European lightweight Motorized Bicycles

[Ludwig II]

https://cyclemaster.wordpress.com/page-1-history-of-cyclemaster/

There were other powered wheels. The BSA Cyclemaster was one, there were front wheel units like the Nordapp Velmo as well.

 

[Ludwig II]

Martin Hardy's recent English construction

On Facebook in Britain:

Martin Hardy.....Moped Autocycle & Cyclemotor Collector

Thinking of selling my campion powered 2 speed friction roller drive cyclemotor. It's a bespoke bike. 7 speed shimano nexia epicyclic hub fitted. I'm having issues putting a price on it. Could I get some feedback please. It does have a V5.

 

[Otero]

3 pennies a mile, WOW! That coverts to about a buck in today's money & gas
prices. Sign me up.

 

[Ludwig II]

3d translates to decimal 1.25p. That's probably total running costs per mile, inflation might change the figures, but it would still be a cheap slow runabout.

 

[Otero]

Well this is my cheap slow runabout with friction or belt drive options. I
finally came up with a wet weather drive roller, simple really. I burned some
#36 grit emery paper and panned off the ash 'til nothing was left but black
corundum sand. I took my old, deeply etched Staton roller, cleaned it, and
roughed it. Then I mixed the grit with JB Weld,(I don't think regular epoxy
would work as well), and applied a smooth rounded coat to the roller. It
grips exceedingly well, but one needs to pedal off to 7 or 8 mph & throttle
gently. Otherwise it will eat a tire like a chainsaw through balsa. Done properly,
there's no slippage or wear to the tire.
I also found a simple solution for a direct belt drive without a reduction gear.
Instead of a GEBE-like cogged belt, it uses a more durable, regular wedge belt.
Having tried a variety of pulleys, I finally struck on one that doesn't eventually
slip , and does not require excessive clutch burning tension. It is simply the
direction pulley from a 3/8" rope ratchet. Both adapt to my Staton
friction kit which is rotated 180 degrees in the horizontal plane for the
belt drive.

 

[Ludwig II]

Have you posted this in the DIY? It's worth sharing more widely.

 

[silverbear]

Have you posted this in the DIY? It's worth sharing more widely.

I concur.
SB

 

[Otero]

Not sure, it's there in another post somewhere. presently I'm only using
the friction setup. The belt setup is fast,(too fast for a bike with no front
suspension), but it doesn't climb well with the rim of a 20" as sheave. A
24" would be better. I find the friction to be preferable as it allows me to
lift the roller to pedal or coast, something complicated with the belt.
My Tanaka PF 4210 has a wider band of rpm than 4-strokes, so I can get
25 mph easily with the 1.06" roller. That's plenty fast enough for me. With
the larger sheave, the belt would be an option for off-road or muddy conditions.

 

[Ludwig II]

I remember my grandmother's Singer sewing machine, it had a lever to guide the belt off the wheel, whether or not it could guide it back on, I do not know.

 

[Otero]

That sounds worthy of investigation. The issue being, How does one keep the
belt from flopping around between the wheel & the stays? I've used zip ties to
that end, but it's not really a satisfactory solution.

 

[Ludwig II]

The treadle wheel was enclosed on the one side by a cast iron cage. From memory, there was a dismounting notch in the wheel as well, to allow the belt to move sideways when required.

 

[Ludwig II]

Durkopp, Germany.

 

[Otero]

I don't know as building a cage around my sheave would be terribly practical.
I'm content to know the ratchet pulley does work well. though disengaging it
means binding the belt aside to the stays. Not pretty, but it works. This system
can be used with the pulley inside or outside of the channel. If outside though,
the whole housing has to be shimmed to one side. On the other hand, if it is
inside, changing the belt entails disconnect the engine. While the belt has certain
advantages, the overall simplicity of the friction setup remains my choice now
that I have one that works in the soggy winter weather. I glad to have found a
belt system that works, but it's considerably more labor intensive to build &
install. I can smear the goo on the friction roller without even removing it. If
it wears, I can simply clean it up & add more.

*J-B Weld or a special metal binding epoxy is definitely better than plain epoxy.

 

[Ludwig II]

Well, it was a thought. The notched rim might still be a useful mount/dismount for the belt though, if it stays on in normal use.

 

[Otero]

Oh there's no problem tying the belt to side if you want to ride without it.
It's just more convenient with the friction drive. The belt setup was a real
chore, notching the sheave for spokes to a precise fit. tooling down the 5/8"
threaded shaft down to 3/8"-26T to fit the clutch drum. It's BooCoo work
by hand to 1.5mm tolerances. Someone will make the kit, but it's not really
a good DIY project

 

[Ludwig II]

Undated Ducati Cucciolo racer. No pedals, it's here just as a thought provoker.

1951 Ducati word record breaker in several classes

Undated Mosquito, Italy.

 

[Ludwig II]

1920, 187cc EBE, Sweden

Mid 1950s Terrot, France, with 2 speed Peugeot engine.

Terrot Imp, showing drive roller.

1909 Omega, England.

 

[Ludwig II]

Eysink Renata delivery trike chassis, Holland

Romania, Brasov plant engine but probably an MAW design.

Fake vintage in Romania.

Romania, Piaggio engine.

 

[Ludwig II]

Sachs engined trike, in Bucharest.

Romania, Mobra engine.

Romania, a Metrom moped engine with a new home.

Engish 1950s Elswick Trojan moped prototype

 

[curtisfox]

Something wrong with the last picture the fake Romania unless the engine runs backwards it will go backwards. A mighty big gear ratio also............Curt