Something new and kinda sorta 100 years old looking

[maxsideburn]

just a thought....but what about a compressed air bike?

should be extremely simple, just wouldn't have much of a range. might be nice as a little hill-assist feature on a regular bike though

just mount one small tank that could help you up one or two steep hills. or just give you a crazy blast of speed, kinda like a BOOST button

 

[fishguts]

just a thought....but what about a compressed air bike?

ZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sorry.

This engine could be rigged to run on air but man, I want FIRE and STEAM!!!

Not sure how far you could get with an air tank on a bike. Probably not far. But then, I'm not going to go more than a couple blocks with the amount of water I'm carrying either.

Just looked at a YouTube vid of a steam engine running on air and it was ... well ... clean, safe and quiet. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ

Sorry again.

 

[maxsideburn]

would be a quick and fun way to test out the engine.

 

[fishguts]

would be a quick and fun way to test out the engine.

So true. I've been thinking all along of having a fitting for an air hose to power it so I can demonstrate it at an inside event. We have a show in September and our vendor spot has electricity so I could run a compressor. But then, if I have the bugs worked out by then I might do a full bore steam demo in the parking lot.

 

[fishguts]

NOTE TO SELF: Steam engine with a wet crank in a closed crankcase: Really bad idea.

Oh well, it's always nice to learn things.


So, took it all apart and cleaned out the oil foam pudding gunk. Next, drilled a 3/8" hole 1/2" up the side of the cylinder from where it meets the case and a 1/2" hole at the case seam in front and above the mount. I made a nice clean hole into the cylinder and then polished the edges with some 1500 grit emery cloth. The cylinder hole is at the lowest point in the travel of the wrist pin. So the wrist pin can be oiled from there and the rod journal can be oiled from the hole in the case. Rubber plugs might be all these access ports need to keep out dirt. As stated before, the side shaft bearings will be oiled with a syringe through the top of the seal. So manually oiling the bearings will be part of the maintenance ritual. The cylinder will be oiled by steam oil in the feed line.

 

[Tmoney]

Hey nice bike! That is kinda the bikes I am into. I tried to fit my two stroke engine on my 2009 Electra coaster 1. It turned out that the engine compartment was to wide. I was depressed about it for a while. But my friend said that he had a road bike in his yard that no one wanted to use so he let me keep it for my build. It's not much to look at but it's still fun to drive. I do plan on saving up for a better bike soon. probably a new Schwinn.

 

[fishguts]

Here's what I'm working on while I wait for parts to complete the external valve linkage on the steam bike:

 

[SlowBalt]

Cool looks like a VW mixed with a Can-am spyder. Realy cool. Just hope you didn't chop a bug.

 

[fishguts]

Cool looks like a VW mixed with a Can-am spyder. Realy cool. Just hope you didn't chop a bug.

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Man I have chopped up so many Bugs over the years I lost count! This was a '69 sedan. Tail is a real W lid, probably a '56. I'm helping a buddy chop a Bug convertible right now.

 

[Allen_Wrench]

Hey! That's a cool lookin' three wheeler! I like that. Hmmm...that gives me an idea: What if I could make a three-wheel with a 50cc scooter engine, and maybe the whole back end. It'd still count as a 50cc scooter, thus not needing registration or licensing, right?

Now suppose we put a Morgan-like body on the thing. Still having three wheels and a 50cc engine, wouldn't the same rules still apply? I could use an upturned aluminum canoe for the body work, hack off one end and make up a classic looking "radiator/grill" to put there... Hmmm...where's my sketchbook? Work to be done.

Thanks Fish, you give me some great ideas.

 

[hotbug1776]

hey fishguts... I'm an old volksrods.com member as well.

I've been working on an OP Roller with a Grubee 66. I'm trying for that old motorcycle look myself, with a bit of volksrod thrown in to make it my own LOL

looks to be a nice setup, hope it makes you happy like mine is making me.

 

[fishguts]

hey fishguts... I'm an old volksrods.com member as well.

I've been working on an OP Roller with a Grubee 66. I'm trying for that old motorcycle look myself, with a bit of volksrod thrown in to make it my own LOL

looks to be a nice setup, hope it makes you happy like mine is making me.

Cool. I've built several Volksrods and have had a blast with them. This one is the most radical of the bunch. I hope to be selling it and my steam bike, too. I have advancing arthritis so my wife and I are trying to save enough to get a little place in FL for the winters eventually. I have to downsize my projects and while I hope I'm not done building Volksrods altogether, future cars will need to be simpler. They will need to have less of what I call "floor time". Bike building is a lot easier on the creaky old body and that's what brought me here. I'm still having fun!

I'd like to see a pic of that Volksrod-ish bike!

 

[fishguts]

The last of the linkage pieces I need arrived yesterday and I've begun figuring out how I'll mount the external steam valve setup. Modifying the sprocket to operate the valve linkage will be a challenge.

But nothing much will happen for the next two weeks because I'm ramping up my volksrod trike project for a show on the 19th.

 

[fishguts]

Well, this has nothing to do with the steam bike except it's what I'm working on instead of it!

Hot rod = fresh coat of flat black and some Krylon flames.

 

[bchowk]

WOW! very cool, love the checkerboard fade into the flames...really dig the whole thing, engine up front, dual carbs sticking out from under the wheel wells, paint on the valve covers.....Awsome!

 

[Dan]

Man, you do some great work Fish.

 

[fishguts]

Here it is with the pipes installed. Still need to paint that back wheel red. Show is this coming weekend.

 

[fishguts]

Here's my little hot rod at the VW show in Litchfield, CT this past weekend.

Now to get back to the steam bike!

 

[hotbug1776]

I know you have an answer for this... Where's your Gen/Alt? I'm guessing the motor only runs long enough to get off a trailer and to it's show space?

 

[fishguts]

I know you have an answer for this... Where's your Gen/Alt? I'm guessing the motor only runs long enough to get off a trailer and to it's show space?

At last! A person of reason! The trike is unfinished, actually. I can't tell you how many of the people who saw it in person where it's really obvious it has no alternator, no steering linkage, no wiring, no gas tank, no battery, no drive shaft, no gauges asked me how well it runs and drives. I mean, you can stand at the front and see clear through the thing out the rear at this stage!

I had one guy ask if it is a special production VW model.

I expect it could be as much as a year until I actually have it "finished".