Spitfire

[Rollingstones]

Dan,

No worries! I have used the hand cleaner plenty for my actual hands since haha. It seems like I can't go on a ride without getting my hands covered in grease.

I love the way its riding man. I took the engine apart and cleaned up the edges and cut the piston skirt and it feels so smooth.

The only thing I still wish I could figure out is the chain situation... I hate the 415 chain I have on. it is the loudest thing in the world and I don't know what to do to quiet it down. I have ground the little part it makes contact with on the engine sprocket cover but it didn't do too much. I attempted to buy a 1/2 x 1/8 chain to put on it but it barely fit my rear sprocket and after a few teeth on the engine sprocket it no longer fit (I have researched madly about this topic but can't figure out what chain to go spend money on with a guarantee that it'll fit and be quieter.

Tomorrow I am supposed to receive the speedometer, tach and lights and I will post an update picture.

 

[HotRodRob]

Cool bike, I'd like to see some close up pics on those new accessories. The blue and white theme is really nice. I used to skate too. So I'm familiar with those brands. It would be cool if you took a blue spitfire wheel with a groove cut in the middle of the tread and used it as a chain guide wheel. I dig the banana seat too. You may be interested in this banana style seat made out of recycled skateboards. Here is the link; http://www.ichibike.com/bikes/ichi_seat/

The chain you are looking for is the #41. Its wide and heavy duty. You can find it at tractor supply and places like that locally and I'm sure all over online. A good #41 is perfect for our bikes and won't stretch like hot cheese like the stock chains do. I don't even waste my time with the stock chains anymore. They stretch so easy and so uneven, that they tend to cause issues. One, on the first few rides it will stretch and become loose way to easy. Which can jam up in the motor 10t sprocket area and or fall off the rear sprocket potentially getting in the rear spokes. And two, They stretch unevenly which adds stress on everything that chain touches, will wear out sprockets unusually fast, as well as a wawawah sound at speed because the chain is tight in some parts and loose in others. When that happens it sounds like what you would think an off center rear sprocket would sound like.

I think I paid 20 bucks for 10 feet of good #41 chain at my local TSC. It was enough to do a couple bikes. They also have master links and half links. They have several sizes but #41 is the one you need. Hope this helps.

Peace,
Rob

 

[Dan]

Cool Seats, Rob!

lol@"ichi seat"

 

[HotRodRob]

Haha, Yeah Dan,
I found that seat awhile ago and thought it would be awesome on the perfect build for it. A skateboard themed cruiser is just that occasion. As far as the name...Yeah it does not sound to appealing haha. Might get Ichy lol.

 

[Rollingstones]

HRR- Those seats are pretty bad ass! I might try building one one of these days. If a bigger board was used it'd be cool to build a motorcycle seat pan as well.

Is the #41 chain wider then the 15? I think that if I get a wider chain the little tire clearance I have will go down the drain :/

Thx again!

 

[HotRodRob]

That's what I was thinking about those seats. It would be a lot cheaper to just make it yourself. Plus you can make it exactly the way you want it to be.

Yes, The #41 chain is wider by 1/16th of an inch. I also have tight tire clearance issues and the #41 actually helps. By being just a hair wider it can slide over a bit more and actually give you more clearance. Also, since it's a hair wide it will make your chain and sprockets last longer from less side wear. Probably does a bit for reducing friction as well.

The #41 chain is commonly used on gokarts, mopeds, and lawn equipment. Most of the aftermarket sprockets use it too. They are super heavy duty chains. Once you try it that will be all you use from now on. It's that good. Makes the stock chain look like taffy. Like I said before I don't even waste my time with the stock wet noodle they call a chain. For the price it can't be beat. I got 10 feet for around $20 from TSC. I've also heard lowes has it and I'm sure home dept and other hardware stores will too.

 

[Dan]

Really intrigued by those seats.
Paul, our host, has some cool leather working threads.

Thing about a longer seat is, with a MB, your sometimes right over the pedals. And sometimes sitting more towards the back for comfortable, cruising position. So a more like a classic mini bike seat, is really perfect.

 

[Rollingstones]

here is a picture of the speedometer and tach.

My OCD is killing me with that speedometer set to the right like that. I need to see if I can come up with a good sturdy way to center mount it, or I could make some kind of round housing to screw the tach into so that I can even it out by placing it to the left of the steering tube but id still have to come up with a handle bar mount for that.

Due to my lack of experience building bikes every idea I've had for a custom piece seems to come out hella raggedy : /

I also can't figure out what to do with all the wires that meet at the bottom of the bars as well but they really bother me... Ill have to keep trying things until something works out. Wire loom made it worse due to the bulkiness.

 

[Rollingstones]

Oh and also, I read a thread about the leaking gas cap which suggested that drilling holes on the bottom of the cap fixes the issue...

Did nothing for me.

 

[Dan]

Could do a dash board thing. Really worked well for holding/housing and decluttering.

http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=19238

 

[Rollingstones]

I was actually able to flatten the part that wraps around the handle bars and just mount it on the streering tube screw.

It vibrates like crazy which makes the speedometer arm go crazy and not be accurate (whole engine vibrates like crazy actually) so it has done my OCD good but as far as speedometer performance it has degraded.

Ill have to try to think of a way to lessen the vibration.

I was thinking of making a round mount for the tach made from a can