Bike Berry Flying Horse First Timer build

[Risingsunn]

Hello there, my name is Josh from Las Vegas. I am 39 yrs old IT technician with minor mechanical skill (though I recently did replace a head gasket on a 98 Isuzu Amigo)but a strong technical background. I recently discovered this wonderful hobby and decided that I wanted to give it a spin.
I know that this hobby requires patience, skill and time to get a well refined, smooth running engine. I also expect to have fun learning and finally riding a kick ass machine!!!
Anyway, enough of introductions. I would like to keep a running thread of my progress for future posterity and for help that I know I will need along the way.
I received my Flying Horse Kit from BikeBerry today. The first thing I wanted to check was if it would fit my frame. The answer, NOPE. the front bar is just a tad to big and the mounts do not go around it. Time to do some reading on alternative mounts and such in the mounting section.
So I decide to do familiarize myself with the engine. So off comes the side plates. I notice that the clutch does not disengage as it should (manually pulling the lever and seeing if it will free spin as it should)so I take the clutch cover off, remove the lock screw, the flower nut and the outer plate, look at there no spring. So I have shot off a friendly email to them requesting a new spring. I know there is an awesome post on new clutch issues (I read it yesterday some time) and how to fix them but I haven't been able to locate it tonight, if someone could give me a quick link back to it that would be great and I will keep looking.
So now I am looking at my engine clutch not knowing exactly what a functional one should look and sound like. I have seen plenty of pictures and have read several descriptions but without the engine in my hand as I have now I didn't have much in the way of reference. So I took a quick video and posted it on YouTube HERE. Is this how the clutch is supposed to behave? If not what would you suggest to remedy it. And thank you in advance for your help and patience as I get through this.

 

[JonnyR]

welcome to the forum and the hobby

for the large down tube i would say order a U bolt mount it will save time and make everything easy im useing this one but there are better looking ones out there http://www.bikeberry.com/engine-kit-parts/accessories-1/universal-mounting-bracket.html

as far as the clutch spring you are the 2nd or 3rd person to say that and getting the spring always sorts the clutch out

 

[Risingsunn]

Good morning Jonny, thanks for the reply. If I do get prefab mount it will be from them. Things get here in a day from Cali. As for the clutch, I know the spring will definitely help but is it supposed to be grinding when turned by hand like it is in the video? I thought it was supposed to spin quite freely when disassembled.

 

[biknut]

New Flying horse motors don't have a spring between the clutch plate and the clutch gear. It doesn't really need that spring, but the ones on other motors fit if you want to use one. That's not the clutch spring though, it's inside the transmission case on the transmission shaft.

 

[biknut]

Flying Horse motors have the small front motor mounts for 1" down tubes. Nowadays most frames have oversized down tubes that require you to fabricate a custom mount. Don't let that intimidate you, there's only about 5 million different ways to do it lol.

Here's a very good one I made, that's been in service for over 2 years with no problems. It wasn't too hard to fabricate using a hocky puck, and automotive muffler clamp. It comes into view at 3:32 in this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DUHadQpNnQ

 

[Risingsunn]

Very good to know, thank you! Still wondering though about how well the clutch is supposed to be spinning, any ideas?

 

[biknut]

Very good to know, thank you! Still wondering though about how well the clutch is supposed to be spinning, any ideas?

New ones are always stiff. I wouldn't worry about it till you ride it a little bit. Usually the clutch pads are stuck to the clutch plate out of the box.

One thing you can do to make the clutch work better and smoother is remove the clutch pads (there's about 15 of them) from the clutch gear, and file their sides to better fit the squarish holes they fit in. It's ok if they're still a tight fit after a little filing.

From the factory they're always binding pretty hard in the gear. It makes them drag, and contributes to sliping.

 

[biknut]

In your video of the clutch, everything looks normal.

 

[Risingsunn]

Nice mount Nut! I was looking at the materials to make a mount this morning at Lowe's and I think I will be purchasing one from BikeBerry. Though I would love to fabricate one, my skillset and toolset are not up to par to make something that I would be happy and safe with. Perhaps on my next build if I am feeling a bit more confident I will try.
Thank you too about the clutch info. I will focus on getting it mounted now and not worry about that. Time to place an order for that mount so I can get things rolling!

 

[biknut]

Nice mount Nut! I was looking at the materials to make a mount this morning at Lowe's and I think I will be purchasing one from BikeBerry. Though I would love to fabricate one, my skillset and toolset are not up to par to make something that nice. Perhaps on my next build if I am feeling a bit more confident I will try.

I feel I should warn you now, this hobby is extremely addictive. Soon you'll have a whole garage full of tools that you'll be using to grind, hammer, vice, bend, torch, and weld all kinds parts of to your will. Don't say I didn't warn you lol.

 

[MotorBicycleRacing]

Nice mount Nut! I was looking at the materials to make a mount this morning at Lowe's and I think I will be purchasing one from BikeBerry. Though I would love to fabricate one, my skillset and toolset are not up to par to make something that I would be happy and safe with.

Sick Bike Parts has an excellent front mount.

http://www.sickbikeparts.com/catalo...ducts_id=74&osCsid=t26dc74abjds410rdfpqldlr90

 

[Risingsunn]

My friend, I would LOVE to have a garage full of tools and be a Jr Motorhead, I have only one MINOR limiting factor: a wife, three kids, and a limited income. Well, ok, that's three things but you get the idea. I have to satiate my need for speed and desire to tinker with a project that don't break the bank.
I have a friend that is actually upset that I purchased a bike motor vs saving for a full motorcycle. But as I told him "To me this is nice little project that I can have fun with, that is affordable, and I will learn from. It may or may not work out, but I am a big boy and can live with the consequences of my decision. So don't worry, be Happy!
You can laugh at me, that's ok, you can call me crazy, I am sure I am, but if I get even half out of this that I hope it will have been well worth it."

Motor, that was actually the mount I saw first and was thinking about it, but decided to go this time with BikeBerry. Since I purchased my motor from them I figured I would get the mount, a little less expensive. Thank you though for pointing them out. I will keep Sick in mind if I need anything else.

 

[MotorBicycleRacing]

Motor, that was actually the mount I saw first and was thinking about it, but decided to go this time with BikeBerry. Since I purchased my motor from them I figured I would get the mount, a little less expensive. Thank you though for pointing them out. I will keep Sick in mind if I need anything else.

Are you buying this one?
It's a mount that comes with a lot of the kits, rather flimsy and an inferior part compared to the one from SBP at only a few dollars less.

I hope you are not buying the Universal T Bracket which requires a hole drilled
through the frame. They are only fit for the scrap metal pile.

 

[Risingsunn]

LOL, yes that is the one I am buying, not the T bracket. Thought it may not be the best in quality, it will suffice for now. And when I start upgrading and tweaking things, I will definitely consider purchasing one from Sick.

 

[Risingsunn]

Good evening all,
I made some good progress today. Got the sprocket mounted on the back tire. Not hard to do just hard to get straight. Anyone have any tips on getting it perfectly balanced besides just eyeballing it? I have it fairly centered on the hub but noticed it wobbles quite a bit. I used the basic torque setting on my drill to tighten them as equally as possible but still not perfect.
I also removed the front and back mounting studs that came with the engine. For the back I am just using some standard 6mm bolts to hold on the mounting brackets. I also picked up some scrap hose from the local Autozone to pad around the mounting area to reduce vibration. Hopefully tomorrow I will get in the new front mounting bracket, I ma getting anxious to get the engine finally mounted and running.
I also started mounting the kill switch and grips. Damn but those grips are fugly! Those stupid eagles (if that what you can call them) look so bad. I am seriously considering getting one of the all-in-one throttle-kill-clutch handles Berry has. Looks much nicer.
Mounting the fuel tank may be an issue also again due to the thickness of the tubing and the exposed brake cable the runs along the top of the frame. I am going to use some more auto hosing to pad it, keep it in place, and to protect the brake cable. And I was thinking about using some plumbers tape to be able to reach around the tube to both ends of the tank mounting bolts. Again any ideas would be helpful.
Time to call it a night. It is almost 11 and morning comes early. Have a good evening all!

 

[JonnyR]

getting new hardware was a good choice the stock bolts/studs suck with all kits as far as vibration dampening with the hoses it can cause more problems with cracking the frame than it does with reducing vibration your best option is to mount it as tight to the frame as possible if there is no wiggle in the engine the vibration will be minimal the more the engine can move the more you will feel

 

[crassius]

Too much for one post : )

most important - do not use rubber for motor mounts as gas leakage & fumes will deteriorate it pretty quickly - use some pieces of PVC pipe or hard leather

for sprocket - before it is fully tight, spin it on a truing stand or in a bike frame turned upside down with a piece of coat hanger as a pointer to be able to see if it is off center - first correct the up/down centering by putting an old drill bit between the teeth & hitting it with a hammer (get a bit taller than the teeth so you don't mushroom the sprocket)

once it is straight in the up/down, start tightening it the rest of the way until it is VERY tight, then pull in the wobbly spots by tightening further

 

[Risingsunn]

Thanks for the info guys, I will definitely take it into consideration. I will try truing the rear sprocket a little more with that method this evening.
I also picked up some Homelite 2 stroke oil from Home Depot. The little single use containers are for a 50:1 mix so I picked up 2 and figure the first gallon of fuel will be a 25:1 mix.
Also on the tank mounting I found http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=42655, which addresses the very thing. Good info there.
I was also thinking about replacing the intake and exhaust studs too with bolts vs studs. Would that cause any issues?

 

[Risingsunn]

I am going to answer my own question here. From reading in some of the other forums I think I am going to replace them with allen bolts. It will look better, seal better and tighten easier without as much chance at stripping the head. Off to Home Depot again tonight.

 

[biknut]

What kind of bicycle are you building on?

 

[Risingsunn]

My next door neighbor put a perfectly good Gary Fisher Capitola out to to the curb so I snagged it. It's a great commuter bike with a bike frame and big tires. The only thing I really don't like about it is the handlebars. I have always preferred straight mountain bike handlebars over cruiser or other styles.