Hello all. I'm new to the world of motorized bikes. I just want to share a little about how I got started.
I lost my driver's license due to lack of insurance, so I was in need of transportation. A regular bicycle just wouldn't do, and I couldn't afford a moped. I had about $60 to spend on a motorized vehicle of some sort. By some awesome twist of time and fate, I stumbled across the humble friction bike. My friends sort of laughed in disbelief when I said I was gonna build one. Now they're laughing in amazement.
I bought an old 70's or 80's Schwinn cruiser from a junk lot for $26. I then found a barely running 22cc leaf blower on CL for $10. Before I could mount the leaf blower, somebody gave me a 31cc Ryobi weed eater. It was a matter of about three hours, and I had the Ryobi on the bike and running. The first time it fired up was just awesome. I installed a Schwinn Speedo, and was registering a top speed of a little over 29mph. Sadly, I bent the back rim by hitting a storm drain edge at about 25mph. The bent rim wreaked havoc on the poor 31cc crankshaft, and it broke about 15 miles from home. I soon mounted the 22cc, but then was given a Ryobi 30cc a few days later. The intake cracked on that, then back to the 22cc. Amazingly, somebody gave me a Homelite blower that had the same 30cc bottom end with a cracked cylinder. I combined the two engines to make one good running one, then polished everything with a Dremel. About a week later, I bought a no-name bike of the same cruiser style for $30, onto which I mounted the 22cc. For a few days, I actually had the 22cc on a Free Spirit trike, but the 30 minute mounting job just didn't hold up, so I scrapped it until the new welder arrives.
Speaking of welding, I didn't weld anything on the two cruisers. I instead used plates of 3/4" thick solid wood. One is cedar or something similar, the other is pine. I just traced out the necessary holes, and then drilled and hacksawed until it all fit together. I wish I wouldn't have, but I drilled holes in the Schwinn frame. On the second bike, I used U-bolts instead. I'll upload some pictures soon. The U-Bolt setup gives me the option of adjusting the tension and changing the size of the drive socket.
I now have a 66cc kit on the way, which is going on the nicer looking no-name. (The no-name is as such because somebody painted over all the logos. It has Schwinn grips, so maybe . . . Well, it's old, whatever it is.)
I know I'm a little "long winded". I type too fast for your own good I guess, because thoughts become paragraphs before I know it. So, that may be something you notice from me. I'll try to only write useful things though, so please bear with me.
Anyways, hello to you all. My name is Josh (BoDean). I've been an addict for 30 days or so. I know that there are twelve steps, but who would walk when they can ride?
Oh, this was what I looked like the first time the cruiser fired up:
And this is how I did it:
I lost my driver's license due to lack of insurance, so I was in need of transportation. A regular bicycle just wouldn't do, and I couldn't afford a moped. I had about $60 to spend on a motorized vehicle of some sort. By some awesome twist of time and fate, I stumbled across the humble friction bike. My friends sort of laughed in disbelief when I said I was gonna build one. Now they're laughing in amazement.
I bought an old 70's or 80's Schwinn cruiser from a junk lot for $26. I then found a barely running 22cc leaf blower on CL for $10. Before I could mount the leaf blower, somebody gave me a 31cc Ryobi weed eater. It was a matter of about three hours, and I had the Ryobi on the bike and running. The first time it fired up was just awesome. I installed a Schwinn Speedo, and was registering a top speed of a little over 29mph. Sadly, I bent the back rim by hitting a storm drain edge at about 25mph. The bent rim wreaked havoc on the poor 31cc crankshaft, and it broke about 15 miles from home. I soon mounted the 22cc, but then was given a Ryobi 30cc a few days later. The intake cracked on that, then back to the 22cc. Amazingly, somebody gave me a Homelite blower that had the same 30cc bottom end with a cracked cylinder. I combined the two engines to make one good running one, then polished everything with a Dremel. About a week later, I bought a no-name bike of the same cruiser style for $30, onto which I mounted the 22cc. For a few days, I actually had the 22cc on a Free Spirit trike, but the 30 minute mounting job just didn't hold up, so I scrapped it until the new welder arrives.
Speaking of welding, I didn't weld anything on the two cruisers. I instead used plates of 3/4" thick solid wood. One is cedar or something similar, the other is pine. I just traced out the necessary holes, and then drilled and hacksawed until it all fit together. I wish I wouldn't have, but I drilled holes in the Schwinn frame. On the second bike, I used U-bolts instead. I'll upload some pictures soon. The U-Bolt setup gives me the option of adjusting the tension and changing the size of the drive socket.
I now have a 66cc kit on the way, which is going on the nicer looking no-name. (The no-name is as such because somebody painted over all the logos. It has Schwinn grips, so maybe . . . Well, it's old, whatever it is.)
I know I'm a little "long winded". I type too fast for your own good I guess, because thoughts become paragraphs before I know it. So, that may be something you notice from me. I'll try to only write useful things though, so please bear with me.
Anyways, hello to you all. My name is Josh (BoDean). I've been an addict for 30 days or so. I know that there are twelve steps, but who would walk when they can ride?
Oh, this was what I looked like the first time the cruiser fired up:
And this is how I did it:
