This in in the new engine, havent pulled the runner down yet to see whats up. Checked the shop manual on line and the clutch is installed in the proper direction. Supposed to have an X that is facing out, the Hongdu doesnt, but it is facing correctly.
Thanks! My therory is these are domestic units(kits) as opposed to the better quality units being built for the Black-n-Roll. Still if the guts are basically the same I guess thats all that matters. The units shipped to the French company appears to have a version of the plastic tank used on the original, Looks really nice. The rest looks about like what we have but maybe with nicer castings. I have torn down the 2nd unit to see more about it. A very minor piece if flashing on the rod was hitting the outer crank case. I dont think it was a real issue. The engine had been test run as there was residue in the case. Anyway a few file strokes solved the problem. I would suggest looking the unit over carefully first. Havent seen anything really bad with these, but kinda like the China girls it makes sense to look at what you got first. I like the fact that the engine can just about be rebuilt on the bike. I think only removing the crank might justify removal from the bike. The first one has covered an estimated 150mi(no speedo) and is running great.
I thought that I had read that the tooling was sold to the Chinese for the engines. It does state on the BNR website that the current model is assembled from parts from the EU and Asia, just doesnt asy which parts. Glad to see the French are still making the engines. Furament, yes the light does work, thought I had mentioned that earlier. I bypassed the hokey little switch and just wired it direct. Puts out enough light to see ok @ 15-20mph.
You should be able to mount it if there is enough room on the suspension leg(I am assuming telescopic), it will all travel together. The brakes will have to go, possibly the mounting bosses also. The rear brake should be all you need at the speeds we are talking. The coaster brake on mike bike is more than sufficient. The clutch question remains. I am reluctant to tear into the runner as I ride it constantly on trips. The second unit is waiting to go on a Velo restoration so it wont be mounted for a while. Its clutch appers totally functional, I pried in the various directions of operations and everything functions. Id say there is a good chance the clutches work and my first one has an issue. I live in the country and my trips are long. If I was in traffic, I would probably be more inclined to tear into the runner. Its not hard to use as is though, you can just reach over the handle bar and latch the engine to the hook if you want it to idle.
correct, it is telescopic. i won't be able to tell if there is enough room on the leg or not until the unit arrives. the mounting bosses do look like they will interfere, but i can just turn the fork around since it is straight to get them out of the way without having to cut them off permanently.
earlier in the thread you had stated that you modified the carb lever so it would idle rather than go to WOT...could that be why your clutch didn't work at first? it sounds like it might not need such fine adjustment if you use the carb lever arrangement out of the box, but the way you did it is probably more dialed-in.
