First Build friction drive

Today I had my first failed part. I took a 20 mile ride on the Natchez Trace and about 5 miles from home I started to hear a funny noise from somewhere in the area of the engine. Stopped and couldn't find anything wrong so went on home. Put it on the bike stand and did a thorough inspection and found the outboard bearing on my friction roller had failed after 170 miles. Going to look for a stronger bearing tomorrow. The one I used was just too light for the spring pressure. I really like riding this thang, the only drawback is the rubberneckers i meet in traffic, really have to watch out for them. Man I love to ride on the trace, not much traffic and they are used to encountering cyclists and give plenty of room when they pass. I am having a lot of fun riding this bike.
Elmo.trk
 
I have about 200 miles on ol snaggletooth now. I ordered a new bearing from Grainger and ups delivered it about 20 hrs later, very good service. Installed the bearing and went for a ride, works good. I saw where someone put an extra tank on their bike so Iused their idea and added one to mine. Makes it much easier to fill and now I can go about 50 miles with the fuel in the tanks.
The sun is shining and the temp is at 69 degrees so I think I will take advantage of my new tank and go for a long ride and enjoy the fruits of my labor. By the way I have a new helper to help me lose tools and turn things over. First pic below.
Elmo
 

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Yeah Ron I am really having fun with this bike now that all the bugs are worked out. I changed the carb yesterday. Replaced the Walbro With a Zima (sp?). It runs about 4 mph faster and uses less fuel. I timed three miles on the trace and averaged 2.5 minutes per mile Thats 24 mph not bad for 30cc.
I just got home from a 40 mile ride and it was fun. I was passed by only about 25 cars in the whole 40 miles also two bunches of Harleys on the trace must have been 40 or 50 in each bunch. They gave me plenty of room and most waved as they came around.
I stopped at Emrald Mound and took a couple of pics. "Designated a National Historic Landmark, Emerald is one of the largest mounds in North America. Covering eight acres, Emerald Mound measures 770 by 435 feet at the base and is 35 feet high. The mound was built by depositing earth along the sides of a natural hill, thus reshaping it and creating an enormous artificial plateau. Two smaller mounds sit atop the expansive summit platform of the primary mound. The larger of the two, at the west end, measures 190 by 160 feet and is 30 feet high. Several additional smaller mounds were once located along the edges of the primary mound summit, but were destroyed in the 19th century by plowing and erosion. " Quoted from the National register website. Stopped on the trace and took a couple more pics. The aerial photo is from their website also.
I still had about one third of one of the tanks of gas left when I got home. Took me about 3 1/2 hours what with talking with folks, stopping to take pics, and stopping a couple of times to check things out on the bike. I sure hated for the ride to end.
Elmo.shft..trk
 

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I get my bearings from Blain's Farm and Fleet. The ones for 5/8 inch shaft are 8 dollars. It's nice to walk in a store and pick up a bearing and not have to order and wait. Your setup looks like it might need a specific outer bearing diameter, so Farm and Fleet probably wouldn't work for you.
 
cvlt1Hi Adam, Long Time, No Hear!! Lol. Are You Still Riding Your Diy Friction? Any New Pics? Good To Hear From You. Elmo`s And Your DIY Frictions Are Good Ones. Ron .
 
Thanks Ron!

Yeah, the old contraption is still buzzing along. Not getting as much roadtime lately as I'd like, but I complain too much about the weather, so I'll bite my tongue. (And the days are short in this part of the world now)

No new pics, really. I think the last ones were when I made the new alum mounting block. I've got something to post about my drive roller, but I'll do that some other day.

I don't ride in the snow, so I'm sure to spend more time on this site soon! See ya.
 
a-dam said:
I get my bearings from Blain's Farm and Fleet. The ones for 5/8 inch shaft are 8 dollars. It's nice to walk in a store and pick up a bearing and not have to order and wait. Your setup looks like it might need a specific outer bearing diameter, so Farm and Fleet probably wouldn't work for you.
Click to expand...

Yeah mine takes a .5"x1.25" within resaon width don't matter. I ordered mine from Grainger and had it within 24 hrs 7$ & some few cents. It is working good. Thanks for the reply.
Elmo
 
Thanks for the post. This will be my first build and you have given me some good ideas. I was thinking of using an skateboard or roller skate wheel to mount to the shaft.
 
My roller is 1" and wheel is 26" if you go much bigger than that you won't have much hill climbing ability unless you gear the roller down. Mine will pull all the hills on state highways and needs help on real steep hills on county roads. The zip drive used a 2" to 2 1/4" roller with an engine like mine but they had approximately 2.5 to 1 gear reduction on theirs. Hope this helps.
Elmo
 
Well I have 350 miles on the bike now and all is well. Very slight tire wear and nothing has come undone. The temps have been low and rain for the last several days so no riding this week. BTW I found another homelite weedeater engine at the dump, looks to be in pretty good shape with real good compression. Don't guess you can have too many spares.
Elmo.trk
 
My Homelite friction drives averaged about 3000 miles before starting to lose compression (2-3 tires worth). I found the secret to reliability was locking that flywheel to the shaft with a bolt and a good bearing on the outboard end.

PS I started chopping up some old 10 speeds for my DIY recumbent this week.
 
Thanks for the information. What style of recumbent are you building? Here is a site that has plans for one similar to mine. Home I have been very pleased with mine. I have a better built one that I am going to motorize sometime.
Elmo.trk
 
Elmo said:
Thanks for the information. What style of recumbent are you building?
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One of the WISIL Easyracer variations with my own personal mods. I don't plan to motorize because around here we are lucky to get away with motors on 10 speed and mountain bikes. No need to attract attention.
 
xlite said:
One of the WISIL Easyracer variations with my own personal mods. I don't plan to motorize because around here we are lucky to get away with motors on 10 speed and mountain bikes. No need to attract attention.
Click to expand...
I didn't like the seat on the easyracer so I used a bentech type seat modified to fit my frame. It is basically a conduit frame with heavy nylon mesh cover laced with bungy cord. Very comfortable.
Elmo
 
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