anyone with past experience please help
- Thread starter scythyn
- Start date
MotorBicycleRacing
Well-Known Member
First, do Not let your cat ride your bike and sorry to say but the anglefire is the first thingie to break.
PS: What is a km?
PPS: I have past experience.
wheelbender6
Well-Known Member
Most early problems come from motor mounts, the chain, chain tensioner and rag joint rear sprocket. Tighten them and check alignment after every ride for a while. By tighten, I don't mean taking big turns with the wrench. If the bolts are still tight, just give them another sixteenth turn or so to prevent stripping anything.
A torque wrench is a very good investment. It will pay for itself the first time you strip a stud or bolt off because of overtightening. A lot of guys think they need to see the wrench turn when checking the tighhtness of fasteners. That's where they get into trouble. If the fastener is at its set torque value, leave it alone. Don't over tighten them.
As far as what troubles to expect; anything that wasn't installed correctly. If you're using the kit supplied spark plug boot I can almost guarantee that it will eventually fail, sooner if not later. Replace it with a good quality automotive boot.
The kit chain tensioner can also cause you big problems if it loosens and rotates into the rear spokes. This is one of, if not the most common failure to happen to a new bike builder. The bracket must be installed in such a way that it can not move. There are pages of discussion on that topic and suggested fixes for it.
As with any machine, 'Murphy' can come along on the ride and ruin your day. Just in case you're not familar with him, his 'Law' says, "anything that can go wrong, eventually will". Keep that in mind on your trip.
Good luck, have fun and ride safe.
Tom
Scythyn,
If you go to the top of the page and type in "problems with angle fire motor kits" into the Google search box you will see everything that anyone has written about them here on the forum. Some of the members with experience will chime in with their views over the next few days as they get on the forum and see your request.
Meanwhile the kitties (kit is) are fair game for the Time Wasters and Idlers Club. How are things on the east coast?
Steve.
If you go to the top of the page and type in "problems with angle fire motor kits" into the Google search box you will see everything that anyone has written about them here on the forum. Some of the members with experience will chime in with their views over the next few days as they get on the forum and see your request.
Meanwhile the kitties (kit is) are fair game for the Time Wasters and Idlers Club. How are things on the east coast?
Steve.
bairdco
a guy who makes cool bikes
some other problems almost certain to happen are your end cap on the muffler will fall off, and if you're using an NT carb the nut on the choke lever will loosen up causing your choke to come on and killing the motor.
your plastic throttle will eventually break, your kill switch will short out, your master link will fall off (if your chain doesn't break, first.)
if your exhaust pipe doesn't fall off the stripped studs in the first week, it'll get clogged up from the too-rich break-in mixture. this will happen a week before your magneto fails.
your cheap coaster brake will fail, but usually it lasts longer than the sidewall of your tire that'll wear out from chain rub, as long as it hasn't already gone flat from loose spokes jabbing into the tube.
on or about the third day, you'll forget to turn the petcock off and flood the carb, the engine, and the ground under your bike. but again, this will only happen if your float hasn't cracked yet and the studs on your gas tank aren't leaking.
your front fender will probably fall off, which could be catastrophic, but the bike will probably fall over on it's own first, thanks to a cheap kickstand and an extra 30lbs of motore.
eventually you'll get all the bugs worked out (after your 3rd or 4th build) and if you haven't been pulled over by the cops yet, your bike will run perfectly.
and a piston ring will crack and completely destroy your motor.
have fun!
your plastic throttle will eventually break, your kill switch will short out, your master link will fall off (if your chain doesn't break, first.)
if your exhaust pipe doesn't fall off the stripped studs in the first week, it'll get clogged up from the too-rich break-in mixture. this will happen a week before your magneto fails.
your cheap coaster brake will fail, but usually it lasts longer than the sidewall of your tire that'll wear out from chain rub, as long as it hasn't already gone flat from loose spokes jabbing into the tube.
on or about the third day, you'll forget to turn the petcock off and flood the carb, the engine, and the ground under your bike. but again, this will only happen if your float hasn't cracked yet and the studs on your gas tank aren't leaking.
your front fender will probably fall off, which could be catastrophic, but the bike will probably fall over on it's own first, thanks to a cheap kickstand and an extra 30lbs of motore.
eventually you'll get all the bugs worked out (after your 3rd or 4th build) and if you haven't been pulled over by the cops yet, your bike will run perfectly.
and a piston ring will crack and completely destroy your motor.
have fun!
Not a long hauler, but one thing I can recommend are progressively longer local runs. My non kit Bike E2 recumbent is actually becoming kind of reliable after over 2 years of girding up failing/failed components identified in more and more extended local use. I routinely ride down to the Busch Brewery or to Grants Farm for tours (i.e. 2 free beer tours), and usually tool around downtown for longer and longer periods. And my 120 mile run up and down the Mo. river and ferries last summer resulted in 2 chain drops that, in turn, caused me to bullet proof my gearbox mounting and chain tensioning "system". My alternator is also now secure from those same near misses. and on and on. As others have said, Murphy will out, but why not battle test your creation within progressively extended local boundaries? That way your wife, your truck and beers in a cooler are just a few miles and a phone call away.
skitchfish
Member
Bairdco, That was a classic piece of Motorbicycling literature. The most truthful and highly accurate reply I have ever read on this forum.
Basically, you described my own mb history with such reality that it has brought flash backs into my mind. I"m going to have nightmares like I have been reading Stephen King.
Basically, you described my own mb history with such reality that it has brought flash backs into my mind. I"m going to have nightmares like I have been reading Stephen King.
The east coast is awesome' I get out ibn my bike every day so many trails and hills. I've already had to replace the exhaust studs and the chain tensioner I removed all together. Thanks for the quick reply! I've owned a total of the bikes now all of which still run one of them has gone400km with only a gasket needed to be replaced
The_Aleman
Active Member
Well, you might just get lucky and get a Wednesday-built motor and avoid everything Baird said. Hope is what keeps a chinagirl alive! (and money lol)
You do have a better chance at winning the Chinese lottery than the American lottery tho! Keep your johnson up, the kitties will love you for it.
You do have a better chance at winning the Chinese lottery than the American lottery tho! Keep your johnson up, the kitties will love you for it.
Haha you guys are awesome by the way. Good to have all this information. Most of what has been said ive experienced just driving around. The miles add up and eventually something has to go. Best advice from this is to keep checking all the time for everything on my bike to be ok lol.
bairdco
a guy who makes cool bikes
mileage varies wildly. my well tuned street cruiser would get 70 miles on a good day and 30 on another day. hills, wind, and gas-sucking gremlins play a big part in gas mileage.
and i only seemed to run out of fuel when i was having the most fun, and nowhere near a station that sold two stroke oil...
and i only seemed to run out of fuel when i was having the most fun, and nowhere near a station that sold two stroke oil...
When I rode 2 stroke street bikes, I always kept a 6 ounce booze flask in my pocket full of Benol. Just enough for a gallon of gas. One day it was sticking out of a jacket pocket, and some clown helped himself... hilarious.
B