Hello, my name's Kyle and I'm new to motorbicycling. I've always thought small motorcycles, pit bikes, and mopeds were cool, and have ridden a lot of scooters at the race track to run errands and get around, and thought it would be fun to get into this hobby as a diversion from getting into trouble with cars!
Initially I was going to get a Wal-Mart fixie bike and put a new kit on it, but after having my order cancelled due to the vendor not being able to ship to CA due to the EPA crackdown, I decided to look locally because I was impatient and wanted to get a bike put together ASAP.
I found this Schwinn OCC Chopper with what I guess is a 66cc engine, the owner didn't know either, in kinda rough, but rideable shape. I got a good deal on it and took it home and rode it around the block before taking it apart for refinishing and restoration.
I made some new aluminum brackets for the tank to replace the awful steel strap ones, refinished every surface, made the forks brushed finish because the chrome was pretty badly rusted and paint wouldn't stick even with etching primer and scuffing them well, modified a pocket bike body to cover the gas tank, painted the engine with flat black 1500 degree paint, added a UNI sock filter, sorted out the wiring and fuel line, sorted out the (still insufficient) rear brake, and replaced all the hardware with grade 8 stuff.
Sorry about the poor quality cellphone photos.
Here it is after adding the front windscreen, side fairings, decals, speedometer, and tail and turn signal lights
Here's the windscreen I stickerbombed because I'm sooo tired of the smell of spray paint! I also added a Mercedes star that accidentally snapped off one of my cars a couple years ago that I saved for a situation like this. lol
So far I really like this bike, while it is kinda underwhelming after having blasted along at 60mph on a Zuma Scooter down the hill at Infineon, I still think it's fun, and the chopper style frame makes the handling interesting enough that much more power's probably not a good idea. I'd like to install a front disc brake, a headlight, and I have a long chromed Sportster style exhaust coming in the mail that will hopefully quiet it down a bit and help with the torque going uphill since I intend on using this a lot on the hilly roads near my house. If the torque is improved quite a bit, maybe I'll get a smaller sprocket because the best speed I've gotten so far was 27mph with the 44 tooth one on it now. I'd like to be able to cruise at 35mph so I can use more of the road without becoming a rolling roadblock, which is my major peeve with multitudes road bikers around here who don't share the road and are too slow to be doing so. I might think about an expansion chamber and other stuff, but I'm not going to go crazy on this build because I'm already starting to think about building a powerful board tracker inspired modern racing bike using a racing kart engine or a china pocket bike 110cc on a full suspension mountain bike with disc brakes, fairings and slicks. That one would be strictly for use in the paddock at the track of course!
I'm thinking this might be a slippery slope and I'm already eyeing small displacement street bikes and thinking about getting my motorcycle license, bikes offer such a more visceral experience legal speeds where in sports cars you'll be bored unless you push toward ticket territory! Don't worry though, I always wear my helmet, and if this bike gets much faster I'll be rocking leathers as well, just in case.
I've found lots of very useful information on this forum and am happy to join and hope to contribute my findings on tuning and modifications as I learn more about this great hobby and mode of transportation! I love the tinkering and DIY attitude of many members and the awesome creations and solutions that they have shared!
Initially I was going to get a Wal-Mart fixie bike and put a new kit on it, but after having my order cancelled due to the vendor not being able to ship to CA due to the EPA crackdown, I decided to look locally because I was impatient and wanted to get a bike put together ASAP.
I found this Schwinn OCC Chopper with what I guess is a 66cc engine, the owner didn't know either, in kinda rough, but rideable shape. I got a good deal on it and took it home and rode it around the block before taking it apart for refinishing and restoration.
I made some new aluminum brackets for the tank to replace the awful steel strap ones, refinished every surface, made the forks brushed finish because the chrome was pretty badly rusted and paint wouldn't stick even with etching primer and scuffing them well, modified a pocket bike body to cover the gas tank, painted the engine with flat black 1500 degree paint, added a UNI sock filter, sorted out the wiring and fuel line, sorted out the (still insufficient) rear brake, and replaced all the hardware with grade 8 stuff.
Sorry about the poor quality cellphone photos.
Here it is after adding the front windscreen, side fairings, decals, speedometer, and tail and turn signal lights
Here's the windscreen I stickerbombed because I'm sooo tired of the smell of spray paint! I also added a Mercedes star that accidentally snapped off one of my cars a couple years ago that I saved for a situation like this. lol
So far I really like this bike, while it is kinda underwhelming after having blasted along at 60mph on a Zuma Scooter down the hill at Infineon, I still think it's fun, and the chopper style frame makes the handling interesting enough that much more power's probably not a good idea. I'd like to install a front disc brake, a headlight, and I have a long chromed Sportster style exhaust coming in the mail that will hopefully quiet it down a bit and help with the torque going uphill since I intend on using this a lot on the hilly roads near my house. If the torque is improved quite a bit, maybe I'll get a smaller sprocket because the best speed I've gotten so far was 27mph with the 44 tooth one on it now. I'd like to be able to cruise at 35mph so I can use more of the road without becoming a rolling roadblock, which is my major peeve with multitudes road bikers around here who don't share the road and are too slow to be doing so. I might think about an expansion chamber and other stuff, but I'm not going to go crazy on this build because I'm already starting to think about building a powerful board tracker inspired modern racing bike using a racing kart engine or a china pocket bike 110cc on a full suspension mountain bike with disc brakes, fairings and slicks. That one would be strictly for use in the paddock at the track of course!
I'm thinking this might be a slippery slope and I'm already eyeing small displacement street bikes and thinking about getting my motorcycle license, bikes offer such a more visceral experience legal speeds where in sports cars you'll be bored unless you push toward ticket territory! Don't worry though, I always wear my helmet, and if this bike gets much faster I'll be rocking leathers as well, just in case.
I've found lots of very useful information on this forum and am happy to join and hope to contribute my findings on tuning and modifications as I learn more about this great hobby and mode of transportation! I love the tinkering and DIY attitude of many members and the awesome creations and solutions that they have shared!
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