Ernst from Turllock Ca

[Ernst]

To add another post What a blast last night. Lit up and under power the local cops haven't needed to bother me so far.

At 1 AM I took a city tour because I didn't want to park the ride so soon. Oh and found out that I cannot get fast food at our only open all night fast food joint, Del Taco. But I did get that one, last order.

So the black quick disconnect basket from Walmart held the food and a large drink fine, I was told no licence plate no service.

I pointed out that I had a plate that reads "spoiled" but that didn't fly. Spoiled refers to the bike not exactly me.
With so many people concerned and so much bling-bling bike stuff on her it's the china girl that is spoiled.

So I take it Del Taco is doing their bit to fight terrorism one food order and video surveillance at a time and a well known local, long time customer, on his Bike, is part of the great unwanted at Del Taco...

I'll try and shoot some new bike pictures after I get the colored plug wires and solder the electrical.

 

[Wm Holden]

To add another post What a blast last night. Lit up and under power the local cops haven't needed to bother me so far.

At 1 AM I took a city tour because I didn't want to park the ride so soon. Oh and found out that I cannot get fast food at our only open all night fast food joint, Del Taco. But I did get that one, last order.

So the black quick disconnect basket from Walmart held the food and a large drink fine, I was told no licence plate no service.

I pointed out that I had a plate that reads "spoiled" but that didn't fly. Spoiled refers to the bike not exactly me.
With so many people concerned and so much bling-bling bike stuff on her it's the china girl that is spoiled.

So I take it Del Taco is doing their bit to fight terrorism one food order and video surveillance at a time and a well known local, long time customer, on his Bike, is part of the great unwanted at Del Taco...

I'll try and shoot some new bike pictures after I get the colored plug wires and solder the electrical.

Burger King did me like that...haven't been back....
MB'ing is the new normal...companies better wake up.
There are twice as many bikes on this planet as there are cars!

 

[Mike B]

It's a liability thing. They don't sell to pedestians at the drive thru either.

Some guy eases off the brake while searching for change and rolls into a car, no biggie. Same thing with a bike, potential big problem.

 

[Ernst]

I did get the vibe that the reason for no service was "crime prevention." I take it they video the plates on cars.

Oh well.. They can get by without my money.

I have a story today of a 91.4 mile ride. You see I like to go distance and for my efforts I'm finding celebrity when I stop and have a beer for example.
Today was an unknown destination ride. I had a 2l tank full and about 3/4 of a gallon on the back book rack and no idea how far I would actually go.
I rode to our Turlock Lake which is part of our irrigation system and local water supplies. When I had enjoyed the view from atop a hill over looking the lake I went on down the road to a camp ground and got the news that I can bike and camp for $5 a night ( maximum 2 night stay ).
From there I headed across Roberts Ferry bridge ( people used to have businesses that took people across the river ) and then I decided to go on up to La Grange California.
When I got to La Grange I found out that the Saloon had been shut down by the Law over a medical cannabis grower having a few plants in his apartment over the bar. Seems they took a dim view of Cannabis wafting around the place. Well that was not satisfying so I headed south after that to a town called Snelling where I pulled into a parking lot at Bud's Bar and parked in line with the 6 Harleys parked there.
By the time I had shut the bike down and organized and locked the wheels four people had gathered around my bike and one took pictures.
We chatted and I told them what my ride had been about with the long stretch of amber grass land under the afternoon sun. We spoke about La Grange and all agreed that the times were bad on too many good folk.
Soon even more folks came outside from the bar and all of them were interested in my travels and the bike.
I had had an over heat on the way plus the disappointment of finding that La Grange saloon was closed down maybe forever but these folks really made my visit a warm experience. For example my double tequila was poured a triple and my second beer was bought for me. Salsa and chips surprised the customers by the looks on their faces and the salsa was excellent.
I promised to come back and they made it clear to me that I had 30 miles to go to get home.

30 miles of out in the middle of nowhere in the dark of night ( it was after 9 pm ) I was enjoying the fresh air and cool of the river on the night breeze. I watched the red sky of the setting sun and listened to the motor run solid while my new bike light lit up the road like I had halogen motorcycle lights but they are LED.
About 3 miles out into the country side I came on a grade and wanted to shift the rear gears to a smaller ratio so i could assist with climbing the hill and that is when the rear de-railer broke-bad!
Wow, with all the attention to the motor and that chain drive it didn't occur to me that the bike chain could come off sprocket and my effort to peddle would rip the tensioner and de-railer off the bike.
Well there it was. Chain and parts hanging there and lucky I happened to buy the "dorky looking" tool kit with the chain tool so I could pop a link and remove the broken parts but that left me with no peddle power.
27 miles later I am back in my town and crossing roads to whichever side allowed me to make turns without stopping. If any cop had seem me I would have gotten a ticket.
27 miles later I roll into my yard without having stopped completely once.

Now that is a story.

Oh and would you believe that I found a nice motorcycle cover on the road up to La Grange? It must have blown off a bike on a trailer. There are lots of boats and other things taken up into the foothills and lakes. So this really nice cover will replace the vinyl Bell one from walmart. .

Well this is a second attempt to write the story of my 91.4 mile ride today. Somehow I hit a key that closed that tab and I lost a page full.
What is true is I like the distance ride. This china girl seems to be running well. I had two over heats today but that may be more about mixing premium mix and the new regular mix together. If not then I do want a cooler engine.
Well travelling from town to town makes me a celebrity. It may be like the olden days when the first horseless carriages were seen. My Grand Father told me of the first time he saw a truck. From his story I have an idea of the interest folks have and to see harley riders taking pictures of my bike .. well it may be like what my Grand Father shared.
I'm a "local tourist."
This 91.4 mile ride makes about 400 miles on that china motor. It's time to put the expansion chamber on.
It's a slower ride than a motor cycle but connecting with the sun and lakes and people.. Makes it a wonderful thing.

A bit of good and some bad but had the chain and de-railer and tensioner parts gotten into the spokes... Well it would have been way worse.

 

[Wm Holden]

I did get the vibe that the reason for no service was "crime prevention." I take it they video the plates on cars.

Oh well.. They can get by without my money.

I have a story today of a 91.4 mile ride. You see I like to go distance and for my efforts I'm finding celebrity when I stop and have a beer for example.
Today was an unknown destination ride. I had a 2l tank full and about 3/4 of a gallon on the back book rack and no idea how far I would actually go.
I rode to our Turlock Lake which is part of our irrigation system and local water supplies. When I had enjoyed the view from atop a hill over looking the lake I went on down the road to a camp ground and got the news that I can bike and camp for $5 a night ( maximum 2 night stay ).
From there I headed across Roberts Ferry bridge ( people used to have businesses that took people across the river ) and then I decided to go on up to La Grange California.
When I got to La Grange I found out that the Saloon had been shut down by the Law over a medical cannabis grower having a few plants in his apartment over the bar. Seems they took a dim view of Cannabis wafting around the place. Well that was not satisfying so I headed south after that to a town called Snelling where I pulled into a parking lot at Bud's Bar and parked in line with the 6 Harleys parked there.
By the time I had shut the bike down and organized and locked the wheels four people had gathered around my bike and one took pictures.
We chatted and I told them what my ride had been about with the long stretch of amber grass land under the afternoon sun. We spoke about La Grange and all agreed that the times were bad on too many good folk.
Soon even more folks came outside from the bar and all of them were interested in my travels and the bike.
I had had an over heat on the way plus the disappointment of finding that La Grange saloon was closed down maybe forever but these folks really made my visit a warm experience. For example my double tequila was poured a triple and my second beer was bought for me. Salsa and chips surprised the customers by the looks on their faces and the salsa was excellent.
I promised to come back and they made it clear to me that I had 30 miles to go to get home.

30 miles of out in the middle of nowhere in the dark of night ( it was after 9 pm ) I was enjoying the fresh air and cool of the river on the night breeze. I watched the red sky of the setting sun and listened to the motor run solid while my new bike light lit up the road like I had halogen motorcycle lights but they are LED.
About 3 miles out into the country side I came on a grade and wanted to shift the rear gears to a smaller ratio so i could assist with climbing the hill and that is when the rear de-railer broke-bad!
Wow, with all the attention to the motor and that chain drive it didn't occur to me that the bike chain could come off sprocket and my effort to peddle would rip the tensioner and de-railer off the bike.
Well there it was. Chain and parts hanging there and lucky I happened to buy the "dorky looking" tool kit with the chain tool so I could pop a link and remove the broken parts but that left me with no peddle power.
27 miles later I am back in my town and crossing roads to whichever side allowed me to make turns without stopping. If any cop had seem me I would have gotten a ticket.
27 miles later I roll into my yard without having stopped completely once.

Now that is a story.

Oh and would you believe that I found a nice motorcycle cover on the road up to La Grange? It must have blown off a bike on a trailer. There are lots of boats and other things taken up into the foothills and lakes. So this really nice cover will replace the vinyl Bell one from walmart. .

Well this is a second attempt to write the story of my 91.4 mile ride today. Somehow I hit a key that closed that tab and I lost a page full.
What is true is I like the distance ride. This china girl seems to be running well. I had two over heats today but that may be more about mixing premium mix and the new regular mix together. If not then I do want a cooler engine.
Well travelling from town to town makes me a celebrity. It may be like the olden days when the first horseless carriages were seen. My Grand Father told me of the first time he saw a truck. From his story I have an idea of the interest folks have and to see harley riders taking pictures of my bike .. well it may be like what my Grand Father shared.
I'm a "local tourist."
This 91.4 mile ride makes about 400 miles on that china motor. It's time to put the expansion chamber on.
It's a slower ride than a motor cycle but connecting with the sun and lakes and people.. Makes it a wonderful thing.

A bit of good and some bad but had the chain and de-railer and tensioner parts gotten into the spokes... Well it would have been way worse.

I sense an epic sticky...
"The travels of"
Well...good job...great writing...worth the second atempt...and thank you!

 

[Mike B]

What did it do when it "over heated"?

 

[Wm Holden]

What did it do when it "over heated"?

wondered that myself

 

[Ernst]

wondered that myself

What did it do when it "over heated"?

Thanks for the replies. It was a memorable ride.

Ah, today is spring like and Happy Father's day to all.

About that over heating there is a story to that as well.

Since I didn't know to expect such a thing let me lay this open and we can sort it out.

I switched gas from 91 octane to 87 octane and with a new mix of 87and 16 to one Lucas in a 1 gallon which I attach to the rear rack with Velcro on the bottom and bungee cord around the jug I rode off from my home.
With a nearly full 2L of the old premium 91 octane / 24 to one mix I rode the distance to that lake and on to the camp ground where I filled up the 2L with the new mix. About 1 L was mixed in with the old mix.
Once I let out of the camp ground ahead was the Roberts Ferry Bridge and over that neat wood bridge ( Bridges - Roberts Ferry Bridge - Chuck Denny - 36/187 - World Wide Panorama ) My 64 bit Quick time is a bit hokey but maybe this will work for windows and here is a Google Earth look at the Roberts Ferry Bridge area Link
Also Panoramio - Photo of Roberts Ferry Bridge detail

A short ride up the highway after crossing I realized the new CDI and it's truly annoying spark plug cap had broken again and the cap was hanging down off the plug but the motor was running?
The Kill switch didn't do anything naturally so I backed of the gas and it ran fast still and when I stopped it was still running but in just a second or two I engaged the clutch as I started to peddle again and that is when the motor shut off.
I went on instinct about motors seizing to be absolutely honest here and I placed the cap on the plug and got the motor going in under a minute. It did cool some but not enough to say it cooled off. I realized the motor was hot enough to run without a working spark plug.
So now my mission was to figure a way to deal with this and learning from my first experience I realized again that the motor was running faster than my throttle but I took care to bring the RPM's down with drag and once the RPM's came down the motor responded and ran under my control. Eventually I had to take a bungee off the gas jug and bungee yet another broken plug wire. I have to admit bungee cord holds the cap on when nothing else will.

So that is what happened and I took care to watch the motor and it didn't repeat again for the next 60 or more miles.

I went by what my Step Father had said when I was a teen that engines seize when really hot and that cooling them down is the thing to do but that keeping it running to cool it down is better. Now it should be said here that this little motor didn't seem all that hot to be honest but for sure it ran without a plug wire on and "ran away rpm wise" twice but that decreasing the rpm and bringing it down with drag brought the run away back to my control. Only one time was the plug wire off.

I know I'm missing the full picture so I welcome your comments.
Using Lucas means the rings may get shellacked from what I read on synthetic oils but Lucus is a blend of synthetic and regular?

The more I add here is about the muffler. I see that a hole in the upper part of the muffler must have had a screw in it. I assume it held part of the muffler inside in place. That screw is gone and exhaust comes out of that small hole now. The result is a ping sound now. It is a slight change but seems okay. I have the SBP kit here so I think it's time.

On the long ride in the dark home the motor ran smooth as it does now that I have run all the 91 octane out and am on 87 now. I have experienced both now and say that 87 is better for a broke in but that 91 didn't seem to hurt in break in mix.

As to the motor seemingly being harmed by the "over heat" I don't know. It's possible and perhaps the voice in my head that said to get moving again after the first event is a wrong suggestion. Humbly I welcome input.

 

[Mike B]

Whoa dude, the engine was running w/o the plug wire attached to the spark plug?

Amazing. Yeah, it had to be real hot to diesel like that.

 

[Ernst]

Yes it must have been.

I sort of think the gas mix had an influence since I wasn't riding out of character.

So what should I do? New rings and hone it? I hope not.

Perhaps I need to pull the head and have a look? I'm open to suggestions.
The lazy part of me says if it aint broke don't fix it. Maybe I went to the edge but didn't fall over?

 

[Mike B]

Absolutely.

You can't hone it anyway, it's chromed.

Ride till it dies.

 

[Wm Holden]

ride on...ride on...

 

[Ernst]

Bike shop has the rear de-railer in stock so I may be riding tonight!

 

[Ernst]

Hey friends I have an update.

The new rear derailer is on and I had my man Matt pull the bearings and inspect, true the wheel, adjust the brakes and get me back on the road. Took an hour. Matt loves BMX and the motor bicycle is a strange fish to him but I trust his abilities when it comes to the bike maintenance.

So off to my Friend Dale's house and the unofficial garage most of us flock to.
I was hard on the clutch getting home Saturday night when the peddle power went out so I noticed the clutch wasn't grabbing and cranking the engine easy as before.

The compression seems tight and I know why the motor over heated now but more on that in a second.

So I ask my friend Dale to show me about the clutch and adjusting it and when we took the cover off a screw that holds the smaller gear on had come out and had machined the threads off the end of it. Da-yam that s***.
I knew about a rattle but I had no idea and pulling the clutch cover for inspection hadn't come up yet. Why why why don't they 1.) Use something besides a slotted screw and 2.) Lock tight the da-yam bolts? Obviously vibration is an issue and if it's truly important we used to safety wire the bolts in on equipment where people's lives are at risk. So I need parts again.

On that over heat. It's obvious the piston is tighter than ever so I welcome input on that. I am running 87 and 16 to one Lucas.

Now about that air flow. It's a serious issue. While it's good for the bike to break the air around the rider it's not so good when air is needed to cool the engine and the V is a dead air zone.
So I'm open to suggestions and I also have an idea using some ducting from Home Depot.
What is really true is the motor is not getting air enough for summer time. I have to do something. Something that works and looks fair.

Okay, on the clutch. Dale and I have a question. I will search and research but also I'll ask here.
There are two sides to the pads. One that seems to be abrasive and one that seems to be rubber like. Which side is to stick out?
Dale has installed them rubber in and mine came with rubber out.

On the modification front, the expansion chamber is on for this week. I have access to tools and a welder. There is a machine shop near by so any custom bending is handy!
So it's about which way it will go.
I like the idea of heading down and back over the to the side since I dislike to get burned.
I like the dual kick stand but if it works better routing the pipe down and under then I'll have to compromise with a rear kick stand.

So friends.. How about that tight piston? The bike definitely has a harder time using the clutch to start the motor now. Not a real hard time but it's a different experience after the 91.4 mile ride.
And again which way are the pads to go? I'm ordering a spare set so I'm prepared with parts.

Other then that I dig the bike and it's running well at this time.
Pictures to come after the SBP expansion chamber and maybe I'll have a solution to the dead air flow zone and a hot motor.

 

[Mike B]

Did you pull the head and look at the bore?

 

[Ernst]

Did you pull the head and look at the bore?

No I didn't is it as simple as taking the 4 caps off the top?

I had to tighten them as I lost compression. Perhaps inspection then is as easy as taking them off and lifting the top off?

Thanks

 

[GearNut]

Removing the cylinder head is as simple as you think it is.
Installing it back on takes a little bit more effort to do it correctly though.
Al.Fisherman has the best info on doing it right here:
http://motorbicycling.com/f3/49cc-head-gasket-torque-30425.html#post290757

 

[Ernst]

Thanks.. I'll be doing the Expansion soon and I will take a look inside.

I know I'm getting good help and I appreciate the efforts friends.

I do so love to ride. And it's looking good and sounding good so far.

 

[MaximusPrime]

Love the bike Ernst! The paint on it is pretty cool... I like the big color fades... makes it look like it will go faster....

As far as lights goes I am using my old head light I have had for a few years from my peddle cruiser.... I wish I could remember the company that makes it but I think its no longer manufactured... Its bright as **** and uses any 4 AAs I put in it....

My suggestions when shopping for bike lights is... one its almost better to not use a generator because the generator can fail and or your motor will fail... which in turn makes peddling the bike home and turning the generator at times a pain in the ass.... In my opinion... cause I know some will argue with me... its best to have lights that run on batteries rather than a gen.... and on that note do not buy a light that has rechargeable proprietary battery packs... buy one that uses universal batteries you can buy rechargeables to put in it... that way if your out on a ride and your batteries fail... its just a quick stop and a couple bucks at 7-11 to get home as opposed to a hard to peddle and or dark ride home....

The second suggestion that I make to people is... shop for a light thats bright as ****... The way light works it takes it time to go from your head light to an object and then reflected back to your eyes... This process can almost take too long if your light is not bright enough for the 30+ miles an hour your bike is gonna be able to go... so if its not bright enough then its a waste of time.... your not gonna be giving yourself any distance out away from your bike to provide you with reaction time to do anything....

The third and last suggestion I make to people is when one light is good... two is almost better... If you ride out in rural areas like I do then having a second light you can use to point to the shoulder so you can see whats beside you helps out a lot... It also makes you much more visible to your driveway side of the road if you have it pointed at the shoulder... What I have seen many do and I plan to do is get a better helmet than the one I have now and mount a second light on my helmet so that where ever I am looking I can point a light and see whats there... This will also allow me to directly point a light at drivers that are approaching from driveways on the shoulder so they see me and have to hit their brakes.....

Anyhow... just my thoughts and what I have learned in a few years of bicycle riding....

 

[Ernst]

Thanks for the feedback MaximusPrime

The light issue is good but will be better soon.

I think I will wait for the second light kit to arrive then do a new photo series. Bike Porn for sure.

But I am in agreement with you. After all we have a motor and human power so back up is our main goal.
I have a the Cygolite: Rover II Xtra LED FM so that is good for 25 to 30 mph but still I must keep watch and I will have a battery light soon as it arrives.

Anyway I am considering a Journal here so after we install the SBP expansion tomorrow and the new light arrives I think it will be almost complete as transport.

Night Rider is what I am. I love the cool of the evening on the empty country roads.

So I'll do this reporting right soon.