Hello. I recently received an old motorized bicycle from a friend, and I want to get it going again. I'm intimately familiar with bicycles, I used to manage a community workshop, but I have basically no knowledge of motors. (I changed the two embedded pictures into links because the pictures are so large.)
http://i.imgur.com/z9kadJE.jpg
Some of the small accessories are broken; a lot of the hardware is bent, broken, or rusted beyond easy adjustment; and the bike itself needs a general tune-up.
This is my plan:
1) Strip everything from the bike, and inspect/clean parts. Repack the bearings, adjust fork and hubs, etc.
1-b) Take apart the motor and clean and inspect it. I don't know much mechanics, but I figure broken metal is broken metal, and I can record and research any findings. Drain any fluids.
2) Find replacements for any parts that are broken. Currently I need a new ignition coil and possibly a new throttle handle.
3) Reassemble bike, incorporating new hardware or parts while necessary.
4) Try to start it. If start = false, return to step 2.
-Somewhere between 1) and 3), paint parts.
I also have a few questions:
1) The plastic seat where the throttle cable connects to the killswitch grip is broken. Are there any easy fixes or do I need a new one? I doesn't look dissimilar to a gripshift...
http://i.imgur.com/1jeNkOt.jpg
2) Any preferred vendors? I see the sponsors on the side, so this question is sort of answered because prior to the post my research led me to BikeBerry.
3) It does not have a bike chain, only a motor chain. Is the need to pedal necessary? I'm guessing you could use it to bumpstart, but if it isn't needed I think I'd rather pull the bb and replace the cranks with just pegs or a dowel to rest my feet on.
4) The gas tank is weird. It's really big, and it looks like it should fit a much larger vehicle. It isn't the small teardrop tank in most kits, it's about twice as long and is curved over the frame. I'm going to test how secure it is, but if anything jumps out to you let me know.
All things considered, I'm pretty optimistic. Given the kit nature of this hobby, it seems like I can easily buy replacements for nearly anything, and they're all designed as components that plug together instead of requiring any schemes or abilities.
http://i.imgur.com/z9kadJE.jpg
Some of the small accessories are broken; a lot of the hardware is bent, broken, or rusted beyond easy adjustment; and the bike itself needs a general tune-up.
This is my plan:
1) Strip everything from the bike, and inspect/clean parts. Repack the bearings, adjust fork and hubs, etc.
1-b) Take apart the motor and clean and inspect it. I don't know much mechanics, but I figure broken metal is broken metal, and I can record and research any findings. Drain any fluids.
2) Find replacements for any parts that are broken. Currently I need a new ignition coil and possibly a new throttle handle.
3) Reassemble bike, incorporating new hardware or parts while necessary.
4) Try to start it. If start = false, return to step 2.
-Somewhere between 1) and 3), paint parts.
I also have a few questions:
1) The plastic seat where the throttle cable connects to the killswitch grip is broken. Are there any easy fixes or do I need a new one? I doesn't look dissimilar to a gripshift...
http://i.imgur.com/1jeNkOt.jpg
2) Any preferred vendors? I see the sponsors on the side, so this question is sort of answered because prior to the post my research led me to BikeBerry.
3) It does not have a bike chain, only a motor chain. Is the need to pedal necessary? I'm guessing you could use it to bumpstart, but if it isn't needed I think I'd rather pull the bb and replace the cranks with just pegs or a dowel to rest my feet on.
4) The gas tank is weird. It's really big, and it looks like it should fit a much larger vehicle. It isn't the small teardrop tank in most kits, it's about twice as long and is curved over the frame. I'm going to test how secure it is, but if anything jumps out to you let me know.
All things considered, I'm pretty optimistic. Given the kit nature of this hobby, it seems like I can easily buy replacements for nearly anything, and they're all designed as components that plug together instead of requiring any schemes or abilities.