Very First Build, Murray Valiant

[D Pope]

Mixing two-stroke fuel for my new motor?

If you look at the bottle of 2 stroke oil, you will see the correct amount to mix with a gallon of gas.

You want to mix the first tank at 20:1, then go to 24:1 for another gallon.
After that some guys go to 32:1 synthetic. I use 24:1 "regular" 2 stroke oil.

My local TSC has some 2stroke oil, makes for interesting reading.
The first said "Mix this bottle with 1 gal. of gas for 50:1"
the bottle contained 2.6 fl.oz.
The second said the same thing but it contained 3.2 fl.oz.
Intrigued, I asked an attendant if they knew anything about 2stroke
oil, mixtures, brands, and was assured that he did. I posed my query
only to be told that one of the oils said "Multi-mix formulea, " meaning,
he explained, that both were true! It depends, he said, on the dilution
of the oil in the container. I think I'll follow this advice;

Is this a new engine? Did the guy you bought it from ride it much before you got it? Bikeguy is referring to the break in period for a new engine. First gallon second gallon etc...

128 oz. per gallon
1 0z of oil = 128 : 1 mix
4 oz of oil = 32 : 1 mix and so on.

Or use this.

Gas Oil Mixture Ratio Calculator

 

[D Pope]

If anyone has recommendations for my first start up,
please feel free!
I'm thinking Monday, after work, I'm gonna get some
gas & explore this thing called carburation.


It'll either be or

 

[Danschutz]

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this post. Its funny that the things you thought would be a breeze and the things you thought would be tough are almost always reversed. Your doing a great!

Im sure someone will step in with more knowledge but when I did my start up I ran it under power for a few minutes (on flat ground) letting the motor reach operating temp, then cool down and repeat. I think I did that 3 times total all the while listening for any funky noises, like pinging.

On the last cool down I pulled the plug and checked for lean or rich conditions. It was rich and that's fine for break in Imo. Then I rode it for about 10 minutes varying the throttle, never pinning it and never keeping it at the same rpm for very long. Im the overkill guy so I did this several times and after each little trip ended I would do a quick bolt check, tighten anything that became loose, check on chain tension, spark plug etc.

Cant wait to hear how your start up went!

Dan.

 

[magna_503]

Nice clean build

 

[Dan]

Well done D! Great job chronicling your work as well.

As was mentioned, ya really, really want to look up the fender thing. http://www.google.com/cse?cx=partne...=&ss=0j0j1#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=fenders&gsc.page=1

That and you are gonna want front brakes.

But man, she looks awesome. Love them old cruisers!

 

[D Pope]

Perhaps my treatment of the rear fender supports IS more
cavalier than healthy. A re-think is in order.

 

[Danschutz]

Perhaps my treatment of the rear fender supports IS more
cavalier than healthy. A re-think is in order.

The fender thing kinda bummed me out on my build but you can reinforce or even cut the fenders down to help. My next two builds are planned around the fendeless idea from the get go lol.

Dan.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

I'd be more concerned with your front fender than your rear.

If the rear gets tangled up in your wheel you stand a decent chance of skidding to a stop without wiping out. If the front breaks loose, then you're likely to face-plant.

I've got photos in my computer of some fender mods I've done. Bear with me a bit as I search.......let's see here....mumble, mumble......

It won't let me do it. But that's because I posted the photo in another thread.
Here it is.
http://motorbicycling.com/showthread.php?t=49185

I'll review that thread once I've posted this. And I'll come back if I have suggestions that aren't covered there.

Well, that mod won't help you much since you've got a non-sprung fork. But you might get the itch for a springer one day. If so, then it could come in handy.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

There's a handy rear fender mod that I've done. I don't seem to have a photo of it, though.

Description will have to do.

You can simply cut off the fender at the brake mount. Then you'll have no fender at all from that part of the frame down to the bottom bracket. This'll have no noticeable effect on road splash since it's the rear of the fender that takes most of that load.

Now there's no issue of chain/fender clearance.

You can replace the stock fender tab with an L-bracket or, even better, two.

You can also drill through the very top of the fender and bolt it to your cargo rack. I don't even remember if you have one yet. But I'll bet you'll get one.

 

[Intrepid Wheelwoman]

A really useful step by step description of how you fitted up your motor. I'm sure other new chums are going to appreciate that.

Nice bike by the way. I hope you'll be getting out on the road to enjoy it soon.

 

[bluegoatwoods]

Here you go. I just took a photo of my cut-down rear fender. It's much simpler now. No worries about chain clearance.

 

[KnockKnock]

The fender thing kinda bummed me out on my build but you can reinforce or even cut the fenders down to help. My next two builds are planned around the fendeless idea from the get go lol.

Dan.

Same here, but I've heard good things about Wald brand fenders being made of sturdier materials, and I'm personally planning on going with the small chopper/bobber-type Wald with red Loctite on stainless hardware in lieu of the factory rivets, and just go fenderless on the rear. I'll be reinforcing the full-size fenders on my '54 in similar fashion to that shown in allen standley's "Safe fenders" album, but if I had to say what I've learned from hind-sight, I'd probably opt for a plastic-fender mountain-bike build - though I'm pretty sure that's about 180° off from my cruisers in-progress.

 

[D Pope]

Thanks to you all for the encouragement!

For time and safetys sake, I plan to remove the
fenders. Work has picked up again and it looks like
time will be in short supply. Don't you hate it when
work interferes with the things that matter?

Anyway, I'm itchin to ride! For now speed & health
trumps my fashionably anachronistic fenders.

 

[Powertool]

Looks like your off to a good start , glad to see you are removing the fenders , until you can deal with them properly . Good luck with your test run. Ride safely.

 

[paul]

yes be very careful with fenders on your motorized bicycles, a lot of people have had them vibrate or just break at the mountain causing them to crash, I like the wide rack, I tend to carry a lot of stuff with me when out riding

 

[D Pope]

Sans fenders

 

[D Pope]

It doesn't look as naked as I thought it would.
Not bad at all if I do say so myself...

First powered run today, very satisfied with this
first start up. Ran it around the hotel twice, allowed
it to cool down while I re-checked fasteners and
such. Gave up on the coil screws, a lack of nylok
nuts meant possibly over tightening to keep them
from coming loose. It's much more effective to
simply zip tie it to the frame - like someone else
suggested.

There are some things I'd like commented on;

1) How does the fuel get to the crankcase?

2) Mixture screw: In is lean & smoke is good, right?

3) There appears to be no conventional idle adjust,
just go with adjusting the throttle cable?

4) What am I forgetting to do?

 

[maniac57]

It doesn't look as naked as I thought it would.
Not bad at all if I do say so myself...

First powered run today, very satisfied with this
first start up. Ran it around the hotel twice, allowed
it to cool down while I re-checked fasteners and
such. Gave up on the coil screws, a lack of nylok
nuts meant possibly over tightening to keep them
from coming loose. It's much more effective to
simply zip tie it to the frame - like someone else
suggested.

There are some things I'd like commented on;

1) How does the fuel get to the crankcase?

2) Mixture screw: In is lean & smoke is good, right?

3) There appears to be no conventional idle adjust,
just go with adjusting the throttle cable?

4) What am I forgetting to do?

1: fuel goes from the carb down into the crankcase and then up into the cylinder through the transfer ports inside the case.

2: You have a nt/rt carb. The screw is only for idle. It does NOT affect mixture.

3: the screw on your carb IS the idle adjust, not the mixture. These carbs adjust with needle clip and jet size for mixture adjustments. New engines often won't idle corrctly until they have a few tanks run through them. Wait until you have 3-400 miles before trying to get the tune perfect.

4: Ride it!

 

[D Pope]

2: You have a nt/rt carb. The screw is only for idle. It does NOT affect mixture.

3: the screw on your carb IS the idle adjust, not the mixture. These carbs adjust with needle clip and jet size for mixture adjustments. New engines often won't idle corrctly until they have a few tanks run through them. Wait until you have 3-400 miles before trying to get the tune perfect.

Now THAT'S unexpected, thank you very much!

 

[D Pope]

WARNING!​

The fuel line that came with the motor kit is incompatible
with gasoline! It started shrinking until it popped off the carburetor!

Do not trust the more or less clear rubber fuel line that
feels like a medical tourniquet.