Schwinn OCC/Flying Horse Engine

[Lightning Boy]

This is a transplant build for my Stepdad. I guess he got a little antsy to get his knees in the breeze again after watching me tool around on my friction drive Diesel bike (see the build in the Introduce Yourself section). He had a Huffy beach cruiser housing the Flying Horse for a while, but grew tired of the chain tensioner jumping around and eating up the tire with the chain. Being a tall guy, he wasn't too keen on riding up that high over the wheels either.

After tossing around a few ideas, he came across a secondhand Schwinn Chopper that made the frame decision for us.

He fabricated a mount from steel plate welded to round stock in a "V" pattern to bolt the engine to the frame, while I made the mounting plate for the ignition box. The old one was much too short to fit.

Next, we clipped a slot out of the back fender to keep the chain from catching on it. The tensioner will take care of the frame side of the chain, once we adapt that to fit this bike as well.

The muffler is going to take a bit of persuasion and a torch to get it around the pedals, too. Installing this engine on this frame takes a bit of extra work than usual, but it's coming together! She should be a joy to ride when it's all said and done. Here's what we've got so far.

For some reason, the tablet I'm using won't let me post more than one pic at a time. Still not sure what's going on there. Apologies in advance for the one pic-per-post format.

 

[Lightning Boy]

Schwinn OCC/Flying Horse Engine cont'd

Here's a side view. Already looks fast. More to come. \m/

 

[Lightning Boy]

Got the tank on, lights mounted too. The muffler still needs straightening out, and the pedal chain had to be adjusted. Should be testing driving soon.

 

[Lightning Boy]

There's still no chain tensioner yet, only because he got excited to fire it up and decided it was good enough for the moment. Not much slack in the chain, but we both know it would rattle the brake lever apart eventually without it.
He went down to the local bike shop for a chain, and came back with a front fender, mirrors, and lighted valve caps. I half expected the fender to match the back one, but the rest of the dressy stuff was right up his alley too. We had to run to the closest motor sports place anyway, for a new throttle handle sleeve. The old one was chewed up pretty badly from its former life his old Cranbrook cruiser.

I recommended bending the muffler out of the travel of the pedals, to which he replied: "I'm just gonna push off to get it running. Not like I'll be pedaling it anyway." Been a while since I've seen him so excited about something.

The test drive went very smoothly. He kicked the pavement a couple times to drop the clutch, and off he went. I decided to tag along on the Diesel bike to see how it would stand up against his chain drive head to head. His turning radius was better than I expected, and acceleration was good. Mine was a bit slower on pickup, but I didn't fall further than 5-6ft. behind throughout. We had them wound up on a decent straightaway, and it felt like I had a few more mph left as he topped out before we came to a stop sign. Of course, I had to pedal start and assist Diesel across the intersections; but I was surprised by the general similarities in performance. We cruised around the neighborhood for about 10 blocks before the cold wind picked up and turned us home. The real difference was going into those hard gusts of wind. He tooled along easily, while I had to pedal assist periodically, with little pickup speed.

Fun fact: In the 25 years I've known him, we've never once ridden our bicycles together- motorized or otherwise. (Never really thought about it, but glad we got to do that today.) I've made many great memories with this build already.

Here's it is, as she waits patiently for the finishing touches to the tensioner:

 

[Lightning Boy]

Front view- mirrors and headlight:

 

[Lightning Boy]

We had fun building her, and he enjoys riding it around once in a while. Still, he's not quite happy. Likes it better than the Cranbrook, but not enough to keep it around.

Says he's going to sell it, and buy a moped. At least the motor's on a bike again. I tried.

 

[Lightning Boy]

Looks like the China Girl Chopper is going to be around a while after all. A couple people came by to test drive it, and it looked as though it was as good as gone. One was to come back later in the day for it. After the test drives, my stepdad said he noticed vibrations had loosened the mount (or stretched the studs). I advised him against over-tightening them, but the U-bracket snapped like a twig anyway. Once again, she's down for repairs.

After it broke, I think he realized how much he was attached to it. As I told him, "Better the devil you know." A couple improvements will make this a much better bike, and riding it looks a whole lot cooler than a tall guy scrunched up on a little moped would. I'm reminded of the famous Aleman quote: "It's a china girl. Will sometimes break your heart, and doesn't come with a fortune cookie."

 

[Lightning Boy]

I fixed the motor mount today, by attaching a MX handlebar clamp for a triple tree in its place. Took a bit of grinding to widen the curve and filing one hole slightly on one side. That's the only way it would fit in the small area between the studs and the frame tubes.

As soon as it was repaired, my stepdad sold it. (My assumption was entirely wrong.) It went to my cousin, so I'll still see it around sometimes. Never did get to ride it on the OCC frame since the swap. Kinda bummed about that.

On the plus side, my cousin no longer has a need for his 26" beach cruiser since he purchased the OCC. He says the cruiser is an old bike, but in good shape. Told me I could have it for my troubles. Going by to pick it up tomorrow. Thanks again, fam!

Apparently, he had already paid for this bike days prior to me repairing it. If I had known that, it would have been rideable long before today. He's already given me a few bikes and a great chainsaw engine in the past... I gave him some guitar stuff and an amp when he needed it. We're just like that. Our ages and interests are in the same ballpark. Seems like we're never quite even, but we've been playing this game for years.

Hope he safely enjoys his new ride, and someone can learn something from our building process. If he has any trouble in the future, I'll give him a hand to sort it out.

 

[dustinmezz13]

I am building my Schwinn OCC Chopper with the flying horse 2 stroke engine. I was wondering what others have done about the chain? It's too short, where should I get one that will work? Also how should I go about mounting the Fuel tank? Welcome to message me, 614 774 1220

 

[GoreWound]

Very nicely built Lightning Boy.

I found the chain fit just fine without using a tensioner (I did have to bend the brake arm at the back to make space though)

I mounted the fuel tank by making some small L Shaped brackets to go on the sided of the top-tube. I only used two of them for the front studs on the tank, but four would be better.

by the sounds of things the OCC is already in the hands of it's new owner but I just wanted to relay some things I was told about this bike: the stock handlebars are not very good, a wider pair would give more control, also the front fender should have an eye kept on it. many users here have had fenders fail on them and wrap up in the tyre.

 

[mapbike]

I am building my Schwinn OCC Chopper with the flying horse 2 stroke engine. I was wondering what others have done about the chain? It's too short, where should I get one that will work? Also how should I go about mounting the Fuel tank? Welcome to message me, 614 774 1220

here ya go, most chains we find are 110Links or less, these hain are specifically tailored for projects like yours, you'll probably need to actually ut it down a few links, I ordered a 126 link from them yesterday for a large rear sprocket proje t I have planned.

This should get you fixed right up.

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=181280820553&alt=web

 

[Lightning Boy]

Thanks for assisting our friend in my absence, gentlemen. As for the front fender, the red OCC didn't have one when it got here. We went up to the local bike shop and got a standard cruiser fender for it later. Mounted into the dropouts and the frame, and much safer.