Soooo frustrated now

KarenH

New Member
GRRRRRR-AAARRRGGGGH! I'm really getting frustrated. Last time I test rode bike after replacing inner tube, I used up all my gas. So, tonight I pedaled 1.5 miles to gas station and filled up. Then my usual cursed luck kicked in and the motor wouldn't catch. It would only run a few seconds then die. And that's not all! My back tire kept locking up. So I guess that has something to do with clutch or throttle??? I don't know. I need help.

Anyone near Orange Park Florida?zpt
 
That's part of the charm of these machines-----it takes you back to the very early 20th century when we were just in the infancy of personal engine propelled transportation. These things aren't that far removed from that time.......really.

I like to think of my bike as a reproduction antique. It's a great joy when everything works as it should.


Good luck in your project!
 
running a few seconds & quiting is usually due to no oil

oil must be mixed WELL into gas before going into gas tank

a few times can be fixed by draining tank & pouring just a bit of 16:1 in tank & starting it up - then going back to 32:1 - more than a few times often means a broken motor
 
I mixed it first. But don't think that has anything to do with the other problem of the back tire locking up. Still need help with that issue too.
 
After all I've accomplished so far in fixing stuff with bike, mostly due to my own mistakes, I feel confident that I could have built one myself. Wish I had done that. But I have what I have, and have to get it running again. It's my only form of transportation.
 
running a few seconds & quiting is usually due to no oil

oil must be mixed WELL into gas before going into gas tank

a few times can be fixed by draining tank & pouring just a bit of 16:1 in tank & starting it up - then going back to 32:1 - more than a few times often means a broken motor
Actually running a few seconds could be that Karen added the oil to her bikes empty gas tank first which went down into the float bowl making her motor quit because a motor will not run on oil, it needs gas.

Total nonsense that one of these motors will not run on straight gas with no oil added. They will run for quite a while before the piston seizes in the bore.
 
Just making sure that you are still pedaling when you 'pop' the clutch --- if not, the wheel may not have enough force on it to continue rotating.
 
MotorBicycleRacing, nope, didn't do that. That was the first mistake I made just 2 weeks after buying the bike lol. Thanks to this site, I learned to open up the carb and clean it out from having too much oil then it ran fine. So, I haven't made that mistake again.

Xseler, yep still pedaling when releasing the clutch.
 
Try pedaling up to speed and slowly release your clutch lever while still pedaling. By easing out the clutch lever you may over come your skidding problem.
 
Total nonsense that one of these motors will not run on straight gas with no oil added. They will run for quite a while before the piston seizes in the bore.

over the last 6 years, I've had about a dozen folks that bought a bike off CL & didn't know it needed oil in gas - every one had the 'tighten up & stop after a few seconds' symptom, after a small time it would start again & stop and continue doing that

in the case of straight oil, it usually didn't even start, but checking compression showed something north of 175 pounds which meant it was full of oil
 
The only experience I've had with a 'no oil' situation was with a bike I built for my wife's nephew. The piston was seized so tight in the cylinder bore that it took a wooden hammer handle to drive it out. The cylinder walls were toast, the rings embedded into the ring grooves.

I don't know how long it ran before it seized. The kid swore he had put oil in it and had ridden the bike several times. "It just quit" he said, "and it wouldn't start again and the back wheel locked up". The fuel left in the tank was straight gasoline. No evidence of oil.

Oddly enough the bottom end seemed to have survived unscathed. The bearings were good. I replaced the top end and sold the bike. That engine is still running fine.

Tom
 
MotorBicycleRacing;585314 Total nonsense that one of these motors will not run on straight gas with no oil added. They will run for quite a while before the piston seizes in the bore.[/QUOTE said:
Nevermind.....I'll post later
 
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Simple trick I quickly learned in the small engine shop I worked in, was to dip a white piece on paper into the gas. Then simply let the paper dry.

If it dryed and had no evidence of oil, that meant no oil. If it dried and oil was left on the paper there you go..
 
Simple trick I quickly learned in the small engine shop I worked in, was to dip a white piece on paper into the gas. Then simply let the paper dry.

If it dryed and had no evidence of oil, that meant no oil. If it dried and oil was left on the paper there you go..
Or just dump a little on a conceret floor. Gasoline evaporates. Oil doesn't.

Tom
 
When my buddy and I had our bikes we had ridden over to a friends house about 5 miles from my house. While there his fuel line cracked and all his gas drained out. We patched his fuel line, rode up to the gas station, he put 50 cents worth of gas in, and no oil. We rode back to my house where he put some oil in the tank, shook it up a bit and then we rode to his house, about 3.5 miles from mine. That engine ran fine for another few months. Think it's the same one he had running last time he had it goin'.

So these lil engines will run on straight gas without a problem for a while. It just has to have had quite a bit of oil already run through it though.
 
simpler to just dump the tank in a container to use later for cleaning & refill with fuel you know is good
 
I use Amsoil synthetic 2-stroke at about 80:1.

My bike has a cheap rack and tool kit bag with a 1/4 oz bottle of Amsoil. It's a Testors model paint bottle, about the size of an olive. I've never painted a model, but the paint bottle is nice. The 1/4 oz of oil makes a perfect mix with the 20 oz fuel bottle I keep on my bike.

I agree with everyone saying that a 2-stroke motor can run on straight gas for a while. I like having the little bottle of Amsoil with me anyways.
 
another thing to check... pull the head, get the piston to the low point, and run your finger around the inside of your cylinder... make sure there is no scoring or gouges... i've had similar problems and it was caused by broken piston rings... acted like there was compression and fired for about 50-100' at a time, but wouldn't stay running... also, makes it difficult to turn over to begin with...
just food for thought...
 
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