World’s fastest Schwinn cruiser

[Tony01]

Yea great idea on the side panels. The thought never entered my mind. I’m thinking about it now.

Went ahead and got a 90/90-17 for forty dollars. Both wheels will get taller by 18mm with about 1lb penalty each. This might just be perfect.

The look is important to me for my own satisfaction. I like the lightweight look it has now. I just overshot the $300 size and performance adjustment on my wheels a little bit...

Here’s a quick photochop... stretched the wheels and chopped the swingarm. It’ll look a little beefier than this when done.

 

[Tony01]

90 tire came in two days ago. Day and a half shipping, and only 3 months old. Amazing service!

Mounted it up on the rear, still need to air it up at the shop, but just look at that, what a difference. Gotta see about that 70 front tire. I might keep it, if it looks good spinning. I’m not convinced on that bead though. I’d rather put the well seating 80 on there for of mind.

 

[PeteMcP]

That's a great wheel/tyre combo Tony.
I was at the rear tyre mounting stage yesterday with my 'Blue Bamboo' stretched leccy cruiser build and happened to read the forum's thread on fitting 16" motorycle tyres to 20" fat bike wheels which has given me some food for thought.
As purchased, my bike's 20x4-1/4" rear tyre was old and cracked, so I purchased a new replacement for the 48v 1000w hub motor rim I've bought. It's a good combo, but after reading the forum thread mentioned above I now know I can get away with fitting a taller 16" m/cycle tyre; something in the 120/80-16 or 130/70-16 range. I looked on UK eBay yesterday and these sizes are available new or part worn. Forum posts confirm the ex OCC Stingray rear triangle on Blue Bamboo's frame has room for these tyres and I double checked there'll be no chain/tyre rubbing issues on this single speeder.
Need to think it over this weekend before committing to which rear tyre to opt for. .

 

[indian22]

That's a great wheel/tyre combo Tony.
I was at the rear tyre mounting stage yesterday with my 'Blue Bamboo' stretched leccy cruiser build and happened to read the forum's thread on fitting 16" motorycle tyres to 20" fat bike wheels which has given me some food for thought.
As purchased, my bike's 20x4-1/4" rear tyre was old and cracked, so I purchased a new replacement for the 48v 1000w hub motor rim I've bought. It's a good combo, but after reading the forum thread mentioned above I now know I can get away with fitting a taller 16" m/cycle tyre; something in the 120/80-16 or 130/70-16 range. I looked on UK eBay yesterday and these sizes are available new or part worn. Forum posts confirm the ex OCC Stingray rear triangle on Blue Bamboo's frame has room for these tyres and I double checked there'll be no chain/tyre rubbing issues on this single speeder.
Need to think it over this weekend before committing to which rear tyre to opt for. .

I also like Tony's choice & the big cycle meat would look good on the rear of "Blue" is tread matching front to rear a style issue?

Rick C.

 

[badbu68]

90 tire came in two days ago. Day and a half shipping, and only 3 months old. Amazing service!

Mounted it up on the rear, still need to air it up at the shop, but just look at that, what a difference. Gotta see about that 70 front tire. I might keep it, if it looks good spinning. I’m not convinced on that bead though. I’d rather put the well seating 80 on there for of mind.

Is that on the 1.4" rim? I am looking at similar wheels and tires but was thinking they wouldn't seat with such a small width. 17*2.15s are hard to find or too expensive

 

[Tony01]

Is that on the 1.4" rim? I am looking at similar wheels and tires but was thinking they wouldn't seat with such a small width. 17*2.15s are hard to find or too expensive

Yep 1.4. 2.15s would be heavy and huge as well 3.2” wide

 

[Tony01]

So the rim strip I got from the motorcycle tire vendor was too wide and was getting in the way of the bead seating well. I replaced it with duct tape. Regardless, I weighed out the 70/90-17 and 80/90-17 and weights are 5.4lb and 6.25lb respectively. For all performance purposes the 70 was the smart choice however I value the bigger tire look a lot, so I put the 80 on the front. It is still a lot smaller than the 90 rear. I have been working on other parts of the bike but did not stop to take pictures. There are dozens of little odds and ends that need to be tied up, just going one by one. We have at least a week of rain so doing the stuff I can do indoors.

 

[Tony01]

That's a great wheel/tyre combo Tony.
I was at the rear tyre mounting stage yesterday with my 'Blue Bamboo' stretched leccy cruiser build and happened to read the forum's thread on fitting 16" motorycle tyres to 20" fat bike wheels which has given me some food for thought.
As purchased, my bike's 20x4-1/4" rear tyre was old and cracked, so I purchased a new replacement for the 48v 1000w hub motor rim I've bought. It's a good combo, but after reading the forum thread mentioned above I now know I can get away with fitting a taller 16" m/cycle tyre; something in the 120/80-16 or 130/70-16 range. I looked on UK eBay yesterday and these sizes are available new or part worn. Forum posts confirm the ex OCC Stingray rear triangle on Blue Bamboo's frame has room for these tyres and I double checked there'll be no chain/tyre rubbing issues on this single speeder.
Need to think it over this weekend before committing to which rear tyre to opt for. .

Do it! This thing is BADA$$...

 

[badbu68]

Very cool, I bought the same batteries, thats what got me here initially, but then I ordered a set of 17 motorcycle rims too and am looking at some 80/90 michelin pilots. Still trying to decide how I want my bike to look and how to mount everything and what controller/hub motor to go with after my cheap voilamart kit dies.

 

[Tony01]

Wanted to have the original seat stays cut to support the seat. Looked for the original seat stay tubes I cut off this frame. Found only one side. Guess I’ll stay with the current supports.

Painted the front hub again. It wasn’t black enough to match the rear hub. Cut a large hole in cardboard and painted only the center part of the hub, and the brake plate. The boss for the brake cable stop appears to have a crack developing, so I’m going to drill a new hole closer to the plate and bend the brake arm in to be in line.

Pressed in my headset cups and mounted the front end. The head tube bores were stretched a bit. Head tube measured between 1.283” and 1.305” depending whether it was getting measured side to side or front to back. So average diameter about 10 thou bigger per side than my cups. I found some stainless exhaust wrap ties that measure .009” by about 5/16 wide. Perfect fit.

Got started on the new shape for the fake tank. So far it’s just a cardboard shape. I need to transfer the shape to foam then do the work.

I may not have to shorten the swing arm. Although I can take out 1.5” without rubbing. I will see how it rides and looks. The cut would be easy. I found an online metals vendor with perfect size material to sleeve and plug weld my 1.5x.5 swingarm tubes. It would cost me $20 shipped for two pieces of .375x1.375 steel stock and probably two hours of fab and paint.

Also figured out how I will mount the headlight. Will try and finish as much as I can tomorrow.

Big tires... big improvement.

 

[indian22]

Your bike really coming along nicely Tony and the fat meats look great.

Rick C.

 

[Tony01]

Thanks Rick. I ended up finding the other seatstay. This is really fortunate as I really needed that half inch tube for spacers and kickstand. Grinding off around 5 per side of the threaded tube ends allows them to be a perfect press and plug weld in the seat stays. Got almost everything prepped, need to make lower mounts and stick it all together.

Also will be moving the seat back about an inch and two. It will be adjustable. It’ll fix the look and help with legroom.

Headlight got two 5/16” holes through the fins on each side. Nuts and spacers epoxied in on both sides, bucket goes on tomorrow. Regular side mount setup. Lot of work for a light, but this one is worth it. 84 watts and $20 for a 2-pack.

Got started on my wrench kickstand. Don’t think I’ve ever used this quality USA made wrench.. 18mm what a shocker.

 

[indian22]

Tony I save and collect tube in various and sundry sizes I.D. & O.D. for the occasional slip fit connections and still at times have to use the lathe to get a proper fit up but with a variety of sizes to choose from machining isn't required as often.

I like the look of the light housing.

Some sizes aren't often required in metric or fractional tools, but they are available when needed. Mechanically it seems you're getting close to the finish, but know the details take time to do right.

Rick C.

 

[Tony01]

Worked on it some more. Just more prep. Yessss all the little stuff does take time. I’m working on half a dozen little things at once. Finished the headlight bucket. Has to look old school. Drilled and tapped all front seat mount holes as needed, almost done with the new part which is the front seat mount adjuster. Bolts to the seat with a 5” adjustment range. Prepped the new (original) seat stays a bit as well. These will be lengthened slightly. I need to be comfy.

 

[Tony01]

Seat parts all done and painted. Finished the front mount. Headlight done and mounted up. Kickstand done on the low side. Gotta fab the kickstand mount before cutting to length... beginning work on the tank.

 

[indian22]

Seat parts all done and painted. Finished the front mount. Headlight done and mounted up. Kickstand done on the low side. Gotta fab the kickstand mount before cutting to length... beginning work on the tank.

Front end is certainly looking the part Tony!

Rick C.

 

[MEASURE TWICE]

The big container that fits inside the frame, if it were for a gas engine suppose you could ride around the world on one tank of gas like

Rutan Model 76 Voyager

but OK batteries an electronic controller.

 

[indian22]

The big container that fits inside the frame, if it were for a gas engine suppose you could ride around the world on one tank of gas like

Rutan Model 76 Voyager

but OK batteries an electronic controller.

Solid state energy packs are one day a coming, just not this day. Miniaturization will shrink the physical dimensions of power storage and extend range and all around price/performance of all electrically motorized transport. The tech is already developed. I can't believe the pace of change in just the past three years that's occurred in batteries ,and the future will be the past before we realize it.

As power components get smaller designers will have a field day with cycles; the resulting power to weight ratios will yield performance on two wheels that will astound. Think motocross weight with better than todays superbike performance.

Rick C.

 

[Tony01]

Yep I can just chill and wait for time to pass and battery tech to improve and trickle down to the hobbyist. No need to travel around the world. My world spans less than 100 miles. I have been looking at batteries. It isn’t worth adding or upgrading right now.

I want to ride this thing now more than ever. Traffic at its record lows...

 

[Tony01]

Seat at the furthest adjustment back. Feels good. Might bring it back an inch or two. No swingarm shortening required heh