First Ride on New Build.
- Thread starter caduceus
- Start date
MotorBicycleRacing
Well-Known Member
Kool bike, gotta love the 50 cc 4 strokes. 
fastfingas
Member
Very good I like the build plenty of room for motor and gas tank I really like that , Im not a fan of the gas tank being on the the top tube ,,,,,,,,,,
caduceus
New Member
Thanks for the comments. I googled up a lot of pictures of motorcycles from the early 1900s and one of the recurring themes seemed to be a gas tank mounted under the top tube. I found a one-gallon aluminum tank made for a junior quarter midget open-wheel racer and went from there. I had several people offer to buy it outright on my first outing. But I'd rather work some more bugs out first.
caduceus
New Member
I like itI know riding it around here I would be stopped and asked "Is that motorcycle from the 1800's?" lmao
Are those run flat tires? How they working for you?
They're airless-foam filled. My last build flatted a rear tire at thirty mph in spite of thorn proof tubes and liners. I had to walk it the three miles home, and every step of the way I told myself that this could have happened 20 miles from nowhere at 1AM when I was riding it home from work. These seem to be OK, a little squirmy when rolling over grooves and stuff, but they're hardness equivalent is 90psi.
MEASURE TWICE
Well-Known Member
Nice work. the special shape tube work and gussets. Showy kinda tank!
MT
MT
Dave31
Active Member
I have a set myself, be careful I learned the hard way with those tires. Mine after a short time just rolled right off the wheel in a turn. Plus the added rolling resistance just kept getting worse and worse the more I used them. Hope you have better luck then I did.
** I would like to add that I first installed these tires onto a pedal bike, they never made it to a motorized bicycle.
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caduceus
New Member
These were of the hardest compound I could find, equivalent to a conventional tire filled with air to 90psi. They were a cast-iron bear to install. Lots of Ruglide, leather gloves, plastic tire spoons, whips, chains.......Tubeless Motorcycle tires are a piece of cake compared to these because too much force would cause a bicycle rim to twist and end up looking like a potato chip.
Anyway, these tires have a raised center ridge which makes them squirm some when riding over grooves and tarred cracks. I'm hoping that the squirmyness decreases as they wear in slightly, and I installed a steering dampener spring which seemed to help.
caduceus
New Member
The Auffenauger after two months, three hundred miles..
Here's how the bike sits today. Can't tell you how many people just have to stop and talk about it! Gone are the run-flat tires. Dave31 called that one right on the button - thanks again. The tail lights are super bright LEDs as is the headlight. I setup a keyed kill switch on the left side of the headlight battery housing, new choke linkage, an over centering stand for the back wheel, a chain tensioner with s slipper, 40-tooth rear sprocket and an old-fashioned fuel gauge. Among other things.
Here's how the bike sits today. Can't tell you how many people just have to stop and talk about it! Gone are the run-flat tires. Dave31 called that one right on the button - thanks again. The tail lights are super bright LEDs as is the headlight. I setup a keyed kill switch on the left side of the headlight battery housing, new choke linkage, an over centering stand for the back wheel, a chain tensioner with s slipper, 40-tooth rear sprocket and an old-fashioned fuel gauge. Among other things.
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caduceus
New Member
Thank You! The bars were ape hangers before I sawed the handles off and bent new ones. I kind of used the TLAR (I pronounce it Tee-Lar) theory on them, (That Looks About Right).
For the frame I went through some old bike frames until I had a bar that looked long enough for what I wanted. Then I cut the top tube and the down tube and moved everything six inches further apart. I took the front of the frame and bent the downtube on my manual hydraulic bender until it looked about right. I wanted it to follow the curvature of the front wheel, and then took the cut off piece from the different frame and bent that into the cradle to hold the engine mount. Once I had all that sort of tacked together I welded a piece into the top tube and then reinforced it with 1 1/4" angle iron welded directly to the top tube. The drops for the gas tank mounts were of 1 1/4" X 1/4" flat steel. I have a lot of pictures of the process and could post them if anyone's interested.
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wheelbender6
Well-Known Member
Awesome bike. You should hire moose and squirrel to prevent Boris Badinev from stealing it.
caduceus
New Member
You know, you have just given me an idea for a name. I am building this motorized tricycle see http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=49598, and just got done setting up the differential so I can run a drive chain from the engine off one side and the chain from the pedals from the other. A Peerless Differential. This Trike's name is gonna be: Peerless Leader!
