Is This the Fountain of Youth?

[ChetsJug]

Garage Inventing! Is there anything better?? I built mini bikes and go carts when I was a kid. Dad taught me what duct tape and bailing wire was for. He grew up on an Idaho farm and knew all the tricks for having fun with no budget. LOL I went from mini bikes to dune buggies to 4WD's and never went back. From mussel cars to hot rods, I've tasted a bit of each realm. Lately my nephew and I are into RC airplanes. I've never revisited hobbies I've left... Then...

Last weekend a 13 y/o neighborhood surfer kid asked me out of the blue if I had any weed eaters I wanted to get rid of. After careful consideration, I decided to give him one my ex-GF left behind since I bought an electric one for my small weed patch and don't really need gas. Soon he's picking through my pile of old bikes looking for book racks and stuff to mount his new motor on his bike. He found some goofy looking gear shifter levers with huge knobs I let him have that are goose neck mounted. He thought they just looked cool.

All of the sudden I remember my old 12" Beaver chain saw I haven't used since I bought some 18" automatic oilers and next I'm doing search engine stuff for tutorial sites and youtubes on chain saw and weed eater conversions LOL

OMG I've turned into a teenager again! I'm having a ball "reinventing the wheel" with this kid. He and my nephew sleep over when he comes. I can't wait to see what they come up with. But you realize the war is on! It's the teens against the Old Fart!

 

[fugit]

Is This the Fountain of Youth?

Yes

Hello!

Welcome....

Out spend them

Get a low rider stretch cruiser and mount a boom box on the bike rack after installing cool motor

 

[ChetsJug]

Out spend them
Get a low rider stretch cruiser and mount a boom box on the bike rack after installing cool motor

LAMO, well one thing I never wanted to do is join the Gold Wing Road Riders Association.

I really want to do this 70's style and use parts I have or can scavenge out of the neighborhood garages. BUT I might try the boom box and put the Celtic band The Chieftains blasting just to piss off the "demographics" around the 'hood lol

 

[waistofhumanspace]

I like the BOOMBOX idea!

 

[Das Chicken]

I'm 14, but i made my bike with a kit, i'm suprised there aren't many young people on this forum, these bikes are alot of fun, and from the way the amount of electric toy vehicles has increased in my neighborhood, i think other kids want them too. Get a honda xr/crf 80-100 engine and mount it in a bike frame. A 5 speed engine with 4-6.5 hp (depending on which one you get) in a bike frame would be awesome. But be aware that these engines weigh 40-50 lbs thanks to their transmissions, and you will need a very strong chain. If you do make one, tell us how you did it, because if it is easy, i'm going to do it.

 

[Uncle Salty]

Welcome ChetsJug I'm new here too but I know all about the compatition from the kids, But us old guys always win the war even when we lose the battle, All you gotta do is be there, I miss those days-repectfully--Uncle Salty

 

[ChetsJug]

... us old guys always win the war even when we lose the battle...

I'm not so sure Unk lol

When I was in Boy Scouts the adults were put to shame more than once. When you have 8 or so young'ns workin on a project, you have input from several families and skills to boot!

When I became an adult leader I found out the same was still in force lol. I have been a shade tree mechanic all my life, worked in a truck shop as well. It doesn't seem to matter how much wisdom I bring to the table, a teenager can solve a problem faster than me when it comes to one on one. If I call in all my resources I might squeak out ahead. I think it goes back to that old adage "No one told him he can't do that yet". hehe

 

[scotto-]

Yes it is............welcome to the fountain

Garage Inventing! Is there anything better?? I built mini bikes and go carts when I was a kid. Dad taught me what duct tape and bailing wire was for. He grew up on an Idaho farm and knew all the tricks for having fun with no budget. LOL I went from mini bikes to dune buggies to 4WD's and never went back. From mussel cars to hot rods, I've tasted a bit of each realm. Lately my nephew and I are into RC airplanes. I've never revisited hobbies I've left... Then...

Last weekend a 13 y/o neighborhood surfer kid asked me out of the blue if I had any weed eaters I wanted to get rid of. After careful consideration, I decided to give him one my ex-GF left behind since I bought an electric one for my small weed patch and don't really need gas. Soon he's picking through my pile of old bikes looking for book racks and stuff to mount his new motor on his bike. He found some goofy looking gear shifter levers with huge knobs I let him have that are goose neck mounted. He thought they just looked cool.

All of the sudden I remember my old 12" Beaver chain saw I haven't used since I bought some 18" automatic oilers and next I'm doing search engine stuff for tutorial sites and youtubes on chain saw and weed eater conversions LOL

OMG I've turned into a teenager again! I'm having a ball "reinventing the wheel" with this kid. He and my nephew sleep over when he comes. I can't wait to see what they come up with. But you realize the war is on! It's the teens against the Old Fart!

 

[Uncle Salty]

All my best to you ChetsJug, and everyone reading this, thanks for taking the time-- UncleSalty

 

[ChetsJug]

Well I see that Scott and I are going to have some talks about 4 stroke lol

In the mean time I took a closer look at this McCulla Eager Beaver and ran the serial number. It's a 2.0 cid. I got it from a neighbor that had 3 uses on it and I put about 2 hours total on it. Then I had enough pumping the freekin oil thumb lever and bought the auto oiler. It's tight as can be. Tomorrow I'm going to fire it up and do a few cuts with it just to "burn the gunk out". lol Then I'll start looking into what needs to come off. I'm keeping the bar and chain for sure.

 

[wheelbender6]

I guess Ponce de leon was way off course if motorized bicycles are the fountain of youth.

 

[ChetsJug]

I've had 2 amazing things happen this last week. One is that a neighbor 2 blocks over went sailing by on a gas bike he got from King Bikes in Van Nuys, CA. He stopped at a friends house and we talked for quite a while. He said that the California Air Resources Board (C.A.R.B.) has banned 2 cycles in California. They are trying to attack 4 strokes bike motors because they are not good on smog results. Smaller engines are not very efficient burners. I said somewhere else t hat is why the famous 3 HP Briggs & Stratton is no more, now you see 6.5 HP and the like. A little larger cylinder and you can make it burn cleaner. Longer stroke = more complete burn and all that rot. So now we have a dilema. The law says it's not a bike anymore over 50cc's (or something like that) and CARB wants larger motors that can "pass smog". Bike groups will have to start trying to get the law changed or there will be a problem just around the corner. Just remember all you non Californian's, where California goes with smog laws, so goes the Feds 3 or 4 years later... This is going to be a 50 state problem by 2015-2020.

He also said that if you can, in California, go for electric because the cops have no jurisdiction over them like the gas. EPA & CARB already have their hooks into small gas motors like lawn mowers and weed eaters. I know that this is a gas community, but it is what it is. Oh don't worry, I'm finishing my weed eater bike haha.

I see by King's website they also do electric, gasbike*net, which brings me to the other kewl thing that happened. My neighbor and life long friend cleaned out his garage and came up with 2 electric bikes that he had promised me for 4 years now. I forgot all about it until he called me yesterday and said "If you don't come get these bikes before sundown, they're going to the curb"!

"E-Bike" - Back in 2000 he got these from a car dealership. They are from a company called EV Global Motors, founded by none other than Lee Iaccoca. The company only lasted 5 or 6 years and are way out of production. That's okay, I have a complete bike and a part bike lol. They were billed as the Cadillac of EV bikes. I have found where they cheaped them out with the Taiwan builder (because I'm just a pain that way lol) but all in all not a bad bike.

Corey had pretty much trashed one from taking it into the bush when he lived in Oregon. His use was a combination downhill/BMX lol. I put one bike together out of the two and it seems to ride pretty much like any 10-speed. No resistance or drag. lol. For now, all it needs is new tires and 2 batteries I've priced at $43-46 ea. at a few stores around town.
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See a pic here <--- that's a link
Here's hte stats...

FRAME: Sturdy Chromoly steel frame
BODY: ABS Plastic
WHEELS: 26" x 1.95" double wall aluminum alloy rims; stainless steel spokes
BRAKES: V-Brakes: front and rear
FRONT SUSPENSION: "Zokes" adjustable front suspension
MOTOR: Heinsmann 24V/400-watt DC Brushed Electric Hub Motor
GEARS: 7-speed Shimano derailleur; front chain ring; 14-28 rear cluster; Front chain ring - 33T; Rear cluster: 14-28 T
SHIFTER: SRAM "Twist Grip"
E-BIKE WEIGHT: 67 lbs. (includes 23 pound battery power pack)
POWER PACK: Weight: 23 lbs. (includes batteries and charger); Dimensions: 15" x 4" x 4" with charger
BATTERY: 2-12V/12AH volt sealed, lead acid, deep discharge (charge time 4.0 hours)
BATTERY LIFE: 350 cycles (approximately 7,000 miles); Amp hour rating = 12
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I will probably take a beach cruiser and fit the left over parts onto it for my new Garage Inventor friend Josh lol. I will need a controller and a few parts, but the second hub and electronics are there. I can make my own battery box and charge the cells in parallel until I can afford a 24 volt charger. I have a pretty hefty 12V RV maintainer that will suffice for now.