Friction Drive Build (I'm a newbie)

S

superballer365

New Member
Hello everybody. I'm currently building a friction drive bike with a 25cc homelite engine. The problem I'm having is with finding a proper spindle. I would like to use something with a diameter of about 1 inch, giving the bike decent acceleration and hill climbing abilities. I purchased an 18mm socket, however this was not deep enough for the flywheel nut to reach the bolt coming out of the flywheel. This bolt is about an inch long, and i'm having trouble finding something that is 'shallow' enough inside for the nut to be able to reach the bolt. I checked a couple local hardware stores for "deep sockets" but none of them were quite deep enough. What I did find was that the depth of the sockets depends on the brand, so I was hoping somebody could give me the brand of a socket that they have used successfully as a spindle in powering their bike. Or, perhaps somebody could recommend an alternative spindle? The diameters of most bike pegs seem to be too large for a proper gear ratio. Any help is greatly appreciated
 
Its very easy to fab a roller from 1" aluminum rod stock if you have the equipment. The crank threads are 5/16 fine. Simply accurately center drill the rod and tap the threads. Cut to the length you need and screw it on. Its ready to go. A local machine shop would make one probably reasonably enough.
 
Actually mat_man that guy gave me the idea for the setup i'm using. I just messaged him asking where he got that socket, so hopefully that will get me somewhere. And cannonball that's a good idea, but i don't know where my local machine shop is or if there is one near me. In the meantime, i've run into another problem. I noticed that when i pull the pull starter on the weedwacker i can hear a clicking noise. I found that the noise was the flywheel hitting the magneto. It only hits the flywheel in one spot, but it never did that before. It started, I think, after I took the flywheel nut off for the first time. How can I fix this?
 
Make sure the key is in the keyway and the flywheel is running true. If the nut is off and the flywheel is loose it shouldnt hit if you press the flywheel in hard against the taper.
 
You may have just bumped the Ignition Coil:

Setting The Ignition Coil Gap On a Briggs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlSvMQFAs8c

If you have a lathe, you could cut just enough off the end of the socket to give the proper thickness, quickly.

I think I could do the job with a grinder and a drill press, but it would take 10 times longer to do.
 
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Thanks guys, I actually solved both problems. Cannonball you were right about the keyway, the flywheel just wasn't sitting right on it. Earlier today i checked another hardware store and found a socket that just BARELY worked. I tightened down the 5/16 inch fine thread nut and I ended up stripping it. I found another one, made of a stronger material, and got a nice tight fit. The diameter of the socket is 1.1 inches, so this should work pretty well. Now I'm waiting on my 18" tire tube and I'm still tweaking the mounting. I mounted a door hinge where the back brake used to be and I have a piece of angle iron that bolts to the hinge and to the bottom two holes that held the engine shroud on. I'll keep you updated
 
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