Felt Twin 4 stroke build

[SD moto man]

I just started my build today and though I would post a few pictures of what I have so far. It's a Felt Twin, the coolest bike I have ever owned. I have been dreaming of riding one of these for a while, and I finally just gave in and decided to do it. I bought a set of Monarch forks and a disc brake kit for a beefed up front end. I just got my front wheel rebuilt with the new hub and spokes for the disc set up and it's ready to be installed once I get the tank sealed.

The first part of the build will be sealing the top tube for an in-frame gas tank. I bought the bung and cap from a place that makes them just for the Felts, so it's a perfect fit. I drilled the fill hole tonight, and tomorrow will be sealing the front holes with JB weld and prepping it for the Caswell sealer. I was a little nervous to do the tank myself as I've never done anything like this before, but so far, so good. The hard part is yet to come though...

 

[ocho ninja]

Nice build, and beautiful looking bike.
I wanted to build a felt bike, but was discouraged by steps needed to make the inframe tank. But your giving me new hope lol

Keep us posted with pics and progress

 

[SD moto man]

Thanks. There is definitely a lot of work going into the tank part, but it will payoff when it's done. I was considering having a shop do it, until I found out they charge around $400! I didn't have any supplies, so I have spent about $125 on the cap and bung, sealer, and the cutting drill bits. Overall, far cheaper to do it yourself.

The Caswell sealer is in the mail, so I'll post a few more pictures once I get it sealed up.

 

[ocho ninja]

Yea I know I figuring out the costs and tools needed, but I also had conflicting feelings about drilling into a nice new frame lol
The felt frames are aluminum right?

 

[culvercityclassic]

Thats going to be a nice ride, great choice on the bung. You purchased the Felt Monarch?

 

[SD moto man]

Not all the Felt's are aluminum. I know the MP also comes in steel. I was a little sketched out about drilling my brand new frame too, but it was no big deal after.

I got my forks and disc setup from Norm at Venice. I haven't put them on yet, but I think my only adjustment needed will be matching the 1'' to the Felt 1 1/8'' head tube. Norm told me about this and pointed me in the right direction for some shims.

I tapped my petcock hole yesterday and ready to start sealing it up. It looks like there are 3 holes to plug in the front, and 3 in the back. The frame a gap on either side of the seat tube, this will be the trickiest part. The last one is a hole in the seat tube, that should be a piece of cake. I went on a wild goose chase trying to find the correct tap size. It's a 1/8'' 27 or 10mm x 1.0 in metric. I went to Home Depot, then Ace, then Dixieline Lumber to find the damn thing.

 

[Velodrome]

Your off to a nice start SD! I myself have purchased a Felt Twin and I must say they are BEAUTIFUL bikes. I vasalated between the 1903 and Twin and an MP. Once I saw the Twin in person there was no going back. Your way ahead of me in the build. I'm dreading also the "moment of truth" when I break out the hole saw and go ripping through the tank. Heh...My front wheel is off getting a SA 90mm laced into the front wheel and I'm held up wating for parts coming from all over. I hope to bring it over some day for one or two of the orginized rides you fellas have.

 

[flmotorbikes]

Sweet build

 

[SD moto man]

Thanks Fl.

Velodrome- You are right, these bikes are lookers. I was in the same boat as you, couldn't decide between the 1903 and the Twin. I'm really happy with the Twin, and it's style is perfect for me because I am half British.

 

[hawaii_87]

Looking good!!!

 

[scotto-]

Yes it is looking real nice so far, you are going about it the right way by taking your time and thinking ahead. PM me if you run in to complications, I can help.

The tank I converted from a large top tube was the same frame as the black bike Maxvision was riding on the Coronado ride....that is my bike as well and have been meaning to convert that one too.

Keep up the good work and look forward to riding with you soon.....with your new build

Cheers,
scotto-

 

[SD moto man]

Here is an update on my progress:

For the front holes, I filled these with epoxy through the fill hole and covered the holes in the down tube with tape. The holes in the back were a little more tricky. I packed them steel wool using a bent wire to jam it down in there. After the steel wool was in place, I mixed up some epoxy and injected it with a plastic syringe.

Next, I used Caswell to seal it up completely. After the first round, I gave it another coat the next day to insure there would be no leaks. I let it sit for 36 hours then gave it the water test overnight. Success!! I also blew in it to see if there was any leaks, success again! So it appears it is water tight now. I installed the bung with epoxy.

Next I mounted the monarch forks. I'm not sure what happened during these steps, I might have put the head set on incorrectly. I was told I needed shims because the Monarch's are 1'' and the Felt's are 1 and 1/8''. I didn't end up using these, I couldn't get them to mate up with anything else. Where are they suppose to go??

Once I got the fork in there, I realized my Felt handlebar stem would not be compatible because the fork tube didn't stick up high enough. The Felt's bolt around the fork tube and I knew that wasn't going to work, so I took another stem I had from my other cruiser and inserted it inside the fork tube. That seems so work, but it doesn't look as nice and I don't have any handlebars on my other cruiser now. I'm not sure if I will leave it or not.

That's where I left off for now, as I am waiting/ trying to decide what engine kit to get again... I bought the Dax titan and after I got it I realized that was not going to work for me. I didn't know the 8mm chain the tranny uses won't work on a sprocket adapter. I called up Duane as asking him what are my options? He told me to use the rag joint because they are stronger and better for the wheel. I didn't want to start an argument with him about how he was totally wrong. He suggested tig welding a 10T front sprocket for a 415 chain, which didn't sound like the path I wanted to go down. And since it was a 3:1 reduction, I would need a 70+T sprocket, which would be huge and expensive. After thinking about my options, I ask for a refund because this was more trouble than I wanted to get myself into. He said no. I called him the next day and told him I was unhappy with the kit, and wasn't what I wanted, and he finally accepted a refund so I shipped it back this week.

Now I am back to ground zero and don't have a kit. I was thinking about going with Phantom's kit since they beef up their 4g transmission, but they are out of stock for 3 weeks. I started looking into the EZ motors, and they seems pretty good from doing some research, but expensive. I'm waiting to hear back from Scotto about this.

 

[ocho ninja]

If you would of gone with a 8mm chain set up like the one posted on dax website with his 3:1 tranny you could of gotten a 8mm 72t sprocket that would of been around the same size as 44t 415 sprocket while still getting a proper reduction.
Im still trying to figure my drive terrain issues with my four stroke

 

[SD moto man]

Yeah I know I could have done that too, but I didn't see any places that have a large enough sprocket in 8mm that could be used with a hub adapter. I definitely would not use the garbage rag joint in the kit and ruin my nice wheel, so hub adapter is my only option.

 

[ocho ninja]

You could always drill out your own holes or have a sprocket made by kings.

Im planning on drilling my own holes and getting a spring loaded tensioner that will allow for easy front drive cog swaps to get different ratios.
this is the hub set up i have on my bike... some people dont like the drum brake but it stops me pretty well.

 

[SD moto man]

That rear wheel looks pretty solid. I thought about adding a drum to the back. Where did you get that axle brake kit?

 

[ocho ninja]

I bought my a while back with some parts for my two smoker from bikeberry.
i had laced up with some 12g spokes and a downhill mtx sunrim at my LBS, Its been a very strong wheel with no signs of untrueness after 300+ miles. Given the fact that im 6'2" at 260+pounds with my gear.

im still trying to source some replacement band brakes for the drum.

 

[scotto-]

That rear wheel looks pretty solid. I thought about adding a drum to the back. Where did you get that axle brake kit?

That is the same hub I have on both the bikes I brought to our last ride.....got them both from Spookytooth a few years ago. The one on the 212 has the non-freewheel flanged drive sprocket and the black bike with HS has the freewheel type that I brazed solid after the FW failed. They are chineese heavy steel hub shells drilled for 12g and have 4 sealed cartridge bearings in them. They're pretty strong. I ditched the band brakes on both of them for a few reasons.

 

[SD moto man]

How necessary are the heavy duty hubs? I only greased my coaster brake hub 1 time in 4 years on my last bike and never had an issue.

 

[ocho ninja]

They can handle the power, weight, and speed better than regular bike hubs.
Their also awesome cause they get rid of the rag joint setup.