That is correct the return side. Exact placement needs some testing.
1912 Excelsior Tribute
- Thread starter MotoMagz
- Start date
Keith, Excelsior's were chain final drive. You have a Orabona build which favored Indian which were always reduction, and final drive chain driven. The power the 212cc torque will always beat up a belt drive. I am looking forward to how this beautiful build shakes out.
Tom
Tom
My 212 is about 10hp+ You know you got power and slippage when you can throttle it and spin that belt at 35.mph I must say that my chain wearing has always been worse than my belt wear. Or at least I can see the chain/ sprocket wear more.
Question, was your sprocket wear using steel sprockets?
Tom
Tom
Yes ...But my comparison is different...All of my chain drives were shift kits With smaller sprockets. So they do take a lot of abuse compared To a normal chain drive. Ps hope wife is doing well!
Guys I’m trying to make a system for a 212 with a belt primary. I really believe in it. I have had too much trouble with chains wearing very fast on the primary. And I’ve tried everything. 420, 35, big and small sprockets. It pretty much just goes bad quick.
Tony do a study on lawn tractors, my old White use to do wheelie's when you let the clutch out in 3 gear, but of cores they were low geared. But even the blade clutch was strong, even when i hit stump it would bend shafts, LOL. The deck had timed blades with toothed belt, and they would fail, stopped the engine. The bigger the clutch pulley the better............Curt ( made brush hog type breakaway blades, no more damage )
Sounds a fine project Tony & here's wishing you success.
The small cassette cog on pedal road bikes are typically worn out with only a few hundred miles on them while the larger cogs have plenty of life left. With meticulous setup and maintenance one might double that yet still the small cog wears quicker with equal use. I've not been a fan of motor driven shifter kits gas or electric. I've seen really nice builds that use them and run well...when they're running on a derail system with daily use maintenance will mount, going through a high quality hub shifter is a different story especially with a quality belt drive. The skinny bike chains are quite easy to break without a motor even when perfectly setup.
The differential hubs are a real step up but are so very expensive. With a great belt they are the berries!
Old guys don't typically put enough pressure on the pedal side motor drive train to pop it, but it still happens especially when one doesn't understand the concept of cross chaining the drive line.
Happy trails. I rather like the idea of primary belt drive and hope Tony figures it out on his 212.
Rick C.
The small cassette cog on pedal road bikes are typically worn out with only a few hundred miles on them while the larger cogs have plenty of life left. With meticulous setup and maintenance one might double that yet still the small cog wears quicker with equal use. I've not been a fan of motor driven shifter kits gas or electric. I've seen really nice builds that use them and run well...when they're running on a derail system with daily use maintenance will mount, going through a high quality hub shifter is a different story especially with a quality belt drive. The skinny bike chains are quite easy to break without a motor even when perfectly setup.
The differential hubs are a real step up but are so very expensive. With a great belt they are the berries!
Old guys don't typically put enough pressure on the pedal side motor drive train to pop it, but it still happens especially when one doesn't understand the concept of cross chaining the drive line.
Happy trails. I rather like the idea of primary belt drive and hope Tony figures it out on his 212.
Rick C.
I wonder if a thread pertaining to drive trains of advanced builds is needed with verifiable engineering data would be useful? Chain drives are very old school at the industrial level and obviously engineers of the early twentieth century used knew what worked and didn't empirically. Certainly metallurgy has been refined to it's present state by WII. with the posible exception of PCM.
The hybrid drives of late are just that.
One of these what ever edition will keep you on know ground.
en.wikipedia.org
Tom
The hybrid drives of late are just that.
One of these what ever edition will keep you on know ground.
Marks' Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
So I have a bunch of ax belts with ax75 being the largest . Well not large enough need a ax77. My tensioner is going to have to sit in the same area as most 2 stroke idlers . Is this ok on a belt drive? I know I want a pulley under belt with pressure going upward close to front pulley but ...I’m sliding back toward rear sheave.?
Somewhere between applicable and optimal lies an area referred to as ok. Kinda' exploratory and unmarked but you will recognize it when you stumble across it. That's been my experience.
Rick C.
Rick C.
I have a nice tensioner but it’s not compatible with this set up. So ended up using a garage door pull cord bracket. Need to attach to bolt on motor mount and trim off some of the length of the top but it’s gong to work! 3rd picture just didn’t cut it! Lol
Attachments
Too funny! Duct tape. broom stick & bailing wire are a country boys go to solutions...
The belt tensioner photos lead me to believe you've found the solution & it's non-intrusive to the vintage look and many bolt on tensioners are not.
Rick C.
The belt tensioner photos lead me to believe you've found the solution & it's non-intrusive to the vintage look and many bolt on tensioners are not.
Rick C.
Last edited:
Yep, it should work . Still have some trimming to do in order for clutch cover to fit. Goal is to only see the tensioner wheel.
Bike has been up on blocks for a month and will be out of commission till spring. You guessed it the drive train. My issue is my beloved belt drive. Slipidy dew da slipidy daily! I’m going to still run power through bottom bracket but it will be chains and sprockets. Not my norm... so I figure with my mods I’m pushing 7500-8000 rpm. My question is do I want to be in the 9 ’s or 10’s when it comes to final ratios? I see people running both ratios. I ride on flat roads .
Have you ran this by Orabona? I know ya paid good money for the decals, but a rebadge to Indian, and full run chain drivetrain, Slip you not. 
.
Tom
.Tom
Dan had nothin to do with belt drive. He added a pulley to a reduction in place of sprocket.
Well guess who’s almost street ready. Yeppers..switching to all chain from belt was a job. What made it difficult was the bike and jackshaft were all custom built for pullies and belts. So first came the wheels. Front drum Worksman ,rear coaster brake riding on 65mm double walled. Next Hilliard heavy duty clutch which will be getting black springs this week .(Thanks Tony01) Then the hard part, using my Js from the pully set up and adapting sprockets to it and keeping descent gearing. Drilled the bolt pattern in a 19T sprocket to match jackshaft, which was also tricky. JS inside is 19t which is as small as I can go which leaves me with a 54T rear. Surprisingly it all fit inside my trans. Cover. Had to cut into fender for chain clearance,coaster brake arm cut and re drill for clearance and I removed one ear of two on coaster brake side only. That rear area is so tight...well........it’s just right!
