a little work this weekend.
I added:
front brake ( cheapie)

I added a brake and running light. Both I picked up at my local auto parts store. The switch for the brake light I used a trunk ajar switch from a cadillac and a center cap bolt from an f150.

Then, I tore apart a ballast to find this 6v nicad battery that may work for me. I have not yet experimented with it, but it shows potential. Currently without it my lights only work with the engine running (white wire)

I'm almost at 100 miles so far, and am now running 25:1. Ive hit 30 a couple of times, but still try to keep it under 25. the engine is producing much better power.

whats everyone think? i'm doing ok?

Be sure you use a regulator of some kind to keep the engine from overcharging the battery at high-revs. Ni-Cads don't like overcharging. They catch fire and stuff.

 

[Artificer161]

Nice bike! How fast have you had it up to?

 

[turnofftheradio]

Nice bike! How fast have you had it up to?

My speedo is a little bouncy, but I think I got between 32-35 today. Now that its more broke in cruising at 25 is a smooth ride and it seems to like 25-30 best. If the fenders stay on... Lol

 

[JonnyR]

the fenders will be fine as long as they aren't riveted on to the supports

 

[Artificer161]

My speedo is a little bouncy, but I think I got between 32-35 today. Now that its more broke in cruising at 25 is a smooth ride and it seems to like 25-30 best. If the fenders stay on... Lol

Its hard to believe that those little engines work that good. Sounds like fun.

 

[turnofftheradio]

the fenders will be fine as long as they aren't riveted on to the supports

funny enough, the rivits held, but the bracket snapped. I've since replaced the bracket with a steel "L" bracket, nuts/bolts. close call, disaster averted.