second seat, foot pegs/highway bars, lighting kit?

tire

tire

New Member
thinking about welding a second seat post behind the first one, along with the rear rack/ammo can i'm doing this week. will the little "2.75 hp" motor even pull me (175 lbs) plus someone else (~120 lbs)?

i'm pretty sure i'm going to find a way to weld highway bars onto the frame though so i have riding pegs.

can i get a recommended SIMPLE light kit with a small headlight and turn signals? what is the best source of power, some sort of alt/generator or replacing battery after battery? it won't be used a ton, but the turn signals probably will be.

just thoughts
 
I have a second seat infront of the driver seat for my 4 yr old son. Tested it with my wife, me driving. These HT are powerful enough.
 
if you put highway bars/footpegs on and keep the cranks and pedals, the cranks will turn slowly and randomly on their own, which could be pretty sketchy leaning into a corner. if the pedal digs into the ground while you're turning, they make great catapults.

without the cranks and pedals, you have to push start your bike and scooter it away from stops, unless you have a pull start and a shift kit.

just some things to think about.
 
thanks for the food for thought... that i'm not sure how the crank/pedals being free to spin will likely cause a problem. on my bike i would have to lean so far to the side to scrape the pedals i would probably lay the bike down.

i'm going to keep the pedals/crank. it would be impractical otherwise, at least for my stock gear ratio and the fact i will be pedaling (high foot traffic) about 0.5 mi / day.

i'm not sure if i weld pegs if it should be from the frame (wheel clearance side to side??) or just on the front fork. if anything i would think that this would enhance steering response, being about to steer or stabilize with my feet. thoughts?

austin

TWO POSITIONS CONSIDERED:

(don't overthink the wheel clearances for position #2, i'd obviously not weld int he way of the side-to-side movement of the front wheel)
 

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oh and i ordered two sets of the cheap turn signals... i'm going to fab brackets if need be and cut the amber signals apart and liquid gasket them closed again so i can separate them to be more useful/attractive. i can't afford 200 for that link above, though that is nearly exactly what i had in mind. oh well!
 
i had a old bike that i put foot pegs on the forks a while back. it was bad to say the least. i had to turn quick and couldnt because i had to move my legs out of the way first and ran right into the side of a car that i easily would have missed if i didnt use the foot pegs and this was with no engine. with a engine i probably would be dead. i find that the pedals are the best place to put your feet. your feet have to have even pressure on each peg so the bike doesnt turn when you dont want it to. it was problems every way i looked at it
 
yeah, footpegs on the forks isn't very stable. try riding your bike and stick your feet up on the axles and see what happens.

as for my previous comment, i lean pretty far into turns at speed and could scrape my pedals if i wanted to. which i don't. also, make sure you have hand brakes, 'cause trying to find your pedals in an emergency stop to use your coaster brake wouldn't be fun.
 
yes i have adapted the front brakes from the mountain bike to my cruiser, and i am fabbing a way to get the rear ones to work as well... but give me a week!
 
tire said:
thinking about welding a second seat post behind the first one, along with the rear rack/ammo can i'm doing this week. will the little "2.75 hp" motor even pull me (175 lbs) plus someone else (~120 lbs)?...
Click to expand...
The engine can, if it is geared down more.
The main problem I have seen with people making tandem bikes is that the wheels (in particular the bearings) tend not to last long unless you can get a high-end hub with oversize bearings.

can i get a recommended SIMPLE light kit with a small headlight and turn signals? what is the best source of power, some sort of alt/generator or replacing battery after battery? it won't be used a ton, but the turn signals probably will be. ...
Click to expand...
This question (of where to get brake lights and turn signals) gets asked a lot, even on regular (non-motor) bcycle forums.

There's little cheapie kits that pop up now and then, eBay is your most likely bet. But none of them I've ever seen were very impressive. Cost was around $20.

The best examples I have seen were people who had made their own from scratch.
~
 
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