More Maytag Mayhem

[Ludwig II]

A useful source of fuel for hot bulb engine and multifuel tank enthusiasts here are car rescue companies who have lots of petrol/diesel mix from wrong fuelling at the pumps.
This is currently of no use to motorised bicycles, but I'm working on it.

 

[cannonball2]

Back in the day when I raced 2 stroke desert bikes I was taught that more oil meant less gas and leaner running with higher temps.
The exhaust from the engine would be routed through a flex hose out the screen door or window when doing the laundry inside. Maytag even made a tube that permanently attached to the the wall of your house to run the flex hose through. In good weather the laundry was done outside close to the clothesline.

That's probably a more accurate explanation. However when the old Maytag gets warmed up it smokes very little(relatively speaking) with the 16:1 ratio. I assume its beginning to vaporize the oil a bit and burn some of it. There less muffler drip after a blazing near 20mph run. It runs best with a cylinder head temp around 350F.

 

[cannonball2]

A bit of tinkering with the Maytag. Had a restoration decal set just laying around so added it to the bike. Added a bit of patina so they wouldn't look out of character with the build. Also added a set of Hawthorne decals. Am leaving the tank and cylinder baffles in the galvanized finish, has grown on me.
Hope to get the wife to shoot a vid over the holidays if the weather clears.

 

[silverbear]

The decals add a lot...
SB

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Yes the decals definitely add a lot to your bike

Aging the decals is very much the icing on the cake.

 

[cannonball2]

Thanks yall! I got these from a guy that recently started making water transfers using the same equipment from the company that originally made them in Iowa. They are very nice quality and tougher than most WT decals. I really had to steel wool the heck out of em to get them to "age". A little carb cleaner helped too.

 

[cannonball2]

The Saga Continues: Adding 3 Speeds To The Maytags Spin Cycle.

I am modding the Shimano 3speed hub to be a friction driver. Bowljoman has done this in the past. After looking at the Maytag bike it became apparent that it would be fairly easy to make the conversion. Since its a belt drive I would have to add a pulley to the hub instead of a sprocket. Was very easy to do with a pulley designed to accept different weldable centers. The center hole in the pulley was perfect to allow the installation/removal(removal may be a bit difficult) of the retaining ring after the sprocket was welded to it.

The first pic shows a second sprocket at the hub flange. This is for Intrepid Wheelwoman to show that it is possible to use a pulley and a sprocket together for the reverse driven hub she is contemplating. I have roughed out the mount arms and will shorten the original roller assembly and weld them to it using the exact same dimensions so nothing in the drives geometry changes. There is clearance at the shift side mount arm, its scant but adequate and doesn't show in the picture. There is room for one more washer to space it if necessary.

 

[silverbear]

Oh boy...
SB

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Cool bananas! Thanks for that picture CB it is definitely worth a thousand words.

What a nuisance, I'm having a housework day today. I wonder if anyone will notice if I sneak off to the workshop for a little while

 

[BOYGOFAST]

peddle it around with the engine on it looks to much baggage ........

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

I beg your pardon young man.......

Once again I'm not sure at all as to the meaning of what you just said.

 

[silverbear]

peddle it around with the engine on it looks to much baggage ........

Huh???????
SB

 

[cannonball2]

peddle it around with the engine on it looks to much baggage ........

I generally ride it with the engine shut down, then the baggage disappears.

 

[cannonball2]

So got the hub conversion basically done. An easy hour and a half. These hub mounts are easy to make. Everything pretty much is in the same spot as before the conversion started except the clutch cable lift point which was raised about 1/4", but I had built in enough adjustment initially to handle that.
I haven't even put thought to the shifter, that might be harder than the conversion. Plan on contact cementing a section of matching tire tread to the hub for a good rubber to rubber drive. The bike freewheels on off throttle not my favorite thing, but that's the way it is. So far so good!

 

[silverbear]

Very neat. Will the hub's oiler cap create a problem? Will the rubber tire section adhere well enough to the hub, do you think? Was picturing roughing up the surface of the hub, maybe. Or might there be enough room at the outer edges to also use hose clamps?

So is this in effect a two speed friction drive? It seems to me a great use for old Shimano 3 speed hubs. So when you let off the throttle it freewheels? No engine braking, but no drag either. I imagine it takes some getting used to, but also looks like it has great possibilities.
SB

 

[cannonball2]

Thanks SB! The Shimano has no oiler, has smooth hub. Im confident the tire will adhere well, unless maybe it gets excessively hot, not what I have found with larger roller FDs.
This is actually a 3speed as it is turning the same direction as it would laced in a wheel, even though it been flipped to the left side. Remember the FD roller travels backward to the tires rotation. The unknown quantity is the Shimano hub and how well it will work/last. Worst case scenario is it tears up and I use an SA hub. Who knows might last.

Pic of the tread for bonding. One 26" tire will bond the roller several times. Gotta get some fresh contact cement mines gone rubbery.

Does this mean the tire will last twice as long since the load is between two?

 

[silverbear]

I have two hubs I assumed were Shimanos since they have that distinctive cable armature for shifting gears, but they both have oilers mid way on the hub. Maybe they are older ones. I would guess your roller would last a long time and was thinking that if there is an oiler it could be changed over to a zerk fitting and cut out for it on the rubber roller. So you have 3 speeds. Cool!
SB

 

[cannonball2]

Strangely SB my wife bought and old Huffy lightweight yesterday with a Shimano 3speed and it has an oiler like you are talking about. My hub was salvaged from an 80s Murray, maybe its a later model having no oiler.

So the conversion is finished. As I thought the shifting hook up took about as long as the conversion. I had salvaged a gnarly looking(perfect for the bike) shifter along with the hub but it was missing parts and I had to fabricate a few, plus custom make a cable. Got the tire on tire drive done, repacked the hub with grease so its ready to try. Of course its raining! Maybe tomorrow.
My only concern is the cable goes slightly slack as the lift clutch is disengaged for the roller. May possibly try to skip out of or to the next gear. Wont know til its tried. If it works well it will be cool. The little Maytag could use a lower gear if a hill ever appears. Might make 25mph in the overdriven gear(3rd).

 

[silverbear]

I love it!

I have an old throttle type twist grip type of shifter from the 1960's I'm using on my Elgin Velocipede which has a 3 speed internal hub in the rear wheel to go with the SBP shift kit parts I bought from you a couple of years ago. I like that shifter because it is kind of invisible. They're getting to be hard to find, but there are still some out there.
SB

 

[cannonball2]

Thanks SB! Maybe it will dry out tomorrow so I can give it a run. There are a good many of the twist grip shifters on ebay right now but they are $$. Wouldn't mind having one though.

I think I have worked through in my head the conversion to water cooling. Galvanized flashing is cheap, easy to solder, and in keeping with the "Whats In the Barn" look. Copper is too classy for this bike. Have found many small radiators pretty reasonable on ebay, and they are usually a bit beat up which is perfect. Now to work out the details.