BGF Hongdu/Solex

Yeah, I thought of that. I have family in New Orleans. We'll see... I guess I should find out how much shipping would be and hope I got a good product. They sure look cool. How is the "scent" while operating?
 
Didnt some one get an engine with the Hongdu(in Chinese) decal on the tank? If so is this the nice one? The seller in Canada has engines with this decal. Maybe the ones that are carrying the Hongdu name are the first run. If so I may buy one of the Canadian units.

Hey Stoney, maybe its legal for the Canadian seller to ship to you.
 
cannonball2 said:
Didnt some one get an engine with the Hongdu(in Chinese) decal on the tank? If so is this the nice one? The seller in Canada has engines with this decal. Maybe the ones that are carrying the Hongdu name are the first run. If so I may buy one of the Canadian uni
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it was ray that got one with a huajia decal. it was damaged in shipping, but still worked. mopedjay said the castings aren't as good as the one he had just gotten, one with no stickers at all and the compression release lever on the gas tank side. that's like the one i got and i believe camlifter's and one of yours. some have rust in the tank and some don't. the decompression lever is probably the tip-off, but i wouldn't count on anything when it comes to chinese stuff. gonna be a crapshoot no matter who you order it from. if we could find a dealer that doesn't sell them for too much of a markup and would at least offer an exchange for defective units then we'd be in good shape.
 
The one I have with the comp. release on the tank side is the one with the poor cast cylinder, but everything else looks great and no rust in either tank. I was just out riding the one on the Micargi 24". Its running great. Have finally gotten used to it idling when stopped. Am going to set the Velosolex up to run WOT and pull back to idle, that actually makes sense now that I understand how the engine operates. I was out climbing hills with it to see what it would do. It amazes me how it wont choke down it just runs slower and slower, but still climbing. I had to help it on a couple of really bad ones, but if you are in no hurry it will chug up most of em.
 
cannonball2 said:
The one I have with the comp. release on the tank side is the one with the poor cast cylinder, but everything else looks great and no rust in either tank. I was just out riding the one on the Micargi 24". Its running great. Have finally gotten used to it idling when stopped. Am going to set the Velosolex up to run WOT and pull back to idle, that actually makes sense now that I understand how the engine operates. I was out climbing hills with it to see what it would do. It amazes me how it wont choke down it just runs slower and slower, but still climbing. I had to help it on a couple of really bad ones, but if you are in no hurry it will chug up most of em.
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well that just proves it's a grab bag. despite all the mishmash of problems, not one has failed to run. even the one wayne is having issues with still goes with low compression, and should be fixable. they are cheap, i'm not going to say they aren't, but they work. glad to hear yours is running so well. i did get my clutch working, but i sill never use it. nice to have it just in case though.
 
Yeah, not only do they work but they are pleasant to use. I really like the fact they are so quiet and basically vibration free. I really have done nothing to the one on the Micargi since I finished it. I suspect it might be getting close to 200mi. Just cranks and goes. There is a company in TX. that has 50 of these for sale, Bike Bug maybe? Saw it on the net searching around. Maybe they would be easier to negoiate than BGF. I wouldnt mind putting a couple of good ones on the shelf.
 
Yeah, I am glad to have mine. It starts anf runs fine just kinda low powered. They are so easy to work on, changing the rings isn't much of an issue, And I will know that it's done right.
I like it enough that I have already purchased another.

I am amazed at how easy they start. After it's warmed up,I can be seated, and push off the ground, no pedaling, about 3 steps and let go the comp release and away it goes.
 
i read that it's not good to raise or lower the roller while it's running, and that even though the bike can take off under its own power, you should always pedal it from a standstill. i don't know how important all that really is, but it might help the engine last longer. i would think it's probably not good to brake without clutching either.
 
Wayne I was thinking(bad thing), are you still using the base and head gaskets that came with the engine. My engine that had the copper base also had 2 paper head gaskets. My runner has only 1 thin base and head paper gasket. The copper gasket at least on mine is fairly thick. If you also have 2 gaskets on the head then the compression would be lowered by increasing the overall length if the cylinder. Probably mess with timing a bit too. Just a thought
 
Yeah, raising the motor while runnung will let it overspeed if you don't remember to pull the throttle back. I don't think it would hurt the motor much,unless you did it a lot or for too long, but the revved up motor will chew on the tire real bad if you let it down.
Braking at full throttle prolly won't hurt the motor much more tham going a steep hill would, but would be harder on the brakes.

I don't think you can hurt one of these motors no matter how you run it. I also believe that they won't be easy to wear out. They will prolly run very reliably for years and years.

I've been running 50-1 mix with pennzoil for air cooled engines. Don't see any smoke, and very little oily smell in my wake.

Havin a little trouble keeping the motor centered accuratly on the fat. 2.25 tires. The cheap clamps tangs keep stretching , allowing them to move a bit with some riding. About every 3 miles I start seeing whitewall dust on one forkleg or the other, and I stop and adjust again By banging the clamps one way or the other with my plastic hammer.
I might try to use some chromed motorcycle accessory bar clamps. Or some type clamps that have tangs aligned with the fork tube edge insted of its center. Then using long all thread bolts, I can adjust alignment of the motor without loosening and twisting the clamps.
 
My clamps have held very well the spacers between them help. Try removing one of the tension springs. The unit naturally favors one side it seems, I removed that spring, it was the only thing hitting. It still has enough pull down to never slip. Thats the problem with the wider tires. You could drill the clamps, one on each side would probably do it, for a through bolt.
 
got a idea : why don't you make some brackets DIY and weld them on the fork ?
that's fixing the engine a real nice way....
 
i had to stretch my clamps so much to get them to fit my fork there is no slack left for them to move. i think mine would break first. my 1.95 knobby tire is working surprisingly well and seems to be just the right size. as long as i will be going through the hassle of mounting the airless tubes i have though which is supposed to be a real pain i plan to select a more appropriate tire for a friction drive, but i will stay with the same size.
 
Colony Five said:
it was ray that got one with a huajia decal. it was damaged in shipping, but still worked. mopedjay said the castings aren't as good as the one he had just gotten, one with no stickers at all and the compression release lever on the gas tank side. that's like the one i got and i believe camlifter's and one of yours. some have rust in the tank and some don't. the decompression lever is probably the tip-off, but i wouldn't count on anything when it comes to chinese stuff. gonna be a crapshoot no matter who you order it from. if we could find a dealer that doesn't sell them for too much of a markup and would at least offer an exchange for defective units then we'd be in good shape.
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i think mine is prety old, the return line was a little long and had a kink in it, i took it off to cut it down a little and it just crumbled, must have been prety old to do that.
i looked at my 69 solex and the exhaust is mounted solid to the fender, when you lift the motor it pivots in the joint but doesn't sperate, theres no oil seepage at the joint.
 
camlifter said:
i think mine is prety old, the return line was a little long and had a kink in it, i took it off to cut it down a little and it just crumbled, must have been prety old to do that.
i looked at my 69 solex and the exhaust is mounted solid to the fender, when you lift the motor it pivots in the joint but doesn't sperate, theres no oil seepage at the joint.
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it's the same as the kit bracket...the pipe moves in the joint but doesn't actually separate, even when you lift the motor all the way. but it's loose enough that when it runs you'll get exhaust out of the joint if you don't do something to seal it.

oh yeah, and it doesn't take long for chinese rubber parts to degrade...i bought a brand new chinese scooter once and all the rubber on it was completely rotted within a year. there was only 1 rubber hold down on my flywheel cover and it ripped as soon as i went to remove it so i have some elastic holding it on now. chinese rubber is notorious for being cheap.
 
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Yeah the returns on both my engines were crumbly, I replaced the broken flywheel retainer(s) with an oring, works very well. My heater hoes is still hanging in there, when that goes I have a hi-temp silicone coupler from one of my R/C aiprlanes tuned pipes. That should hold it.
 
I used a piece of 3/4" silicone firesleeve tubing, from Aircraft Spruce, to seal my exhaust joint.

I slipped it on the manifold pipe, installed the muffler, slid the tube down over the joint and used 2 small worm clamps. After some use I dtermined that just one clamp on the manifold is all that's needed.

I discovered a great way to greatly increase the friction of clamped joints Like these and the china chain tensioners, without drilling the frame or adding brace bar.

Just cut a strip of that screen mesh sanding media and put it in the joint before clamping down with the bolts. Incredible holding power!
Can't move the tensioner on my new, finished today, Chrome China build, by banging it with my plastic hammer! Chrome is notoriously slippery and hard to clamp a firm joint.

I'm gonna try this method on my HD clamps.
 
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almost done, just need to get some fuel line and put on muffler.
 

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just took it for the first ride, runs ok, after it warmed up it went i'm guessing 15 mph. my clutch isn't working though, tried all rpm ranges i could and it never disengaged. if it dosen't free up i'm going to put another lever on it and use a cable to lift the motor when i stop.
 
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