Farewell, Flying Fart....hello, Tundro (new build thread)

anim8r

anim8r

New Member
My Black Squirrel ("The Flying Fart") was just too problematic. Spring is here, & I wanna ride. So I stripped my old cruiser down with a heavy heart & hung it in the garage for now. Who knows? Maybe it will become my 1st tadpole one day. Sure was a cool bike, & I'll miss it.

So now I'm working on Tundro, an (ahem) all-terrain beast named after the triceratops-lookin' thing from The Herculoids.


This one won't be nearly as fancy as the old one. I'm just mounting a motor on a bike, simply as I can.

The 1st thing I'm concerned about is the mounting.

The pic isn't very clear, but it shows a slight gap between the mounting block & the bike's downtube. This is caused by a weld from the manufacturer.....there used to be a bottle holder there, but it was in the way so I removed it & the hardware. What's left is this nice little hole that kinda looks like a washer welded to the tube. I'm afraid the gap & bump might put pressure on the mounting block & cause it to eventually break......

I had to make some new mounting studs from threaded rod since the Flying Fart had custom U-bolt mounts (& I cut the old mounts down to use as fender bracket hardware).

Aside from the bump, the motor sits pretty nicely in the frame.....except for 2 things:
1) the left pedal hits the exhaust pipe. Gotta bend that in.

2) there doesn't appear to be a lot of room for the throttle cable to screw into the carb. Really hoping that won't be a problem.....no time to find out today.
 
holy crap....I just realized why my rear wheel kept kicking out on the Flying Fart. We even made a part to prevent the problem, & never used it.

Oh well, the rebuild experience is fun....I'm seeing how quickly I can get it done. I've got about 3 hrs into it right now & probably another 2 to go. And I'd like to try a motorized mountain bike anyway.

New plan: ride Tundro while building triple tree front end for The Flying Fart. My partner is bringing a TIG welder into the garage, so custom bike funtime is about to begin. (I wanna trike & a tadpole & a bobber & a board tracker & this thing I got in my head that doesn't have a name yet & a recumbent & a monowheel & a dicycle & a snowmobile & a little motorboat that turns into an ultralight... & & & ....)
 
5hrs into it now. Bent a crank arm & made a spacer to get clearance of the motor yesterday....might`ve worked....I`ll find out today.
 
I'd definitely file/dremel the washer thing off, that could cause you problems in the future, or it might just sink into the aluminum but keep an eye on it if you leave it.

For the pipe I was going to suggest just ovaling the holes on the pipe flange with a round file. You can get quite a bit of twist out of a pipe that way. But bending the crank works too :)

Sorry I slacked finding this thread eh.

gl.
 
So what's up? Did you get the exhaust pipe bent?

I was thinking now that we have a drill press, we could drill the holes for the allen head bolts larger so the bolt heads fit down into the motor case and give us more pedal clearance.

Important safety tip kids: always stand behind someone when they're hammering. It only takes one slip of the hammer to make you a soprano!
 
dang, it's been a while since I've been here. Yup, I got the muffler bent. It cracked a little at the joint, but I sealed it up with JB Weld & that seemed to do the trick. The crank still just b-a-r-e-l-y rubs on the allen heads....I'll get around to it...it's not a major problem right now.

(Also surprisingly not a problem: that hammer throw to my groin. It's one of the mysteries of nature. I'll never understand why that didn't hurt a LOT more.)

Here's a problem to work on:
after about 15-20 minutes -- when the engine's nice & warmed up -- I start losing takeoff power.I'll leave a stop sign, twist the throttle all the way back, & it takes off like I'm accidentally rolling down a very very gentle slope, like there's no driving force behind it. It feels like a near-total loss of compression. Once I pedal pedal pedal my way back up to speed, I can start riding along at a good clip.
Around that time, I also start experiencing a popping sound from the muffler.

any advice?
most of my rides are under 10 minutes, so I never really have to deal with this power loss. But I'd like to take longer rides once I'm confident i can make it back home. Under normal conditions I have pretty good takeoff speed & power....I just have to give it a pedal or 2 & I'm cruising. But once the motor's warm I have to pedal a couple of dozen times to really get going.

Bad piston rings have been suggested....
 
Adjust your clutch plate perhaps.
About the water bottle thing, make a halfpipe and drill or file a hole in it to fit over the protrusion.
 
thanks for the advice. I`ll look into the clutch plate right away.

For the water bottle thing I ground the bump down smooth and filled the hole with RTV....no probs so far. Solid advice though....thanks
 
Well.... I tried to adjust the clutch plate, but the lock screw stripped like it was made of plastic.
Anybody know the specs on that screw? Looks like I'm gonna end up having to replace it....
 
anim8r said:
Well.... I tried to adjust the clutch plate, but the lock screw stripped like it was made of plastic.
Anybody know the specs on that screw? Looks like I'm gonna end up having to replace it....
Click to expand...

Just take the plate off and jam whatever screw in that will bite. A self tapper even. It'll need a small head to sit in the flower though(or grind it down after shortening). Then grind off most of it from behind the plate. A little loc-tite wouldn't hurt depending on what screw you decide to use.

It's a Redneck fix, but it'll work. Been there.
 
An electrical wall plate screw was the right size. If you put the nut all the way on the screw, you can just take a dremel to it right there & it's the right length.

SO, i started to adjust the clutch plate. It was pretty loose, as it turns out.

I had an assistant helping me. She pushed in the clutch arm while I pushed in the plate & turned the flower nut. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until I had it mostly back together that she pushed the clutch arm ALL THE WAY in.....and now my clutch arm is all floppy.

What can I do about this?
 
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