Rusty Shackleford

Agreen · Feb 29, 2016

I found this bike in a pile by someone's trash can. Flat tires, rusty, bent wheels... I loved it instanly.

And speaking of trash! The things some people will throw away are ridiculous! Like the GX200 i decided to put in it.

So here i am with a free rusty bike, and a free gx200. After thinking about it for it a bit, i made up a challenge for myself. I'm going to build this bike... for free.

I found another cranbrook style bike the other day, it's going to be sold here soon. Some guy was tossing out a Bolens weed trimmer. It didn't run, but after a couple minutes with some carb cleaner and a screwdriver, it's running again. That's going to get sold to fund it too.

It's going to be fun to see how much funding i can get for this build, but with spring cleaning happening soon, fools will be throwing their treasures my way.

Stay tuned

Agreen · Feb 29, 2016

Here's a google photo I found of what it used to look like before I started hacking it up.

I guess it's a Thruster city cruiser (apparently Kent made them??) It seems pretty old, but the frame is made of good material at least. Welding on it is easy enough, so it's not just Chinese pot metal. I may need to reinforce some welds here and there (there's a big sticker above the bottom bracket that proudly proclaims that it's all tig welded). But the frame looks good enough to use!

I have a local person selling a giant rincon bike, and the wheels have disc front and rear. I'll have to see what condition it's in, but it's cheap and sounds promising.

chopperman · Mar 9, 2016

i love finding this in the trash..

Agreen · Mar 10, 2016

I scored some free wheels today. The front looks like I'll be lacing a disc hub in with some new spokes. Not too bad. The back one, however, is PERFECT! It's steel, it has some good surface rust on it, and the spokes are massive! I measured them at 0.118", so 3mm!!! HUGE!

Aside from that, there's nothing new on Mr. Shackleford today. It's been a busy week for work.

silverbear · Mar 11, 2016

So far the price is right!
SB

Agreen · Mar 11, 2016

Spring cleaning is awesome. Someone threw out a full sized air compressor last night. I'll be fixing it here pretty soon. And it will be for sale soon too.

The key is to know that it's junk. If you sell it off cheap, it'll sell. Otherwise... you'll end up with a garage full of working junk.

I did a little more frame work. I'm not really the best at welding thin metal yet. I am pretty good at blowing holes in it though.

Agreen · Mar 20, 2016

Frame is all welded up, and so far I've made $260 from neighborhood throw aways. Weedeaters, bikes, leaf blowers, pressure washers, etc. So the first thing I bought for Mr. Shackleford was a new set of sneakers.

Now I need:
-Pedal chain (should have bought one tonight while I was at the store... could have gotten a test ride in)
-Torque converter
-Front disc hub and caliper
-Rear sprocket (hub adapter... duh)

I will be fabricating the engine mount plate from the pressure washer base where it used to be mounted. Not sure yet if I want to use the rubber mounts or not. Probably not.

Anyone have any good recommendations on what size sprocket for the rear?

Agreen · Mar 20, 2016

Just purchased the front disc hub and a torque converter. I need to measure the rear hub diameter before buying the adapter.

Having never laced a wheel before, I wonder how it will go. Can't be that hard, right?

bluegoatwoods · Mar 21, 2016

Nice job and nice finds.

I've only ever laced up a wheel once. It wasn't nearly as tricky or difficult as I might've guessed. Rode it on a motorized bike for quite some time.

Search 'bicycle wheel lacing' or something like that on youtube and you'll find tutorials. That's how I did it. It went just fine.

curtisfox · Mar 21, 2016

KOOL Beans,got to watch this. ......................Curt

Agreen · Mar 25, 2016

I got my torq-a-verter today. I had a little issue with it fitting. I started wondering if it was supposed to even fit the gx 200. Turns out, that's the engine it was designed for. I'm not sure why it rubbed, but it was right at the rear oil fill hole. And why there's 2 oil fill holes, I'm not sure either. Not much filing and I got it on flush. I even had to trim the top of the plug a little so the bearing housing would clear.

I felt like a mad scientist. I tossed the carb and muffler back on and threw a gas line in a tank and fired it up. I really wanted to see the cvt in action. Holding that engine down in the driveway was harder than I thought, but i revved it up a few times and watched it work its magic... which is super kool!

Pics soon.

Agreen · Mar 27, 2016

Pictures:

So I decided to use the frame that the pressure washer bolted to. It's free, so why not. However, I'd like to know your thoughts on the motor mounts. They're rubber, which is pretty appealing. It was designed to run with them, so i don't think it'll saw through the frame like a china girl does. However, i got to thinking that it is, after all, still a bicycle. And bicycle frames aren't motorcycle frames. Then again, it is a much smoother 4 stroke than any china doll.

Thoughts?

scratchbuilder · Mar 27, 2016

Nice job on the stretch. Just get in there do it, need it longer, make it longer. You'll sure have power on tap!

Agreen · Mar 27, 2016

Thanks man. The stretch did turn out better than I thought it would. I rode it as just a bike and it's straight as an arrow. The lines are still smooth and flow with the rest of it. And yeah, the power will be ridiculous. If it were my decision I'd have used a 79cc predator from HF. But the decision was made for me so I'll be sticking with the gx200. I wonder if it'll pull a wheelie...

The more I look at it, the more I think I may clean the frame up and paint it. If I do, I'm probably painting it as a rust color. Right now it just looks stupid. Like a cut up piece of garbage. Or maybe I'll make it another military style bike like my Enfield tribute bike. That would be cool...

Anyway. Mounts or no mounts? These are TRUE mounts. Not just a bolt through rubber.

Agreen · Mar 30, 2016

Today was pretty awesome for Rusty! I got a 50t hub adapter sprocket from mzmiami (very good quality, BTW, and only $40)

I got the engine mounted in the frame. The last photo was it just sitting in there. I still want to make an upper mount for it too.

I also would like to find 1-1/8" clamps of better quality. If anyone knows where I can get one, please let me know!!!

It ran today in the frame. My exhaust is currently the 1" stub that I cut off the stock muffler, so it shoots blue flames.

I still need to:
-remove the governor
-fab an upper mount
-fab up a gas tank
-make a jackshaft (can't align it without one. Period)
-lace in my disc hub and add a caliper
-figure out how to control throttle (i.e. buy a twist grip)

Tony01 · Mar 31, 2016

I would remove the large motor mount plate and just cut a couple tabs and weld them to the frame. Once the engine is bolted in it will be the support your mount was. You will lose an easy 15lbs just removing that plate. Also maybe tilt the engine forward to make use of the front upper mounts. Nice build.

Agreen · Mar 31, 2016

It's not actually that big of a plate. It's probably 14ga steel, but it's stamped steel. It weighs like 2 lbs. I will be making an upper mount for it. Soon.

Today was a wash on ol' rusty. I went all around town looking for pillow blocks and sprockets. I found out that there is a local store that had everything I needed, but they were out of 5/8 pillow blocks. The guy was very knowledgeable and told me to use a piece of 1-1/4" black iron pipe from Lowe's. Weld in some washers to prevent the bearings from going in too far. Then use 5/8" shaft and put the sprockets on.

Man, I worked on that for hours, and it ended up looking stupid and not working the way I wanted. Oh well. Pillow blocks should be here tomorrow, and they'll bolt right where I wanted them to go, and it's gonna be awesome.

I didn't even get a chance to do any other fab work on it today. What a waste of time. At least I have the sprockets and shaft I need.

curtisfox · Apr 1, 2016

The guy was very knowledgeable and told me to use a piece of 1-1/4" black iron pipe from Lowe's. Weld in some washers to prevent the bearings from going in too far. Then use 5/8" shaft and put the sprockets on.
That's good to know that the bearings fit in that pipe, could cut some rings off it and make bearing mounts.........LOL..........Curt

Agreen · Apr 1, 2016

Too much hassle. Pillow blocks are $15 ea., and there's no modification required to prevent them from moving axially. I'm just going to stick with what works.

tgaydos · Apr 1, 2016

that gx200 is going to put down mad power especially with that torque converter.

Rusty Shackleford

Member

Member

New Member

Member

The Boy Who Never Grew Up

Member

Member

Member

Active Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Member

Well-Known Member

Member

New Member