Bought a 4 stroke kit from BikeBerry

[dgm099]

@Seabass,
I guess I could bolt them in place........nooooo, I couldn't do that. I have my welder sitting there calling my name and it would be a complete cop out on my part, lol. Keep those reminders coming friend, I can use them. I also decided no matter how loud the welder calls me, I'm gonna cut a few pieces and at least do a few practice welds. Got to thinking about it and it has been a LONG time since I've used it, lol.

@Malatious,
You posted the link properly. Nice work Malatious, exactly what I was thinking (hoping) it turns out like. Now if I still lived in So. Cal, I'd be buying you coffee or pizza so I could get an up close look.

The tabs for the tank are a nice touch. I'm still deciding on what I'm gonna do about the tank.....keep the one that came with the kit and use it as is, cover it in penneys and use it, or buy one of the copper or brass vintage fire extinguishers and use that as a tank.

Oh Yeah.....
REMEMBER VOTE TODAY!!!!

 

[malatious]

It actually welded up very nice. The tubing is thin but not extremely. Just keep most of the heat on the angle iron and use short burst. I had the welder turned up fairly high due to the 1/8" angle iron but did not blow through once. The biggest problem I had was trying to line up the two pieces of angle. I finally just bolted the engine to the angle and clamped the whole mess into the frame and tacked it in place. When finished I can jump up and down on it and it does not budge, the engine is rock solid when bolted in. I think it adds a lot of strength to the frame due to the triaglation.

 

[Seabass]

Dont just turn your welder on high!!!! The settings depend on how big your welder is. On all welders there is a chart of voltages and wire speeds. Start there!!! You know you could practice with some angle and maybe some alignment shims. Thats what I have available. I figure I'm probably dealing with 1/16 tubing. Now your bike is steel not cromoly right? You need to tig cromoly. It is a steel alloy so it may weld ok with wire. I have a friend who builds race chassis and it has do be tig with a certified welder to be allowed on the track. I bet someone here fires their mig at cromoly all the time and it works for them. Id like to hear from those people cause it would open up a ton of bike frames for me.

I was looking at your stock bracket, if you cleaned up the factory weld. Filled your gap with your mig and used body filler you could get that looking great. Just an idea. Here I go with indecision again.

Did go vote today, but it won't matter Denver out votes the rest of the state and we keep getting screwed by Dems. I just hope Colorado health care doesn't pass because I will be commuting to Wyoming for work if it does. Ok ill shut up now, 3 things you shouldn't talk about, religion, polotics, and Ford vs Chevy cause Chevy people are idiots!

 

[malatious]

Yes high is a relative term. My welder is a little 110 volt Lincoln mig welder so high is barely enough for thicker stuff. I do use shielding gas, not the flux core wire, it makes a lot cleaner weld. I saw that Harbor Freight now has a TIG welder with a soft start pedal for about $350.00 so you could weld the cromoly with that. The Huffy frames are just mild steel so they weld up nice with a regular welder. I thought about welding a flat steel plate on but that would have been harder to cut out. The angle iron when clamped to the frame assures that the motor will be square and line up with the rear wheel.

 

[dgm099]

Good morning,
Thanks guys, didn't get anything done. Things went sideways at the hospital yesterday. Spent the day there. I'll talk to ya when I get more than a few minutes. Talk to ya soon.

Mac

 

[dgm099]

Well howdy folks,

Only been about 2 months since the start of all this. With what was our holiday schedule, and with my son still living with us (and looks like he's gonna be here awhile) time was at a premium. They say that next month they may be taking the hardware out of his leg, so he's gonna be here for awhile yet. To top it all off, my wife is now in a boot and both her and the boy are on knee scooters. I may have to motorize one of them when this is all over.

I did however, get the bike put together. A piece here, a piece there, and tomorrow, all I have left to do is flush the gas tank, attach the gas line and filter, add the oil and I'm ready for my first pull.

I ended up using the mounting plate that came with the kit, but I welded it to the bike frame instead of bolting it up. Filled the spaces I showed at the beginning of this thread, first by welding, and then stuffed it full of JB Weld. Guess I'll see how it goes.

When the weather here starts warming up (I'm just east of Sacramento), I'll strip everything down to the frame, and paint and put some finishing touches to it.

I'll take pics tomorrow as it's supposed to be a nice day out (cold as **** but clear and sunny), and will post them tomorrow.

So, what did I learn, lots of stuff, but I think buying a kit for the first build (since I know no one with a MB that I could look at) was an ok decision. But that's all it was.....ok. There will be a second build (on my Micargi stretch with a 79cc from HF), and for that one, I will start buying parts and pieces one at a time. The kit gave me a way to get my feet wet, showed me how much fun I had while I was building, and has provided me with a MB that my sons or grandsons can use to go cruising with me.

Pics will come tomorrow, but I want to thank you guys for the input, both here and on all the other threads thru out this site. Your excitement, enthusiasm, the can do attitude and the fun and happiness that just sweats out of the pores of this site.....helped make my first ride possible.

See ya tomorrow with the pics.

Mac

 

[Tom from Rubicon]

Mac,
Thanks for the update on your Bikeberry kit build. My Huffy suffered the same problems, and like you say. it is just an OK. Bikeberry should offer engine mounts for specific bicycle models. They don't and nobody else does either. I am looking forward to your photos.
With my Huffy, I am considering a reverse engineer of Pat Dolan's 79cc mounting system for our 49cc HS engines. As I am currently building a Sportsman Flyer 80, I know that style of mounting system could benefit the low cost build market. It's all about adaptability to frame tube variations. Don't know why no one has gone there before. Bikeberry engine platforms don't even have bolt slots that match HS mount patterns.
Good to hear from you Mac,
Tom from Rubicon,Wi

 

[Velodrome]

Hows your boy doing? Thats the more important question.

 

[dgm099]

Howdy folks,

Thanks @Velodrome, the boy is doing well. No longer in constant pain, gets around on the knee scooter without a problem. We'll see how things go once the doc gives a "removal of plates and screws" date.

@Tom from Rubicon,
You mentioned about an engine mount. Since I plan on doing my stretch cruiser in late spring, I've been thinking about it a bit. I don't know if anyone has mentioned this yet (I'm not that bright, sure someone has).
My basic idea is as follows....Just noticed the bolt is going thru the wrong plate hole, it should be the above where it shows it going.

So using two pieces of angle iron, drill 2 oblong holes going front to rear in each. On a mounting plate for the engine, you drill 4 oblong holes going side to side. With a little planning you have complete control over the location your engine ends up at...within certain physical restrictions of course. The mounting bolts for the engine may have to be large counter sunk bolts so the plate will move freely over the angle iron, guess it will depend on alot of different things.

As to the bike....

Mounted engine....

Spring tensioner....

And...Is this a PROBLEM, it's close.....

I did get to ride it for about 10 minutes between rain drops...
It wAs sO MUcH FrEakiN FUN!!!

Way to soon to say much else except I had no problems associated with the setup. My kickstand rubbed on turns, hands brakes came after the pics and ride, stuff like that.

We have rain coming for the next week or so, but if I ride, I will holler it from the rooftops.

Mac