Nell Lusso

[gus56]

Hi, Gus here, It appears that some on this site dont appreciate the good deals that Walmart have to offer. I for one believe the quality to be good and the price right. I'm very happy with my Beach cruzer I bought from Wally, and how it turned out.
I dont know if anybody else has done this or not, but to virtually eliminate the vibrations from the engine, I used strips of rubber between the mounting clamps and the bike frame, worked like a charm. Also, to help shim up extra space, cut half moon shapes from pvc pipe and place in between bike frame and motor mounts.
This is my first build, planning another one, using a lightweight aluminum frame with front and rear shocks. (also from Walmart) Comments are welcome.
I enjoyed building this first one, had some trouble withe the idler pully though. I believe i'll go with a jack shaft on the next one and eliminate the idler.

 

[2door]

Welcome to the forum, Gus. There're many who have built successful bikes from the big box stores. Target, K Mart and Wally's place offer some good deals on bikes. Yes, there are those who shun the less expensive Schwinn, Huffy and others and they have sound reasons but don't let that spoil your fun.

As for using rubber in the engine mounts; much has been written here regarding that theory. The general consensus, and one which I personally subscribe to is that you can not eliminate engine vibration but in fact simply transfer it to the engine mounts and fasteners by mounting the engine in a resilient material. It might 'feel' better to your body but somewhere down the road those parts mentioned will suffer. Mount the engine solid and live with the vibrations that are inherent in a 2 cycle, single cylinder engine.

As for the chain tensioner/idler, you don't need to go to a shift kit. Use the search feature at the top of the page, key word, tensioner, and you'll see lots of suggestions that might help.
Good luck, have fun and ride safe.
Tom

 

[sumdawgtwigg]

That's a very nice looking bike! My bike is a wally and I have to say that other than the handlebars it's of pretty good quality. The handlebars have a really hard time staying in place no matter how hard i tighten them down.