NEW... a journey recounted in paragraphs!

[Going2Hell]

Hopefully added picturetickled my thigh and started to burn... It was money and it was burning a hole in my pocket!

I decided to start with a Huffy Panama Jack, for $170 it was kinda steep but the extendable rear rack is welded to the frame. It is true that Huffy is just a shadow of its former glory, thin and cheaply made parts welded together by a blind infant in China! Walmart had such a large selection of PJ's I just inspected them until i found the least mauled frame since that was really all I needed. Rode it to the check-stand and out of the store and put it in my truck which, was the last time it would ever be ridden as a bicycle again.

 

[Dave31]

Welcome to the forum G2H glad you joined us.

I've done a few PJ's over the years. Can't wait to see how yours turns out keep us updated on the progress.

 

[silverbear]

Welcome to the forum!
SB

 

[2door]

Welcome to our community. This is the best place for help and advice for your first motorized bicycle project.
Where in Colorado are you? We have a group of riders here in Denver who get together occasionally to ride.

Tom

 

[Going2Hell]

Thank you all for the warm welcome, been a member for a bit, following advice and tips for a bit as well. For those interested, my bike is actually finished. All I'm doing right now is setting up a trailer and a light system for my Sturmey-Archer XL-FDD hub. The bike itself performs like a dream, I live near Longmont and ride 100 miles for fun... maintinence free! I'll be detailing the rest of my build soon, just search "paragraphs"

AUGUST 2013

I originally decided to buy a Grubee 4G T-Belt 4-stroke when I saw it on Bikeberry... sold out! Kingsmotorbikes was the only place I could find that had it in stock, and had a reasonable price too! So basically, I spent $400... I got the kit, that's it right? Wrong, I was hoping this would happen! The rear sprocket didn't fit over the inferior Huffy coaster-brake, thank god. The gas-tank was cheaply painted Black, scratched then touched up with marker before shipping. It was still freshly scratched when it showed up! The wide-pedal conversion kit was a rusty metal rod with bearing-races and threads at the end. The chain-ring was bent, not enough to make it malfunction though. The throttle grip is crap as expected. What is awesome? The engine itself is roughly cast but is passable where it counts. With correct maintinence and break-in, it's a 1-pull start even in the worst Colorado has offered so far. The transmission looks tough and simple, the exact reason I ordered it. The motor mount was heavy-duty, seriously... endoed the bike twice to date and still rock solid. The chain and tensioner were also higher quality than expected, giving me faith in my upcoming HD Drivetrain.

 

[Going2Hell]

AUGUST 2013 stll...

The next logical step is hubs, if you want a long haul bicycle; you have to keep it rolling! I wanted to build a bicycle that could charge phones and power lights. I ordered a Sturmey-Archer XL-FDD which is a 90-mm sealed drum brake with a 6v dynamo ($90 amazon). The rear hub is a Grubee HD Rear hub with a band drum brake. The braking power of either alone is not enough for a quick stop, both together are a dream with break-in and adjustment. The rear hub offsets the wheel, to the passenger side though. Which brings me to the question, "But doesnt this require a full teardown of the wheels?" I didnt know spokes before, i still don't. It's that easy, with the guide from sheldonbrown.com i built them both in two-hours. I did not however measure for my new DT-Swiss stainless spokes, I went to Bike-N-Hike in Longmont but any reputable service center should measure and order for you. Powder coated the rims from huffy (kind of regret, 500 miles in and already have a dent) and the rest is history. These are lifetime components if treated correctly.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

Welcome to the forum, - thanks for sharing your experiences with your build.

 

[maniac57]

Keep an eye on the frame where the rack is welded in. They are prone to cracks here from the rack whipping around under motor vibration.
A small gusset to spread the bending loads will fix this.

 

[Going2Hell]

FINALLY... SEPTEMBER 2013

When i was a kid I used to tear down bicycles on a daily basis, farm town life I guess! Now I'm 30 and the skills seemed to have escaped me over 17 years. Before powder-coating and all of that finish crap, I built it as a rideable prototype and tested 200 miles on it. This let me know that arrangement works and my clearances are there. This also let me know what little bits I need to modify and how to set it up in general. Testing done, break down the prototype, send parts to powder coat and get them back... $100 bucks (not including the fork, but that's in the next paragraph). A 40% satin black finish, it's industry standard! If your coater is nice too, he'll just throw it in with someone elses batch for a hefty discount. He was nice enough to plug the holes and threaded bits, I live in Colorado and somehow I forgot! With detail sanding rough edges around the neck and crank where the bearing races go it was finished with paint and ready for final assembly.

 

[Going2Hell]

SPAN OF 4 MONTHS STARTING SEPT 2013

I told you this paragraph would be about the forks!

I had seen pictures of bikes with the springer which made it look like an old boardtrack racer, that's what I tried... the first springer was a chrome Sunlite brand springer. I would like to review it but Amazon decided to ship UPS, they dont deliver to my house so they sent it to a local post office which promptly returned them. Trying to boycott Amazon I went to ebay, Fito makes a nice looking fork; bought it in black. This fork felt like I mounted my wheel to spaghetti, now i really understand when sickbikeparts says Fito is not fit for moto, lol. long story short, pivot bolt breaks and dumps my bike and I upside down on the asphalt. Fito will not talk to me at all, I told Terry what happened and he is still giving me the runaround 2 months later. Resorting to the oem forks, I got them back from powdercoat in January. with a 1" steer tube, the aftermarket selection is slim. I also bought the Wald chrome steel headset and it feels solid. don't forget the grease either, I use regular bearing grease originally bought for a Chevy axle and it works great.

 

[Going2Hell]

JANUARY 2014

Fenders, I know that they’re a pretty hot topic on here. Yes, I’m using them. Yes, they’re still Huffy fenders. Yeah, they’re modded. The front fender ws weak where the bracket attached to the bottom of the steer tube. I have a $20 riveter from Stanley, drilled a hole fore and aft of the OEM rivet and put in two more. Same with the OEM support bracket for the back, put in two more rivets and called it good. The rear fender was a little more involved. I cut a channel into the driver side of the fender for chain clearance. Didn’t want to cut it short because I don’t want mud on my motor at all. The HD Hub/drum brake kit from Grubee had offset my wheel to the Right by 1” so my fender had to move accordingly. The front mount, I just sandwiched between the kickstand and the fender mount. Solved and Solid. The top mount, I just folded a piece of aluminum to sandwich the OEM mount with two rivets. The aluminum offsets and bolts to the frame. The rear mount was simple geometry. There are two mount holes on each side of the rear fork. By moving the Left side support to the rear effectively lengthening it. The Right side I moved foreward, shortening it and pulling the fender in the correct direction. ACE Hardware supplied the stainless allen bolts as well as the aluminum. DON’T FORGET LOCTITE…

TOP BRACKET FOR FRONT FENDER

FRONT SUPPORT BRACKET RE-INFORCEMENT

FRONT MOUNT, REAR FENDER

TOP MOUNT, REAR FENDER

LEFT SUPPORT MOUNT, REAR FENDER. THE BRACKET IS MOUNTED TO THE OTHER HOLE ON THE OTHER SIDE.

 

[Going2Hell]

Ok, I have built my light controller for the Sturmey-Archer dyno-hub... I finished building it a week ago, it charges a USB port and also controls my headlight and tail-light. It cost about 15 bucks to build, luckily I had found a perfect project box in the flood damage from last September. My original plan was to post pics and a schematic for the exact design. My lawyer advised me to wait until my patent comes through... sorry for the wait! I will post pics, but nothing in depth for the reasons above.

I also start my mining season next week, talking about a trailer and camping equipment for a 2-month trip into the 11,000ft peaks of central Colorado. this will be a good test for my prototype controller and current drivetrain.

UPDATES TO PREVIOUS POSTS:
The HD Axle Kit w/ bandbrake, awesome hub and a great reliable brake still... replacement bands are hard almost impossible to find without buying the complete brake kit. My only complaint!

Sturmey-Archer XL-FDD which is a Dyno and a 90-mm Drum brake. Definately need the SA canti-brake levers for braking leverage, otherwise the braking is lackluster. The hub itself has been awesome, speeds up to 40mph with total weights up to 550lbs... bulletproof

KENDA KROSS Plus tires, no sidewall support... even at 60psi, I keep getting flats where the rim pinches the tube making for a nasty patch! NEVER GET THESE TIRES...

KENDA KOMFORT tires, beautiful... it's been almost a year and no problems at all. I WOULD BUY THESE AGAIN.

 

[greaser_monkey_87]

Pinch flats typically occur when the bead of the tire has not been seated properly. I have practiced proper tire changing and inflation, and here is my routine. I do everything by hand, no tools. I remove the tire by working the bead loose a little at a time until I can pull it the whole way off one side of the rim. I remove the bad tube and take a new tube and give it a few pumps until it's round and not flat anywhere. Usually takes about 4 pumps with my hand pump. Then I put the tube in the tire and put the tire back on the rim, again from one side, no working both sides of the bead separately. Shop mechanics may tell you that working the bead on from both sides helps eliminate the chance of a pinch flat, but I have found that I got more pinch flats doing it that way. The next part is the most important. I inflate the tire a little bit at a time and after every few pumps, I work the bead back down on the rim until there is enough pressure to keep the bead from moving on its own. I have never had a pinch flat since using this procedure for changing tires. Haven't had any kind of flats except for a front tube going bad from sitting all winter. And I run tubes that are pre-filled with slime, and currently running Kenda K838's. Very durable tire and smooth rolling. Still look brand new after 700 miles.

 

[BarelyAWake]

While it's important to be sure a tire is seated properly, that's not related to pinch flats - which are normally due to under inflation, severe impact or in this case, potentially the poor sidewall design of the "KENDA KROSS Plus" tires, which I've had & failed to be impressed with lol;

pinch flat
A flat tire caused by riding over a rock or pothole and bottoming out the tire and pinching and puncturing the tube against the rim. Also called a "snakebite" because it causes side-by-side cuts in the tube that resemble a snakebite. A common cause is riding with too little air pressure.
http://bikeconnection.net/articles/glossary-of-cycling-terms-pg184.htm

 

[greaser_monkey_87]

Which is why I also inflate the tubes a little before installing the tire. Like I said, haven't had a pinch flat since doing it that way. I got a few pinch flats when installing uninflated tubes. A pinch flat can be caused during inflation of an improperly installed tire/tube.

 

[Going2Hell]

Basically, Greaser... I follow that exact same procedure when fixing my tires as well. Every time my pinch flats occur, I'm at max pressure and they are trauma related (lots of rocks on Colorado roadways) I come to the weak sidewall conclusion after the rear was the only tire affected 4-times in a row. Don't get me wrong, I like KENDA tires... cheap and durable, except the KROSS series!

 

[Going2Hell]

1,000 MILE UPDATE:

Not a single problem, except for the rear tire issue... been changing oil (10w-30 synthetic) every 10 operating hours. Checked the clutch, ready for 2,000 more miles... valves, fine... brakes, another 1,000 or more to go... bearings, beautiful... fenders, still in place... spokes and rims, taking a beating but good... tensioner, better on the pedal side but ok... Huffy frame, doing surprisingly well!

All in all, if you are building a daily driver; go 4-stroke! I ride in rain or shine, sometimes snow and there has been nothing but happy-repair-free miles! This will probably be my final check in before I take my bike mining, won't be back until September. Just me and my bike in the middle of two rocks and a hard place...

I'm also posting the pics of my dyno-electrical controller below:

Underside of board...

Topside of board...

Case, Light switch, Power indicator

Mounted to the cantilevers on a beach cruiser...

 

[Going2Hell]

YET MORE UPDATES:

GRUBEE HD AXLE KIT w/ DRUM BRAKE... Not as highly praised as once thought! If you notice from my last posts, I'm back a little early... I made a 50 mile trip to the North of Golden, CO and on a mile long incline from Interlocken Loop it wore down and the rivets in the pad met the drum! Never in my life have I seen 500lbs reach 60 un-assisted MPH so fast... lucky I'm writing this! I try to order a new band for the drum and you have to buy the whole brake assembly again, no pads or bands on the market! Admittedly the assembly is only $20 but, I figure I can make my own pad and rivet it to the band on my own. Will keep updated... Post pics maybe tomorrow of my travel rig at Flatirons Crossing!

EDIT:

Sorry for the delay in getting pics of my loaded bicycle... I get home from the trip and Windows 7 crashes and fries my motherboard! Long story short, I now have a new computer!

Almost forgot to take any pictures at all, but I got three.

Notice the rack holding my sleeping bag, bedroll, clothes and emergency radio (50lbs) The backpack on the ground, I've had since Middle School... loaded with over 60lbs of equipment including every tool needed to completely overhaul my bike and replacement parts to go with them! The trailer is where I had to put all of the light stuff like the tent, kitchen, shovels, pans and buckets, food and gasoline. I exceeded the manufacturer's weight by 20lbs to equal 120lbs (not including the trailer) and the trailer did extremely well.

So all said and done, I did over 100 miles with a total weight of 500lbs +/- 15lbs and the bike had no problems except for the cheap Chinese brake on the rear hub...