Felt Fat Tire Ale build 99cc predator

[The_Aleman]

Lookin good! I like the 1.2 gal tank behind the seat, I run a similar setup myself. Your tank doesn't look as goofy as mine tho

It sure is easy to run out of fuel on these 4-stroke bikes, most things just tend to not need checking!

 

[carcrafter22]

Did a few more things to the bike today. I spent quite a few hours trying different fuel tanks and tried looked right. The behind the seat yellow tank looked ok before I lowered and moved the seat back but now it looks odd. I tried an 18" long 6" OD tank over the top bar and it looked odd so now I've picked up a couple 0.6 gallon honda fuel tanks and a fuel pump from the local mower shop. My wife is going to make up a couple saddle bags to hold the tanks and I'll use the fuel pump to pull fuel to the carb.

Here are a couple different tanks I didn't care for in the end so they're in the scrap pile.

I lowered the seat roughly 4" and moved it back close to 5", its much more comfortable now, I also think it gives the bike a lower and meaner look overall.

My new felt abraham springer forks came in today, these things are very high quality and give the bike a much nicer ride compared to the fixed fork. I'm not sure if I should put a front fender back on or not, I'm thinking leave it off, thoughts?

My 10 year old testing it out

I still need to
get fuel system installed
wrap exhaust in header wrap
make carb intake
make air intake and find an air filter
install new sturmey archer front drum
paint bike

 

[scotto-]

Have you got the drivetrain dialed in yet?

 

[scotto-]

My new felt abraham springer forks came in today, these things are very high quality and give the bike a much nicer ride compared to the fixed fork. I'm not sure if I should put a front fender back on or not, I'm thinking leave it off, thoughts?

Leave it off........or I'll come take it off for you! Just some friendly advice unless it rains 30" a year where you're at in Tejas. Ditch the thing.

 

[carcrafter22]

LOL thanks Scotto. Yes I'm leaving it off, just thinking of adding the rear fender (cut down to less than half of its original length). I right now I like it with no fenders but we will see.

The drivetrain is still a work in progress I still haven't gotten my rear whizzer sheave or the variable pulley. The new stormy archer drum should be here in a couple days with any luck (went with a 70mm so I don't have to change spokes).

I've been playing with different handle bar and fuel tank setups, I think I've got the handle bars I like for now but the fuel tank is a bit more difficult decision. I'm trying ti keep the bike lean and mean but with a fuel tank that has more than 1/4 gal capacity is proving difficult.

I've been trying to get some performance parts lined up for the engine, everyone points me to AGK but I can't get them to answer the phone. I am wanting to do a cam, carb and maybe buy a spare head to port with no luck.

I haven't worked on the bike much lately due to family obligations and school starting back up tomorrow.

Here is the latest pic

 

[Harold_B]

Nice paint job! Pretty cool that you are making it yours instead of getting hung up on some potential collector value in the future. Are you planning to leave the stem on backwards or that just for fit?

 

[carcrafter22]

Thanks. I don't care much for the collector value, it's just another felt bike to me and I couldn't care less about fat tire ale anyway so I'm gonna see if I can make a cool looking cruiser that looks something like a race bike that will get to to and from school.

The stem and bars were a trial fit but I think I like them this way, I may keep them like this.

I'm still trying to decide between throttle choices, either twist or thumb throttle, any opinions?

 

[Harold_B]

I've not heard too many people having success with bikes that carry any real speed with the stem backwards but you might find it different. Dunno. I like twist throttles myself. After having the cheap kit plastic grip break and needing to pull the throttle cable with my fingers to get home, I bought a nice billet aluminum: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Honda-CRF-X...Parts_Accessories&hash=item5ae9de44c4&vxp=mtr

 

[ocho ninja]

Nice build! I'm gonna been lurking on your thread for a while. I like the drive terrain your using.
I'm also surprised you painted the bike! But it does look better in white

And Harold_B is right, I've had one break on me and it got stock on WOT. I was lucky my bike is only 49cc 2hp motor, and not a monster engine race bike like scotto. Thanks for the link, just ordered one.

 

[carcrafter22]

Thanks for the heads up guys, I'm still thinking about the throttle setup.

I did a little messing around today after putting the whizzer sheave on to see how things lined up. Turns out I didn't like the jackshaft location. Moving it behind the seat post would change the geometry of the rear belt helping it clear the chain stays and completely clear the stock pedals and crank. This also allowed me to give more space between the engine output shaft and the jackshaft, the way it was before I couldn't find a belt short enough locally so moving the jackshaft gives me a better selection of belts and allows me to do away with a belt tensioner (I just move the engine since my mount plate has slotted holes).

Here is how it looked before.

Here is how it looks now, geometry is much improved.

One problem I have ran into is clearance for the rear sheave and belt. I checked for clearance using 3 regular 5/16" washers (they fit snug over the 3/8" axle compared to 3/8 washers) This along with the different belt geometry gives me what appears to be just enough clearance, roughly 1/4". I am thinking of trying to widen the chain stays but I doubt it will happen since its heavily braced where it needs to be widened, the washers give great clearance. The 3 washers are 3/16" (.187") thick total. Any idea if keeping the washers there will be a problem? The axle nut still has plenty of threads to go on.

Can anyone say if this is enough clearance?

The last thing this did was give me plenty of clearance for the stock pedal and crank assembly. You can see from the pics the closest points of contact are the bottom of the engine block and the large jackshaft pulley each have roughly 3/4" of clearance at worst.

 

[carcrafter22]

 

[carcrafter22]

I guess I should also state that no I am not going to leave the pulleys like tis exactly. I will be playing with a manual clutch and a modified max torque clutch to see what I like.

 

[GearNut]

The washer stack should work fine. The clearance between the belt, tire and seat stay looks good to me.

 

[carcrafter22]

Thanks, I was hoping that was the answer.

Picked up a few extra parts today, PZ22 carb, UNI air filter, clear fuel line, fuel pump, Honda fuel tank.

There is about 2" of clearance between the rear of the seat and the fuel tank although it looks like its touching in the pic. The front tire is a spare I had laying around till I get my other tire back from the bike shop with the drum brake laced in.

I played with several different locations for the carb, I didn't like any positions with it facing toward the rear since it interfered with my leg with my foot on the ground and probably would have while pedaling. I decided to try some 3/4" copper tube which was the same ID as the carb, I also soldered in a 1/4" barb fitting into the intake for the fuel pump.

Has anyone here ever used copper tube for an intake? I brazed it to some 1/4" steel plate I had laying around. Do you see any issues with this setup?

 

[Mr. Minecraft]

I think it looks great! Cant imagine any problems with copper... Nice job!

 

[dracothered]

Thanks, I was hoping that was the answer.

Picked up a few extra parts today, PZ22 carb, UNI air filter, clear fuel line, fuel pump, Honda fuel tank.

There is about 2" of clearance between the rear of the seat and the fuel tank although it looks like its touching in the pic. The front tire is a spare I had laying around till I get my other tire back from the bike shop with the drum brake laced in.

I played with several different locations for the carb, I didn't like any positions with it facing toward the rear since it interfered with my leg with my foot on the ground and probably would have while pedaling. I decided to try some 3/4" copper tube which was the same ID as the carb, I also soldered in a 1/4" barb fitting into the intake for the fuel pump.

Has anyone here ever used copper tube for an intake? I brazed it to some 1/4" steel plate I had laying around. Do you see any issues with this setup?

Another member here brought to my attention that over time the copper will work harden from the motor vibration and then fail at some bad time. At first I thought this couldn't happen then after I thought about it for a while it made sense. The way copper gets hardened is by working it, which means either pounding on it or bending it. Now when the motor runs it will cause the copper to move ever so little which will cause it to start to harden. Then at some point it will reach a hardness that will make it brittle and break. If you can create a steel intake you will be better off and won't have to worry about when it will fail.

 

[carcrafter22]

You make a very good point. I've also been wondering about it cracking over time with the amount of vibration. I think I will go with some steel of some sort in the end. Oh well it was worth a try, shame since I was really starting to like the look of the copper.

 

[dracothered]

You make a very good point. I've also been wondering about it cracking over time with the amount of vibration. I think I will go with some steel of some sort in the end. Oh well it was worth a try, shame since I was really starting to like the look of the copper.

You could do a copper finish on it after you make it.

 

[culvercityclassic]

You make a very good point. I've also been wondering about it cracking over time with the amount of vibration. I think I will go with some steel of some sort in the end. Oh well it was worth a try, shame since I was really starting to like the look of the copper.

I really dont see an issue with the copper, just add a support brace and that should help. I have been in the refrigeration business for a really long time and as you know it's all copper with some type of vibration, with the proper support these machines last forever...

I say use it...since you did such a nice job on it....

 

[carcrafter22]

I'm having trouble finding small thin wall elbows to make an intake out of steel so it's staying copper for now. I fired it up finally and it's pouring fuel out of the air filter and a small air bleed on the side. I assume the float needs to be adjusted to stop this. I'll try and get that remedied soon. I did put the original carb on it for a test run today and it was pretty exciting. The rear belt slipped a bit so I made a tensioner to fix it. I still need to come up with a headlight a wide crank set and a few other things before its finished but its getting close.