new, got a 60's cruiser and a snowblower engine.....help

TheBeak

TheBeak

New Member
Hi everyone!
I'm new to the site and this all together. But i have always wanted to put an engine on a bike.

So I have this little snowblower that i got for free a year ago and i have been wanting to put it on a bike. Well i just got the thing going a few weeks ago and was thinking i should find a bike. Well i was wandering through the woods, oh yeah i live in the middle of nowhere. A small boatbuilding town in maine, but i'm from massachusetts and damn proud of that. Anyway...so i found this cruiser single speed bike in the woods last week and thought this is perfect. I dragged it out and got the wheels turning again. She's a bit rusty. I searched the serial # and from what i got its a 1963 Columbian.
I want to mount this snowblower engine on it. The engine had a belt drive(friction?) on the blower so it has no clutch and a 2 inch pulley wheel on the shaft. I have been thinking about how to get this to work. I want it frame mounted for looks and have access to welders and tools thanks to the boatyard. But i was just hoping for ideas. oh yeah i use CAD at the yard so i was planning on drawing it up first.
THANKS

I will take some pics
 
How many hp?

How heavy is the engine?

Having no clutch makes it difficult to frame-mount. You probably need idler pulley fabricated.

First on agenda is to check for frame straightness/damage.

Remove/clean/lube/reinstall crankset.

Build new wheels w/12g spokes.

Install side-pull vee brakes front and rear. Keep the coaster brake..bld.
 
The Engine is three horsepower and weighs around 5 or 6 pounds.
The frame is in really good shape there are no dings or anything and its straight.
I am gonna go to the bike shop this weekend. I am gonna get the bike itself ridable first, but just wondering:
Would the belt and pulley from the snowblower be of any use?
I don't know the words for it but i am referring to the small pulley that is pushed down on the belt by a spring and lever.
 
It would be a ton of work trying to use what you have and If I were you, I would look for a Centrifugal Clutch and chain along with a sprocket for the wheel. If you did get it to work the way you want, you would have to come up with a belt drive to your rear wheel but I guess with a welder and lots of time, you could do it.
I am building a push trailer for a Honda motor off a snowblower and just paid under $80 Can. for a ten foot chain and clutch. I'm sure you could get it for a lot less in the States
 
what about doing it like cubans putting a pulley on one side where the pedals are and then a chain from the other side to the wheel?

But then no pedaling
oh yeah and police are no big problem where i live. There is one from me to ellsworth which is 40 minutes and he's a friend so i really am not too concerned about that.

Oh and a push trailer one of the kinda side-cars with the motor in it?
I could probably get a clutch out of Uncle Henry's
 
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I guess if you were to do the pulley on "where the peddles are" it would be easier to build the lever needed for the pulley tensioner. There are many push trailers, some are on the side and others are like trailers that follow you. There are even one wheeled trailers that follow and push you.
You will find a few ideas on youtube, including a guy who did what you are talking about
(no peddles), just look around.

YouTube - Motorised bicycle trailer
 

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That lever and pulley is the idler pulley; it is a very important part of the conversion.

You might want to duplicate the Whizzer bike. Use a 16"-20" sheave bolted onto the wheel spokes. Find some way to incorporate that idler pulley to control engagement engagement.

Sounds like a great project; as a last resort you could use it as a powerful rack-mounted friction drive set up..bld.
 
I'm all about using a snowblower motor... I've got 3 of them, a 4.5 hp & a 3hp Tecumseh, and a 3hp Briggs. I've put together a dual freewheel hub and will rack mount the motor, with a centrifugal clutch & jackshaft to get the ratio correct. This is going on a Giant bike with front suspension & a suspension seatpost. When I get into building the brackets, I'll post photos. Peace, Geoff
 
my motor is a 3 hp tecumseh too
i just think its much better to have it done your own way
i know kits are easy but this seems like more fun and is an actuall project
 
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Thats the bike, looking rusty
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Thats the tecumseh engine just sitting in it to kind of give a feel for size of it. and yeah thats a bed behind it, its cold in maine
 

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The motor cradled in the frame kind of talks to me... I LIKE IT! Keep in mind that you need to use the cowling for the motor- These engines are designed to run in cold climates, and they need the cooling that the flywheel fins produce. With the right intake manifold, the engine can be in any position. The crank can be shortened. A jackshaft could be fabricated to drive a freewheel sprocket on the bicycle crank, and you'd be in business. Take care, ~Geoff.
 
You could gain more clearance by changing to a 20" lowrider crankset.

However, I don't think the wide pedal arms will clear this engine.

You'll know for yourself when you position the engine..bld.
 
This might sound weird, but i have been talking with my friends and they want to split the cost of a Husky T-370 and mount the motor in that, using the riquimbili way. I haven't decided to go ahead with this or not. But its a possibility. It's more dangerous i think, but a little more different. They love Nacho Libre so thats where its coming from. But I'm not sure. Both are awesome, but then i would have to get a new engine for this one. I'll keep this updated
 
Ok so i got the front wheel off and found out that the front rim is bent. of course after i had put on the new tube protector, tube and tire. So i took 'em off and tried to fix the wheel but had no luck. So i grabbed a rim of the same size from an old bike in the garage. I put the new stuff on it and then fit it back on the bike. It was a bigger axle so i filed the front forks a little so the axle could fit. But its good now.

I just removed the back wheel. I had to drill of a stripped bolt that held on the coaster brake, but thats easy to replace so no biggie. This rim is fine so i put on the new tube and tire. Now I am trying to get off the rear fender cause its bent as ****. I probably will have to drill those bolts too.

Next is to take apart the crank case and clean and re-grease it.

I haven't decided to paint it or not. I think its kinda cool looking the way it is and a little different. But if i paint it it will be red and cream or red and black.
Anyone have any thoughts on painting it?
 
Oh and just a thought, can you have handle bars out of copper tubing?
I really wanted that, but does it work. I can't really think of any reason why you couldn't.
 
TheBeak said:
Oh and just a thought, can you have handle bars out of copper tubing?
I really wanted that, but does it work. I can't really think of any reason why you couldn't.
Click to expand...


You cannot have copper tubing handle bars.:-||

Imagine how easy it is to bend copper tubing.

How about a copper-plated handle bar?
 
so the bike is coming good. I have it working pretty good and was gonna paint it today, with primer.

Before painting i decided to wander through the woods cause its like 50 today, great day to ride if i had one. Anyway i found ANOTHER bicycle. An old cruiser with a similar frame, maybe older? i can't say until i get the serial #'s off it, its defrosting in the living room.

It will probably be bike #2 eventually.
 
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