98cc Villiers on a 1945 Sears Roebuck

[Harold_B]

Revenge is mine! Ten minutes with a hack saw and I have floorboards roughed out. There are other things to mount first so I have time to decide how I want them mounted.

View from the other side:

 

[Harold_B]

The rear triangle is not the mount for the floorboards. I took the leap and hacked that off today too. I have the engine hanging in the location that I want it. I need to come up with some steel bits to weld into place for the mounts but I'm feeling like this will work out.

 

[cannonball2]

I found some nicely machined metal spacers on ebay. The were 1.5" wide which with a thin shim on each side fit the Villiers mounts perfectly. They could be bought in various dimensions. These were 1/2x5/8 as I remember.

I mounted them to the engine mounts, set the engine in the frame where I wanted and marked the location. Cut a small fish mouth in the frame, reset the engine and welded away. These old frames are stout and weld quite substantially. I thought about adding gussets but just don't think its necessary.

For what its worth there are Harley 1/2 moon boards on ebay with no emblems/logos. I believe they are repros of 1930s units and made by V-twin. Looks like you have a great start of some good looking boards though.

 

[Harold_B]

Thanks for specs on the spacers CB2. I was looking at your build to see how you mounted yours. I had planned on asking. Any chance you have a link handy (if not no worries, I can search). I did look at those half moon floorboards and I like them a lot. The floorboards from the trike/scooter thing was kind of a bonus with the beefy tubes I need.

 

[indian22]

The rear triangle is not the mount for the floorboards. I took the leap and hacked that off today too. I have the engine hanging in the location that I want it. I need to come up with some steel bits to weld into place for the mounts but I'm feeling like this will work out.

Engine nests well. RC

 

[cannonball2]

This is what I cut them from, except I bought 3". Due to brain fade I cut them in equal lengths winding up short because of the saw kerf, and therefore needed shims. No problem with these 4"ers.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Steel-Bushi...-Long-2-Pcs-/111824732060?hash=item1a0945ff9c

 

[Harold_B]

Cool! Just ordered a pair. Thanks for the link CB2.

 

[Harold_B]

Engine nests well. RC

The extra space created by welding in the step through frame down tube is actually less than I hoped. The carb cuts across at a diagonal and the exhaust points straight forward from the center of the cyclinder head so there's not a lot of options to get it in there! It'll be interesting to see how well this little engine handles the weight. This bike is going to be pretty heavy for 98cc.

I'm still making up my mind on how to use this engine transmission together. The chain sprockets are for different sizes so I'm thinking about something like CB2's shaft set up. I could run a chain from the engine to the shaft then another chain to the tranny. This way I could drive an alternator from the shaft as well and it would run/charge when sitting at a stop light.

 

[cannonball2]

No problem on the link!

Weight shouldn't be an issue for the little Villiers. I built a bike around a 49cc Honda Cub clone engine that weighed just under 100lbs(that's it in the avatar). I converted it to a single speed to be legal back then. It had no problem pulling the load from stop. It was a 4stroke, but at half the displacement. You will have a trans to ease things also. My engine weighed only 26lbs as received sealed in its shipping box. Dave listed 20lbs in the auction. I would say that's close. That pretty light for what it is. I'm guessing my bike weighs 40/60lbs. I can pick it up fairly easily(depending on the day).

If you are going to use the BB as a jackshaft be sure to work out your ratios first so as not to wind up with too large a sprocket which might foul clearances of other parts/foot boards.

I'm through with my construction except for finalizing the front engine mount.
The plan is to have some adjustment in the upper engine mounting holes. This will allow the engine to pivot up/down a bit around the lower bolt for primary chain adjustment. Unless you want to run an idler which can be fussy, you might want to consider some adjustment in the mounts somewhere.

 

[Harold_B]

Thanks again CB2. I ran an idler on my previous build and it was the only thing in the drive train that didn't fall off..., oh wait yes it did. The thought that I'd need to adjust the engine, the transmission and the rear wheel for chain tension is really kind of off-putting. The jack shaft would solve getting the alternator driven by the engine but defeats the tensioning via the transmission. Feh. More head scratching to be done. The first hurdle will be getting a different drive sprocket on Villiers. I'm pretty sure it's a tapered shaft so it won't just be a matter of finding a sprocket and having it bored to fit.

 

[cannonball2]

Maybe do like SB did and have the original sprocket turned into a keyed shaft to use stock size sprockets.

 

[Harold_B]

Maybe do like SB did and have the original sprocket turned into a keyed shaft to use stock size sprockets.

I'll have chance to get the sprocket off the shaft in a couple weeks and I can take it to the machine shop then. Thanks for the suggestion. I had been shopping on eBay for a Villiers drive sprocket so that I wouldn't need to modify the one on the engine when I started thinking about the jackshaft option. Good thing I'm not in a hurry! I can change my mind several times before I have a chance to get back at it.

 

[harry76]

Always good to see more Villiers builds. Im looking forward to seeing more. Nice work

 

[silverbear]

G'day, mate!
Seeing your sign in name brought a smile for sure, old friend. How good to see your post. Many times I have wondered how you are doing in the land down under... Wondering if you are still riding your one of a kind Villiars bike which remains one of my favorite builds ever. Your baby girl must be quite the big girl by now. Did you make her a sidecar so she can go riding with her dad? Still working for the same outfit? Please give an update on your life when you have the time.
For myself things are much the same, but doing less building these days. At present I'm caught up in cleaning up a 17' Grumman double end canoe made in 1963 and fitting it out with a wooden masted Grumman sail rig made in 1953. Something to play with on the lake. It is yet another way of postponing adulthood. Ha!
And yes, Harold, how is this build coming along? I still have intentions of making progress on my Villiars hybrid trike, although summer is slipping away on me. Do give us an update...
SB

 

[curtisfox]

Hi! Harry.
There would be a lot more builds if we could find a engine. Good to here from you.............Curt

 

[Harold_B]

Always good to see more Villiers builds. Im looking forward to seeing more. Nice work

Thanks for popping in! Your build is one of the benchmarks and is linked on the first page of this thread.

It's been almost three months since I've posted an update and not much has happened. I do manage to find time late at night to surf the net for parts. A fuel tank purchased on eBay arrived a few days ago and I haven't had the time to open the box. There's an acetelyne headlight coming that I bought from a friend over at RatRodBikes. Maybe I'll make like its my birthday and open them both at once. My garage is unworkable as a space for doing anything as a result of the summer projects we have going on. Fortunately I planned this as a slow and purposeful build so I'm not in the least frustrated by the lack of progress. OK, maybe a little!

 

[fasteddy]

Hello Harry,

Good to hear from you. Let us know how your doing.

Steve.

 

[harry76]

Yeah hey guys. Been busy with young kids but hope to get back to building in the next couple months, now i have a little spare time now the kids are growing up.

 

[Ludwig II]

Will you finish the ladies frame bike? That looked really stylish.

 

[Harold_B]

Finally got to spend a couple hours with my angle grinder and hand file in the garage this weekend. There's still more to do before I can tack weld things into place like making an alignment jig but a few salvaged tubes from the little Schwinn Gladiator and a couple from a junk lawn chair I'm getting closer. Lousy picture (lots of clutter) but I was having fun.