MASTER BIKE BUILDER QUESTION: rear wheel (freewheel?)& sprocket ~ flip-over

GoldenMotor.com

pole-sitter

New Member
Oct 20, 2008
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weeki wachee, florida
HOW ABOUT IT MASTER BIKE MECHANICS,...................
....Is it possible to take a normal rear wheel w/sprocket...
and flip it over to use w/ a CIF...eliminating THE pedal/chain....
to... somehow change over the inner mechanism?s?so that the sproket would freewheel in the opposite direction.???
...OR IS THIS AN IMPOSSIBILITY DUE TO THE NATURE OF HOW THEY ARE BUILT OR ASSEMBLED....Can they even BE disassembled to begin with ???
.......If yo know your stuff...maybe YOU can answer this ??
.......Any info appreciated.
 

Bikeguy Joe

Godfather of Motorized Bicycles
Jan 8, 2008
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up north now
I am not a master bicycle biulder, but I'll take a shot....this has been discussed before on this forum. I can't even begin to tell you what the thread was called....let us search my friend, and see what we can find.
 

OSCAR383

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Jul 22, 2008
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in you did you would have to have a fixed gear no freewheel . if you had a freewheel rim and tried to rev it, it would only freewheel. and you would probably have to mount your sprocket with the kit on the pedal side anyway to start it. id say its not worth the effort
 

jburr36

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Jul 17, 2008
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Idaho
The threads on the wheel hub are designed to tighten in the direction the torque is applied to it from the freewheel. I mean, on the pedal sprocket side (right side) of the hub the threads tighten in a clockwise direction. If one were to switch the hub around to the left side the threads would loosen in the direction of the torque and with these engines that would be a real bad problem. The hub I have that is designed for the engine sprocket and freewheel and the bicycle freehwheel have threads on the left side that tighten in the counterclockwise direction which is the direction torque is applied from the engine.

I thought about designing a freewheel adapter for the engine sprocket that attaches to the spokes like the stock setup however I ended up buying the hub instead. When I removed the sprocket from my old bike I noticed that the spokes were damaged.

Also when you think about adding a freewheel to the engine sprocket you have to remember that you will no longer be able to pedal start the engine. You have to get a pull start or something.
 

fritzalee

New Member
Jul 15, 2008
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jburr,
I've looked at these BGF freewheel's, does one need a pull start kit to use these freewheels?
fritzalee
 

jburr36

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Jul 17, 2008
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Idaho
Yes and depending on what type of bicycle you have a pull start may make you add a wider pedal crank to clear the extra width. Fortunately I have a bicycle with so much room within the frame that I can mount the engine far enough forward and higher up on the front tube that the pedals clear it.

I have a pull starter from BFG. It is slightly larger than the stock magneto cover on my engine probably due to it made by one of the other engine manufacturers. WHen I tightened it down on my engine it cracked. Needless to say I read about all the horror stories for this pull start but I thought I would try anyway. It won't need a major mod to make it work though.
 

jburr36

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Jul 17, 2008
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Idaho
I do think a pull start if a far better way to start these engines than pedaling and popping the clutch once its set up and working properly.
 

jburr36

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Jul 17, 2008
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Idaho
Actually I don't plan on using this pull starter on my engine anyway. If you look at the middle picture of my second post you'll see the electric starter motor I'm retrofitting to my engine. The bolt sticking out of that was a test to see how well I can make a taper since the shaft that fits into it is tapered.
 

pole-sitter

New Member
Oct 20, 2008
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weeki wachee, florida
how i got to this point was
I purchased a centrifugal engine and the photo shown was not the motor recieved.
It was much, much wider for pull starter and for centrifugals. So wide that I would have to remove sprrocket and chain and chjainguard... and have to 'fix" pedals as footrests.
So instead of ruinning new occ bike went and got a used one to fudge around with for this setup and will save good one for next motor build.
that's how I got to thinking about the wheel flip........
 

pole-sitter

New Member
Oct 20, 2008
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weeki wachee, florida
Actually I don't plan on using this pull starter on my engine anyway. If you look at the middle picture of my second post you'll see the electric starter motor I'm retrofitting to my engine. The bolt sticking out of that was a test to see how well I can make a taper since the shaft that fits into it is tapered.
WOW !! electric start !
 

tyrslider

New Member
Sep 26, 2008
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RainCity
jburr36 do you have a 40 hole rim for that hub? how about spokes? Let me know what you find. I bought that setup from bgf and found that a 40 hole rim isn't very common. I'm gessing I could order one, but in a quick search I found no such rim in 26". Also the spoke holes are huge; the flange on my reg spokes goes right through. Anyway let me know what you find out if you would. Thanks!
 

jburr36

Member
Jul 17, 2008
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Idaho
jburr36 do you have a 40 hole rim for that hub? how about spokes? Let me know what you find. I bought that setup from bgf and found that a 40 hole rim isn't very common.
Nope. I never really bothered to count the holes. I specifically emailed Boygofast how many holes the hub had with the 'Ask A Seller A Question Feature' and he told me "36." He lied to me as there are 40. I also asked him if with this freewheel hub if I would have to get a pull start and a wide crank kit and he never responded to that.

Also I noticed that the holes in his hub are not staggered on the right and left sides like normal hubs are. It's totally useless.

Fortunately I have the means to make another hub that will work with my lathe. Probably cost me $10 or so.
 

jburr36

Member
Jul 17, 2008
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Idaho
I think I'm going to try to make a jack shaft shifter kit anyway so I'm holding off on this. I should just make a hub anyway. I have like 7 or so different mods so I'm going to be busy whenever I can get the money together.
 

lennyharp

Member
Jul 19, 2008
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Mesa Arizona
You can get the Staton-inc hub with a left side freewheel for about $150.00. Great quality. I have used 40 spoke hubs with 36 spoke rims or other odd combos by leaving spaces and adjusting the length of spokes. You don't even need offset holes then. Who has a lathe can make most anything needed for these bikes if he knows how.