A Future Pilot
Member
That motor looks awesome! Could I just run a chain from that to the rear sprocket and use the built-in 5 speed like on a motorcycle?
55MPH Cruiser Engine?
- Thread starter A Future Pilot
- Start date
culvercityclassic
Well-Known Member
To center the motor you will need to run a jack-shaft like I did on the KTM bike I built. Easy to do... you better focus on brakes and wheels before you purchase that motor Mr.
A Future Pilot
Member
So someone else suggested this, and wanted to see what y'all thought...purchasing a whizzer ambassador and then putting that cb100 motor on it. I like the styling of the ambassador a lot, but I'm not sure about dealing with a whizzer engine...also I'd prefer chain drive to belt drive anyway.
wret
Active Member
You can find brand-new stripped bikes like this one:
http://www.scooterdepot.us/250cc-sp...ber-motorcycles-street-legal-bikes-p-731.html
Or better yet you could pick up vintage bike and do this:
https://rideapart.com/articles/custom-metric-motorbike-cb200
Either way you will end up with something safe and legal and easy to title and register.
http://www.scooterdepot.us/250cc-sp...ber-motorcycles-street-legal-bikes-p-731.html
Or better yet you could pick up vintage bike and do this:
https://rideapart.com/articles/custom-metric-motorbike-cb200
Either way you will end up with something safe and legal and easy to title and register.
silverbear
The Boy Who Never Grew Up
You say you don't like belt drive. Have you experienced belt drive? A lot of people prefer it to chain drive which makes more of a mess with grease and more noise from the chain. Your idea of a Whizzer is not a bad idea as something in between a bicycle and a light motorcycle. I still think that 55mph with any kind of bicycle frame is not a good idea. Building your own motorcycle is an okay endeavor providing you have the money, skills and technical understanding of what is required and the experience to carry it out.
SB
SB
Gbrebes
Well-Known Member
As someone who owns and operates a bicycle that regularly cruises at 40 mph plus, I would advise focusing on three components.
1. Brakes
2. Wheel bearings
3. Suspension
Brakes are obvious. If you plan on cruising at 55, you better figure out brakes that can bring you to a complete stop at that speed in under 50 yards. That is not easily accomplished. I currently rely on a beefy drum brake from a cb100.
Wheel bearings, I would advise sealed bearings. I have sealed bearings in my front drum hub, but still run a coaster brake hub in the back with caged ball bearings and I have to repack them fairly often.
And most importantly in my mind is suspension. I have a home made leaf spring in the front, but hard tail in the back. The front suspension helps a lot, but I really wish I could figure out a rear suspension. When you hit irregularities in the road (I have a lot living in L.A., seems like every street has patches from previous trench digging), the amount of shock and jar can really start to be hard on the body.
Good luck on your build. I feel like the engine choice will be the easy part. Constructing a stout frame, heavy duty wheelset, strong brakes, and suspension will be the more challenging aspects.
Gilbert
1. Brakes
2. Wheel bearings
3. Suspension
Brakes are obvious. If you plan on cruising at 55, you better figure out brakes that can bring you to a complete stop at that speed in under 50 yards. That is not easily accomplished. I currently rely on a beefy drum brake from a cb100.
Wheel bearings, I would advise sealed bearings. I have sealed bearings in my front drum hub, but still run a coaster brake hub in the back with caged ball bearings and I have to repack them fairly often.
And most importantly in my mind is suspension. I have a home made leaf spring in the front, but hard tail in the back. The front suspension helps a lot, but I really wish I could figure out a rear suspension. When you hit irregularities in the road (I have a lot living in L.A., seems like every street has patches from previous trench digging), the amount of shock and jar can really start to be hard on the body.
Good luck on your build. I feel like the engine choice will be the easy part. Constructing a stout frame, heavy duty wheelset, strong brakes, and suspension will be the more challenging aspects.
Gilbert
Davezilla
New Member
I'll agree on the suspension as well since I've cracked a frame at over 40mph... sneaky pot holes... luckily I made it back to the shop in one piece, and the crack didn't show it's self until I removed the engine for other maintenance. I was going to weld in a new frame tube and put it all back together but I found another frame on ebay with dual suspension and the rear suspension is all behind the seat post tube so it don't interfere with the engine install.
My frame is an older Specialized, but other frames like the GT LTS and some of the older ProFlex frames would make a good candidate for making a 40+ mph bike.
It wouldn't be too difficult to graft in a swing arm mount and rear triangle from one of these type bikes onto a cruiser frame if you can weld.
For the front end I'd go with a down hill type front end since these are the strongest bicycle type front ends and usually have the disc brake mounts built in.
A disc brake will stop the bike really well but if higher speeds are intended I'd go with the largest diameter rotor I could fit like the 180 or even the 203mm up front and use a hydraulic setup instead of cable. I switched from cable operated calipers to a hydraulic setup and the difference in stopping power and smoothness was night and day. If you can run dual discs up front it would be even better and you could get away with smaller rotors. I'm using a typical 160mm rotor and hydraulic caliper and that's more than enough stopping power from 45mph, but with a larger rotor or dual discs it'll stop even better and more consistantly since there's less heat generated on any one part.
My frame is an older Specialized, but other frames like the GT LTS and some of the older ProFlex frames would make a good candidate for making a 40+ mph bike.
It wouldn't be too difficult to graft in a swing arm mount and rear triangle from one of these type bikes onto a cruiser frame if you can weld.
For the front end I'd go with a down hill type front end since these are the strongest bicycle type front ends and usually have the disc brake mounts built in.
A disc brake will stop the bike really well but if higher speeds are intended I'd go with the largest diameter rotor I could fit like the 180 or even the 203mm up front and use a hydraulic setup instead of cable. I switched from cable operated calipers to a hydraulic setup and the difference in stopping power and smoothness was night and day. If you can run dual discs up front it would be even better and you could get away with smaller rotors. I'm using a typical 160mm rotor and hydraulic caliper and that's more than enough stopping power from 45mph, but with a larger rotor or dual discs it'll stop even better and more consistantly since there's less heat generated on any one part.
Davezilla
New Member
Wow... mine will almost flip me with a 160 mm hydraulic...
Have you checked your caliper alignment to make sure the whole pad is making contact with the rotor? And what type of friction material are those pads? Some semi metallic pads don't work that we'll until they heat up, then they work really really good, especially the racing compounds. Organic pads have excellent friction at any temperature but they're messy and leave dust everywhere, and they don't last very long if used in more extreme situations. I've been really liking the ceramic pads lately, good friction at all temps, easy on the rotors, and they last pretty good too.
When I first converted to disc brakes on mine I was using a cable operated caliper and it barely stopped me but when I checked out the setup I noticed only about half the pads were actually contacting the rotor. Fixed that problem and it stopped better but should have been stronger, looking on ebay for some new pads I stumbled across a seller selling hydraulic setups for like $39 for the caliper and lever assembly pre bled and ready to go so I didn't even try to make my cable setup work as soon as that came in I installed it and never looked back, I'm not sure what type of pads are in this setup but they do stop me very well from 45mph on a 160mm rotor.
Have you checked your caliper alignment to make sure the whole pad is making contact with the rotor? And what type of friction material are those pads? Some semi metallic pads don't work that we'll until they heat up, then they work really really good, especially the racing compounds. Organic pads have excellent friction at any temperature but they're messy and leave dust everywhere, and they don't last very long if used in more extreme situations. I've been really liking the ceramic pads lately, good friction at all temps, easy on the rotors, and they last pretty good too.
When I first converted to disc brakes on mine I was using a cable operated caliper and it barely stopped me but when I checked out the setup I noticed only about half the pads were actually contacting the rotor. Fixed that problem and it stopped better but should have been stronger, looking on ebay for some new pads I stumbled across a seller selling hydraulic setups for like $39 for the caliper and lever assembly pre bled and ready to go so I didn't even try to make my cable setup work as soon as that came in I installed it and never looked back, I'm not sure what type of pads are in this setup but they do stop me very well from 45mph on a 160mm rotor.
wheelbender6
Well-Known Member
I'd love to stuff this engine into a Whizzer Ambassador with a Comet styled CVT. It would meet your top speed goals. A bicycle frame would need to be heavily modified mounting this v-twin.
http://www.harborfreight.com/22-hp-670cc-v-twin-horizontal-shaft-gas-engine-epa-61614.html
http://www.harborfreight.com/22-hp-670cc-v-twin-horizontal-shaft-gas-engine-epa-61614.html
aqua zombie
New Member
The old board trackers weren't much more than a bicycle with an engine on it. ****, they didn't even use brakes. 100mph was competitive and there was traffic to deal with. I know the velodrome was wood, but I also know they tested on gravel dirt back road conditions. Stick a bandaid in your wallet when you ride and go for it. Im going for that with a 2smoke on a western flyer that's been chopped. I'm more afraid of the ticket than the road rash. So I fear that I have to legalize my junk so I do not give the community a bad name in the eyes of the man. You got this future pilot. Good luck on your build, I hope it's cheap on the budget, fast as all get out, and turns everybody's head when you go by.
scotto-
Custom 4-Stroke Bike Builder
The easiest upgrade are larger balls and a gorilla strength grip on the brake lever. Always keep your eyes open while you employ them
43 mph, 3 speed manual, 49cc stock engine, no peddles 
Wheel base of 60+ inches helps too. Everything they said ^^^ Suspension, brakes, and beefy frame...
I have front and rear suspension. And good stopping power. The difference between 44 and 55 is huge. 1.5 hp versus 4hp.
Wheel base of 60+ inches helps too. Everything they said ^^^ Suspension, brakes, and beefy frame...I have front and rear suspension. And good stopping power. The difference between 44 and 55 is huge. 1.5 hp versus 4hp.
Davezilla
New Member
128 mph, 5 speed manual, 1400cc stock engine, no peddles Wheel base of 60+ inches helps too. Everything they said ^^^ Suspension, brakes, and beefy frame...
I have front and rear suspension. And good stopping power. The difference between 44 and 125 is huge. 1.5 hp versus 94hp.
Ok... let's get back to bicycles... We can show off our other rides in our own postings...
I have front and rear suspension. And good stopping power. The difference between 44 and 125 is huge. 1.5 hp versus 94hp.
Ok... let's get back to bicycles... We can show off our other rides in our own postings...
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Tony01
Well-Known Member
128 mph, 5 speed manual, 1400cc stock engine, no peddles Wheel base of 60+ inches helps too. Everything they said ^^^ Suspension, brakes, and beefy frame...
I have front and rear suspension. And good stopping power. The difference between 44 and 125 is huge. 1.5 hp versus 94hp.
Ok... let's get back to bicycles... We can show off our other rides in our own postings...
Oh man Dave you had me rollin!!!!!
I'm using the same hayes stroker setup as you. Stock pads probably need replacing soon. I will check the alignment. It's a dual crown chopper fork maybe something moved. I haven't touched it for months.
Davezilla
New Member
Hehehe... Sorry but I just couldn't pass that one up...
A lot of the time it's either worn pads or they're not aligned to where the whole pad contacts the rotors... My first disc brake setup was that way and I kept wondering why the bike was barely stopping, then I noticed the wear pattern on the rotor was only about 1/4" wide instead of all the way across the rotor, a quick flash light and miror inspection showed me that less than 1/2 the pad was actually contacting the rotor. I had a different bracket holding the caliper on and I had to get rid of some washers in the stack so it would align right.
That Hayes setup with the 160mm rotor stops mine really well, and way better than the cable operated caliper, even after I properly aligned the caliper to the rotor.
A lot of the time it's either worn pads or they're not aligned to where the whole pad contacts the rotors... My first disc brake setup was that way and I kept wondering why the bike was barely stopping, then I noticed the wear pattern on the rotor was only about 1/4" wide instead of all the way across the rotor, a quick flash light and miror inspection showed me that less than 1/2 the pad was actually contacting the rotor. I had a different bracket holding the caliper on and I had to get rid of some washers in the stack so it would align right.
That Hayes setup with the 160mm rotor stops mine really well, and way better than the cable operated caliper, even after I properly aligned the caliper to the rotor.