How would I raise my engine?

Its just a piece of tubing with a lever bolted through it. You pull the top of the lever back to you and it pulls a cable that lifts the engine. You can make the lever any length so that you can pull as much cable or rods as you need to lift the engine as high as you want. It's really the simplest thing I have come up with yet.
 
Exackerly why I had to come up with it. The brake levers never had enough throw. The throttle was good for the engines that I couldn't hook the cable to directly. The change in geometry as shoes is apt to say, would give me **** on a shifter, but that one had enough throw so that it didn't matter. The problem was the constant need to adjust the throttle kept my right hand off the brakes and the handlebars. In my case it truly was a suicide throttle.
 
I forgot to mention that with my lever system you can use real cable not that silly bike cable. I use a 3/32 cable I think it is. The bike cable broke because of the wear at the pivot point. Don't bother with the coated cable it just gets in the way at the pivot point.
 
With the amount of spring pressure forcing the roller onto the tire, a foot clutch might work better than hand controls.Human legs can exert much more pressure to activate a gravity clutch, rods and levers, or your recommended thicker cable.

Thanks for agreeing with me that the Happy Time clutch lever doesn't have enough throw and leverage. I was beginning to doubt myself.(^)
 
5-7HEAVEN said:
With the amount of spring pressure forcing the roller onto the tire, a foot clutch might work better than hand controls.Human legs can exert much more pressure to activate a gravity clutch, rods and levers, or your recommended thicker cable.

Thanks for agreeing with me that the Happy Time clutch lever doesn't have enough throw and leverage. I was beginning to doubt myself.(^)
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The hand clutch was enough leverage to pull up any spring. Just needs to be long enough on top to get the leverage. I use a ten inch bar with about six of it above the fulcrum. That give more than enough leverage.
 
Whoaaa!! With the springs removed, I can easily raise the friction roller by pushing on the bottom of the engine it with my big toe!(front engine drive)

Now I need to find a place to mount a mechanism like an emergency footbrake or footpeg under the engine.(^)
 
be careful with that e brake... I used mine and it got locked up tossed me all over the road. thank god i was just testing it out in the open.
 
I mean to use the ebrake to raise and lock the engine in position.

deacon, did you ever use rods and levers to lock the roller DOWN onto the tire?
 
5-7HEAVEN said:
I mean to use the ebrake to raise and lock the engine in position.

deacon, did you ever use rods and levers to lock the roller DOWN onto the tire?
Click to expand...

I had a couple that wouldn't move that I locked down permenantly

Actually I like that except for the stopping at the bottom of a steep hill
 
I decided to fab a 19" lever from 9/16" square tubing to hold the front wheel drive engine down instead of using springs. The fulcrum is a swivel caster(minus the wheel) at the very end. The pressure point is a rigid caster wheel(less friction) and is one inch from that end. This provides a very powerful 18:1 mechanical advantage. It works well, puts a LOT of pressure on the friction roller yet allows the roller to rise 7/16" off the tire. The lever is not too obvious. It passes through the middle of my front basket, but I can still carry groceries in it.

I rigged the hoist so the friction roller's normal position is now 7/16" off the tire, using a single 19-pound spring to hold the engine up. The lever handle is secured with a short loop of rope when it holds the roller to proper tension. The loop will do until I can think of a better handle.

This lever is awesome. When I hang an eight-pound weight onto its handle, it exerts 144 pounds of force on the friction roller at its maximum range.

It works like a charm.
 
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