First build in INDY!

[Tim Redmond]

One day I was sitting on my porch and I heard a noise coming down the street, it was a gentleman on a motorized bicycle, I said to myself,” THATS COOL AS ****! I went all summer,fall and winter and for some reason I couldn’t stop thinking about, so I finally built one, I KNEW I WOULD LOVE IT! A neighbor saw me riding it and asked “how fast does it go ? And I said :FAST ENOUGH TO MAKE YOU SMILE!!! It goes about 25 mph and for me that’s fast enough as i enjoy tooling around my historic neighborhood , Historic Irvington IN. I’m new to the forum and I am sure I will have plenty of questions! As I begin this new hobby! So HELLO EVERYONE!

 

[Greg58]

Welcome Tim, yes these bikes are fun and addictive, I started out to build one to try, I just finished number 8 a couple of weeks ago. Watch your fenders close, they will crack due to vibration.

 

[allen standley]

Welcome Tim. Happy to hear all went well form the get go. I'll be 59 soon and I can honestly say I havn't had so much fun on a bike since I was 9. Take Gregs advice and re-enforce those fenders with a corner bracket from the hardware store. Other safe fender tips in my safe fender album right here on this forum.
That's a good looking bike!
Keep right, Wear a helmet and Be Safe.

 

[Tim Redmond]

Thanks for the heads up on the fender cracking and I’ve got the life safety taken care of, however I have had a setback, hit some road gravel at a very low speed and she slid out on me the bike is the only casualty broke a peddle, I’m also having some fuel problems debating putting some sea foam in the mix and hot soak the carburetor?

 

[Greg58]

When you say fuel problems what is going on? If it’s running out of fuel the cap vent may be blocked, you can loosen the gas cap to let it vent and try it, as long as the tank is not full.

 

[indian22]

Welcome aboard Tim.

Great advice as usual Allen and Greg. & Safe fender tips is a wonderful thread. Keeping it safe is way more fun. Old guys don't heal fast or well.

Greg made a good observation about venting. I recall pedaling & pushing a bike several miles home when I 'ran out of fuel" only to eventually find the fuel cap vent was blocked. I had removed the cap and looked inside the tank & saw a little fuel, put the cap back on tight and the bike fired up and ran a short distance and she died again so I pedaled and pushed convinced I was now really out of fuel. I wasn't!

Carb float sticking is another common problem among other fuel flow maladies. Kit tanks are commonly shipped contaminated with bits of stuff. So carbs can pick up stuff even when running a filter and sure enough will if filters aren't used from the jump. Flush new tanks before use. The list is long for carb maladies. An old mechanic told me 50 plus years ago that many "carb problems" were actually solved by correcting electrical malfunctions; and I've found that to be something that has some validity in trouble shooting engine problems. I've not had much luck with carbs shipped with the kits, others have had great results with them though. Like Greg I've built quite a few gas engine bike over the years and some required a tad of encouragement to get up and running reliably....just a fun and challenging fact of this hobby.

Enjoy the work and the ride!

Rick C.